New year. New quilts.

Just like that 2018 is over. I made 15 quilts, two large cross stitch projects, two small cross stitch projects and several zipper topped bags.  Clearly, 2018 was a good year for making.

In February of 2018 I pulled every bit of fabric I owned out and sorted, organized and took a long, serious look at it. I decided to spend the remainder of the year sewing strictly from fabric that I already owned. In other words, not buying anything new  . . . no matter how much I wanted to. I also used that time to sell or donate fabric and supplies that I would never use.

I stuck to it, mostly. I did buy the fabric and pattern to make my Synchronous Firefly Quilt.  But, how could I not?  And I immediately used it so it never became part of my fabric stash. I also bought 12 fat quarters of Halloween fabric that also got immediately turned into a quilt. I never shared that one here but certainly did on Instagram. I'll do my best to share it next Halloween because I absolutely love it.

Anyway, I used up a ton of fabric in 2018 and it felt really good. As the year progressed and I used more and more fabric, momentum continued to build and I'm carrying it forward into this year. I'm going to continue sewing from the stash of fabrics I already own. I spent yesterday taking stock and sorting my supplies and have 10 quilts worth of fabric ready to go before I then start working solely with scraps. By scraps, I mean the fabric that is random cuts of a fat quarter or less that I have organized by color.  If I had to guess I would say that I probably have five or six quilts worth of fabric from my "scraps." So, that probably means that a more realistic guess is eight or nine.

Twenty quilts in 2019? I doubt it. But I do plan to continue to make huge progress in using up what I already have.

One final comment in this regard, I still continue to buy vintage sheets/linens for quilt backings. They have the prettiest prints, the best colors and are always super soft. The fact that they cost nearly nothing doesn't hurt either. I don't count these purchases as "buying new fabric" even though it is new to me. The vintage sheets get used up 100% of the time and I don't have many sitting around giving me side eye.

As for other crafty goals for 2019, my plans include:

1. Choosing at least one long term cross stitch project to work on in the evenings (or at track meets!)
2. Selling a few quilts. After all, how many quilts can one house hold? I have never figured out the best method for this. I've sold some here. I've sold some on my Old Red Barn Co. Facebook page. I even opened an online shop for a short time and sold a few there. I'm thinking of trying Instagram this time but I'm not sure as most people that would see the posts are quilters and I can't imagine many quilters wanting to buy quilts. I don't know.  People generally love quilts but when they see the price tag, it's often more than they want to pay. I get it. But supplies and time are expensive.  I digress.
3. Hauling out the big camera (instead of the one on my phone!) and getting back to photography. Documenting life and noticing beauty. 

Happy New Year, y'all.

-dana

P.S. The two finished quilts were my last quilts of 2018. The blocks in progress above are my first of 2019.