2022 - where did you go? I can’t quite get my head round the fact that this year has been and gone. The year that life (kind of) got back to normality since Covid, but a new normal! There were many highs and a few lows and on reflection it has been an incredible year for my little business but it has felt hard and there have been number of times I have felt a bit lost and burnt out!

But with that being said, after putting this blog post together it has left me with an overwhelming feeling of how lucky I have been and what an incredible year it really was! Sometimes it is hard to appreciate all the little wins while you are in the thick of it all!

2023 is already shaping out to be quite an incredibly different year, but lets take a moment to look back at Ten Highlights of 2022!

No. One

being on the cover of the quilters planner 2023!

I started 2022 sitting down and designing a batch of quilt designs hoping to send a few off to see if I could get any published. One of those places was to the Quilters Planner and was shocked and so happy to have one fo them accepted. What I did not expect was for it to then be used for a cover version too! This was a first for Quilters Planner. Never before had they had a quilt pattern featured on the cover of their planners!

No. Two

i released 7 quilt patterns in 2022

• Silene Quilt pattern and Sirocco quilt pattern to my own website

• Designed Pointing Quilted Cushion - which is available as a one off course via Rebecca Page detailing how to make it.

• Designed 3 more quilt patterns for Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine (3rd pattern is being released on 15th Feb 2023 in issue 121)

• Designed River Avon Quilt for the Quilters Planner and this design also became a cover option for the planner too!

• Designed and released a FREE quilted hot water bottle - available over on my blog here!

• Designed my second quilt block for #quiltmasspectacular - the Seeking Santa quilt block, which is now available in my shop!

No. Three

Silene Quilt pattern became a cross-stitch!

I was so lucky to collaborate with Sally from Caterpillar Cross Stitch for a second time and we transferred the Silene Quilt Pattern into a cross-stitch pattern. The Cross stitch comes as a digital download or you can order it as a complete kit. Swipe the picture below to see this Silene Quilt Pattern become a cross-stitch pattern!

No. Four

I became an Aurifil artisan!

I was so thrilled to be chosen as an Aurifil Artisan back in May 2022. I had missed the deadline the year before and this was one of my (dream) objectives for 2022! I use nothing else ever since my friend recommended Aurifil to me almost 3 years ago and said ‘I would never look back’ - she was so right!

Each month there is a challenge and as an Aurifil Artisan you are expected to participate in at least 4 challenges over the year. Below shows the challenges I have participated in so far;

• Using 40wt thread from my welcome pack to quilt a walking foot quilt design.

• Using Auruifl floss to cross-stitch, as a activity I can do on the go!

• Using Aurifil Monofilament for the first time to produce hand-look stitches using my Janome sewing machine

• Using 80wt thread to make EPP Xmas Star decorations

• Using Variegated thread to quilt my Sweet Wonder Quilt.
  

No. Five

Seeing friends

This was the year we got to see each other in real life! I love my quilt community here in the UK. Highlights of the year were meeting up with Jenni Smith and Zoe at Liberty London (Zoe was my student for the Big Janome Skill Share 2021 - which we won! see more about it here) Jenni surprised us and had arranged to take us ‘back stage’ and we got to see the design rooms! It was an absolute pinch me moment! Below you can see me, Jenni and Zoe with the quilt that Zoe made for the competition - she used my Retro Metro quilt pattern.

The next highlight was spending a few days at the Festival of Quilts with my closest quilt friends! It was an incredible few days which lifted all our spirits and motivated us all to keep going! I honestly don’t know where i would be with these people in my quilty world!

No. Six

I did a bunch of quilt pattern testing!

Click each pic to see more about each quilt!

No. Seven

being part of Quiltmas spectacular 2022!

It was such a honour to be one of the Quiltmas-Elves for a second year. Everyone did such an amazing job ad it is such a fun community to be part of. Check out the #quiltmasspectacular hashtag to see more!

If you missed out on my Seeking Santa Quilt Block - it is now available in my shop!

No. Eight

hitting 12k followers on instagram

‘This year the aim is to hit 10K! ………… lets see if 2022 is as kind as 2021 was! ‘… this was what I hoped for at the end of 2021 after hitting 5Kin 2021!

All I can say is a massive thank you to everyone for your support. I love creating content and inspiring others to try and quilt. It is where I get most of my inspiration from too, from others who share their work!

No. Nine

I was featured in ‘whats in your sewing bag’

I was invited by Shannon Fraser to share ‘what’s in my sewing bag’ for her blog feature! It was such an honor to be asked, i love this series of blog posts and find it so facinating what we all have hidden awy in our sewing kits!

Read more here!

No. Ten

ENDING ON A HIGH!

Being featured on The Makers Studio with Janome Uk and Just Hands on TV.

At the beginning of the year Janome UK invited me alone to be a guest on The Makers Studio hosted by Just Hands on TV. I demonstrated a few walking foot designs using a Janome machine and talked few of my own quilts. It was an experience I will never forget and lead me to be featured again on Just Hands on TV and host an in person workshop.