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Sunday, December 31, 2017

Stash Stuff and Return of the 15 Minute Challenge

Happy New Year's Eve!  We aren't party people.  Our plans will be to hang out at home as much as possible today (it's too cold to run around much anyway).  I'll sew and My Guy will probably play in the kitchen some. If we can make it to midnight, we'll watch the ball drop in Oklahoma City on TV.  Not exciting, but it works for us.  The Scientist in Training isn't home this year, she's off in Florida with friends this holiday.  But she'll be home for her birthday in about a week.  

All I can say about the stash report this week is that life threw me a curve ball in that I was sick for two days.  Thankfully it wasn't the flu, but it was some stomach/respiratory thing that came with a massive headache for two days.  I made it to the sewing room, but not a lot got done.  So though there is some out this week, it's not the big push I was hoping for.

Used last week:  0.52 yards
Used year to date:  57.43 yards

So I'd need to use 2.5 yards to break 60 yards out for the year. I'll never say never, but it's not likely.  I'll give a full accounting in my 2017 wrap up post later this week.  

Now for the other part of the stash stuff.  Those who've followed me for while know that I try to spend 15 minutes every day in the sewing room.  That started as a way to deal with a complete lack of sewing mojo back in 2011.  That personal challenge to myself was so useful that in March of that year I started up a weekly linky party for anyone who wanted to join me in the challenge of finding 15 minutes of stitching time each day.  I stopped the linky party in 2013 as it became too hard for me to reliably write a post that went live on Tuesday and interest waned in the challenge.  There's been some interest in some of the newer bloggers I've met in applying the challenge to see if it helps them find time in their busy lives to do more in the sewing room (and some interest from past participants as well). So I'm going to restart the challenge on a trial basis for the first quarter of 2018.  Here's the details (and a new button):


When: Linky party will go live on Sundays, as part of my usual stash report

What:  Just report how many days of the week you found time to stitch (If you decide 15 minutes is too much or not enough, set your own challenge time). What you count as stitching time is also up to you, I count time in EQ designing projects and making quilt labels as stitching time since it advances a project towards completion. 

How:  You can track it any way you want to.  I'm a spreadsheet kinda gal, so I do my tracking in Excel with way more statistics than anyone could possibly want.  But here's what my spreadsheet looks like.  


But you could do as well with a bullet journal or whatever tracking tool you use for your quilting projects. 

Hope to see you next Sunday for the revived 15 Minute Challenge link up.  

Linking up as always with Quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash update.  

25 comments:

  1. Thanks for the incentive! I always suggest to people who've lost their mojo to start with just 15 minutes a day, but never follow my own advice. I'm going to give your linky party a go and see how well I do this year (the year of the UFOs in my sewing room).

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  2. Hurray! I'm very excited that you are bringing back the 15 Minute Challenge link-up for 2018. As you know, I have continued tracking my days all along. It's a great motivation to get in the sewing room every day.
    Have a very Happy New Year (and stay warm!)

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  3. I decided about a month ago that this new year I need a 15-30 minute a day challenge to just do hand quilting--I have 6 quilts all basted and will be adding more--sooooo--I do need to join--my problem in in the linky--I can never seem to get them to work right for me--I kept trying to get it to work on the color of month one--finally gave up and just did the challenge--just couldn't do the link--!!!
    love the button though for the challenge--
    enjoy the moments,di

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  4. Great idea!! YEars ago we go up first thing in the morning and got my 15 minutes in - I miss that!!!

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  5. This will be good for me to use those 15 minutes to handquilt - need that push. Put your sweet button on my sidebar.

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  6. Sorry to hear you were sick this week, especially on a week with time off work! Hope you're feeling better and enjoy ringing in the new year from the comfort of your home. I will join in on the 15 minutes a day - may not be all quilting for me, but I will do my best to get a little crafting in each day!

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  7. Before I retired I found I needed the 15 minutes of sewing everyday to stay sane during work! It really helped! Nowadays I still need that time, even without work. I'll join in! Happy New Year, Kate! It will be quiet our house, too.

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  8. Oh good! I'm glad you are going to do this. I need to come up with my spreadsheet for this 15 minute challenge as well as my other goals. Thank you and enjoy your New Year's Eve. We probably won't even stay up past 10pm.

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  9. Yay so glad you are starting up the 15 minute challenge again, it really helped me get stuff done before! See you next Sunday!

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  10. Good for you starting up the challenge again. I love your spreadsheets, and I’d expect nothing less from you. You are so very organized! Sorry you were sick, and hoping you’re feeling better now.

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  11. I do try to sew everyday! Sometimes it's just trimming blocks or quilting a bit on my frame, but I find it keeps me in the groove. Years ago Nancy Zieman wrote a book called 10-15-20 minutes to sew, which helped me realize you can get a lot done in small chunks!

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  12. I don't keep track of time spent but I do log each day what craft projects I have touched. I've been doing it for years. Sometime long ago I saw the concept related to card making and 10 minutes a day. I find it a very motivating concept.

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  13. I'm joining challenge and included your linky party in today's post. HAPPY NEW YEAR kate!

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    1. I also your button to my blog sidebar...hope it helps to get participators.

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  14. Yes, I will be participating in your 15 minutes challenge! I set that goal for myself this year, and I'm going to go do my 15 minutes right now, as the day has flown (thanks to whatever I'm coming down with). Thank you for hosting!

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  15. What a lovely challenge. I may just have to participate.

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  16. I have been so lax with sewing. I haven’t done much since October and no blogging at all. I’m so happy you’re starting up the 15 Minute Challenge again. Maybe that will get me back on track.

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  17. Oooh, linky party! I'm going to start tracking as well. I decided that anything that furthers a project counts (cutting, hand stitching, layering) but anything on the computer does not count. I was thinking of reporting in every month, so you may not see me each week but I'm in!

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  18. I will try and keep up with the challenge being sick 24/7 some days just cant do anything Would love to know how you did your spreadsheet i think that is a great incentive to log what one does so one can see that indeed there is some improvement thankyou

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  19. I'm on board. Any little but if time is movement forward to a completed project. Thanks for the encouragement. Happy New year!!

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  20. Ooh, I’ve been wanting something new to add to my stash report, since it’s gotten dull.

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  21. It's not that I lost my quilting mojo . . . I have way too many quilting projects creaming for my attention. Since my computer and office are in my very large quilt room, I spend many hours each day in here. I too set up a spread sheet to track my progress and completions. I am in.

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  22. Hooray! My favorite Linky Party is BACK! And bullet journaling? another favorite.

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  23. Hooray! My favorite Linky Party is BACK! And bullet journaling? another favorite.

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  24. I have finally learned how to get your button to work on my side bar. So now I'm am very happily joining you. Thank you for this link up.

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