2008 accomplishments

I know I've said it many times before - I can't believe how fast this year flew by! I think it must be my age - I know time never passed this quickly when I was younger. And it never passed this quickly when I was working either LOL!

Since the new year is less than 48 hours away I figured this is a good time to look back to see what I accomplished this year quilt-wise. I've been calling each year of the last 6 years "the year of the UFO", but by the end of each year I never seemed to have fewer UFO's than I started with. Granted, the list was different because I'd finish some, but I always seemed to start as many new quilts as I finished. I guess retiring was the key, because I'm really happy with what I accomplished this year.

In terms of my goals:

1. To use more fabric than I purchased - well, I didn't do so good with this one. My shelves and baskets are emptier, which was really my goal - well done there. But I bought several bolts of fabric - 60 yards alone of Kona cotton - a red, a cheddar, and a bone. Plus a 15 yard bolt to use for sashings on my Civil War Diaries and Love Letters quilts. Plus a 50 yard bolt of background for my mid-Century album and Civil War applique quilts. Plus a couple others that escape me, and since I'm at Joseph's house I can't check. So even though my shelves are emptier the bolts sitting on top of them are bigger and more numerous that at the beginning of the year. I must do better with this goal this next year!

2. To have less than 10 unfinished tops on my list by the end of the year - I'm very happy with the results of this goal. I started the year with close to 30 unfinished tops. This has been reduced to nine long-term projects, 4 of which were started this year. Only one unfinished top (other than long-term projects ) remains from the beginning of the year - the project I showed in yesterday's post.

3. Make at least three quilts from my scrap bins - I completed 5! Unfortunately the bins are fuller than ever!

4. Reduce the number of unquilted flimsies to less than 20. As you can see I didn't do that but that's OK. When I wrote this goal I forgot that all the finished tops that were unfinished tops at the beginning of the year would be added to the list! I did reduce the list by a total of 28 quilts - that's more than two finished quilts per month. I'm very happy with that result! Several I thought would be finished aren't, but several others that I thought I wouldn't complete are completed. That makes me a happy quilted.

5. Finish organizing all of my scraps - Done! Everything is stripped, squared, triangled, bricked or otherwise cut into usable sizes and shapes and sorted into the appropriate plastic drawers and boxes. I gave out when I had a small number of scraps left, so I sent them off to another blogger who put them to good use making charity quilts. I was also crumbed out, so I tossed the rest of my crumbs. This set off such a flurry of comments objecting, so I've since found a happy recipient of all the crumbs I produce.

In addition to the above I started and finished one quilt during the year - Lily Abigail's baby quilt. I also turned two VERY old stitchery projects into finished pillows. Lastly, I pieced a backing for every finished top, pressed them all, and hung each top and backing together in my longarm room closet - all ready to be quilted.

I hope everyone else reviews their accomplishments for the year - I find these posts very interesting. Tomorrow, as 2008 winds down into history, I hope to post goals for 2009. If not tomorrow then Thursday at the latest.

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve celebration everyone!

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Gratitudes:

1. My love of fabric and sewing, plus the skills I've developed over the years, that have enriched my life so very much.

2. All the wonderful people I've met through quilting over the years, both near and far.

3. My wonderful Tangled Thread friends - I love you all!

4. My kind, patient, and understanding husband, who has put up with my fabric and quilt obsession for many, many years even though he doesn't understand it at all.

5. My marvelous kids, their spouses, and grandkids, who are always happy to receive another quilt!