Tuesday 5 January 2016

'Tis the time of the year

2016... Feels kinda weird to write it down, doesn't it?

Like many others, I have been reflecting on last year's accomplishments and thinking about the year to come.  2015 was a great year.  It was busy, and finding a balance meant a little less quilting and a little less blogging.  That is quite all right with me.  I still managed to make some quilts, keep up with an online bee, and give a few quilty gifts and sew with friends.

2016 will find me even busier with other parts of my life, but I don't plan on quilting or blogging less.  Surely there is room to cut elsewhere.  I certainly don't need to check Facebook 10 times a day, play Solitaire, or browse Pinterest in search of another great idea I don't have time to make, so that's a good place to start.

So what are my quilting goals ?

The Sewing Room

Keep working on my sewing space.  My mom has been visiting hand helped me organize my stash that was getting out of control.  Her help was invaluable.  The amount of fabric she ironed and folded...  I wouldn't have done it without her.

Looking at that shelf makes me happy!

While the fabric shelf is organized, the work is far from complete.  There are other parts of the room that demand some attention.  Now that my mom's visit is over, I need to FTJ.  Finish. The. Job.

The Stash

Some of my friends are taking stash limitation pledges.  I get it.   My problem is not so much with buying fabric as it is with not using it.  I am a bit of a a huge hoarder of beautiful fabric to the point that I sometimes choose to use a less liked fabric to save the good stuff for later.  Go figure.  I know it makes no sense at all, so hopefully I can cure myself of that ridiculous / unproductive /wasteful  habit.  Use the good stuff.  Now.

The Quilts

Like many, I have "a few" projects on the go.  I am not saying I won't start new quilts, but I plan on getting some of the current projects finished.

1 - Scrappy Mountains: this one is almost complete... All that is left to do is to attach the binding, and finish it by hand, which I am saving for an upcoming trip in February.  Should be an easy finish.  Thanks to those who gave me their opinions on the binding last month.  It was a majority for the rust and white lines, but I went with a surprising suggestion by Lorna... the binding is all prepared and it will be scrappy low volume!


2 - Summer Quilt: Confession:  I am a quilter and I sleep under a duvet cover, not a quilt.  Our bed is the only one in the house that does not have a quilt on it.  The duvet is nice and warm in the winter, but not so great in the summer.  So a few years ago, I made this quilt top.  I then got discouraged because it needed a tiny repair job, and I set it aside for over two years...  I finally decided to take it out to do the repair with my mom's help (total repair time: 5 minutes), but one thing lead to another, we ended up unpicking, adding and subtracting, and generally taking this quilt into another direction.  More to come on that one, and hopefully a finish in time for the nice weather to return.

Friendly advice: do not hang a quilt top on the clothesline in the wind, unless you really like repairing frayed edges.

3 - Mom's Quilt:  Not techincally a WIP because it isn't started, but the fabric is bought - my Christmas gift to my mom.  She and I had fun picking fabrics together and browsing Pinterest and flipping through books for inspiration.  She will get a finish quilt for her birthday.  Now, decide on the pattern.  Just wondering... does anyone else do that, buying the fabric before deciding on a pattern?

My favourite is the flower print on the far right which I also have in two different greens and a lighter pink. 

4 - I have a number of other WIPs in various stages of completion, and I have to decide which ones will get finished.  I am not ready to commit to finishing specific ones right now, but I do want to take a serious look at what I have, and see what needs to be done.

The Friends

Sewing with friends is always more fun!  I will make every effort to attend as many as my guild's sew-ins as possible, and hopefully have a few sessions of sewing with friends.

That's it, folks.  Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

Did you set goals for 2016?


8 comments:

  1. I wrote 2015 on the first thing I signed today... And yes, since I have learned to stash fabric, technically I do buy the fabric before I decide on a pattern...

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  2. Your shelves look great. I'm working on getting mine organized. Good luck with your goals. And yes, we want to see you more at Sew Ins.

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  3. Hi there, lovely post to 'kick off'2016. With my new,sewing space completed (my Christmas gift from DH) I need to seriously sort my stash (and all the other stuff too, perhaps I could borrow your Mum!) I have some serious work to do, which like you means using the good stuff and working on WIPS. LOL Lorraine.

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  4. It does look like you've carved out a plan for yourself here, but built in some flexibility to allow for creativity. Thanks for the tip about not hanging quilt tops out in the wind - I wouldn't have thought of that. At the moment I don't have any new starts planned and am actually quite motivated to finish a couple unfinished projects (hopefully this will last!) One goal I do have it to make up some of the quilts I already have fabric for. In my quick calculations I have 5 of those - that's too much fabric and money spent not to deal with.

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  5. Your stash is so lovely and organized, kudos to your mom for helping! Also, your scrappy mountain quilt is stunning! I can see a low volume scrappy binding looking awesome with that, great choice. :)

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  6. Great goals for 2016, Dominique! I hope to see you linking up some projects from your stash. It's time for us to use the loveliness hiding in those cupboards and shelves... especially now that it's ironed and folded! ☺

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  7. YES! I am so glad to hear you are going with the scrappy low volume! I have been following this quilt's progress. And my address is.......

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  8. Those are great goals! Can't wait to see your finishes!

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