2015 Round-up/Wrap-up and 2016 Goal-setting

I pretty much wrapped up the year in my WIPocalypse report for December , but I have made a little progress since. 

I feel like I am a broken record because, in December 2014  I said "Like in 2012, I'm not that happy with my completion rate for 2013". There was a list of fifteen completed projects and/or classes for 2013; and a list of eleven in 2014! Well, If I wasn't happy then,  I am miserable now because completed even less in 2015. I blame it on road trips, a protracted sinus infection which has caused headaches which coincide with ever weather front, a a rekindled interest in papercrafting , and (not so much) reading... All I managed to complete this year were 5 projects and no classes:

• 12 merged Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal project blocks
• 3 small charity pieces for a friend’s EGA
• 1 quilt block for a sympathy quilt for the family of a a friend who passed away in
• one plastic canvas ornament for a swap
• three placemats for a quilt guild charity project
  

i am still a member of the local quilt guild and still their webmaster (and Yahoo Group administrator).

For accountabillity, I participated in WIPocalypse 2015 and International Hermit and Stitch Weekend 2015 as well as this blog.

Now for the negatives:

I hadn’t signed up for any new classes and the ones I signed up for and never finished in 2014 (finishing with Funk & Weber, a Seed Bead Botany class,  two Janet Perry classes - (one a stitch guide practicum and the other a background stitch notebook, and several Craftsy online classes for quilting) were barely touched.

I didn’t start TAST 2015 since it was basically a rerun of TAST 2011-12-13.

Long-standing UFOs from precious years weren't even taken out, let alone stitched on:

•     "Angel of Love" - started before we moved to England in 1992!
•     "Celestial Angel"  - started before we moved to England in 1992!
•     "Map of England and Wales" - started in Saudi, sometime around 2001
•     "Nature's Song" (excerpted from a larger chart) - started in Saudi sometime around 2001

to say nothing of an ancient crewel-work pillow (I'm sure the moths have done in the wool by now), all the top work on six or seven needlepoint pieces that all predate 1992, and 19 or so of piece-worked tops from quilting classes in Saudi...  And then there is my Round Robin piece from 2006 --- I still need to finish that off. (If the preceding words look familiar, they are almost verbatim my reports from 2013 AND 2014!)

There are still all the years of Janet Perry needlepoint exercises that require finish-finishing; and a Chinese coins quilt top still awaits its sandwiching, quilting and binding. In addition there are two crazy quilt wall hangings assembled but not sandwiched, quilted or bound and a third not yet assembled… and the three years of TAST samplers are still unbound…

Also stitched on, but unfinished in 2015 are two "true" WIPs and two travel pieces:

•     nine "Roll Your Own" mandalas from InkCircles (seven are complete, two have partial outlines and that leaves two to go!)
•     An Elizabeth Almond blackwork sampler SAL called "Save the Stitches" (issued in 24 installments, fill is completed in13 and outlines completed for 24 more...)
•     A small souvenir piece from a summer road trip called "Historic Biltmore" (which has become a travel piece)
• the border has most of a second color done on “Palm Tree Elegance” (a needlepoint which is my go-to travel piece
  

As for 2016…

Like in 2015, I hope to make 2016 a year of catching up and maybe even re-organizing my crafting space (which is currently a hot mess! - that’s right — no progress made there either). So my stitching goals are to finish what I call the "makeable WIPs": the "Roll Your Own" mandalas and the blackwork sampler; If I feel motivated,  Crazy Quilt Journal Project and Bead Journal Project will also take it's place in this list. I will limit my goals to these, and if anything else inserts itself into my schedule, I should have the time to work on it...

Week Fifty-Two, December 31, 2015 (and a day late)

A completion to celebrate the end of 2015! Well, part of one, anyway! I finished "Revenge":

and here is how the "Roll Your Own" Mandalas look today:

Other than that, Christmas day at brother-in-law's and then again on Sunday (for the other two in-law families who were in town for the day), lunch with the widow of one of husband's dear friends, and an eye-appointment on New Year's Eve (which is why I'm late with this check-in) took up my week. 

Not a great year for stitching (see next post) and I didn't come close to filling my goals for 2015. Still, it was an OK year as years go (not counting US presidential politics and world-wide terrorism, that is)...

As for 2016, I'm hoping for better, in stitching and in the world and wish you all a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Profitable New Year!

WIPocalypse, December 2015 - the Cold Full Moon (and Christmas Day, 2015!)

The final WIPocalypse post of the year has the theme "Recap your accomplishments for the year! "

This will be easy because this is one of the least productive stitchery years I have had in ages. Travel, a series of nasty respiratory infections and just general malaise pretty much dominated...

At the end of 2014, I set the following goal: "I hope to make 2015 a year of catching up and maybe even re-organizing my crafting space (which is currently a hot mess!). So my stitching goals are to finish what I call the "makable WIPs": the "Roll Your Own" mandalas and the blackwork sampler;  and keep up with Take a Stitch Tuesday and Crazy Quilt Journal Project. If I feel motivated, Bead Journal Project will also take it's place in this list. I will limit my goals to these, and if anything else inserts itself into my schedule, I should have the time to work on it..."

