Hello 2012

Happy 2012 to each and every one of you! 

My final sewing finish for 2011 happened yesterday afternoon. It was inspired by Little P showing great promise as a budding chef with mixing cinnamon bun pancakes this week. I'm secretly planning to enter him in Junior Masterchef in 2012. 

And every junior chef needs a special apron. 

So here's a recap of what I did with the other 364 days that made up 2011. 

I grew a lot as a quilter this past year. I tried things I hadn't done before like paper piecing and hand stitching and more complicated blocks and it didn't kill me nor was there more swearing than usual.I'm still avoiding free motion quilting quite successfully and will probably continue to do so as long as there is breath in my body. Some things are beyond even my capabilities. Fiddly baking also makes that list. I was mildly obsessed with quilting last year and here are my finishes for 2011. 

There was lots of other craftiness going on at Maison Pyjamas too. It makes me wonder when I had time to go to work.

And as usual I'm starting the new year with plenty of WIP's. I'm not even going to pretend I'll finish all of these before my ADD kicks in and I start something else.I swear my Dresden quilt is going to be vintage before I get the binding on. 

I publicly bragged I  was going to buy under 100 yards of fabric in 2011. At last count I was up to about 310 yards for the year so I don't think we can call that an unqualified success. Needless to say I wont be making the same vow in 2012 because I obviously have no willpower. I really admire people who do (I'm finger pointing at Kate here) 

I participated in my ever first swap hosted by Kat and my first ever quiltalong hosted by Becks in 2011. Both were a lot of fun. I'm joining in a Farmer's Wife Quilt Along this year with some fabulous people which I'm sure will teach me patience while I try to make 100 different blocks with seams that actually line up.

Little Miss Sunshine and I visited back and forth between her house and mine. It's always fantastic when you meet a blog friend in real life and they even awesomer than they are in the virtual world. 

I finished a computer room makeover, a dining room makeover and a sewing room makeover and there wasn't nearly as much bitching and whining as when we did the kitchen and laundry in 2010. Maybe I'm maturing.  

That just leaves the bathroom (which is truly hideous) and the garden, which I didn't touch in 2011. In fact many plants suffered from involuntary planticide at Maison Pyjamas in 2011. 

I keep waiting for the plant police to knock on my door and drag me away to be locked up for cruelty to plants. I already have my defence prepared and my lawyer on speed dial.  

We lost a car because some peanut wasn't looking where he was going.

 and I almost lost a finger trying to make Assaggio root vegetable soup. 

2011 was the year of the never ending haircut. Every time I went to the hairdresser I got another 3 inches cut off. I started the year looking like this. 

and ended it looking like this. Thank goodness the year ended because another month or two and I would have ended up with a mohawk. 

My Dad managed to be in hospital or requiring medical attention for his birthday, my birthday, my mother's birthday and my sister's birthday. Pure attention seeking. Thank goodness we ran out of birthdays. Kidding Dad. I'm glad it was nothing seriously serious in the end. 

But if you pull the same stunt this year we're going to Grandpa dump you at the hospital and leave you there until all the birthdays are done. 

Miss P  thrilled my heart by stitching something. I had high hopes she had been bitten by the crafting bug but alas she used up all her crafting mojo in one hit for the year. 

And finally, in 2011 I got my arse kicked by a sock monkey. That frigging thing was never going to get finished. It was a blessing when I lost it's face and had a legitimate excuse to put it in a plastic bag, although a demented sock monkey without a face staring at you accusingly is the stuff nightmares are made of.  Susan offered to come on over and help me stick pins in it voodoo style while we drank wine and chanted a spell to rid my house of the demon monkey vibes but in the end I decided death by binning was the kindest thing to do. Sometimes you have to know when to fold. 

Meantime since I had visions of becoming the queen of sock monkey making I'm stuck with these two pairs of socks.

If you're impervious to the possibility of demonic possession I'll send them to you  so you can make your own sock monkeys. Otherwise they'll just sit round here mocking me.  

So, as the sun has set on the old year I have created this pin up board of 2011 memories to remind me of the wonderful people who have shared  my life in the past year. Thank you for being one of them. 

Here's to a fabulous 2012 !