Year End Favorites:: Quilts

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the published lists of favorites from the past year. Whether it's favorite books, music, or people or events, I love reading through these lists and comparing them with my internal rankings of stuff.
Even though it came out a couple weeks ago, I still have this year's New York Times Book Review list of top 100 books by my bedside. I'm always curious to see what they selected as the best books of the year, though, truth be told, I really only pay attention to the fiction 50 because I'm not much of a non-fiction reader. Also, I should add that if one of my favorite books is missing from the list I find myself getting pretty irate at the powers-that-be at the NY Times. I'm not usually satisfied with consulting a single list though. I peruse the NPR books list as well. It's particularly fabulous because it divides the fiction favorites into additional sub-categories like mystery and youth fiction. That allows me more opportunities to either wonder whether I'm in agreement with the choices or, if I haven't read the book, contemplate adding that title to my to-read list.
That's essentially what's so great about the end of one year and the anticipation of another, so many possibilities and opportunities. Realistically, this demarcation we call New Year is pretty arbitrary, but I'm so glad it's there because I enjoy cataloging the previous year into what's thrilled and inspired me as well as planning for the coming year.
This year I've decided that the fun should not be limited to large media outlets. I want in on the favorites list making. I've decided to make several lists pertaining to stuff I'm interested in. I'm starting with quilts and, because I've never done this before, I granted myself a special dispensation and allowed myself to choose ten favorites from more than just 2009. My selections came from my many "faves" on flickr, all 67 pages of them. I've put them together in one online gallery, titled, "Love these Quilts!".
Taking on this task did make me empathize with the mass media "selectors". I had so many amazing quilts in my favorites that I did find my head spinning a bit. The spinning was only exacerbated when I thought about all the quilts on flickr I probably had never or will never see. After some deep breaths though I persevered and assembled my wee little gallery. I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't agree with my choices, try not to get too mad at me.


Also, if you haven't entered the Lark Books quilt contest, it's not too late. The holidays are a perfect time to sneak away from the family for a bit of self-indulgent, but let's face it, sanity-preserving, crafting. The deadline is January 5, 2010. Go ahead and follow the link in the right-hand sidebar to find out everything you need to know.