First finish for 2014

Well, I don't normally like to work on Christmas projects outside of the festive season (although sometimes I'll pick up a christmas project or two around mid-year for Christmas in July) but I didn't want to put away my 'Merry' bunting (designed by Rosalie Quinlan) without completing it… especially since I just needed to assemble it as I did actually finish the stitching in December. So after cutting out the flags and playing around with ric-rac off to the machine I went…

I used Lynette Anderson's 'Christmas fun' fabric range for both the binding and the backing. I think I might need to purchase more of this range - so cute!

Now my bunting is ready for hanging come Christmas 2014. I'm really happy to have my first finish for this year :)

So, according to the rules of my new years resolution, as I've completed a UFO (unfinished object) I can now start a new project, so I figure I'll keep it as a 'credit' for when I'm itching to start something new ;) I thought I'd keep a little stats box to keep me accountable...

Craft Stats 2014
Finishes (goal of 10)	1
‘New start’ credits	1
UFOs worked on since last new start*	2 – Merry bunting and ‘A Boys Story’
New starts in 2014	0

*in this case since the beginning of the year!

Are you keeping up your new year's resolutions still?
Until next time x

More to 'A Boys Story'...

It's been ages since I've talked about Alex's quilt (A Boy's Story by Anni Downs)… maybe because I've set so many goals, with time lines coming and going and still the project is unfinished. But it has been plodding along (although much slower than I would have liked). In the last couple of months I've finished 3 of the stitcheries:

After trimming them back and a session at the sewing machine, they contributed to two more blocks of the quilt top are finished!

I've also completed the Robot appliqué:

I've got 8 stitcheries and 3 more appliqués to get on with before I can complete the quilt top, but I think with the above progress I'm now just over half way to the finish line, so fingers crossed for a 2014 completion. Alex will most likely move into a 'big boy bed' this year, so it would be perfect if I could get it done to coincide with that.

I do love how this project is (slowly) coming together. I think this is my favourite stitchery - I love how the design allows for individualisation so that got to include Alex's name :)

Hopefully it's not too long before I've got more to share.

Until next time x

Hello 2014!

Happy new year! So happy to welcome in this year, new beginnings, a fresh outlook… Outside of my craft room, my new years resolutions/goals include toilet training Alex, getting my career back on track, and finding a good work/life balance enabling me to spend as much quality time with Alex and Sofia as possible (while also finding some time to stitch of course!).

Within the craft room, there's so much I want to do, lots of projects just calling my name… but also so many unfinished projects (UFOs) that are begging some attention. Overall, I was able to keep to my last year's resolution of 'working on at least two UFOs before starting something new' throughout 2013. I said at the time that I thought this would be an achievable goal, and it proved to be just that. So this year  I want to step it up… work on at least FOUR old projects before starting something new. But I'm going to give myself two exceptions to the rule: finishing a UFO gives right to a new start, and gifts for special occasions allow for a new start.

But wait, there's more! All up last year, I had 9 finishes (see my new page, 'finished projects 2013' for the complete summary) with three of those being projects I started in 2012 or earlier. I know my nine finishes is very modest but I'm happy with it - especially with everything that happened, and all the changes in my life that occurred last year. This year I imagine is going to be just as busy so I'd be happy with a similar number of finishes. So, part 2 of my sewing resolution/goal for 2014: finish at least 10 projects, with at least 4 being projects started in 2013 or earlier. I'll be adding a page to the top of this blog with a list of my already started projects. The list is a bit scary… fingers crossed I can tick a few off over the coming months!

What are your resolutions/goals for 2014?

Until next time xx