Monday, January 4, 2021

Monday Meanderings 1 - 4 - 2021

 2020 Quilting Recap 

My overall impression of 2020 is it was a bummer. I missed seeing family, traveling, quilt retreats and doing what I wanted when I wanted. On the other hand my quilting time was off the charts!  Don't look for my goals today as I have way too much to share on what I accomplished in 2020.  First up is stashbusting statistics. 

2020

Fabric In Month

Fabric In Year

Fabric Out Month

Fabric Out Year

Total In or Out Year

Dec

6.250

95.750

8.75

95.625

0.125




I'm totally amazed that I almost used as much fabric as I acquired.  Yep, that is all of 1/8th of a yard more this year!  Not bad at all.  In fact, I could have listed some blocks I'm sending to one of the FCQ Equilters later this month but decided to include all in January's outgo as I'm still making them.  But over all, I am really pleased. How about a quick peak at what I've done since I first started keeping in coming and out going fabric.  It's been 11 years so far. 

Year

Fabric In 

Fabric Out Year

Total In or Out Year

2010

  65.000

 70.250

  13.000

2011

186.500

 72.000

114.500

2012

113.545

108.970

    4.575

2013

100.710

103.015

    2.305

2014

108.250

  79.750

  28.500

2015

  66.205

  77.150

  10.945 

2016

  83.375

 55.375

  28.000

2017

118.625

108.125

  10.500

2018

85.375

94.250 

8.875

2019

55.830

66.625

10.705

2020

95.750

95.625

0.125


You might notice a huge increase in 2011.  My guild was having an auction of quilty things donated to the guild.  This is a small guild and people weren't bidding so I bid to try to get things going and the next thing I knew I had "purchased" a LOT of fabric.  I don't have records of what it cost but it was dirt cheap. 

It was definitely a good year for finished quilts.  Here are a few of my favorites. (You should be able to click on all the pictures to enlarge them.) 
Table runner was a mystery pattern from my friend Sharon.

I wanted to try this style quilt.  The cute fox fabric was leftover from  grandson Theo's baby quilt. Everything else was from my stash.  

Carousel was probably my favorite quilt from this year.  The bright fabrics were a gift from my daughter at Christmas.  Much of the rest was from stash.  But what really made me love it is the quilting. 

And the wonderful quilting pattern is "Diana" from  My Creative Stitches. 

I really love this quilt but I didn't press the seams correctly so had rather lumpy junctures where too many seams met each other.  It might be time to try another one of these and iron more efficiently. Maybe a clapper would help too. 

Another quilt I just love.  Told the hubby I didn't think I'd give it away.  It might be perfect for a great grandson. (Note, oldest grand is 10 so this isn't happening anytime soon!) Pattern setting from MaryQuilts.com -- Twisted 9 patch.

Diamond Chains pattern from Missouri Star Quilters. 

I make Happy Quilts all the time. Or so it seems.  This is one of maybe 5 I made this year. The original pattern came from MaryQuilts.com. This quilt was one of three I made for triplets.  It was part of the 11 (or was it 12?) quilts I sent to a school district in Washington state to be given to all the students whose families had lost their homes in one of the major fires. 

A quick finish using my Go die cutter and several fabrics in my stash. It's amazing how different a basic sawtooth star looks if you change up the colors a bit.  I used 2 navy blues Then I changed the corner square colors and points.  

Dalmatian fabric started me off.  Pattern available free at ShopMartingale.com.  Go to the bottom of the page and look under Help Center.  You have to sign in before you can access the patterns. Look for Nest. There are a lot of other freebies available. Super easy quilt. I was happy to use a lot of smaller leftover pieces.  (Not that I finished any of them but I do have more interesting scraps!) 

I surprised myself with how many quilts I finished this year: 22.  I made a lot of tops which I didn't include in this count.  Yep, I still have a lot of quilts to finish.  My biggest issue is not having enough backing fabric.  I don't want to buy fabric but I suspect that is what will be happening to finish off more quilts. 

Next up: my thread usage.  I've been keeping up with the number of spools I empty every year since 2012.  Now, you would think I would have used a huge number of spools this year, but, sadly, no, I didn't.  My spool usage number was 16. 
Spools used in 2020. From left: Guttermann, Mettler  Silk Finish,  Presencia.  (The new spools from Mettler are purple -- old ones are white.) 

My highest number of spools used was in 2017 when I used 30. (I have no idea what I was doing unless I finished up a lot of long arm thread and embroidery thread.) My lowest was 7 the year we moved to Northern Virginia.

There is a reason I didn't use as much thread this year as in the past.  The main reason is at the beginning of May I put in a thread order for all three types of thread: regular sewing, long arm, and embroidery.  I purchased 2 2000 yard cones of Mettler Silk Finish thread in white and light grey.  Light grey is my preferred piecing thread color.  I've probably used 2/3rds of the grey.  I'm counting on having it be empty some time this year.  I also have maybe 3 or 4 spools where I can see the plastic spool so if I ever use those colors I'll have a nice start of thread usage. And, on the first quilt on the long arm I used up a cone of thread.  Not a bad start. 

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane.  I spent quite a bit of time this weekend looking at UFOs, finished quilts, tops waiting to be quilted and projects I've started recently.  I also gave myself a little list of what I want to get done both unfinished projects and new projects. I'll probably enter them on a list on the computer, print it out on colored card stock, and hang it in a prominent spot in the studio. 

Are you ready for some great linky parties?  Check out these that I link to each Monday. Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Design Wall Monday.  I'll save To Do Tuesday to post my goals list tomorrow.  

Happy Quilting! Bonnie 
  

5 comments:

  1. Great job on fabric and thread usage in 2020. I love all the quilts you made, too. It’s never too early to start a great grandmother box!

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  2. all very pretty quilts bonnie...pretty sure we ALL think 2020 was a bummer!

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  3. I love your Diamond Chain quilt - all that pretty color! I've never tracked my thread usage - that could be an interesting thing to do this year. Definitely, the spool size will make a difference!

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  4. Thanks for letting me join in on your memory lane parade! such pretty quilts...I love them all!

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  5. Wow love your recap! I cant believe you count fabric in and out, what a great idea!

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