Happy New Year! It's time to officially wrap up my creative year for 2024. This is my 16th year writing these wrap up posts, see previous years here.


This year was definitely different compared to years past! As the year went on (and baby girl dropped from 2 naps to 1!), I had less and less time to pursue creative endeavors. Despite this, I actually made more things than I initially thought. It wasn't until I sat down to start working on this post that I realized I actually made a lot of things this year. More than last year for sure! Certainly there have been stretches where I made more or less. I would say what I struggled this most with this year in terms of creativity was consistency. There were times where I would sew every day for weeks and others when I went weeks without sewing at all!

The overarching theme for my makes in 2024 was repurposing. I really enjoyed making things from my vintage sheet stash and other salvaged or thrifted materials. I made pouches from towels, bags from aprons, and a coat from a quilt! I look forward to continuing to experiment in this way in the future.


I didn't track my projects or yardage this year. I think I would like to at the very least keep a running list of finished projects in 2025, but we'll see. So instead of a rundown of everything I made in 2024, I'm just going to share my favorites! And check in with my goals at the end.

Time to look at some of my favorite projects from the year!

My favorite quilt finish: Soft and Subtle Vintage Sheet Plus Quilt


My favorite lined drawstring bag finish: Vintage Sheet Lined Drawstring Bags


My favorite bag finish: Upcycled Towel Zipper Bag


My favorite home decor finish: Ikea Poang Chair Slipcover


My favorite garment finish: Quilt Coat


My favorite craft finish: Dried Strawflower Wreath


My favorite knitting finish: Fuchsia Colorwork Mittens


My favorite thrift find: Thrifting a White Singer Featherweight 221K


This year I shared 7 free tutorials here on my blog and hosted two sew alongs:

- Plus Quilt Sew Along
- 2024 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along
- 2024 Stash Tracking Worksheet
- How to Quilt Wavy Lines with a Walking Foot (video!)
- Jeni's Best Chocolate Cookies
- Book Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial
- Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags
- Tie-Dye Twill Tape Tutorial

Let's check in with my 2024 Crafty Goals:

My #1 goal: When I do have time to make, spend most of that time playing. Work on whatever will make me the happiest in that moment.
I feel like I kept pretty true to this goal. Sometimes I got sidetracked by what I thought I "should" be working on, but for the most part I just made things for fun.

Try to use up more yardage than I bring in for both fabric and yarn. I'll track my yardage each month to help me stay on target. I'm less worried about this goal, I feel confident that my buying habits are in check after many years of tracking.
I did not track my yardage this year, but I didn't buy much. I only bought 3/4 yard of "new" fabric, and even that was from a 10 year old collection! I mostly brought in thrifted fabrics. I made one yarn purchase from Eat Sleep Knit during their black Friday sale, and just two skeins.

Finish up 1 or 2 long-term projects in progress.
I finished one long-term project, the Indigo June Baby Quilt. I also used up old leftovers to make the Leftovers Quilt and the Minny Muu Patchwork Baby Quilt.

Sew something with my vintage sheet stash.
Probably 75% of my sewing this year was with my vintage sheet stash! It really made me happy to work with my sheets again, so I leaned into it. I made three large throw size quilts, three baby quilts, a bunch of lined drawstring bags, a couple pillows and two chair covers.

Finish my colorwork mittens (I'm so close already, this should be a quick win!).
I finished these right away in the beginning of 2024! Hooray!!

Restart my art practice. This one is already in progress, I'm taking this class at the moment and feeling so inspired.
This was a big focus for me in the beginning part of 2024, but I ran out of steam a bit as the year went on.

Crochet more amigirumi.
Nope! Didn't work on any crochet amigirumi this year. I made some granny squares though!


That's all for now! I'll be back soon to share my 2024 garden wrap-up post and some 2025 crafty goals.

Happy Sewing!

2023 in Review

Happy New Year! It's time to for my annual wrap up of the creative year. This is the 15th (!!) year I've posted a creative review, see previous years here.


For the first time in 8 years, I do not have stash numbers to share! I fell off my stash tracking pretty early in the year, and never had a chance to catch back up. I hope that at some point I can go back and at least get some rough numbers, but I can't spare the time right now. It is what it is and I'm trying not to stress too much about it! I did buy some fabric this year, but I feel confident that I still used up more than I brought in. I hope to just start this year of tracking fresh and try not get behind.

For yarn on the other hand, I definitely bought more yarn than I used. I hadn't bought any yarn in four years (whoa!), and it's much harder for me to use it up compared to fabric.

