Winter Stitching is Finished...

... so could someone please tell the weather man that winter is over and its time to progress the weather into something a little more clement. Okay, it is not raining today, I will admit that. It isn't particularly warm either, but it beats the big old hailstones that were clattering down round here yesterday so I guess you could say things are improving.

Back to the business at hand. Sarah's Winter Stitching wrap-Up linky party has started. So I suppose it is time to see what I actually accomplished in the past few months.

My original list was here, and my mid-winter catch-up was here.

Some successes, some non-starters and a number of things that are on the go. I'll try to keep it brief.

1. Christmas Tablerunner Swap - went off incredibly well and I hope those involved were as pleased with it as I was.

2. Finish Helen's Quilt and Emily's too. Well, if you give me about two more weeks I could probably say success, but there is about two square foot of hand quilting to still do on Emily's quilt, even though the binding is already on. Almost a success.

3. Make a ton of Christmas ornaments. Big success. I mass produced the suckers.

4. Make my Brit Bee quilt. Hanging head in shame here because it keeps getting sidelined by other projects.

5. Conquer zippers. Well they no longer hold fear for me so I would call this an almighty success, especially as I am now experimenting with ideas.

6. Run Mouthy Stitches with Hadley and Cindy. It was done and I think for the most part a successful swap. There is talk of a repeat so it mustn't have traumatised the other two totally.

7. Try paper piecing. Woohoo! I am so pleased I can say that I finally did this thanks to Jo setting this as her block challenge for Brit Bee for March. Thanks Jo!

8. Start crocheting another throw, but much bigger. When I find the yarn that I love at a price that makes me grin I will do so. Meanwhile, it is on hold.

9. Finish my Terrain quilt. Finished and loved. First time I went with a dark neutral and for me it just works.

10. Get involved in the Stained QAL. I have and the top is done. All it is waiting on is for me to pull my finger out and piece a back. This is one of my most favourite quilt tops that I have ever made.

11. Work on my For the Love of Birds quilt. Well, I have done a bit more but not as much as I should have. I will get this done though!

12. Start my HR Fan Club quilt. It is started in my head but not in actuality. Does that count?

13. Make my items for the For the Love of Solids Swap. I was thrilled with how much I enjoyed working with all solids. It was quite a revelation to me and I enjoyed this swap immensely.

14. Make February's Brit Bee block. This was a real challenge to me and took me into areas I wasn't very comfortable with in my sewing. Which is a good thing. Because I did it and it came out better than I thought it would. In the beginning I contemplated doing a stick figure drawing as my 'self portrait'. But I didn't and I am sure that Jennie is quite pleased that I didn't.

I have done other stuff, but nothing that was actually listed on the Winter Stitching lists so I will leave this as my winter accomplishments. It is more than I thought it would be, and I faced up to a number of new sewing challenges so this makes me happy. That in itself makes it a success for me.

Susan