Yearly Goals Check-in and 2015 decisions

As we get close to the end of 2014, I wanted to check-in on my goals for the year. I set them last in December of 2013 and I added my status on them in purple below:

1.) Adhere to stitch from my stash SAL.  - COMPLETE. I adhered to the rules of the SAL and feel like I made some changes to my spending habits. I also promised myself that I would save my money for a new sewing machine and was able to purchase that they day after Christmas I got a PFAFF quilt expression 4.2 and I love it. I am sure there will be pictures of it forthcoming.
  
2.) Complete "The Lady and the Flag", the ABCs of family, 2 other mandalas, and my adaptation of the Dreamcatcher lap blanket.

• The Lady and the Flag - COMPLETE
• the ABC's of Family - no progress
• 2 other seasonal Mandalas - COMPLETE
• Dreamcatcher - COMPLETE

I think if I hadn't picked up quilting as another hobby seriously, I would have completed the ABC's of Family but overall..I think I made a Huge dent in the projects I wanted to get finished.
3.) Complete ornaments for the whole family (7). - COMPLETE. I actually finished 8 of them this year. 
4.) start 2 bigger projects: Noah's submarine and Brigid's shamrock. - No Progress - I kitted the projects up but did not start them - again I blame too many hobbies. :)
5.) finish/finish the advent calendar. - COMPLETE - I totally forgot that I even put this one on here but I finished it right before the end of the year. 
6.) complete piecing together 2 quilt tops, 4 sets of placemats and coasters, and 1 Christmas table runner. 

• 2 Quilt Tops - Completed 3 actually, 2 of them were longarmed, and one of those was bound and given as a gift this Christmas to my grandmother.
• 4 sets of placemats and coasters - completed 3 placemats and 1 coasters
• 1 Christmas Table runner - completed 1 for christmas, and 2 for gifts.

7.) 3 knitted baby blankets: (1 already assigned) - COMPLETE
8.) learn to knit socks. - Not Complete

All in all, I think it was a productive year. I am hoping and planning on doing more in 2015. So here are my goals for this year:

2015 Goals:

Overall: 
1.) Stitch from my stash on all types of crafting
2.) Complete my craft room
3.) inventory patterns and kits 
4.) Work on something new (either a start or a WIP) on any crafting every day from Christmas to january 25th - (i had to adjust the days due to a work trip) - to honor Deborah Faris Bryant

Yarn: 
1.) Complete 4 baby blankets - 1 is spoken for and 3 more (boy, girl, and neutral) to have in reserve.
2.) Learn to knit socks
3.) knit a pair of socks for my hubby
4.) Complete 2 hats for friends
5.) Complete 4 ft on my brothers blanket
6.) Complete 18 dishrags ( I need to get my reserve of this type of yarn down)
7.) Complete hitchhiker and 2 more shawls/wraps

Stitching:
1.) Complete ABC's of Family
2.) Start Brigid's Shamrock and Noah's submarine
3.) Complete 12 ornaments
4.) Complete 4 other larger projects including the Santa from H*ll

Sewing/Quilting:
1.) Learn Free Motion Quilting
2.) Complete 3 quilt tops - (1 is already spoken for)
3.) Bind my first quilt
4.) Complete purple quilt for my aunt.

The list is daunting but I feel like I am up to the task.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Sewing and Yarn Check-in for the year

So I thought a retrospective of what I have completed would be interesting for sewing/quilting projects and for knitting/crocheting. So I am going to start with the knitting/crocheting:

And with the Quilting:

Combined with my stitching finishes...I am feeling pretty good about things! my next post will be an update on year goals and plans for next year. :)

I have decided to take part in Wipocalypse, Smalls SAL, Stitch from my stash (helping Admin) !

Stitch from my Stash - 2014 Final Post

Here is my final Report from Stitch from my Stash!

Carryover from November: $70.62
December budget: $25.00
Amount spent in December: $0.00
Amount left in the bank: $95.62

New Starts: Ornaments and Liz Almond's "Naomi Elizabeth" Black Work

WIPs and UFOs: one of 2 Noel's

Completed: Bound Quilt and finished "finished" Ornaments

Stash Used: random scraps of fabric for ornaments and floss remnants.

