Looking back:
The two big things....
My new book, No Scrap Left Behind, came out in February. I travelled a lot this year to promote my book, including visits to Georgia, Missouri, Indiana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida. Plenty of stops in Minnesota, too. Many thanks to all of the guilds that invited me to speak and teach. I feel very lucky that I get to do this! Thank you to all of you who purchased a copy of the book. I appreciate it more than I can say!
My latest fabric line, Emma & Myrtle, came out in July! It's so fun to see what others are making from it. I don't think that will ever get old. (It looks like it's currently on sale, too!)
I had a few other highlights:
-In March I made it down to 4 WIPs!
-In July I did my one a day pincushion challenge for a second year in a row. I'm probably done with that challenge now, but it was fun to revisit it. I'm definitely NOT done making pincushions, though.
-In September I started a new series where I'm going to try to complete 10 quilts made from solid scraps. (I have yet to complete one, but I've got two quilt tops done and another few started.) I LOVE working in a series.
-I completed 14 quilts for the year. That's pretty low number for me....I think the last year that I completed that number of quilts was 2006. (I'm totally fine with that, though, because I'm not running out of quilts.) Out of those 14 quilts, 7 were scrap quilts and 7 were made from the stash or new yardage. It's interesting that it's split right down the middle. I'm quite surprised!
-I gave away at least 15 quilts last year. That felt great!
One goal that I did NOT make was to crochet a giant rag rug for my front entryway. I'm debating it now, because I think the puppies will just try to eat it anyway.
It was a big year for my family, too.
-My husband went back to school (while continuing to work full time) and finished his Associates Degree. Working full time and going to school is no joke. I'm proud of him for going back and finishing his degree after so many years.
-My husband and I celebrated our 20 year anniversary!
-We went on a spring break trip. My youngest started middle school. My younger son started high school. (How on earth?) My oldest son got his driver's license and his first job. We got two puppies! It was a BIG year!
Looking ahead:
Usually I have a whole laundry list of goals, but this year I really don't. (I'm trying not to freak out about it. Hahaha!) I plan to do more speaking and teaching this year. And as cliché as it sounds, I want work on reducing my stash this year. I want to sew MORE and sew for FUN! That's about it! Sounds sort of anti-climatic, but then again, it sounds really, really nice, doesn't it?
How about you? Do you make New Year's goals? If you do and you care to share, I'd love to hear about them.
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog. I really appreciate it! Happy New Year to you and yours!
34 comments:
My goal for this year is to finish some of the quilts I have started. If I am not in love with them, I hope to be able to rehome them. I hope 2018 is a great year!
Happy New Year to you and your family. I hope this year will be even better than last year for you all. I haven't set my goals for this year yet but I know I want to do more sewing.
I just wrote a blog post about my thoughts for the new year. And I'm adopting your motto to "stop stashing and start sewing."
I’m sure you did not mean for your blog title to increase the century, lol!
That was a big year, congratulations on your successes. Not having big goals allows for little victories—that’s my motto this year :)
Having raised 3 kids, I know that it seems to take forever to get them to 10 years old, but suddenly they’re driving and graduating from high school in a snap of the fingers. Enjoy the ride as much as you can, try to survive the eye-roll years😊
I have enjoyed reading your blog for many years and look forward to following along with you again in 2018!
Happy New Year. Let me start by saying I enjoy your blog. I need inspiration. My goal is to clean up my UFO pile. I have 13 (can you believe it) quilt tops that need to be quilted. That alone should clean up my sewing room. I will mark all my finishes in a notebook to keep track of how many I complete. Looking forward to a productive year.
Pat
I have thoroughly enjoyed all of your posts all year long. Your linkups are the BOMB - I get lots of page views.
All of my WIPs are caught up so I am starting 2018 with a clean slate. I do want to enter the Pantone color of the year quilt challenge so I'm looking for fabric now. It is not a easy color to find that violet, purpley one.