Some of my favorite finishes of the year I actually still haven't shared here yet, so I'm going to share a list of finished projects instead! This is actually more typical of my yearly review posts in the past. In 2023, I made...


3 Throw quilts (Large Keep Turning Quilt), 3 baby quilts, 1 mini quilt and 1 table topper

Lined Drawstring Bags: 28 Tiny bags, 2 Snack bags, 7 Everything bags, 4 Project bags, 2 Artist bags, 2 Wine bags, and 2 Laundry bags.


2 Tote bags (Patchwork Workshop Tote) and 3 scrappy zipper pouches


3 Christmas stockings (tutorial)


2 Pincushions


3 Ghost kitty softies (Ghost Kitties Tutorial by Ann Wood Handmade)


2 Felt grow bags (tutorial)


2 Vintage sheet dresses, 1 knit dress (Out and About Dress Pattern by Sew Caroline)


3 Fabric baby books, 2 pairs baby leggings, 2 knit baby hats, 1 car seat cover, 4 changing pad covers, 1 travel changing pad, 2 nursing pillow covers, 5 tag toys, and 2 crinkle strips. (See this post for baby sewing.)

Knitting + crochet: 2 Baby hats (Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho), and 5 Woobles amigurumi softies

I shared 8 informational or tutorial posts in 2023:

- Simple Two-Color Baby Quilt Tutorial
- DIY Felt Grow Bags (with Video Tutorial)
- High Contrast Fabric Baby Book Sewing Tutorial
- Easy Puppy Chow Recipe
- Gingerbread House Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- Peppermint Stripe Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- Exposed Gusset Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- All About Cotton Twill Tape and How to Use it for Drawstring Bags

Now a quick look back at my 2023 Crafty Goals. I didn't do great in this department, but I was pregnant/had a baby this year, so at least I have a good excuse!

Sewing & Quilting Goals:

Use up more yardage than I bring in. I'll track my yardage to help me stay on target.
I believe I still brought in less than I used. I got behind on tracking yardage and never found the time to catch up.

Finish last quilt top from my HST book.
So close, I got it basted!

Finish my double wedding ring quilt.
I finished the arcs, but ran out of steam after that. This was a really overly ambitious goal, considering.

Work on my scrappy spiderweb quilt or liberty churn dash quilt each month.
This did not happen at all.

Start another vintage sheet quilt.
No, but I did plan my next one!

Make 1 small project (pincushions, zipper pouches, softies, etc.) per month.
I think I came close on this one. I did sew every month, not sure I always finished something.

Knitting/Crochet Goals:

Use up more yardage than I bring in. I'll track my yardage to help me stay on target.
I fell off tracking just like with fabric. But in this case I know I bought more yarn than I used, for the first time in a long time!

Knit a little every month.
Defintely did not do this.

Crochet a softie.
YES! Finally, after so many years of wanting to, I learned to crochet Amigurumi. I am so happy about this.

Finish current mitten project.
No, but I'm working on it right now!

Finish/frog a shawl project.
Neither.

Finish at least one pair of machine knit socks.
Nope.


And that's it! I'll be back soon to share my 2023 garden wrap up post plus my 2024 crafty goals!

Have Great Day!

2022 in Review

Happy New Year! Is it already too late to say that? I hope your year is off to a good start so far. I took a bit of an unplanned break the last month, but I'm back today to wrap up 2022. Let's look at some creative highlights from the year and how I did on my crafty goals!

First up, my yardage tracking. This was my seventh year tracking my yardage! I can't believe I've been doing that for this long. As usual I tracked both my fabric and yarn yardage. (See how I do that in this post.) My goals in this area are the same each year: to use up more materials than I bring in. I'm happy to say I acheived this in both fabric and yarn this year!

For fabric, I used up almost 75 yards and bought only 20 yards worth of fabric. Not too shabby! I'm not using up (or giving away/destashing) as much fabric each year as I did when I first started tracking, but I'm also bringing in about a tenth of the fabric I was.

2022 was the fourth year in a row that I haven't bought any yarn. As I (hopefully) explore crochet more this coming year that streak will probably come to an end, but I'm really happy about this. It has been so nice to just use up my stash and enjoy the beautiful yarns I already have.

2022 Fabric Stash Totals
Used up: 74.75 yards
Brought in: 20 yards
Net: -54.75 yards

2022 Yarn Stash Totals
Used up: 3494 yards
Brought in: 0 yards
Net: -3494 yards

Time to look at some of my favorite projects from the year!

