Every year, I think WHY did I start writing a blog on December 27th? I know the answer–it was a goal for the year, and I wanted to say that I did indeed start writing a blog in 2012. Statistically, it is weird though. There are these two little lonely blog posts in 2012.

Still, it is nice to wrap up my real year at the same time I wrap up my blogging year. For the past two years, as a way of celebrating this anniversary, I have written a blog post hi-lighting my top 10 posts. If you are new to this space or if you just want a little trip down memory lane, you can check out those posts by clicking on 2013 or 2014. I like taking this opportunity to look back on the year and see what you folks liked reading. Here we go.

10. Home is Home
In the fall of 2014, I spent to months as an artist in residence at the McColl Center for Art and Innovation. While there I worked with a formerly homeless population to create a huge community quilt for the entrance to their new housing complex. On so many levels this was an amazing experience.

9. The Perfect Beginner’s Top Down Sweater
One of the best things about this year has been learning how to knit. It’s a lot of fun to be a beginner. You can only get better, right? In this post, I contemplate beginning my first top down sweater. I must add that learning to knit has resulted in some time management issues for me. Or put another way addiction doesn’t follow a schedule.

8. It’s All About the Mitts
If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know that these Artful Oven Mitts like to show up at random moments during the course of a year. Who knew potholders could create such an interesting story line.

7. Hot Crossed Squares–the Show
I wrote a series of posts leading up to my show at the Kenai Pennisula College Gallery last September. This blog entry features the quilts of the show. That show was a really good experience for me. (Who doesn’t want their name in lights?) I feel like I have learned a lot about pacing myself for these things although #6 might suggest otherwise.

6. Killing Myself with Deadlines
I wrote this post as a confession really. I wanted to share what happens physically to a quilter when she is preparing a solo show. It is hard work. Interestingly, this was a bit of controversial post. There were lots of very interesting comments about the process I described.

5. Quilt National Opening Night
What else do I need to say? This was a big time dream come true. I should also give Carol Trice credit for this fun photo. Cheers to all of you.

4. July 4th–McCarthy Style
Most of you know that my family and I spend part of our summers in a little bit wacky Alaska mountain village called McCarthy. This post is a photo essay about our annual July 4th celebration. It makes me miss summer and daylight. And, well, bums.

3. Notes From a Weary Traveler
Last spring, I went on a wild adventure which included installing a major community quilt in Charlotte, North Carolina, two weeks of study with Nancy Crow, and Quilt National. It was a serious trip. This post is about that journey.

2. Sewing Studio- McCarthy Style
This is one of my favorite posts. If you haven’t seen my off-the-gird sewing studio in rural McCarthy, Alaska please click on the link and enjoy.  Thank you Sustainable Arts Foundation for making this studio a reality.

1. THE ART OF THE WORD- Writer + Quilter = Opportunity
I spoke at SAQA’s annual conference this past spring in Portland, Oregon. People enjoyed the lecture, and I decided to rework the speech into a series of blog posts. I haven’t finished the series, but the first post about that speech was my number one post for the year.

An that concludes this year’s blog recap. The most popular posts were also the biggest moments of the year really. I would like to thank all of you for supporting me in my adventures. Your words of encouragement keep me trucking along. I hope you will stick around for 2016. I think it is going to be a good one.I turn turn 50–that’s right FIFTY–and that means I am highly motivated to make this a stellar year.

28 Dec This entry was published on December 28, 2015 at 5:09 PM. It’s filed under News And Events and tagged Happy Anniversary, McCarthy AK, Top 10 Posts. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.