I've been sewing a lot of clothes (for me, for my kids) the last few months, and I need a break! I have two quilts to work on this month, and another one I'm already planning out in my head. That only takes me a few months into the year - after that, who knows?
In 2018, I want to sew more. We moved last year, so I've done a lot of knitting as my sewing space was packed up and then not quite unpacked. I need to change that!
Cheers to a great year!
I issued a challenge to the 15 other girls that sew with me on Fridays to make a red/white quilt before Christmas 2018. Have the fabric and waiting on a book after seeing a beautiful red/white quilt on another blog. I love using my scraps but right now I am on a mission for the red/white and possibly indigo blue 2 color quilt. I crocheted 4 scrappy rugs last year along with several quilts. I give 2-3 away each year Paula in KY
I'm joining Scrap Attack and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge because I have a TON of fabric scraps!! I will also participate in a UFO Club on the Ravelry group called Quilters Knitting... for the 7th year in a row! I need to make my list SOON because the sign-up deadline is January 7th.
Wow, what an amazing year! I’m intentionally cutting back on big goals to save time for family events and I’m going to track fabric input and output for the first time.
Wow 14 quilts is a lot!!! Even if it’s a low number for you:) I’m having baby #5 soon and my big goal is to just enjoy all my kids as much as possible while they still want me around. My oldest is turning 12 in a few days and she’s growing up for real. It’s an exciting time but scary too. And in any spare moment I have I want to SEW!
Fourteen is a lot of quilts for a year! I think sewing for fun is the theme of 2018 - I've seen it many times as I have looked at people's goals.
I this post and I wanted to see how much I got done this year so I went to my pictures and log book to see what I could find. I made 14 mini/wallhangings. 8 large quilts start to finish. 1 large top-not quilted yet. I quilted 9 quilts that were UFO's and 16 other projects such as pillows or pillowcases and placemats. I can't believe how much I got done. Look out 2018 I'm on a roll. I'm going to try to keep track of things better this year and blog more. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A stellar year that was, and I bet 2018 will build upon it. Happy New Year and thanks for the inspiration.
I love all that you and your family have done this year! Especially your husband's new degree! I always love when parents go back to school. :)
This year, I need to use a LOT more of my fabric stash, cut my WIP pile down (probably at least 30 tops in there...), and I want to learn to crochet enough to make a couple warm, simple scarves. :)
What a great lookback! Wishing you all the best for 2018 and looking forward to seeing what you create!
Good for you! It's ok to take a breather on huge goals. My goals this year are to finish one of the 2 EPP quilts I have going... both about 2/3 done, and to work on quilting with rulers. My oldest UFO top is about 5 years old and just waiting for me to learn how to do curved crosshatching. I haven't counted my UFOs yet for this year... but I'm guessing its somewhere north of a dozen.
I'm a volunteer instructor at Camp Lebanon, so I keep starting new things, instead of finishing up old. Working on that this year.
Thank you for continuing to blog when many have given it up. I enjoy your posts... keep knitting socks, and I may just have to take up knitting!
Blessings to you and your family in 2018,
Thanks for the inspiration. Happy new Year!
I would really like to make some quilts from your books. So far, I have only made the fabric boxes and worked on managing my fabric stash. Sunday Morning Quilts really inspired me to get hold of my stash in a more manageable way. I read through it several times before digesting enough to start on a plan that would work for me. I am also anxious to make quilts from "No Scrap Left Behind!"
Thanks for the inspiration.
My quilting goal for 2018; finish the scrap quilt I started with Amanda Jean while she was at the class I took in Cedarburg this past May 2017, and work on building a stash of quilts and small gifts to have on hand to donate or give as quilts. Personal goals, well they are always a work in progress
I read your blog constantly. I enjoy all your ideas and challenges. Last year I had a goal list and did very well on several items. This year I decided to just be the best I can be. I keep a daily gratitude journal and have for several years. Last year I added a second journal of just quilting and sewing notations. I listed every sewing related purchase and projects completed. It was so much more positive for me than my goals list. Here is to another great year and more positive notations in my journal as I complete projects and find fabric bargains.
