“Playing a game together actually builds up bonds and trust and cooperation. We actually build stronger social relationships as a result.”- Jane McGonigal, Game designer
“We shouldn’t stick too close to everyday reality but give room to the reality of the heart, of the mind, and of the imagination. Those things can help us in life.”-Hayao Miyazaki
“Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play.”-Henri Matisse
“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.”-Erik H. Erikson
Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.” ― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“There is no excuse for using someone’s mental health as a stick with which to beat them.”- Luciana Berger
“I knew well enough that one could fracture one’s legs and arms and recover afterward, but I did not know that you could fracture the brain in your head and recover from that too.” ― Vincent van Gogh
“It’s like any other part of your body – your mental health gets sick, and it needs treatment.”- Olly Alexander
“Around a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem. Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children.”-Kate Middleton
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” — Fred Rogers
“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom? “- Thich Nhat Hanh
“You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.”-Maya Angelou
“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.”-Ayn Rand
“If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.”-Emile Zola
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”-Michelangelo
How has it been a year already? I sometimes feel like I’m still stuck in March when the world shut down and then all of a sudden, it’s 2021! I have had my blog for four years! There’s been a lot of changes. (My auto correct tried to change that the chocolate, btw. It’s not wrong.) Some of them were not my favorite, but a lot of them were for the better.
Looking over my completed projects this year, I was very pleased to see that I had completed around 110 projects. That’s not counting the tea wallets, masks, doll clothes, and bowl cozies separately! Little thing like that are much too annoying to count individually, since I tend to make them in batches.
Shark Week Masks!
I’m very proud that I was able to make so many things, especially with all the current stressors going on in the world. A lot of my clothes projects this year were very practical too. I filled some wardrobe gaps, faced a couple fears, and made some pretty cool things. Of course, there were things that didn’t go so well and some that have ended up in the naughty bin or even got tossed in the scrap pile. I’ll start with the positive projects.
My most used patterns for the year were the RAD Patterns Solar Flares, the Itch to Stitch Lago tank, the Panel Undies. Here’s a collage of most of my Solar Flares.
I think there are a couple other pairs around that I don’t have pictures of.
Here’s the Lagos- again, not all, I’ve lost track of how many I actually made.
Runners up were the Be Creative Hoodie (A very recent pattern!) and the Shenanigans Skort. Here’s my three Be Creatives- two work appropriate cowl, one casual hoodie.
The Shenanigans Skorts were lovely, but I’m going to have to take two of them apart and add some other shorts in a different material. They tend to slip down a bit. My first one was by far the best. I wore it every chance I got in the summer.
The Solar Flares, the Shenanigans and the Be Creative were three of the new patterns I tried this year. Overall, I tried 30 new patterns! That’s quite a lot for me. A lot of them were intimidating at first, but when I finished them, most of them turned to be easy!
I completed all the weeks for the 52 Week Sewing Challenge and will be participating again this year. It was a very good motivator to keep sewing. I didn’t follow all the challenges, but did choose some new patterns because of the challenge. I found a few new pattern and fabric companies too. I plan to try to get bonus entries when I can bynusing a sponsor’s pattern. Here are my quarterly collages for 2020. Mostly clothes, but there are some other things scattered in there.
The things I’ve learned this year are:
-To keep my pattern cutting table clean
– Getting my patterns printed in large format is definitely worth the money
– Wardrobe basics don’t have to be boring or uncomfortable.
– Elastic isn’t scary
– Sewing for other people can be fun too!
– Tendinitis hurts and is super annoying. If I wear my brace when cutting fabric, like I’m supposed to, it doesn’t hurt as much.
The skills I want to work on this year are learning how to do flat locked stitches on my serger, button holes on my sewing machine, using the Accuquilt (this is a pretty darn cool quilting machine, so there’s going to be a post on it once I can play a bit,) darts, and grading patterns.
Patterns I want to make this year are the SOS pants and the Penelope Dress from Patterns for Pirates, the Valley Skater Dress and Lotte hoodie from Sinclair Patterns, a couple of tshirt patterns to compare, boxers for the Husband, tshirts for the Husband, and the Mix It Up by George and Ginger. There are more, of course, but I’ll start with those.
I’d also like to restart my monthly reviews. It makes it a lot easier to keep track of everything if I do that. It also might help keep me motivated to continue to try new things. I really do think my sewing confidence has grown and I’m proud of myself for being able to continue to blog and sew during what has been a really rough year, both physically and mentally. Hopefully this year will bring more determination and drive, as well as a positive outlook.
I hope this year you’re inspired by whatever makes you feel brave and creative! I’m looking forward to finding new projects and favorites!
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed… Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”- Henry David Thoreau
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”- H. G. Wells
“I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.”- Florence Nightingale
“We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.”- Louisa May Alcott
“You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.”- Tom Hiddleston
“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.”- Stephen Hawking
“It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.”- Betty White
“The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
“There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.” – Elie Wiesel
“There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” – Brene Brown
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”- Marcus Aurelius
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller
We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” – Benjamin Franklin
“We all get where we’re going by circuitous journeys, and some of the setbacks are warranted.” – Carol Burnett
“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”- Woodrow Wilson
“Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” – Carol Burnett
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller
“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” – Julie Andrews
“The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
― Maya Angelou
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
― Pablo Picasso
“Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence.”
