The Annual Reckoning, 2014 edition

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2014 was the seventeenth year I have tracked how much fabric I have acquired and used. This is my accounting system. It may not appeal to or work for you.  "Bought" means acquired, whether purchased or received as a gift.  I count fashion fabric but I don't count vintage textiles. I don't track expenses for thread, batting, books, magazines, patterns, and other notions. I don't count the cost of professional long-arm quilting  "Used" means any project at the flimsy stage (not WIPs), blocks made to swap, and scraps given away. 

Here's what I accomplished in 2014:
* started and finished 20 quilts (quilted on my domestic machine)
* created 3 flimsies (not yet quilted)
* made 192 HeartStrings blocks (96 of which made it into finished quilts)
* finished 3 flimsies made in 2013
* had 2 quilts (flimsies from 2014) professionally quilted
* sold 4 quilts ($354)
* donated 13quilts to fundraisers, made 19 charity pillowcases, donated 100 Care Bags
* won two ribbons at the guild show

I did not acquire any fabric for four months (March, April, November, and December). In May I received 192 FQs (that's 48 yards) as retirement gifts.  In July the guild had a fundraiser to sell a windfall donation from a woman who had to dispose of her stash. I got 147 yards for $2/yd.

I emptied 85 spools of thread. (Some had been partially used. Some were big. Some were small.)

Here's how I did with my goals for 2014:
* Finish the 10 flimsies in the box.  There are 9 flimsies in the box, 3 of which were made in 2014. 
* Keep up with the  NewFO challenge.   Though I didn't post to that blog, I did keep keep up.
* Pick a specialty ruler and become proficient with it.  I took a workshop for the Square in a Square ruler/technique.  I may just need more practice, but I didn't take to it. 
* Make 100 Care Bags . Yes!
* Sell 100 yards of fabric.  None at all. 
* Use more and acquire less than in 2013.  More used, same in. That's progress!

What's ahead?
* Bust the 30's stash.
* Learn and practice a new technique.
* Make decisions about the flimsies in the box -- finish them or abandon them.
* Continue to chip away at the Deep Stash -- vintage linens and fashion fabric especially.
* Sell 100 yards.  Make 100 Care Bags. Make 576 HeartStrings blocks (that's 48 blocks per month).
* Enjoy the journey.
* Host one blog giveaway each quarter.

I thank everyone who's stopped by to read my posts this year.  I especially thank everyone who has taken time to leave a comment. I hope that you've had a pleasantly productive quilting year.  Here's to a piece-filled 2015!

The two postcards are from my collection. The first is blank. The second one is postmarked Wausau, Wis., Dec. 30, 1924 and addressed to Nora Buttke in Emden, ND. "Dear Cousin, I must send you this card to let you no [sic] that we are all well again. Erna has another little girl her name is Marion Ethel she was born the 7 of Dec She look [sic] just like Virginia. Good New Year wishes to you call. Herman and Frances."