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Last Look Back & Best of the Year

I got a lot done in December, starting with this holiday-themed bag that I made and filled with sugarfree treats for our brother-in-law, whom we visited at his assisted living facility for Christmas. He's 86 and still going strong.

The back of the bag. We had such a good time talking about our younger years, when we would all get together to celebrate special occasions. It was a really nice day.

I made some homemade furoshiki (with admittedly mixed results) for wrapping gifts sustainably.

I mended this Calvin Klein sample shirt that I got in a lot of mendables from Fabscrap. The shirt is a man's but fits me perfectly, so I'm wearing it this winter. :)

I mended and embellished an old crazy quilt patchwork block to make a top for this storage box.

I cleaned and framed this vintage cross stitch Santa sampler that came in a thrifted lot of fabric.

I also cleaned and then finished stitching this cross stitch sampler from the same lot.

It really looks nice framed, too.

I crocheted this winter hat to match my favorite crazy quilt tote because I love the color palette.

After I finished the hat I used the rest of the skein to crochet this scarf in V-stitch.

I patched over a large cut out in the back of this Calvin Klein sample shirt to make it into a pajama top for me.

I crocheted a mini amigurumi rabbit from a UK crochet pattern book.

My final project for December and 2024 was finishing my crocheted calendar mood blanket. I ended the month with six happy days and five creative, with only four negative mood days. I had to add new colors for happy and busy. My final row was the color for grateful, because I learned so much about myself while making this project.

I can see how I've grown this year looking at the colors. I started out 2024 in pain and dark moods, but over time my emotions lightened and I was able to focus on things that made me happier. This project also taught me to be more mindful of my moods, and to work on getting over negative moods so I don't end up wasting time being depressed.

The blanket measures a bit bigger than the pattern at 111-1/2" X 64" I think because of some of the yarns I used, and the fact that I do crochet a bit looser these days due to the arthritis in my hands. I was able to use 47 thrifted skeins of yarn to make it.

The only color that I didn't use at all? The one I picked out for lonely. I'm going to give the credit for that to my guy, my favorite person, and my friends. All of you kept me from feeling lonely this year.

Because I loved this project a lot I've decided to keep the blanket, and take it out on the coldest nights when we have a burn in our outdoor fire pit. It's certainly big enough to wrap up me and my guy. :)

To see an album with pics of the best projects from everything I made in 2024, along with notes about them, click here.

After much thought I've also decided on my calendar project for 2025. I will be making one 5" X 7" mini quilt per week rather than per day, and at the end of the year I'll hopefully have 52, which I plan to sew together either into a book or a wall hanging.

So why am I not trying to do 365 mini quilts as per my original idea? Several reasons: I have a day job, my arthritis is getting worse, and I don't want to spend my entire year making mini quilts every day. By doing just one per week I'll be able to do other creative projects, too. Taking the pressure off myself will allow me time to figure out what the design should be and gather my materials before I start working on it, and then space out the hand work over seven days. By scaling back my ambitions I think I'll be able to do a better job, too, and still make it a year-long project.

I was trying to decide which project I did this year was my favorite, and while there were many contenders I kept coming back to the brooch holder I made from a crazy quilt block I repaired. The fact that it was unique, completely my idea and recycled something beautiful from the past definitely factored in.

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