2016 Week 26 Stash Report and Mid-Year Review

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my Stash Report spreadsheet.  Since we just passed the mid-point for 2016 it seems appropriate to review my accomplishments so far this year along with stash usage.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve started 18 quilts.  Of those, seven are completed.  Two more just need to have the binding hand stitched.  Five are queued up for quilting in the next week or so.  All the blocks are complete on another project and I’m almost finished sewing the Winding Ways blocks.  It was my June goal to finish those blocks, but it didn’t happen.  I think there are still ten to go and they are way more time consuming that I thought they would be.  Another work-in-progress, a quilt called Show Biz, has been temporarily abandoned and the remaining two are longer term leader-ender type projects that probably won’t be finished this year.

I’ve found it really helps me stay on track (and not lose track of projects) if I list them.  I use a simple list in One Note that can be accessed from any device.  I have other One Note lists of completed quilts and ideas for new projects.  Guess which one is the longest?

Since the first of the year, I’ve completed 16 quilts, nine of which were UFO’s.  So far, it is working to pick two UFO’s each month and work on completing them.  I started this in March and had a bonus finish in May.  If I can keep it up I would finish 21 old projects this year and would be very happy with that progress.

Here are my numbers for stash usage:
Purchased since last report: 11 yards
Purchased YTD: 83 yards
Used since last report: 135 yards
Used YTD: 105 yards
Net Out of Stash: 22 yards

22 yards would probably fit in a grocery bag.  At that rate, it’s only a loss of a couple  bags a year and for sure I would be in a state of SABLE (stash accumulation beyond life expectancy).  I’m not happy with that progress so I guess it’s time to concentrate on stash usage!

Here are the quilts I finished this week (the sun was too bright when I took these so the photos are terrible of this one):

This is an old (OLD!) UFO.  The pattern is one from American Quilt Retailer that we gave away in the shop and is called Volunteers.  It is simply made by sewing various width strips together and appliquéing a few flowers on top.  The back is pieced the same way.

I also finished Sideways and Byways (a pattern by This and That).

Here is a close-up of the quilting:

I liked the way this one turned out.  It is a good donation size and a great stashbuster so I’ll probably make another one.  I also like that it is easy to piece, but not monotonous.

Overall, it hasn’t been my most productive year, but all the numbers are moving in the right direction so that’s a good thing!  Check out other stash reports at Patchwork Times.