Well, I didn't do so awfully well. Let's go over this goal, point by point:

1.The "Roll Your Own Mandalas": "Bride" (the third of nine mandalas) had five colors' done and a sixth 25% complete P1010004.jpg and since January 5, I have completed "Bride" and three more mandalas ("Spawn" which consisted of "Jan", "Cindy " and "Marcia") and nearly finished the seventh, "Revenge", and the piece now looks like this:

Two to go. Not even close to a finish so that is a NOT DONE.

 2. The "Save The Stitches" blackwork sampler: On January 5, I had the outline of the sampler complete and 9 of the "blocks" "filled" Completed Outline.jpg and since that date, I have completed three more blocks Blocks 1 - 13.jpg. Not touched since April 9, 2015! Again, a NOT DONE 

3. Take a Stitch Tuesday: I didn't stitch TAST in 2015 --- it started over from the beginning and I stopped at that point. NOT ATTEMPTED

4. Crazy Quilt Journal Project: I merged this with the Bead Journal Project and completed all 12 beaded crazy blocks CQJP2015: COMPLETED (but some assembly required)

Other projects stitched on during the year were: 

• Two Habitat for Humanity blocks for a friend's EGA charitable drive (April 16): COMPLETED

• An embroidered quilt block for a memorial quilt for a dear friend (May 15): COMPLETED

• A plastic Canvas butterfly ornament for a swap, started in September (September 17)  and mailed September 22. COMPLETED 

• Three placemats for the quilt guild Meals on Wheels holiday drive, started in August (August 17) and handed in November 5, 2015: COMPLETED

I also did some border stitching on my "traveling" needlepoint project "Palm Tree Elegance", starting in mid June (June 18) and continuing, off and on, through October (October 15): NOT COMPLETE (by a long shot!)

Dare I even set goals for 2016? I know of at least one three-week road trip in the coming year (although the exact dates aren't set) so that means I may get in more stitching on the traveling needlepoint. Otherwise, it seems that there are those two massive WIPS staring me in the face: "Roll Your Own" and "Save the Stitches". Should I continue plodding along on "Roll Your Own" in hopes of having it ready for the county fair mid-summer 2016, knowing that a single mandala has been taking me, on the average, four months to complete? Or should I take a break  set up a rotation with "Save the Stitches", aiming for both to be ready for the 2017 fair? Or maybe start something else altogether and let these two BAPS go the way of UFO-dom? 

Week Fifty-One, December 24, 2015

Only two stitching days since reporting in for International Hermit and Stitch Weekend, but I am on the last color *number 12!) for “Revenge”! 

So it’s looking good for having this part of “Roll Your Own” completed in 2015. Only two more mandalas to go! 

Now the question is, in 2016, do I try to finish “Roll Your Own”  or do I switch back to “Save the Stitches” and try to make some progress on that one. I do know for certain I will not be joining either the Crazy Quilt Journaling Project or the Bead Journaling Project Challenges. They just take up so much time and effort with little to show for it any more… While International Hermit and Stitch and WIPocalypse  don’t take away from stitchery, per se, they don’t really seem to be benefiting me any more. True, I get a few visitors to my blog as a result of them, but I don’t really like how much time it takes ME to blog the results for them and the time it takes to surf others’ blogs is time I COULD spend stitching *or* paper crafting! 

We shall see if these become New Year’s resolutions or just random firings of a holiday-exhausted brain!

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend December 18 - 20, 2015

Happy first day of winter!

I finally got back to stitching on "Revenge" after completing my last block for the 2015 combined Crazy Quilt Journal and Bead Journal Projects! I finished color #10 (of 12) and started #11!

Christmas holidays will be getting in the way of completing this mandala, I'm afraid, (although it does look like it would be doable otherwise): Christmas dinner and gift exchange at one brother-in-law's on Friday (which means cooking Wednesday night and shopping for food before that --- once husband has determined what we are supposed to bring!) and another brother-in-law and family coming up for Sunday evening/Monday morning (beds to make up! AAACK!). Still awaiting call from yet another in-law as to whether they will be able to come this weekend or not. And then there is the big bowl game for our alma mater on Wednesday night... I know I won't be able to resist watching it on the telly, and it's hard (nay, impossible) to stitch when football is on! SO it may be the New Year before I get any significant stitching done. 

Week Fifty, December 17, 2015

This week was pretty much dominated by gatherings (meet the new coach, quilt guild holiday brunch, University President's holiday reception, lunch with my two best friends) and decorating the tree. No pictures for the gatherings but here is the tree, before and after ornaments: 

Our first ever purpose-build artificial tree (we've made do the past decade with a tree meant for outside decor).

The only stitching I did was on my Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal block. I finally finished it last night. A little Christmas greenery (is it a branch of a tree with leaves or flowers? Maybe a blooming Christmas cactus? Or maybe a deconstructed holly branch?  Who knows --- it evolved) and some snow (which we haven't gotten yet in this unseasonably warm December): 

That completes both challenges for 2015, and all I need do now is assemble the quilt/wall hanging... Right --- ALL! Considering that I have two previous years' wall hangings in various stages of assembly, finishing is easier said than done! LOL

I hope you all have a happy holiday, whichever one you celebrate, and that all your days will be merry and bright!

Week Forty-Nine, December 10, 2015

I decided this week to try to get my December Crazy Quilt/Bead Journal block finished. I was slowed down by holiday prep and gatherings but I did manage to get all (or most of --- I haven't decided yet) the seam treatments done. Here it is, hooped and ready for beads and buttons: