2019: The Year in Stitches

Just a few more hours left in 2019, in some parts of the world it's already 2020.  I've already posted about my stitchy goals for 2020 to go along with Quilting JetGirl's Planning Party post.  But I didn't include my 2019 accomplishments in that post.  So before the calendar turns over to 2020, here's a summary of this year's accomplishments. 

1.  Quilt Plan Progress.  The plan included 12 quilts to be finished and six new projects to be started.  

Four quilts from the plan were finished:  Inverted Star, 2018 Christmas Mystery, Christmas Angels and Vintage Dresses.  

Twinkle Stars went from a set of finished blocks to an almost finished flimsy.  

Eight new quilt projects were started:  Wild and Goosey (2019 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Quilt), Daisy Chain Mystery, Storm at Sea, Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt, Mosaic Mystery, 2019 Christmas Mystery Quilt, Winter Quilt Along, 2019 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Frolic.  There were six new quilts listed on the original quilt plan. Two from that list ended up not happening, so actually there's only two new projects that weren't planned for in 2019. 

2.  Stitch for 15 Minutes Every Day in 2019 and host a Sunday Linky Party.  

Ended the year with 332 days of stitching time out of 365 days, for a success rate of 90.96%.  My target for the year was >90%, so just met that goal.  

Posted 52 weekly 15 Minute to Stitch linky parties.  

3. Sew from the Stash.   

Wild and  Goosey used up a lot of triangle scraps, while the Sensational Summer Scrappy quilt used up a number of 2.5 strips.  Daisy Chain and the Winter Quilt Along projects used up left over fabrics from other quilting projects.  Storm at Sea, Mosaic Mystery, and Frolic used stash fabrics.  The only quilt that used new fabrics was the 2019 Christmas Mystery.  So not bad performance on this particular goal for 2019. 

The only major fail for 2019 was finishing off projects. I would have liked to had a few more finishes, but four finishes are better than none at all. So I'll be happy with that success.  Finding time to stitch went well most of the year and using stash fabrics went pretty well too.  So I'll call 2019 a success and work harder on getting more finishes in 2020.  

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.  

2014 In Review: Accomplishments and Wishful Thinking

In some ways this year has gone really fast, but there are a few times where the year just seemed to drag.  The year was pretty uneventful till it reached late summer.  In the space of a about a month Drama Teen tore her ACL, then had surgery to repair it. The same day DT fell, we learned that My Guy's mother was terminally ill and we lost her just a few days after DT's surgery.  The holidays were hard this year as my MIL has always played such a big part in them.  As hard as it's been,  her loss reminded us just how precious time is with the rest of the family.  Drama Teen especially learned that lesson and made some significant changes in her approach to spending time with everyone, but especially with her remaining Grandma.  

There have been some bright spots this year as well.  Drama Teen passed her permit test and is learning to drive. 

The learning to drive is probably a brighter spot for DT than it is for us.  It will be nice not to have to jump through hoops and call in favors to get her from point A to point B for volleyball practice and such.  The brightest point in the driving situation for me is that she'll be driving my 11 year old Toyota, so Mom needs to find something else to drive. 

This came home with us on Monday (We were supposed to be just looking, not buying). But it wasn't red.  Our last two cars have been red, my only requirement was that it not be red (well that and that it have all wheel or 4 wheel drive).  My Guy really liked the way this one drove, so that decided it.  

I've also been reflecting on what got accomplished in the sewing room this year.  Quilting is a hobby, one I enjoy immensely, but this year I struggled to get myself into the sewing room.  Maybe I just needed a break this year.  I spent a lot of 2013 sewing on a deadline where I really had to be in the sewing room almost every day.  I was so flush with the victory of having finished 7 quilts in 2013 that when it came time to make goals for 2014, I probably fell victim to a lot of wishful thinking.  It makes for a bit of let down as I review what did get done this year.  

The Plan
1.  Finish 10 quits, 5 UFOs and 5 WIPs
2.  Start 8 quilts
3.  Add only 100 yards of fabric
4.  Use 75 yards of fabric

The Actual
1.  Finished 3 quilts, 2 UFOs and 1 WIP
2.  Started 5 quilts, only one from the list
3.  Added a lot more than 100 yards
4.  Used less than 35 yards

On the bright side, one of the quilts that was finished this year, Scrappy Stars, was the oldest one on the UFO list.  I haven't blogged about that finish yet as I put the final stitches in the binding, then promptly wrapped it up for my Mom.  And though I only started one of the quilts on my "to make list", I can look back and know why none of the others got started.  I'll be less ambitious this year and only add what I'm positive I'm going to start (that's easy as both relate to challenges). 

I added a lot more than 100 yards, but I have a more robust stash now. Of the 5 quilts started this year, there were 2 where all the fabrics were pulled completely from the stash.  That's better in past years where I've had to buy a background or accent fabric because my stash didn't have that color. So hopefully I'm set up this year to do a better job of using the stash and not adding to it as much.  

For the rest of this last day of 2014, laundry ranks as a "have to do".  Other than that, we have plans to go to the gym and get a slight jump on our exercise plans for 2015.  Drama Teen has a church party tonight. My Guy and I will probably watch the ball drop on TV, so there will probably be some slow stitching on tap for this evening.  

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve.