2023 Reader Favorite Projects

A look back at the most popular sewing & quilting projects from 2023 as chosen by our readers!

One of my favorite blog posts to write each year is my “Year in Review” post. I’ve done it almost every year that I’ve been blogging.

I hit “publish” on my first blog post in early 2009, which means that the Polka Dot Chair will turn 15 this year! What started as a whim has become not only a viable business but something I cherish and enjoy as well!

2023 in Review; Goals

I set a few goals for myself in 2023. I met my pattern writing and blogging goals for the year but had set a goal for 10,000 YouTube subscribers and 40,000 Instagram followers. I came up a bit short on both ends, (I ended up with 7200 on YouTube and 38000 on Instagram).

I think I know what I must do to continue building on that. I also had a goal to release two fabric collections in 2024, but I have come up short there as well, as I only have one line that was accepted. I’m not sure if it’s me or a rapidly changing industry, but it will be interesting to see what happens in 2024 on the fabric design front.

2023 Sew and Quilt Alongs

In 2023, I hosted more sew-alongs and really enjoyed it! If you missed any of them, don’t worry; all of the videos are still on our YouTube channel.

• Heart of Hearts Quilt Along
• All Ears Pouch Sew Along
• Breezy Bunting Quilt Along
• Spooky Shelfie Quilt Along

My Personal Favorite Projects

I love everything that I publish here; otherwise, I wouldn’t share it with all of you. There are two projects last year that stand out as two of my all-time favorites! From what I can tell, you guys loved them too!

The first is my Spellbound Witches Hat Pattern! This quilted witch hat was created on a whim last July, then after many, many prototypes, it was released as a pattern in October.

My second favorite project is also a hat, and I was inspired by my first favorite project! The Snowbound Santa Claus hat pattern was so much fun to design and sew.

I think I loved both of those projects so much because you made them for yourself, then took selfies wearing the hats and sent them to me! Nothing made me happier than seeing your smiling faces popping up in my Instagram feeds and on the photo reviews for the patterns in our shop!

(printed copies of both are coming this year, so if you have a shop of a quilt guild, you can host your own sew-alongs!)

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Looking Forward: Plans for 2024

I love to take this time of year not only to take a look back to see what did and did not work in the previous year but to make plans for the next!

I have a lot of fun things planned to share with you in 2024. Here’s a tiny sneak peek!

• 2024 Quilt Block of the Month Program – more details to come, but I’m excited to host this on a new and much simpler-to-navigate platform, which will include monthly instructional videos. Watch for an official announcement very soon!
• 2024 Project Planner Printable; coming next week!
• New Fabric Line; Tulip Cottage coming February
• Tailored Tulips Quilt Along – coming in March
• Printed copies for wholesale of the Spellbound Hat & Snowbound Hat patterns
• I’ve heard your pleas, and more fabric and quilt kits are coming to the shop!

Top 10 New Projects from 2023

Now, on to the fun part! Here are your favorite new projects from 2023! Our amazing blog contributors wrote some of them, and a few reworked older projects.

I’m so grateful to all of you, my readers! Thank you for our “almost” 15 years together, and here’s to 15 more!