Annual Reckoning: 2013 in review

Here's my final finish of 2013!  The photo shows a corner of Chevron Strings folded over on the backing.   I used variegated thread and meandered. Easy. And done. [The backing is a Jennifer Sampou print that I got at a closeout sale. The binding was already cut, intended for another project (which I cannot remember).] 

And now: the Annual Reckoning.

 I began sewing when I was in fifth grade.  I began to acquire a stash of fashion fabric when I was in college.  In the 70's and 80's I made most of my clothes.  My stash grew with purchases from independent fabric stores and yard goods departments at dime stores and J.C. Penney.   During those years I also needlepointed and cross-stitched and acquired yarn, floss, canvas, and evenweave, much of which I still have.  In the early 90's I found out that quilts could be pieced and quilted by machine. My course was set. My stash took on an entirely new life. 

In 1998 I began to keep track of the fabric I used and acquired.  In 2004 I started to track what I spent.  My qualifiers:   "used" means sewn, sold, or given way. "Acquired" means purchased or received.  (If I swap, it's a wash.)   I calculate how much I use in a project by measuring the square inches. It is fiddly, but it's easy because I use a calculator. (A quick example: a 9-patch made out of 2" squares is 2 x 2 x 9, or 36 square inches. A quilt top with 100 such blocks -- 45"x45" --  has 3600 square inches.  My all-purpose estimate for a yard of fabric is 1512 square inches (36 x 42) so that 9-patch top is 2.38 yards.)  I don't count what I spend on thread, batting, notions, patterns, books, or subscriptions.





























Last January 1 I said that my goals were to end the year with 10 or fewer flimsies in the box and to get good at a new technique.  I met the first goal and sort of met the second goal.

In 2013 I turned 36 flimsies into finished quilts: 14 were created in 2012 or earlier and 22 were created in 2013. 

The "new" technique was not so new, but I got better at it.  My guild hosted a workship with Pat Sloan who taught us her method of machine applique.  I used her technique not only for the class sample (which is done-done: quilted, bound, labeled) but also for this project. 

Other 2013 accomplishments:
* I made 18 refrigerator magnet Valentines and 70 Christmas ornaments. I repurposed three vendor totebags and made another. 
* I sold 5 quilts for a total of $400. 

In 2014 I want to:
* Finish the 10 flimsies in the box. [See the "Flimsy Completion" tab at the top of my blog.]
* Keep up with the  NewFO challenge.
* Pick a specialty ruler and become proficient with it.
* Make 100 Care Bags.  (Care Bags are ditty bags, about 13 x 14, that are filled with hygiene or school supplies and distributed to kids in crisis/disaster situations.  They use 100 per month and several years ago I made a personal pledge to make one month's worth each year. I've gotten off track and want to get back.)
* Sell 100 yards of fabric.
* Use more and acquire less than in 2013.

Here's to a great 2014 for all of my quilting friends and fellow bloggers!