Happy New Year and review of 2021

December wasn't great for posting on my blog due to a variety of reasons but mainly there has been just so much going on that by the time I have space to post I need to sleep. I'm taking the opportunity to take a look back at 2021 and link up with Cheryl from Meadow Mist Design for her Best of 2021.

2021 has been another odd year for everyone. Trying to stay safe and well and ensure all family and friends are well has been tiring. At the same time we have needed to get on and enjoy life as far as any restrictions allowed. Overall the year at Sew Many Yarns has been good, with family time, trips away (although much fewer than usual), dinners out and visits to museums and art exhibitions, not forgetting visits to favourite quilt shops. Cheryl's link is about the best moments of 2021 and the choice of why they are the best is wide open so this took a little thinking about and trawling through the posts from the year. At that point I fell into the rabbit hole and ended up reading about my year from the posts. It was very enjoyable.

Most viewed.

There were several post that had very similar view figures but the post on February 6 won by a whisker. This showed my finish of a baby quilt for Umar (new baby of one of my students). I love making baby quilts but using scraps where possible. This one made a small dent in the scrap boxes,

The post also showed the start of the ballerina baby quilt. The ballerina blocks were part of a collection I was gifted by an elderly friend who was moving into sheltered accommodation and so was downsizing. This quilt was also gifted to a new baby.

 Most comments.

The post that received the most comments was the post for the Show your stripes blog hop.  I love taking part in blog hops for a variety of reasons, not least being the lovely comments that I receive.  For the Show your Stripes hop I made a baby quilt using a pattern from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

I chose to make this quilt using blues and reds and managed to source all the fabric from my scraps. I even had yardage in my stash for the back.

Yet again, although I used my scraps to make this quilt, it didn't make a big difference on the scrap boxes.

My favourite finish.

Making a quilt or piece of embroidery is lots of fun, very therapeutic and means you end up with a useful and pretty item. Having a finish is always good and my favourite finish of 2021 happened on the first day of the year . It was also my longest UFO having been started at the end of 1999. My millennium sampler was a Christmas gift from John in 1999. I started work on it almost immediately but over the years it spent long periods of time in my embroidery bag.  It was a great relief  and also a triumph when I completed it. 

Trips and walks.

I don't just post about quilting or stitching, I also post about our trips and walks. I get quite a lot of comments about the trips. In May 2021 we went to our favourite hotel in Somerset for a weekend break. This should have happened in March, for John's birthday but due to lockdown for covid it was delayed. We visited my favourite quilt shop  and then set out to Fairley Hungerford castle and on into Bradford on Avon.

Fabric objects.

I like to take photos of any fabric objects I see on our visits. In November John, Lucy and I went to Suffolk to try and finish the Stour and Orwell path. We walked from Pin Mill to Ipswich

At one point of the walk we walked past Freston Church. The vicar was just leaving and told us the church was still open if we wanted to have a look inside. The church was small but very interesting. Several members of the congregation had made kneelers for the church and I took photos.

I'm linking this post with Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs for her Best of 2021 link party. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get some sewing time and post about our December activities.

Take care

Lyndsey