Taking Stock: 2014 year end review

Stash report:

December turned out to be a very good month because of several finishes. The Plus Dash top used 10 yards, the Secret Sewing #3 used 5-1/4 yards, and the Christmas potholders used 1-3/4 yards for a total of 17 yards out. Only 7 yards came in, my winnings from STLMQG and the fabric I bought for the potholders. Pretty good, 10 yards more used than came in!

Some of my STLMQG winnings

So, here are the 2014 totals:
IN: 167-1/4 yards
OUT: 155-1/8 yards
Net change: 12-1/8 yards added to the stash.
All in all, a very good year. I didn't break even as I had hoped, but only adding 12 yards isn't too bad.

Now I get to start 2015 with a clean slate. I doubt I'll acquire or use as much fabric in 2015 because some of the 2014 usage was for book quilts and there aren't any book quilts in the works for 2015. As you can see in the previous post below, I finished 18 quilts in 2014, by far a record for me, and I don't expect that kind of productivity in 2015.

 

Goals:

December recap: Other stuff got in the way and I got sidetracked so I didn't accomplish some of what I had hoped to. I added an extra Christmas project at the last minute which wasn't originally on the list. I will need to more carefully consider what I put on the list each month and focus better in 2015.

1. Finish secret baby quilt #3.  DONE
2. Work on project for potential publication. Not touched. Some attention with the seam ripper is needed.
3. Finish Plus Dash top. DONE
4. Work on adding borders to CSQ raffle quilt (top is due to long-armer in January) Not done yet but is absolutely first up in January.
5. Keep up with bee blocks.  DONE
6. Design cover for Broken Chevron pattern in Photoshop. Not done.
7. Design cover for Plus Dash pattern in Photoshop. Should not have been put on the list because the top must be quilted, bound, and photographed before I can Photoshop the pattern cover. Plus Dash is on the long-armer's waiting list and piecing the back is on my list for January.

Other: 10 Christmas potholders for gifts, DONE

January Goals:
1. Add borders to CSQ raffle quilt.
2. Design cover for Broken Chevron pattern in Photoshop.
3. Piece backing for Plus Dash top.
4. Work on project for potential publication.
5. Keep up with bee blocks.
6. Prep project to work on at Girl Scout Camp retreat in Feb.

Year-long goals: I'm hesitant to specify anything because I know myself - I'll jump from project to project, lose interest in something, get a new idea and run with it, etc. So, I think I'll just enjoy the process and enjoy the connection with other quilt bloggers. Oh, and I hope to break even in the stash report.

P.S. I still don't know anything about a date for my little book. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes out before Paducah Quilt Week in April.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, and on 1/4/15 with Stash Report Sunday at Patchwork Times.

Close...

I'm close to finishing one of the secret sewing projects; I should have it completely done by Wednesday so I'll be able to count out the fabric for the back and the binding. Meanwhile, nothing in and nothing to count out this week. I'll post a year-end stash summary on the 31st. I'm pretty sure I'll end the year with a few yards more in the stash than I started with, but it was a very good - and busy - year. I think I can count 18 quilts finished for the year, a flimsy, and a couple other projects started.

Many of the projects I worked on in 2014 were secret sewing that I couldn't post here on the blog. I'm hoping that in 2015 I can show more of what I'm working on. I still don't have a date from AQS for when my book will be published, but as soon as it's out, I'll post about it here.

Meanwhile, here are some favorites from 2014:

Big Print Beauty

 

CSQ Charity Quilt

Girl Charity Quilt

 Chain of Love Baby Quilt for Great-nephew Max

30 Circles, for CSQ's 30th Anniversary Challenge

Broken Chevron

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Stash Report Sunday.

A Good Christmas

We had a good Christmas, and I hope you did too. Family, friends, and good food.

I can now reveal the last minute secret sewing (previous post below): Christmas potholders for my nieces. Actually I forgot to photograph them all before I wrapped them up, so I grabbed a snapshot of two of them after the recipient opened the gift. I ended up making five of each print. Cute and modern, and they go with the girls' kitchens!

Since these are a finish, I'm linking up with Friday Finish at Crazy Mom Quilts and Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Stash Report 12/21/14

Some spur-of-the-moment last minute Christmas gifts prompted a trip to the fabric store. 1-7/8 yards in. Got them sewn up and ready to wrap. 1-3/4 yards out.

I also finished the flimsy for Plus Dash this week so I get to count that yardage out, too. 10 yards used. (Photo in previous post, below)

I'll tally up the totals for December and for the year at the end of the month. Two more weeks and I can start fresh for 2015, right?  :-)

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times. Check out everyone else's stash management efforts over there.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

...for taking photos.

My Plus Dash flimsy is finally finished, but we'll have to settle for a lousy indoor photo, because it's snowing outside. I pinned it to the design wall at the ceiling and could barely get it all in the photo.

Plus Dash flimsy

This is on my long-arm quilter friend's waiting list. I'm hoping she can get to it in January, so I'd better get busy and piece the back. I'll use leftover prints and a couple extra blocks from the front. I'm hoping she can quilt something interesting in those white spaces; she's good at that. Then I'll bind it with a stripe that perfectly picks up on all those colors.

Linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Friday Finish at Crazy Mom Quilts.

On the other hand...

On the one hand, I was confident of fabric usage this week because I finished the top of Secret Sewing #3 for 3-1/4 yards out. I didn't buy any fabric. I was hopeful my stash report would show a reduction.

On the other hand...
I went to the STLMQG meeting yesterday. I was one of the participants in this year's War on WIPs, and for each completed WIP (or UFO) from our lists, our names went into a drawing for prizes. I was fortunate to win a FQ bundle of Tula Pink's Parisville for 1-1/4 yards in.

Tula Pink's Parisville from Westminster Fibers

We also had our annual ticket fundraiser. I bought tickets, never really believing I'd win anything, but I won this cute bundle of Playground from Camelot Fabrics. I think it was a kit someone donated, as there are both linear quarters and fat eighths of these prints, and there was white with it as well, for 3-7/8 yards in the bundle.

Playground from Camelot Fabrics

So, 5-1/8 yards in this week. It's all good. I scored some cute fabrics I can use in future projects, and enhanced my stash at very little cost to me. I call that a win, even if my stash numbers did take a hit!
I'll tally the totals for the month and the year at the end of December.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Stash Report Sunday.

Didn't make it into QuiltCon

Broken Chevron

I got the news last night that my quilt Broken Chevron didn't make it into QuiltCon. I'm not disappointed that it didn't get in, just mad at myself for wasting $30 of my very limited quilting budget on the entry. I could have bought fabric with that money!!!

Funny story:
I've privately called this design "Walk Like an Egyptian" since I designed it in EQ and it reminded me of arms and legs going every which way, like that goofy old song. I even started the spiral quilting at the "elbow" because of that. I've never mentioned that name on the blog before because "Broken Chevron" seems like a more descriptive and more professional pattern name for publication.
A quilter in CA is testing the pattern for me and she e-mailed photos of her top. She chose shades of gold with white, and one of the photos shows her top hanging on the wall over her bed, where it looks gorgeous with her decor. She told me she named her quilt "Walk Like an Egyptian."
How cool is that?!!!