2024: A Year in Review

Hello Friends and Happy 2025!

Though the days that have passed since the year changed haven't felt all that different than those that came before, the arrival of a new year inspires people all over the world to embrace new changes and challenges!

And with the first few weeks of the new year now behind us, I've been thinking about all the challenges and projects I undertook in 2024. Some of those had been ongoing for quite some time, but others were totally new to me, and each one offered the opportunity to continue learning, experimenting, and creating!

So to welcome the new year, I'd like to take a look back at all of those exciting projects and see just how much I accomplished!

The Generations Quilt Project

The longest running project I worked on in 2024 was the Generations Quilt; a collaborative, multigenerational project featuring blocks made by myself, my Mom, my Grandma, and my Great Grandmother.

The project includes and was inspired by blocks my Great Grandmother made before she passed away in the mid 1990s. More recently, in 2023 Mom, Grandma, and I decided to make some blocks of our own to contribute to those she left behind!

I committed to making 60 blocks; 30 each of the traditional Six Pointed Star and Dresden Plate patterns. In July, I finally finished piecing all 60 blocks!

At this point, I'm waiting to get caught up with Mom and Grandma so I can see how many blocks each of them has made, and to decide how many quilts we want to make in total. I expect the next time we will all get together will be in March, so we'll have to wait and see where this project goes next!

The Generations Quilt is based on two traditional block patterns; the Six Pointed Star and the Dresden Plate.

Hexie Harvest

The next quilt, Hexie Harvest, was started as a quilt along in February 2023.

I worked on the quilt throughout that year, and at the beginning of 2024, the quilt top had been assembled into four pieces!

After another few weeks of progress, my Hexie Harvest quilt top was completed in February 2024!

It's still without borders and needs to be quilted, but I'm thrilled to have it this far along!

Hexie Harvest is based on a design by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.

Stars of the City

Stars of the City is another quilt along started in 2023, but this was one I designed myself!

The original sample of the pattern was pieced before the quilt along began in September 2023, but when 2024 started, I was still working on the quilting.

At the beginning of the year, the quilting was mostly confined to the central part of the quilt, but after a few months, that quilting expanded to cover more of the side portions as well!

Admittedly, it's still far from finished, but I'm proud of how much quilting I was able to complete!

Stars of the City is my original design, by Valerie Anne of the Fibre Arts blog.

Stars of the Lily Pond

The next quilt is a variation of the Stars of the City pattern made during the quilt along. The colours and alternate layout were inspired by waterlilies, so I decided to call this one Stars of the Lily Pond!

I started the year with about half the blocks pieced and continued to work on them throughout the Spring as more instructions were released.

When the quilt along ended in May, I had pieced together almost half of the quilt top! But after failing to complete most of my goals in the Spring, I decided to set aside the rest of my Stars of the Lily Pond quilt for another time.

And though I needed to set it aside, I'm optimistic I'll have a chance to get back to working on this quilt again in the future!

Stars of the Lily Pond is based on my original Stars of the City design, by Valerie Anne of the Fibre Arts blog.

Indigo Way

The final project from over a year ago is yet another quilt along; Indigo Way!

This one started near the end of 2023, in November, and carried on into January 2024. I fell behind the quilt along schedule though, so still had lots of work to do as the year got started!

Throughout the Winter months, I got started assembling the units from the previous year into A blocks! I finished all of those by March, then took a break from Indigo Way for several months.

As the months passed into Autumn, I began anticipating a new Winter mystery quilt and was motivated to finish my Indigo Way blocks before the new project started.

Though I didn't meet that goal, I did make significant progress assembling my B blocks! Having an en pointe layout, Indigo Way requires some partial B blocks in order to square off the shape.

By the end of 2024, I'd completely assembled all of my whole B blocks and had a few half blocks underway. I still have a little work left before this quilt is ready for quilting, but I can't wait to keep piecing!

Indigo Way is based on a design by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.

Oatmeal Raisin

As the year got started, I was looking forward to some new quilt along projects, one of those being the Oatmeal Raisin mystery quilt!

