First Fridays Year in Review 2014

It’s TJ from Studio Mailbox here to share my first post of 2015!  For those of you new to The Sewing Loft, I tune in on the first Friday of every month to bring a little sewing humor to your lives. I can’t believe another year has snuck up on us.  I hope you’re all off to a happy and healthy start.

I wanted to be sure and let you guys know that I did indeed finish the T-shirt quilt I had started for my son before Christmas.  I went all gangsta and put my nose to the feed dogs until that baby was done. What a huge sense of accomplishment I had when I snipped those last threads, not to mention a giant heaping side dish of relief!  WHEW.  Aside from a few beginner mistakes it turned out fantastic.  I’m so happy I went with the red bias tape around the edge.  I was a little nervous about that choice but in the end I think it’s what makes it pop!  Bam.  And I don’t mean to brag here but look closely at those mitered corners and I dare you – I JUST DARE YOU – to try and find my invisible join.  All it took was watching a dozen You-Tube channels, one meltdown with tears and seventeen attempts at the four corners.  So not bad really.

One of the struggles I had was that I somehow didn’t buy enough flannel for the backside.  Duh.  Perhaps next time I should try that thing called measuring.  But as you can see I plunked in strips of skull fabric at the top and bottom (on both the front and back) and now it actually fits a twin bed properly.  I really like the skull print on the front and it’s OK on the back next to the hounds tooth print.  I would have never picked those two together but hey, live and learn!  I love how my embroidered personalized label came out.

Whenever a New Year rolls around I get excited for what the future holds.  I dork out about making resolutions.  But it’s important to look back on all that’s been accomplished too.  I am a big journaler so I follow a lot of inspiring artists.  One is Michelle Ward who encourages people to create “Ta-Da Lists” instead of just “To-Do Lists.”   If you don’t keep a journal maybe this is your year to get out a little notebook or diary to jot down all the cool things you’re making.  Instead of all the stress over the to-do’s in your life, you can sit back once in awhile and take inventory of all the ta-da’s too.  It’s so fun to look back at all that happens in twelve short months.  Here is TJ’s 2014 year in review:

January – we shared a round-up of all the memes from 2013

February – I decided it was time to sew my first quilt (and use denim I had carted around the world for years)

March – Couldn’t get a thing done without a mass clean up (including curtains and chair upholstery)

April – Overwhelm ensued when it came to color combos

May – I played with the denim quilt layout options

June – Suddenly it occurred to me I had to choose a fabric for the backside

July – I learned the hard way that my cuddly fabric was like sewing water (that laugh is courtesy of Wendy!)

August – Snipped my rag quilt until my fingers fell off (Good times)

September – Celebrated National Sewing Month (I shared some work I sewed on paper)

October – Sewed up a bunch of pillows, everything went wrong of course (these were dark times)

November – Switched gears into T-shirt quilt mode

December – Sewed a quilt under holiday pressure

What a year!  I can’t thank you enough for all the help, tips and encouragement along the way.  Maybe next year I’ll get him to hold his present right-side up!  What was your biggest accomplishment from 2014?  What do you have in store for yourselves in the coming year?  I love comments more than I love chocolate so please chime in.

TJ Goerlitz is a mixed media artist who pretends to be a seamstress whenever possible.  Come connect with her on her site, Studio Mailbox, her Facebook page, or in Pinterest.  Join in the story of the denim quilt every first Friday of the month where she will share her progress (or non-progress) right here with the readers of The Sewing Loft.