Work In Progress Round Up and 2017 Goals

When the new year starts, I find it incredibly motivating to sit down and review my current WIPs and let them inform my creative goals for the coming year. Between all my different hobbies, I currently have ten unfinished projects: 

Christmas Scrap Quilt: In 2013, I received the book Sunday Morning Quilts as a Christmas gift. On Boxing Day, I grabbed my red and green scraps and started making a Candy Coated quilt from the book. I really love this quilt, but only seem to work on it during Christmas Break. Each year I add more green and red scraps to the project box, so when it's finally finished it will incorporate several years of scraps. I'd like to make more progress this year, but I don't expect to finish it. 

Seattle Modern Quilt Guild Block of the Month Quilt: Started in 2015, this top was finished in 2016. I hope to complete it in 2017. Next I need to buy batting, backing and binding fabric. While I've really enjoyed working on this quilt, its unfinished state has started to weigh on me. 

Scrap Vortex Quilt: While I love the look of this quilt, I don't love the process of it. I find that I make the most progress on it when I have access to my mom's design wall and room to spread out. In 2016, I finished three of the five planned rows/columns. I hope to finish this in 2016, but it's not at the top of my queue. 

Chaos Quilt: What's at the top of my queue? I have the top of my Chaos Quilt finished, and the backing and batting purchased. My plan is to baste this at my next sewing day at my mom's house. It's small enough I may be able to finish the quilting in January. 

Basic Black Mini Virginia Leggings (not pictured): One of my goals in 2017 is to use up or get rid of my fabric apparel scraps. They are taking up too much space in my sewing nook. I printed off the pattern for Mini Virginia Leggings in my daughter's size and already cut one set out of scrap fabric. Next step is fitting, which depends on my daughter's moods. No rush on this one. 

Bento Bags (not pictured): You can never have too many fabric gift bags. I have a couple started that didn't get finished before Christmas this year, and I cut out a couple more. This year, I'd love to make fabric gift bags throughout the year and not do a marathon gift bag push in November and December. Here's hoping! 

Vintage Kitsch Boneyard Shawl: I started my second Boneyard Shawl in August, then set it aside during the West Knits Mystery Knit Along. It's currently my purse knitting, but will soon become too large for that. I'm still enjoying it, due to the speckles, so there's no rush to finish it. 

Building Blocks Shawl: I was super excited about this shawl while the West Knits Mystery Knit Along was going on, but lost my motivation as soon as it was over. Knitting with fingering weight yarn is so slow! I'm going to try to finish this shawl early in 2017, so I can focus on my other shawls guilt free. 

Smooth Move Shawl: After receiving a set of interchangeable knitting needles for Christmas, I just had to cast on something. You know, to test them out. This is my current favorite knitting project, but it will have to wait so that I can finish my Building Blocks shawl. 

Temperature Blanket (not pictured): I was making great progress on my 2016 Temperature Blanket until summer hit. It was just too hot to sit under an afghan, even to work on it. Now that knitting has taken over from crocheting, I'm not sure when I'll get back to this. 

Wow. That's a lot of WIPs for me! Hopefully I'll have fewer WIPs by the end of 2017. 

2017 Goals 

This year, my goals are less strategic and more tactical. In the next year, I want to accomplish the following: 

Make 6 Quilts 

    Finish Chaos Quilt 

    Finish Seattle Modern Quilt Guild Block of the Month Quilt 

    Finish Scrap Vortex Quilt 

    Finish and start 3 additional quilts, any size 

Make 18 Garments for myself 

    3 Skirts or Pants 

    3 Cardigans 

    3 Dresses 

    9 Shirts 

Make 3 Shawls 

    Finish Boneyard Shawl 

    Finish Building Blocks Shawl 

    Finish Smooth Move Shawl 

Make 24 Gift Bags 

Use up or throw out fabric apparel scraps  

2016 In Review

2016 was a very uneven year for me, creatively. It started strong, faltered in the middle, then picked back up again right at the end. Here's what I accomplished this year. 

Quilts 

This year, I really focused on finishing existing WIPs over starting new ones. I managed to complete my Unvalentine quilt, a Cross-Cut Mini quilt, a baby quilt, and a lap sized Glam Clam quilt. The Glam Clam quilt was far and away my favorite quilt that I finished this year. I also completed two quilt tops that I hope to turn into completed quilts in 2017. 

