It has been a crazy year! I switched jobs twice, lost my serger pedal, but found it yesterday (!!), made a dress in 5 hours, found a favorite dress pattern, and used up an entire notebook.

I’ve watched multiple seasons of weird British shows (Death in Paradise, Doctor Blake, Great British Baking Show) and some Project Runway. Also, some action shows like The Flash, and Wynona Erp, much to the Husband’s dismay. 🙂

My space is getting organized, slowly but surely.

All my larger scraps are now housed in two containers. I have a shoebox style container full of tiny scraps as well, but they get lost if they are in with the bigger pieces.

Umm.. there’s a slight chance I need to stop saving scraps, or work exclusively in scraps for a bit…

I made about a million tea wallets, which does help with the scrap piles. They’ve also been selling a lot on Etsy all of a sudden. My tea wallets are in a brick and mortar store as well, Hawthorne and Vine, which makes me more confident when trying other avenues in the future.

My Etsy and vending events went decently well. I’ve been better about posting to Twinflower Fancies and am investigating other options for advertising.

One of my favorite clothing makes for the year was my Dita Dress, otherwise known as the “5 hour dress.” I did make some modifications to the pattern,  but got a ton of compliments on it from complete strangers. It’s very exciting to say “Thanks, I made it!”

We discovered that Fancy is not a fan of my dress form unless it is dressed. Silly dog.

I also made two other versions of my strawberry dress, after finally remembering which pattern it was. I like them all, but was so pleased at how the lace worked out on my rose dress. I think it’s my favorite. I wore it in my professional head shot for work too. 🙂

Quilt-wise, my absolute favorite quilt was this rainbow one for a friend’s baby.

I love this quilt. Maybe that’s what I can use my scraps for! I’ll make a version to keep. It does use tiny pieces if I make the 5 inch squares first. Plus, I’m fairly certain I have some extra black squares somewhere.  The Husband is shaking his head at me and suggesting that I should maybe finish the projects I have started for other people first… Silly Husband, deadlines are for other people… (He’s probably right though.)

I also took a huge leap and made the pictures for my office. I was nervous about putting my almost non-existent drawing skills out for display, but was inspired by someone who repeatedly makes me draw things to “help build my confidence in drawing skills.” In the end, I’m glad I ended up choosing the songs and images I did. I’ve had positive responses from people and take pride in embracing my space as my own.

I found a source for my quilts, since they don’t meet Project Linus requirements. My friend has an OT room for kids with emotional disturbances and they will be getting some of them. I have one completed and two tops waiting to be finished.

I used 7 craft books. I added a few more in the process, but have tried to pull patterns or books that I am not using to be donated. I actually was able to connect through the bellydance world with a high school sewing club and they will be getting these items. The box of fabric I had for them is getting bigger and bigger. I’m excited for it to go to kids who are just getting into sewing.

Overall, I completed 67 total projects. This did not include actual numbers of tea wallets. I lost track somewhere in one of the rushes. If you know any tea drinkers, send them my way. I’m sure I can find one for just about anyone.

And what did you learn? 

Things I’ve learned from this year is that I don’t really like working with paper very much, despite having a bunch of scrapbooking stuff.  There is not one paper project on this entire year of blogging. I’ve brought a bunch of it to my office and most of it will probably make its way there.

I need to have a firm hand with the supplies that I keep. I have random craft supplies, Christmas ornament supplies, and beading supplies that I rarely use. Is it really worth having it take up the space, when it could go to someone who would use it?

Organization is my least favorite part, well, along with ironing, of the whole process. Losing my serger pedal is the perfect example of the reasons why I need to get this under control.

Do you know where it was?

It was staring me in the eye from behind a box of elastic and hidden by my thread boxes. The thread boxes that I go to every time I need new thread… that sit next to my sewing area in the basement. That I swear I searched. I’m a bit annoyed with myself to say the least.  My dad is going to say “if it was a snake, it would have bit you” when he reads that.

I may make this picture my background screen on my Ipad if I’m having trouble getting to the organization bit later. Maybe it’ll shame me into actually doing it.

Speaking of actually doing things, here’s my yearly goals.

Yearly goals: 

* Continue blogging both successes and failures.

* Be more involved in the online sewing community for support and growth.

* Continue to develop my Etsy store.

* Learn to take better pictures.

* Learn to use (and not be scared of) the serger. It dishonors my friend’s memory to have it just sit there and not use it.

* Get halfway through my UFO boxes.

* Donate items I am not using/that don’t work for me.

* Be fearless with new projects and techniques.

Whew. That’s a lot of words. Here’s a new cute sleeping dog picture, if you’ve made it this far.

I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along on my journey with me! I know I’ve learned a lot, maybe I have inspired you too!

Here’s to another year of creativity and adventures!