Last Stash Report Sunday of 2017

Today is the day to wrap up the stash reports for 2017. My stash goals for the year were to use 100 yards of fabric and to use more fabric than was added for the year. I came up just a little short on the first goal, using a total of 94.25 yards. I'm okay with that, especially since I did very well at limiting additions to only 36 yards for the year. 

There were some additions last week and also some usage. Our Christmas travel included visits to a few quilt shops, and I got some more black-on-white prints to use in Bonnie Hunter's 2017 mystery. I've been using up a lot of my stash of BOW, so I'm glad to add these to the collection. Love that thimble print!

I also used one yard of fabric last week on a last-minute Christmas gift. I made this tablerunner for my musician husband, and he loved it! It was started and finished on Christmas Eve while he was away playing church services.

Last year I made a Christmas tree skirt with the same fabric, and I don't think it ever showed up on the blog. Here it is under our tree. The little patchwork tree ornament was made many (15-20) years ago.

2017 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:              1.0 yards

Used year to date:       94.25 yards

Added last week:           2.75 yards
Added year to date:       36.0 yards

Net used year to date: 58.25 yards

My stash goals for 2018 are the same as they were this year--use at least 100 yards and add less fabric to the stash than gets used. I've had these same stash goals for the past several years, ever since I started tracking my stash usage.  I've reached both goals only once and came very close one other year. All told, it has been very interesting to track these numbers and be more aware of how much fabric I am using and adding to my stash.

2017:  94.25 used           36.0 added         58.25 net used
2016:  98.875 used      169.25 added       70.375 net added
2015:  167.25 used        150.0 added         17.25 net used
2014:  124.875 used   150.625 added        25.75 net added
2013:  101.0 used         104.25 added         3.25 net added
2012:  69.75 used           126.5 added       56.75 net added

TOTALS 2012-2017:  656 yards used, 735.625 yards added, 80.625 yards added


I am continuing to join Kate at Life in Pieces in tracking how many days each week I get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. We were out of town for a few days, and I didn't do any quilting on those days (unless you want to count visiting quilt shops.) I'm including today in the final count, and my total for the year finished at 95.9%. All those short stretches of quilting time really add up!

15 Minute Challenge:  
12/24 - 12/31                5 of 8 days
2017 Total              350 of 365 days

I'm hoping to have some time later today to look back and tally up how many quilting projects I started and finished this year. Those numbers will appear in a later blog post.

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, and add your own report so we can keep the linky going. 

Happy New Year and happy quilting to all!

Julie in GA

Quilting Throwback Thursday

This post was first published in late July of 2015, but I am linking it up now (8/4/2016) to Throwback Thursday at A Quarter Inch from the Edge.

 

It's time for the quilting version of Throwback Thursday over at Krista Quilts. Last Thursday Krista showed photos of one of her early quilt projects, and I suggested she host a linky party each week for Throwback Thursday. I'm so glad she decided to go ahead with the idea. I am looking forward to sharing photos and stories of early quilt projects.

It seemed like the place to start should be my first quilt. In 1994 I made a patchwork Christmas tree skirt for my mother. I had no prior quilting experience and made up my own pattern for the tree skirt. It's far from perfect, but I enjoyed the experience. 

After that, my sister Karen (who had been quilting for several years) suggested that we make a quilt together for our brother's wedding. One weekend in April, 1995, I met her at her house where she had picked out a few possible patterns. We decided to go with the Double Irish Chain, using Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day book as our guide. That same day we shopped for fabric, washed and dried it, then started cutting and piecing. Here is our first block.

How about those 90's fabrics? Actually, I still love the light background print. We kept working the rest of that Saturday and all day Sunday. By the end of Sunday we had the entire center of the quilt together. To tell the truth, I can't remember if we got the borders pieced and stitched on that weekend or not. It's possible that we got together another weekend to finish up.

We pieced the border of squares on point seminole style. It didn't turn out quite the right size, so we just trimmed it off at the length needed.

This was my first quilt experience, and I was immediately hooked! It has been a wonderful 20-year journey, and I am looking forward to sharing early, pre-blog projects on upcoming Thursdays.

Check out other Throwback Thursday quilt posts at Krista Quilts. Even better, add your own Throwback Thursday quilting post to the link-up.

Julie in GA