Garments 

In 2016, I finished nineteen garments: seventeen for myself and two for my daughter. While I had a few spectacular failures (my Firefly Aberdeen Tunic, Midnight Gust Akita Blouse and Basic Black Akita Blouse in particular), I also had some really great successes. I'm happiest with my Easter outfit (Chasing Butterflies Myrtle Dress and White Wembley Cardigan), while my Gleeful Akita Blouse probably got the most wear. I received a serger for Christmas, so I'm really looking forward to upping my garment sewing game in 2017. 

Four Akita Blouses 

Four Hemlock Tees 

Two Aberdeen Tunics 

Two City Gym Shorts (kids) 

Two Wembley Cardigans 

One Bettine Dress 

One Hayden Tee 

One Myrtle Dress 

One Penny Raglan Tee 

One Seneca Skirt 

Crochet/Knit

I started out 2016 crocheting and ended it almost exclusively knitting. I'm really happy I learned to knit this year. I will admit, that a lot of my quilting time was stolen by my knitting. Knitting is much easier to pick up and put down at a moment's notice. It's also very soothing. All in all, I finished four crocheted items and five knit items in 2016. My favorite is my Baltic Boneyard Shawl. 

Gift Bags

I didn't make very many gift bags the first ten months of 2016, but boy, did I make up for it in the last two months! The Origami Bento Bag tutorial from So Very Shannon reignited my gift bag making fire. By the end of the year, I made twenty-two gift bags, twelve of which are bento bags. I already have a few more cut out. 

2016 may not have been my best year, creatively, but I learned a lot and made a few things that I really love. Here’s to being more productive in 2017! Happy New Year! 

Here are past years' review posts: 

2015 In Review 

2014 In Review 

2013 In Review 

2011 In Review

November 2016 in Review

For most of 2016, I have felt creatively blocked. My unfinished projects weighed on me. As the year went on, I steadily worked away at them, until finally I had finished enough of them and inspiration returned. The creative floodgates opened and I finished sixteen things in November. It was by far my most productive month this year. 

Finished 

Cuzco Baby Quilt: Back in 2013, I received a bunch of Kate Spain's Cuzco fabric as a gift. I was really excited about it at the time, but never found the right pattern. I settled on a pattern called Sunny Days that I found in a Creative Quilting: Special Issue magazine. I intended for it to be a lap quilt and picked away at it until I ran out of solid fabric. It sat neglected for a long while. After using some of the blocks in a mini quilt, I decided to use the rest to make a baby quilt. My mom taught me to spray baste and I basted and quilted this baby quilt in a day. As soon as I finished the binding, my husband sent this quilt to one of his coworkers who recently had a baby. It felt so good to finish it and give it to someone. 

Penny Raglan Tee: This past August, I tried my hand at Grainline Studio's new Penny Raglan Tee pattern. I was deeply disappointed by the fit. I wasn't inspired to break out my twin needle to complete it, so it hung unfinished for months. Then I read a post on Lucy Lucille about how she finishes her knits with a zigzag stitch. That was the push I needed to finish this. Once it was done, my garment sewing sewjo returned.  

Hemlock Tees: I needed more long sleeve shirts, so I grabbed my Hemlock Tee pattern (also by Grainline Studio). I sewed four Hemlock Tees in less than a week, and they are in constant rotation. 

Dice Bag: My husband requested a new dice bag. I whipped up a basic drawstring bag for him, using his design suggestions and fabric choices. 

Scrappy Christmas Gift Bag: Using part of a charm pack, I made a quick drawstring bag to use as Christmas wrapping. 

Bento Bags: I was super inspired by the Origami Bento Bag tutorial by So Very Shannon and made six in November: two non-Christmas ones and four for Christmas gift wrapping. 

Snack Sacks: The scraps from a couple of my Bento bags turned into two Snack Sacks. The pattern is from the book Ruby Star Wrapping by Melody Miller and Allison Tannery. I made mine larger based on the sizes of the leftovers I was working with and they both came in handy while I was wrapping Christmas presents. 

Started 

Scrappy Christmas Gift Bag: With Christmas looming, I started another drawstring gift bag from charm squares. 

Existing WIPs 

Building Blocks Shawl: After working non-stop on my Building Blocks shawl in October, I stalled in November. Due to the fact that I didn't know the whole pattern when I chose my color order, Section 6 ended up being knitted in Graphic, which is a basic black with no speckles. It was a long, boring slog, but I managed to finish the section in November. About 25% of the last section is knitted, so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one! 

Rae Scarf: When I grew bored with my Building Blocks shawl, I pulled out my Rae Scarf and worked on it for a while. In November, I finished all the increases and got started on the decreases.