What a Year!

 

My completed projects for 2013 included:

25 small format art quilts donated to The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
17 prayer flags
20 table mats or pot holders
7 pillow cases for donation to foster care program
6 Christmas stockings
3 sympathy art quilts
2 nursing aprons that fold into pouches..tutorial, soon!
1 baby blanket4 baby towels and 6 baby washcloths
1 toddler neck warmer
8 carry bags

DIY Wedding for my youngest daughter: 

6 batches of home made paper (blender pulp, impressed with flowers and leaves-about 90 sheets)
75 home made wedding invitations using the paper plus cardstock, twine, brads, print offs etc.
14 burlap table runners
90 osnaburg cloth napkins
 9 large' thank you' burlap and homemade wooden buttoned carry bags

1 wedding dress for my daughter

my own pattern design and using 18 yards embossed silk and satin, 

with a 16 gore (double layer) handkerchief hem

1 wedding bolero jacket from embossed silk and satin

Photos of many projects not shown as I couldn't find them,  or the program couldn't fit them in. And if you count each item, that's 362 projects. Should I hurry up and make 3 more so it's one item a day for all of last year? I don't think so, thank you very much.I may almost never sleep and be more than a bit ditzy, but ....

It's keeping busy and being creative that got me through the hard, sad times of losing both of our mothers, an aunt, and an uncle and having two SIL's being diagnosed with terminal illnesses.

And yes, we (our family of 8) grew the flowers, created the floral arrangements, the bouquet and boutonnieres,  carved out the logs, and did all of the decorating, ourselves.

And no, I did not cook all the food, or make the wine and beer...but we wanted too ;-) And no, I did not play the cello, guitar, banjo, or drums. But the bride and groom made one of the three outdoor games!

 And yes, I'm tired, but there were so many moments of both light and clarity. So many glorious days of joy amidst all of the challenging days and hard times of sorrow.

I am also excited about projects in progress and the New Year ahead! Here's to 2014 and more creative fun! And...

We start off the New Year with not one but TWO super moons in January!

January 1, 2014 presents the first of two supermoons to occur in a single calendar month. The second supermoon will come on January 30, 2014. We won’t have a single calendar month with two supermoons again until January 2018.

What, you say? Supermoon? But the moon isn’t anywhere near full! That’s right. These aren’t full supermoons. They are new supermoons; the moon is at the new phase for both the January 1 and January 30 supermoon. Follow the links below above (I am both numerically and spatially challenged, for real) to learn more about the supermoons of 2014.


Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, with small format art quilts, prayer flags, and comfort quilts for a variety of charitable programs. And best of all, sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join her and make and donate quilts to charitable causes.   Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!