Work in Progress Round-Up and 2014 Goals

New Year’s Day is a perfect opportunity to step back and review current Works in Progress. I was actually quite surprised to realize that my WIP list is down to five items! When I started this blog in 2011, my WIP list hovered around 14-15 projects. It’s quite gratifying to realize that I’ve become much better at finishing projects before I start new ones. As of today, my current WIPs are:

Low Volume Hexagons: I started this project in October 2012, as I needed a portable project to take with me to Sewing Summit. I’ve never settled on a plan for what to do with these hexagons, so I only bring it out when I don’t have access to my sewing machine. So far, I’ve made eight flowers.



Cuzco Improv Quilt: When my mom shared some Cuzco scraps with me, I did not hesitate to just start sewing. However, I’m just not feeling the improv blocks I’ve made so far. I need to figure out a way to salvage what I’ve pieced so far and make something that I actually like.





Leftover 2013 Christmas Gift Bags: Due to the festive rush, I have four Christmas gift bags that I started in 2013 but did not have time to finish yet. At least now I’ll have a head start on this year’s gift bags.

Giant Snowburst Quilt: This quilt was started during the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild’s Holiday Party last month. It has come together super quick, and only needs two more seams before the top is pieced.

Christmas Improv Quilt: One of the gifts I received this Christmas was Sunday Morning Quilts, which inspired me to start a new Candy Coated quilt out of red, green and white scraps. So far, I’ve completed three out of fourteen rows. While I still have many more small scraps to use, I’ve run out of longer strips for the 8” rows, of which there are three. I may need to cut out a few more gift bags in order to generate long enough scraps.

2014 Goals

While I’m not ready to do a complete Fabric Fast as others are doing, I would like to focus on using what I have on hand so that my sewing space doesn’t spread clutter to the rest of the house. I’m fortunate to have a lovely sewing nook to call my own, but it’s currently packed to the gills and I would like more room to breathe creatively. With that in mind, my 2014 sewing goals are:

• Use my stash. Making Linen Cocktail Napkins out of stashed fabric was quite satisfying. It felt really good to make something quick and cute with materials that I had on hand. I already have fabric for three quilts pulled and set aside, but I will keep an eye out for smaller projects that I can make from my stash.

• Use my scraps. My scrap basket is overflowing. While I like to have a variety of scraps on hand for my daughter to pretend sew with, I don’t want to have so many that they spill out into the hallway. I have found Sunday Morning Quilts to be incredibly inspiring, and hope to get my scraps under control this year.

• Keep It Small, Silly. I have found that most of the patterns that I am drawn to are for lap quilts or larger. Most of the time, I don’t need to make another large quilt, but I do anyways because that’s what the pattern calls for. When it makes sense, I’m going to do my best to make baby quilts this year. That way, I can try more patterns that inspire me, while building up a cache of baby quilts to give as gifts.

What are your 2014 sewing goals?