I had gathered fabric for this project, but as the months passed and the mystery slowly revealed itself, I found myself too busy to actually start piecing.

Now that the quilt along has ended, I no longer feel motivated to work on this particular project. On top of that, I'm still pretty busy with other quilts anyway, so I might put the fabric I've gathered back into my stash to but used in something new when the time comes.

Though I want to work on every exciting project that crosses my path, I do need to learn how to let go when the timing doesn't work out, and I think Oatmeal Raisin is a good example of that.

Oatmeal Raisin was designed by Kathryn Wilson Tucker of Quiltnasium.

Ice Cream Soda

Following that is a project I actually did start this year; Ice Cream Soda!

For many of my projects, I look forward to selecting a unique variety of colours, but for this project, I used a fat quarter bundle. A new experience for me!

The bundle was the Queen Bee line from Timeless Treasures. Starting with that as a base, I collected additional prints in the same gold, black, and white colour scheme to fill out the rest of my fabric requirements!

Throughout the year, I pieced a variety of blocks in sets of four to help keep myself organized. And by the end of the year, I'd made over 50 unique blocks!

I still have a few blocks left to make, and all of the half blocks as well, but I've been thoroughly enjoying the process of piecing this project together and can't wait to continue in the new year!

Ice Cream Soda is based on a design by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.

Star Block Exchange

After working on so many different quilt alongs, I wanted to make something new and unique, different from everything I'd been working on all Winter and Spring!

In May, I put together a star block for a little exchange with some friends! I used the same fabric combination from Hexie Harvest but a totally new pattern to create something new and unique!

Though I only made one block, it offered a fun respite from my other projects and left me excited to get back to piecing them!

Twin Star block is an original design based on traditional English paper pieced block patterns.

Uneven Four Patch Blocks

Another small project, this one from the Summer, was a guild challenge that asked us to make a selection of scrappy Uneven Four Patch blocks!

I made 26 using a white, grey, and rainbow colour scheme, but ended up deciding to keep them rather than donate them to my guild.

Who knows what I may decide to do with them in the future?

Uneven Four Patch blocks are based on a design by Susie Stuklis of Susie's Scraps.

Blackwork Roads

After working on those few smaller projects, I was ready to start another big one! During the Summer months, I designed this year's quilt along pattern; Blackwork Roads!

I had a lot of fun working on the design and assembling the first sample of the pattern! And though the sample isn't quite complete just yet, it's coming very close and I can't wait to finish it!

Blackwork Roads is my original design, by Valerie Anne of the Fibre Arts blog.

Old Town

The final project I worked on last year didn't progress any further than colour and fabric selection, but is one I'm really looking forward to starting in the new year; Old Town!

In November, I worked out an idea for colours and prints based on the art of Andy Kehoe, and as each clue in the mystery was released, I could see just how well my planned colours would work with the pattern!

Old Town is based on a design by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.

Pants Pattern Drafting

With all my quilts shared, the last project I worked on in 2024 was my pants pattern draft!

I first started working on my pattern plans in July, making sketches, taking measurements, and drafting a waistband.

I took a break from the project in the second half of the Summer to focus on Blackwork Roads, but jumped back into my patterning experiments in October.

Since the season had changed, I was more interested in making pants than shorts by this time, so I drafter several iterations of a simple, elastic waistband pants pattern that I could use for pajamas!

Though it's not the structured, fitted pants pattern I was planning to make, I do have a functional pattern and a new pair of pants! And with this basic pattern to work from, I'm that much closer to reaching my goal in the new year!

Pants pattern is an original draft, by Valerie Anne of the Fibre Arts blog.

After taking that look back at a year of progress, I'm absolutely amazed that I was able to work on so many different projects in 2024! And though I didn't finish any quilts, I did reach several significant benchmarks along the quilt making process that I'm really proud of!

And Friends, I would love to hear all about your 2024 projects as well! Please share stories about your favourite projects, whatever the medium, in the comments below!

Now with another year behind us, I can't wait to see what we'll create in the one to ahead!