Can't wait to see if you're sewing for fun and from your stash. My goals still aren't solidified for 2018. I have a couple of lofty ones I want to focus on. I do have a theme for the year, which is positive.
We'd love to see you out here in California, whether at QuiltCon or teaching somewhere!
I have a couple of goals. I want to sew as much from stash as possible, to save some money. I have some unfinished quilts I would like to finish and get them out of limbo land. I want to make a few more clothing items this year. I found I really enjoyed that kind of sewing again. Thank you for blogging regularly. I know how tough that is to keep going and you keep me inspired when I seem to need it most. Happy New Year to you and yours.
I have not yet written a blog post listing my goals but I plan to soon. I always enjoy visiting your blog and I love your No Scrap Left Behind book. I hope to finish several projects this year and of course start one or two new ones.
One of my goals for the year is to get back to reading blogs. Instagram stole my attention, but I miss blogs, and blogging. So far, so good! I'm here, and commenting!
I never realized that your two youngest kids are the same ages as my two girls. We did the middle and high school transitions This year too, with surprisingly little drama!
I am also working full time and in "school" adding a special ed certification to my regular ed certification. It's exhausting. Utterly exhausting. So, kudos to your guy!
I'm still plugging away at my Scrap Vortex, which I work on in ten mi Ute bursts when I need a sanity break. By the end of the year, either It will be done, or my sanity will be gone. I wonder which?
My big goal of 2017 was to make a Christmas lap quilt for each of my grown children - total of 3. With the help of your June QAL, I completed them and gave them to my kids at Thanksgiving, so they were even able to use them over this holiday season. They were a big hit and it was so much fun making each of them.
I want to continue my Christmas-sewing-all-year-long goal this year, continually working on something for Christmas as I make the other things on my list. With a new grandson arriving in March, I have a small double gauze quilt and a play mat planned for him. It will be my first attempt designing the play mat, so I'm excited for that. My other goals are to keep working at my stash and sew some of the quilts I've wanted to make since getting back to quilting.
Your blog was one of the first I found as I started sewing again, and your books are a constant source of inspiration and learning for me. Thank you, Amanda, and Happy 2018!
My favorite part of this post is that you gave away some of your quilts and it made you feel good. When I first met you, I said that I gave away most of the quilts I make, and you didn’t then. 2018 quilting for me is wedding quilts, graduation quilts, baby quilts, charity quilts for my guild and for fundraisers for the non-profit my daughter works for. Quilting gives me more purpose.
Happy New Year! I asked for (and got) No Scrap Left Behind as a Christmas gift! Love it so much.
I have a question—sorry if you've gotten this before. When you trim the edges off of a string block, what do you do with them? And also the little triangles of white fabric in quilts like Chain of Diamonds and Remainders? So far I'm keeping a bag of not-even-scraps to use as stuffing, but maybe you have a better idea?
Cheers!
It looks like MY New Year's Resolutions are the OPPOSITE of yours -- I will be buying MORE fabric for my stash! Feel free to destash by tossing your unwanted fabric in my general direction... ;-) You have inspired me, so I finally wrote my resolutions post here: http://cheekycognoscenti.blogspot.com/2018/01/new-years-resolutions-2018-i-resolve-to.html
I made 14 quilts in 2017 too! That's typical for me as it means I had a nice balance of quiltmaking along with other activities. My only goal for 2018 is to not buy fabric. Though I do have an "unless." Any purchase has to be necessary for participating in a challenge (IE: Kona Tiger Lily), or to complete a quilt. But my first option always will be to piece, piece, piece to come up with what I need. No shopping! Yay me... I've made it seven days so far! :-)
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