2019 IN REVIEW

I’m fascinated to look at the last year as one that has been very outward-facing in many ways. Early on, I taught three classes and gave two lectures at Quiltcon in Nashville. I was proud to have Blue Houses, which won a 3rd place ribbon in the improv category at Quiltcon, selected to travel to Nantes, France in an MQG showcase.  I gave lectures and taught workshops throughout the year at the Warwick Valley Quilters, Rebecca’s Reel Quilters, in Manhattan at Gotham Quilts, at Mid-Atlantic MOD, and with my own guild, NJMQG. I was able to travel to Rochester for the opening reception of Crafting Democracy, where my group quilt Women’s Work was a part of a social justice fiber art group show, my first.

Because of this, I only finished three small quilts! I remember previous year-end posts filled with a dozen or more finishes and if I were in a mental state to compare them it would seem that I didn’t do much sewing. However, I have steadily continued work on a very large hand-pieced quilt that has forced me to look at what quilting really means to me. My most personally impactful making comes in times of deep reflection, or it helps me uncover some ideas that were hiding under the clutter inside my head. I may not have had a year of quilting that can be demonstrated in a tangible way, but I did a lot of important inward-facing work during this outward-facing year, and I’m proud of all that I’ve learned.

Among the practical skills and life lessons, I’ve learned a lot that I want to incorporate into new workshops. The catch is that I’ve been so busy that I need to take some time off to make new work, try out the ideas that have shown their glittery new surfaces, and find out what is underneath. Along with the changing needs of my family, these situations have led to me deciding to take 2020 and early 2021 off from teaching quilting workshops. I’m so excited to open a new chapter and explore new possibilities in my quilting practice. I’ll still be on melintheattic.com and Instagram, so come visit. I’ll make announcements there when I have new information to share.

Looking ahead, the Crafting Democracy show is now displayed  at the Sculpture Center in Cleveland, where it will be until January 10. There is also a book of all of the work in the show available from RIT press: https://www.rit.edu/press/crafting-democracy

And now, the quilts!

Here is Swell, a quilt that I made for the IQA silent auction at Quilt Festival:

And a hand-pieced and -quilted mini that I made for a swap with friends:

I also have one more finish to share before the year is done, but it will get its own post.

I hope you can look back on 2019 and find some positivity. In the end, the calendar shouldn’t dictate our sense of what we’ve accomplished, but it’s a good tool for marking time, growth, and the relationship between the two. I thank you for reading and wish you happy winter celebrations.