A Sense of Accomplisment

A few days ago, I finished the sample and then the pattern for a cute little tote bag. It is my Spring Flowers Shopping Tote and the pattern is now in my Craftsy Store.

This bag brings me so much joy for a few reasons.

The crisp, clear greens and the bright pink are so fresh and happy after the last few months of grey days. Working on the applique in a brightly lit window has been so uplifting for my mood. It has also encouraged me to go for a walk outside and look for all of the hallmarks of the coming Spring. The days are getting longer. Trees now have little leaf buds on them. Bulbs are pushing through the soil in nearby gardens. Some brave Daffodils and Crocus are already in flower.

This is the first applique design that I have worked on in a little while. The design has been completely created in Electric Quilt. I love to work in this software. Spring Flowers Shopping Tote was created in version 7 of Electric Quilt, but version 8 is now available and has even more features than before. Seriously, if you like to design at all, it is a great program to try. I am still learning to use it, but have made some very nice virtual quilts just by following the built in tutorials. Just look at this one:

For me, the greatest joy has come from the fact that my Spring Flowers Shopping Tote is the last of my projects from 2017 that were works in progress at December 31, 2017. In actual fact, there were two projects that I started in 2017 and did not complete in that year. I thought that was a pretty good accomplishment until I realised that I had now finished them both. Of 97 projects started in 2017, I completed 95 of them before the end of the year. The two that were incomplete were my much loved Atlanticus Blanket (completed in January 2018) and my Spring Flowers Shopping Tote.

This is such a great accomplishment for me. I am great at coming up with ideas, selecting and combining materials and even starting projects. Getting them finished is a much more difficult task. This is the first time that I have ever completed all of the projects that I started in one year! The closest that I have come before was 2016 when I had seven projects still in progress by the end of the year. I have since completed five of these and the remaining two I am actively working on. I really like the idea of finishing what I started in the one calendar year, maybe this year I can achieve this.....