My favorite quilt finish: Vintage Bear Paw Quilt


My favorite lined drawstring bag finish: Ruler Paper Drawstring Bag


My favorite bag finish: Michael's Waxed Canvas Travel Bag


My favorite home decor finish: Abstract Fabric Artwork


My favorite yarn craft finish: Crochet Scrap Yarn Basket


My favorite woodworking finish: Dusty's Hidden Litter Box Cabinet


One of my (unspoken) goals for last year was to recommit to blogging on a regular schedule. With the exception of December, I exceeded my own expectations in terms of this goal. In 2021, I published 36 blog posts. In 2022, I published 103 blog posts! To be honest, I think I may have overextended myself a bit, so I am aiming for a little less this year, but it was nice to be back here so regularly.


I shared 16 informational or tutorial posts in 2022:
- New and Improved Stash Tracking Worksheet (with Formulas!)
- DIY Abstract Fabric Artwork
- Ideas for Storing and Organizing Sewing Notions
- Tips for Dyeing Raw Eggs
- Fabric Folding Video Tutorial
- Indigo Courthouse Steps Quilt Tutorial
- Easy DIY Row Markers for Quilting
- Tips for Keeping Your Sewing Room Clean
- DIY Budget Wooden Tomato Trellis
- Tips for Dusting and Displaying Vintage Dishes
- Packing Tips for a Sewing Retreat or Workshop
- The Cheap Secret to Preventing Fabric Bleeding in Quilts
- Making Templates for the Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
- Patchwork Star Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- Tips for Tidy Drawstring Casing Openings
- Tips for Working with Paracord

In the second half of the year I went on a pattern writing spree! I managed to release six new patterns in 2022:

Candyweb Quilt Block Pattern


Expanse Quilt Pattern


Indigo Steps Quilt Pattern


Keep Turning Quilt Pattern


Floral Chain Quilt Pattern


Vintage Bear Paw Quilt Pattern


Now a quick look back at my 2022 Crafty Goals. I think I did okay this year. Better than last year at least!

Sewing & Quilting Goals:

Use up more yardage than I bring in. I'll track my yardage each month to help me stay on target.
I decreased my fabric stash by 54.75 yards this year!

Complete two long-term quilt projects (all green quilt, double wedding ring, vintage sheet bear paw, Night Sky, HST book quilt tops, etc.).
I completed three long-term quilt projects: Floral Chain Quilt (all green quilt), Vintage Bear Paw Quilt, and one lingering HST book quilt top.

Sew a quilt primarily from scraps.
I started a quilt primarily from scraps, my Candyweb blocks.

Make a few more pieces of fabric/patchwork artwork.
I made one, it hangs above our mantle!

Sew four handmade garments.
I only made one garment this year, a housecoat for Michael. He loves it.

Knitting Goals:

Use up more yardage than I bring in. I'll track my yardage each month to help me stay on target.
I decreased my yarn stash by 3494 yards this year!

Complete four weaving projects.
I only completed one weaving project this year.

Finish current mitten project.
I worked on it, but did not finish it.

Finish/frog a shawl project.
Again, I worked on my Briochealicious shawl project but did not finish or frog it.

Finish at least one pair of machine knit socks.
Didn't touch this project.


And that's it! I'll be back soon to share my 2022 garden wrap up post plus my 2023 crafty goals!

Have Great Day!

2021 in Review

Wow, 2021. I've been thinking a lot about this past year (and about writing this post) over the last few weeks. It's taken me some time to figure out what I want to say about it.


There were definitely some really good things that happened; getting our vaccines, finally seeing our family, and growing closer to Michael being the major ones. On the other hand, 2021 was one of the hardest years of my life. We lost our sweet bunny George in February, and that grief has taken me on a journey this year. I felt unable to do much of anything creative for a big chunk of the year. Beyond that, here were a lot of other personal struggles this year that I decided to keep private. I started seeing a therapist this year, which I've never done before. Honestly, I wish I'd done so sooner, it has been helpful for me. Either way, I'm glad I sought out some extra support. I'm grateful that I have access to mental health services.


On that note, my main focus in 2021 ended up being my phsyical and mental health. I didn't push too hard to make things when I didn't feel like it. Instead I tried to keep busy doing whatever felt right. That ended up meaning a bunch of home projects (would you like to see more of those?), a well tended garden, lots of puzzles, trying out new recipes, and some back to basics crafting. I did still manage to finish four quilts, including two long-term WIPs which felt really good. I vanished from this space and instagram for long stretches of time, but I still managed to post some tutorials last year and hosted another lined drawstring bag sew along. Hoping to avoid those stretches this year, but no promises! Sometimes it just felt too overwhelming to show up, and again, I didn't push it when it didn't feel right.

