Happy 9th Blog Anniversary and Timeline of Events

Today is Busy Hands Quilts' 9th Blogiversary!  It's wonderful to look back and see how far my quilting has come in nine years.

I began the blog on October 28th, 2010.  My husband had been out of work since February of that year, and my medical transcription job ended at the end of October.  Voice recognition software was changing the field of medical transcription and eliminating transcription jobs in spades.  I worked at home and made great money because of my fast fingers.  While I was ready to be done transcribing, it was a huge deal to lose such a high-paying job.  Our savings were almost gone, and I needed a way to earn some cash, and that meant selling quilts and fabric.  I had long sold fabric on eBay and at this time began selling quilts and fabric on Etsy.

You can see the very first post at Busy Hands Quilts right here.  No judgment.  You'll see how far I've come.  :)

I purchased an antique Singer 31-15 that was mounted on a longarm quilting frame that same month, October 2010, and began to learn how to free motion quilt.  Because her rails weren't perfect, I only perfected an allover meander and an edge-to-edge organic wavy stitch, but these served me very well until 2017 when I purchased a Handi Quilter longarm.

2013 - 53 quilts made.  Year end review blog post is right here.

2014 - 24 quilts made.  Year end review blog post is right here.

My first quilt pattern was published in May of 2015, a rainbow star baby quilt.  You can see that blog post here.   This pattern is no longer available for sale.  It probably included 10 pages to tell you how to make this simple quilt.  LOL.  :)

July 2015 Picket Fence is released.  I made this quilt out of scraps in 2012 and received a request for the pattern, thus planting the seed that I could write quilt patterns.  It took several years for that seed to germinate, however.  Thank you to who ever it was that requested this!  I sent her the pattern for free when it was finished, but I don't remember who it was.

Picket Fence has been my all-time best-selling quilt pattern, still selling more patterns than all other quilt patterns four years later!  It's layer cake friendly and includes 6 sizes.  I am currently updating it to include rectangular Throw and Queen sizes rather than square quilts.

This is the original Picket Fence, a baby quilt made from scraps.

This is the original Picket Fence quilt pattern cover, still the best-selling cover of the many Picket Fence covers I've listed in my pattern shop.

2015 - 33 quilts made.  This included a Grand Illusion mystery quilt, a Gravity quilt, and a queen size Postcard From Sweden quilt.  Best of blog post is right here.

2016 - Purchased a Juki TL-2200-QVP Mini (identical to the TL-2010-Q except for body coloring) - and I still ♥♥♥ this machine!  It's an industrial machine that only stitches straight stitch.  

2016 - Made 67 quilted items.  You can read the year-end blog post right here.

March of 2017 I purchased a Handi Quilter Fusion with ProStitcher, whom I named Gratitude, and the quality of my quilts skyrocketed.  She is computerized and stitches amazingly well.  

You can see a pictures of my sewing room and longarm over here on Instagram.

2017, I began designing quilt patterns for Craftsy, now Bluprint.  

2017 - Made 54 quilts.  I didn't do a year-end blog post in 2017.  

In 2018, my design, Glorious Dawn, was chosen as Craftsy/Bluprint's September Block of the Month design and was kitted in three colorways - Hydrangea, Spectrum, and Sea Spray -  each in three sizes - Throw, Twin, and Queen.  These quilt kits are still available on their site - which means they've either continued restocking them because they sell so well, or less have sold than was anticipated would sell and they're overstocked.  :)  Since the brain inserts what it wants and even makes up stories when it doesn't have all of the facts, let's go with the first option, shall we?!?

Photo Credit Craftsy

Glorious Dawn in Hydrangea.  This is the queen size quilt I made for Craftsy.  The kit is available right here.

Photo Credit Craftsy

Glorious Dawn in Sea Spray in Twin size.  This kit is available right here.

Photo Credit Craftsy

Glorious Dawn in Spectrum in the Throw size.  This kit is available right here.

2018 is the first year I printed paper quilt patterns and began selling wholesale.  

2018 - Made 70 quilts.  I didn't do a year-end blog post, but you can see them all over on Instagram in the December 2018 posts.  

In 2018 I was accepted as a quilt pattern designer for Connecting Threads and have had 19 patterns accepted so far.  You've only seen 5 of them kitted so far, and you will be seeing the rest over the next nine months or so.  I do a huge {{Happy Dance}} when my Connecting Threads catalog arrives every few months and my designs are included in CT's amazing fabric collections!  :)

Photo Credit Connecting Threads

This is Calliope in Maison Rouge, kitted in the Queen size.  The pattern includes five sizes and is available separately.  View the quilt kit and pattern right here.

Photo Credit Connecting Threads

This is Granny's Square Patch in Maison Rouge, kitted in the Queen size.  The pattern includes six sizes and is available separately.  Go here to see the quilt kit and pattern.

Night Sky has been kitted in Penelope Grace in the Throw size.  The pattern includes Throw and Queen sizes and is available separately.  Go here to see them.

Photo Credit Connecting Threads

This is Winter Solstice, kitted as a Queen size in Faux Tonals for amazing texture.  The pattern includes Throw and Queen sizes and is available separately.  Go here to see the kit and pattern.

At this point in 2019, I have released a total of 33 quilt patterns for sale and have 9 patterns designed and awaiting the pattern to be written or a quilt sample made.  Stay tuned for those patterns!

Thanks for traveling down memory lane with me!  Because you read to the end, here's a treat for you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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