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Today I set up a gallery of my completed quilts. I have completed 19 quilts since I started quilting in 2002. NINE of them were in 2014. That feels great! Of those nine, four were old (two really old) WIPs. I also made progress on some additional WIPs that I hope to finish this year. Here are some of my goals for the year.

On the quilting front, first and foremost, I want to cut my # of WIPs in half by the end of the year... taking care to reduce the number on my list quarterly (um... currently 21). I tend to have 6 new ideas for every one quilt I finish. I need to finish more projects and have exciting ideas that are faster to implement. ;-) It felt really good to finish a 2003 and 2006 quilt this year. I think my new oldest project is this baseball quilt I "gave" to my brother for Christmas in 2004 (see below for him modeling the "quilt" back in 2004). It was a wrapped up "see what I'm working on for you... I'm totally gonna finish it soon" kind of gift. Um... soon? I just missed the ten year anniversary of giving that gift.

baseball quiltThere's a weight that comes with an old project looming over us. I think it makes it feel even better to check it off the list when it's something that old. Of course, I'm also a fan of reassessing whether it's really still important to finish, or if you should decide to sell, give away or re-purpose a project that you really don't still have a passion for. I've decided this project is still important to me, but I will probably have to change my initial plan a little.

I'm excited this year to be participating in some Bees and BOMs for fun and skill-building.

As of November 2014, I'm a member of the Promise Circle of do. Good Stitches. Our group of this charity bee creates quilts to benefit Threading Hope. Here are the blocks I've made so far for do. Good Stitches.

I've also joined the Stash Bee as a member of Hive 1. I have my fabric pull all set for those blocks.

I've joined Leah Day for her 2015 quilt along, Dancing Butterflies. I'm totally inspired by her amazing free-motion quilting and wanted to ensure myself regular practice of my FMQ skills as well as push myself to try new patterns.

I've signed up for the Patchwork City Metro Area Block of the Month from Intrepid Thread. I saw the purple and green piles of fabric when I was in the shop and asked what they were for... then I couldn't stop thinking about it! I'm excited about the great color and fun fussy cutting in this project.

I'm drooling over the 2015 Skill Builder BOM at Pile O' Fabric, but I think I may have my hands full with everything else. I'm keeping a mental note in case I just don't have enough quilting work. ;-)

I'll continue participating in ALYoF and Finish Along to help with monthly goal setting. I'm also joining in on #SewMyStash2015 on IG (while I'm not committed to stop buying any fabric, I'm excited to start using more of the stash I've been building for the past year).

A Lovely Year of Finishes

2015 FAL at On the Windy Side

Details from ProjectLeasa

Some other sewing goals I have are knits and zippers. Not together. I'd like to start with some knit jammies for my kids. And some simple zipper pouches (I made a few in 2009, but that was so long ago!) as a gateway to some more involved bags.

On the blog, I'd like to work on getting some more tutorials posted. Part of the reason that I blog is to inspire others and I think this may be just the thing to help do more of that.

In 2015, I strive for better balance in life in general. I want to sew every day. And do something active every day. I also want to eat more salads. ;-)

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I found A Lovely Year of Finishes in May of 2014 and joined in setting my first goal in June. I'm proud that most of these were very old WIPs. It feels good to have gotten some old projects done. 2014 ALYoF mosaic1In June, I finished a pile of lined drawstring bags for teacher gifts (and a few extras). This one wasn't a WIP, but it did use some older fabric from my stash.

In July, I used some decade old orphan blocks to make a 4th of July table runner named Frieda.

In August, I finished Goldfish, a mug rug that I made specifically to learn the new skill of machine turned-edge applique.

In September, I finished Candy Shoppe, a mystery quilt I started eleven years prior. I love it so much it got a second photo shoot. ;-)

2014 ALYoF mosaic2In October, I finished the guild philanthropy dinosaur quilt I'd had in my possession for longer than I care to admit.

In November, my goal was to finish the quilt top for my #IGminiswap quilt. I finished and mailed the mini quilt the following week.

In December, I finished an 8 1/2 year old WIP. Bold Blooms is a twin sized mystery quilt (with my favorite backing fabric ever!), a gift I look forward to giving to a friend.

Linking up my 2014 finishes with the ALYoF 2014 Finale Party.

 

For January, I've decided my ALYoF goal will be to Finish my Stellar Winds quilt. The top and back have been finished since August(!) and the binding is even made. Now to sandwich it together and get quilting. Oh! I can use my new Aurifil color card to choose just the right thread color! :-) I'd like to do something a little decorative with my quilting instead of an all over pattern.

Also linking up to the ALYoF January Goal Party.

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My final finish of 2014! I bought the fabrics: 7 light fat quarters (black on white), 12 dark fat quarters (reds), accent and binding fabric (black on black), border (white on black) and backing... eight and a half years ago during the 2006 Shop Hop by The Bay. I had no idea what I was making, but loved the mystery of it. (I had pieced the mystery quilt from the shop hop two years before using bright, bold colors and I'd loved watching the design emerge.) I started it immediately, but back then I wasn't sewing very regularly. I worked on and off over the years and this year I finally tried to really focus on finishing since I was able to carve out regular sewing time. There have been so many progress posts about my mystery quilt over the last year. It's so great to finally have a 100% finished quilt to show you.

I've come a long way in my skills since starting this. I think this is one of the frustrations of working on a really old WIP. My piecing has improved (yay for a nearly perfect 1/4" seam allowance), I can free motion quilt now, and my understanding of value has improved, to name a few. I've also started using Aurifil thread to piece and quilt and I press my seams open.

I quilted in Aurifil 50wt grey #2605 I like to match my top and bobbin thread and decided anything more bold would fight with the fun backing fabric and I wanted it to just blend. It finished at 65" by 83". I'm really looking forward to wrapping this up and giving it to my dear friend.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and ALYoF December Finishes. By the way, I'm a little jealous of all of you aren't feverishly trying to finish your December goal today because yours has been done for a while already. ;-)

Also linking up to Finish Along 2014 Wrap Up Party. Here's my full list of (mostly still incomplete) Q4 goals.