What I wanted and Didn't Buy: The Christmas Fabric Deal at my local quilting stores are Killing me! I have seen a lot of things I wanted but did not partake in. Instead I organized my fabric into a wonderful bookshelf my dear husband bought me so that I can truly see what I have. :) Cured the bug right away and inspired me to plan a few new creations.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

December WIPocalypse and TurtleTrot Combined!

It's time for the final check-in for both the WIPocalypse SAL and the TurtleTrot SAL. Technically the WIPocalypse was on 12/6 but I decided to combine them together.

My original list for them were as follows with my progress, etc:
1.) Pinocchio - Wish Upon a Star: This was a new start this year so I ended up at this point when I put it away for this year.

Pinocchio - December SAL check in

I worked on this one a lot this fall and made some really great progress. I would estimate I am a little over 1/4 complete on this one.

2.) NOEL - This one is a finish. you can see it finished into an ornament in the upper right of the picture below. For some reason I cannot get it to rotate at all. The pic below captures all of the ornaments that I completed this year. 

2014 Ornaments completed

3.) Santa and Westie Stocking - No progress at all

4.) ABC's of Family - No progress at all

5.) Flower Cards - I don't have a picture but there is only backstitching left to do on this one.

6.) The Lady and the Flag - This was a finish this year!

Completed and Framed
The Lady and the Flag - November 2014

7.) Dream Catcher - this was a total redesign from a stamped Lab Blanket kit into a counted project on AIDA. It was a relatively quick stitch for its size. It was finished in the fall and my FIL had it framed below:

Completed and Framed
Dreamcatcher Redesign - November 2014

8.) Snowman Ornaments - These need back stitching completed and are different than the ornaments pictured above. I should have them done by the end of this week.

9.) Nativity Set - Still need to completed Back Stitching on the camel and a wise man.

10 and 11.) Winter and Fall Mandala - This were so much fun to stitch. Here are some un-framed and the whole set framed for your enjoyment.

Winter Mandala

Fall Mandala

Seasonal Mandala's unframed

Seasonal Mandala framed
November 2014

 
So I made a lot of progress on the goals I set for myself which I set for myself. I am planning on take part in the WIPocalypse next year and am determining if I will do the TurtleTrot soon.

There are still a few things that I need to complete before the end of the year so I better get back to stitching.

Happy Stitching!

December Goals and November Check-in

I am a few days late for my Goals Check in for November but here we go. The goals I set for November were:

November 2014 goals:
1.) Complete Boys baby Blanket - Done and gifted to his owners parents in preparation for his birth.

2.) Complete Seed Stitch Wrap - FAIL - I am in the last color stripe...I have about 4 more inches to knit. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend in preparation for my grandmother's travel to my house for the holidays.

3.) Complete 2 ornaments for my Niece and Nephew - Done and Done plus 2 more. See my previous post.

4.) Blog twice per week including the Santa from He**. - FAIL - I blogged but with no frequency and not about the project I cannot stand right now. It is a Santa that a lady from my day job has had partially completed for 10 years and gave it to me to finish.

5.) Decide on yearly goals. - DONE - they will be covered in a future email when I check in on this years goals.

6.) Work on 2 other WIPs - FAIL - well sort of...I completed finished the Advent calendar and hung it on my wall for the month of December. It had been stitched but not finished.

Now for December Goals:
1.) Decide on SALs to take part in next year.
2.) Make a year end summary blog post and show Santa in Blog
3.) Bind 2 Quilts
4.) Finish Quilting and bind quilt for my Aunt.
5.) work on whatever else I want.

Happy stitching everyone!

Ornament Finishes!

I had goals in November of finishing some ornaments for this year for my niece and nephew. I finished those plus 2 more. First I have the 2 I needed to get done for my nephew and my niece. I decided to got with a penguin theme this year.

Jack 2014
CandyCane Penguin
Leisure Arts Ornaments Galore volume 2
18ct. AIDA and called for DMC

Caroline 2014
Sledding Penguin
Leisure Arts Ornaments Galore Volume 2
18ct. AIDA and called for DMC

I also looked through the Just Cross Stitch Ornaments issue for 2014 and made these other 2 ornies.

Just Cross Stitch 2014 issue
18ct. AIDA and scrap blue variegated floss

Just Cross Stitch 2014 issue
18ct. AIDA and called for DMC

I am pretty happy with all of them. Now it is time for finishing them and giving them as gifts for this year. Although...I think I am keeping the Penguin above for myself :)

Happy stitching!