Alight, now that I've gotten all that chatter out of the way, let's look at some creative highlights from the year and how I did on my crafty goals!


First up, my yardage tracking. For the sixth year in a row, I tracked my fabric and yarn yardage. (See how I do that in this post.) As in other years, my goal was simply to use up more fabric than I bring in. I'm very happy with my numbers this year! I only added 25 yards of fabric to my stash all year. I'm so proud of that! This year I really only bought fabric for specific projects, with a few exceptions. And I used up a decent amount, 123.25 yards. Considering I went for months at a time this year without much sewing, I think that's pretty good.

On the yarn side, 0 yards of yarn came through my door, for the second year in a row. I still have SO much yarn in my stash, and I made a good dent this year, using up almost 2400 yards worth!

2021 Fabric Stash:
Brought in: 25 yards
Sewed up/destashed: 123.25 yards
Net: -98.25 yards

2021 Yarn Stash:
Brought in: 0 yards
Knit up/destashed: 2319 yards
Net: -2319 yards

Okay, let's dive into some favorite projects from the year!

My favorite quilt finish:

Double Gauze Plaid Quilt (still need to blog this one!)

My favorite lined drawstring bag finish:

Present Quilt Block Bag

My favorite garment finish:

A double gauze lightweight jacket (need better photos and to blog it!)

My favorite knitting finish:

Astra Hat for Michael

My favorite weaving finish:

Hi Lo Scarf

My favorite crafting finish:

Spooky Halloween Village

My favorite woodworking finishing:

Outdoor Sofa

My favorite home project:

Painting our stair risers and hanging a gallery wall.


I managed to publish seven tutorial/informational posts this year!

- How I Organize my Digital Sewing Patterns
- How I Organize my Paper Sewing Patterns
- Golden Afternoon Quilt Free Tutorial
- How to Customize Wooden Beads with Paint, Stain, and Dye
- Present Quilt Block Drawstring Bag Free Tutorial
- Reusable Gift Tag Ideas for Drawstring Bags
- How to Use Trim or Ribbon to Embellish Your Drawstring Bags


I didn't publish any new patterns this year, but I did start carrying Round Wooden Beads and two colors of Nylon Paracord in my online shop!

A look back at my 2021 Crafty goals, and how I did. I would say overall, not great. But I'm okay with that! Every year is different and I never could have anticipated what this year would bring. Glad I managed to complete some of them!

Sewing & Quilting Goals:

- Use up more yardage than I bring in. I'll track my yardage each month to help me stay on target.
Success on this goal again! Decreased my stash by 86 yards this year.

- Complete one long-term quilt project (kaleidoscope, double wedding ring, HST book quilt tops, etc.).
I finished my kaleidoscope quilt! Still need to blog about that one. I also finished my Golden Afternoon quilt which was a very long-term WIP too.

- Sew four new-to-me patterns, ideally one per quarter.
Didn't do so well on this goal. I only made a project from one new-to-me pattern, the Sit 'n Sew Pincushion Pattern by Shannon Fraser.

- Complete one small scrap project per month.
I fell off this goal pretty quickly. I feel okay about it though. I am itching to make a scrap quilt this year.

- Finally sew the Kelly Anorak Jacket (ideally in time for Fall).
This one didn't happen. I've decided it's time to destash the pattern/hardware this year.

- Practice techniques that are unfamiliar or new to me.
Didn't make time for this in 2021.

Knitting Goals:

- Use up more yardage than I bring in. I'll track my yardage each month to help me stay on target.
Giving myself an A+ on this goal this year. I didn't bring in any yarn and I used up a lot of yardage (for me!).

- Knit a matching hat and mitten set.
Sort of completed this one. I knit myself a hat to match the mittens I finished on the last day of 2020.

- Start a new weaving project.
Very happy to say I really exceeded my goal on this one! I wove four scarves this year and really found it soothing especially in early 2021.

- Finish or frog one long term knitting project (Briochealicious, Daybreak, Sundial, or Hitchhiker shawls or machine knit socks).
Did not tackle this one. I knit some on Briochealicious, but I have a long way to go. I am considering a few frogs though early this year.

I have one more 2021 wrap up post, and it will be up next week. A dedicated post to my 2021 garden! I can't wait to share it with you. Then hopefully I can get my 2022 goals figured out next!

Happy New Year!