Stash Report and 2016 Wrap Up

Happy New Year!  Wishing every one the best for the new year that is 2017.  The older I get the faster each year goes.  This year will see one of those major life changes for us, we'll send our only kiddo off to college and be empty nesters by next fall.  We had a taste of that this last week as Drama Teen was in Florida visiting friends.  She got back yesterday to help us celebrate the new year.  Thankfully My Guy and I had a nice week together, so I think we'll make the transition gracefully once it comes time to let our little bird leave the nest.

Judy, who blogs at Patchwork Times, is going to continue the stash report for 2017.  I've been contemplating dropping this weekly post, but finally decided to keep it for now.  Having to post my numbers on the blog does add some accountability for meeting my stash management goals.  Judy is resetting her numbers to zero this week, but I'm going to take the opportunity to review how things went in the sewing room this year.   I track a number of quilting related metrics in spreadsheet (yes I am that geeky, I love spreadsheets).  

Stash Management - The 2016 goal was to use more than I buy.  

Used in 2016:  60.37 yards
Purchased in 2016:  80.27 yards
Added in 2016:  19.90 yards

I didn't meet this goal, but 20 yards to the good isn't so bad.  Most of the incoming fabric was from winning a few give aways this year.  Without that fabric, I'd have been close to break even.  Still I used over 60 yards this year, that's my second best year ever for fabric out.  If you look at my numbers from a few years ago you'll see a marked improvement in stash in versus stash out. 

You should note, that I love the graphing function in Excel too. 

15 Minutes to Stitch - Getting into the sewing room some days is a challenge, quite literally.  So I've tried hard the last several years to find just 15 minutes each day to stitch.  If I can make it to the sewing room it usually ends up being much longer, but I've got to get there first. 

Days with 15 minutes of stitching:  284 out of 366

If I was grading myself on this effort, it'd be a C (77.6%).  But this is the best year ever of finding the time to stitch, so I'm happy with the effort.  

 Follow my 2016 Quilt Plan - Drama Teen asked for 4 graduation quilts for friends and mentors.  After my disastrous attempt at completing the teacher quilts when DT was in 8th grade, I knew that I'd need to get started early.  So I drafted a quilt plan that included both finishes and my planned quilt starts so I had a reminder of what was on my plate.  I was going to complete 8 quilts and start 7.   I didn't do so hot on the finishes, there were just 4 for 2016.  

Vintage Tea Time, Midnight Tulips, Allietare, and Zombies in Paris

On the other hand I managed to start 6 of the 7 quilts on my plan, plus just one other unplanned quilt for a total of 7 new projects.  One of which, Zombies in Paris, is already finished.  

Blooms and Butterflies, Bejeweled, En Provence, Geometry,
Meadow Mist Mystery, and Vintage Dresses

So I ended 2016 with 17 quilts on the UFO list, which is unchanged from where it was at the end of 2015.  

I actually finished 2 UFOs, but two other WIPs became UFOs because they were more than a year old and unfinished.

As usual, the year was a mix of successful and not so successful efforts.  Please note that I find this type of tracking fun and motivating, but I'm not a slave to it.  Quilting is my hobby and a great stress reliever for me.  My spreadsheet is part of the fun for me (as I said before, yes I'm that geeky).  

Wishing you a very happy and succesful 2017.  

Linking up with Patchwork Times for the weekly stash report.