2017 in Review

Indigo Picnic Quilt

It's time for my year end review, a look back at all things crafty that happened in 2017. I'm moving a little slower this year so far, but I figure better late than never! I like to document what I made and how I did on my goals at the end of each year, but otherwise I'm not feeling super reflective.

The past year was really unusual in terms of all the change we saw in our day-to-day and honestly it was tough. I am a creature of habit and I love my routines, so I'm ready to get back to a sense of normalcy in the new year. The last few months I've had little to no time for crafting, and it's left me feeling ready to get back behind the machine. I think the little bit of a break from making will end up being good for my creativity. Now, on to the review!

In 2017, I sewed...


Giant Log Cabin Jelly Roll Quilt

10 throw (or larger) quilts, 3 baby quilts, 1 runner and 1 mini quilt.

Giant Vintage Star Pillow

2 pillows and 2 pillowcases.


Waxed Canvas Backpack

6 drawstring bags, 29 pouches (whoa!), 4 tote bags, 1 back pack and 1 yoga bag.


Liberty Dumpling Pincushions

6 pincushions, 1 pin banner, 2 sewing organizers, 1 sewing machine cover and 1 basket.


Henrietta Hippo Softies

6 softies and 14 shirts.


I also released a new quilt pattern this year, the Giant Vintage Star Quilt Pattern (more about it here).

I shared 5 new sewing tutorials this year, find them all here:

Heart Crossed Throw Quilt Tutorial


Easy Going Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial


Enamel Pin Banner Tutorial


House Quilt Tutorial


Harvest Log Cabin Quilt Tutorial

2017 Fabric Stash:
Brought in: 172.5 yards
Sewed up/destashed: 467.5 yards
Net: -295 yards 

For info on how I track my yardage, see this post.

In 2017, I knit...


Drachenfels Shawl

1 shawl, 1 pair of socks, 4 hats, 1 scarf (weaving) and 1 baby sweater.

2017 Yarn Stash:
Brought in: 890 yards
Knit up/destashed: 7744.5 yards
Net: -6854.5 yards


Minny Muu Prism Quilt
 
And now, a look back at my 2017 goals to see how I did:

- Sew/knit with more yardage than I buy.
I'm giving myself an A+ for both fabric and yarn. I was negative for fabric again this year, and I brought in 84 yards less than last year. Overall I was down a total of 295 yards! Very happy with that number. For yarn I was negative for the first time this year! I only bought three skeins of yarn over the course of the whole year, which is a huge feat for me! Overall I was down 6854.5 yards.

- Make sewing/knitting a daily habit.
I did this in January, as I planned, but wasn't good about continuing it through the year. I made great progress on my projects when I made a daily commitment, so I'd like to try it again.

- Track my works in progress (WIPs), and end the year with fewer than I started with. I currently have 44 sewing/quilting, 5 knitting and 1 weaving.
Success! I now have the following WIPs: 33 sewing/quilting, 4 knitting and no weaving.

- Make two Liberty churn dash blocks per month or a total of 24 this year.
Made almost no progress on this quilt, I prepped blocks but that was it.

- Build up a small stash of baby quilts, ready for gifting. Aiming for 4-5.
I made 3 baby quilts this year. 

- Work on projects made exclusively from scraps.
I started a scrap project, but it didn't get too far. I have been working with scraps for my Fantastic Quilt Voyage.

- Make a quilt from my vintage sheet stash, I'm thinking a pineapple logcabin quilt!
I thought a lot about this over the year, but never landed on a project.

- Finish my double wedding ring quilt. 56 wedges to go.
Made almost no progress on this quilt, unfortunately.

- Finish my indigo hand-dyed quilt. The top is already pieced.
Was very happy to get this one finished, see it here.

- Finish up lingering quilt tops. Currently 6 tops waiting to be quilted.
Cut this list down to 4! They're all still leftover from writing Patchwork Essentials, so they were not a huge priority.

- Continue to sew garments that I'll actually wear. Specific patterns I'd like to try for the first time this year: Beatrix Top, Derby Dress, Kelly Anorak, knit t-shirt (either Lark, Union St. tee, Plantain, or Hemlock), and the Hudson Pants. 
I didn't try out too many new patterns this year, but I did make a bunch of Plantain tees as well as a Hemlock and I made a shirt based on an existing top.

- Knit 1600 yards of sock or sport weight yarns.
I knit 1312 yards of sock/sport yarns. I feel okay about this though because I didn't finish any knitting projects after June. If I had continued knitting the rest of the year I think I would have met my goal.

- Knit 1000 yards of DK or worsted weight yarns.
I knit 795.5 yards of dk/worsted yarns. Ditto previous comment.

- Finish my Drachenfels shawl.
Finished! See it here.

- Finish my Sunset weaving project.
Finished! See it here. 

- Knit a brioche project: Briochealicious or Sizzle Pop. Or both!
I started Briochealicious and am loving it!

- Knit another sweater or destash my sweater quantities of yarn. 
I destashed one of my sweater quantities.


Little Folks Summer Voile Quilt

I definitely made less progress on my goals this year that I hoped I would. I'm glad I stuck to my stashing goals, that helped me still feel like I made some progress. Considering all the things that happened this year, I think I did pretty well. Between Michael defending his PhD, getting a new job and us moving to CT right before Christmas, there wasn't a lot of crafting time the second half of the year.

I love making goals for myself and I will be back soon (hopefully later this week) with my crafty goals for 2018.

Goodbye 2017!