2014 Reflections

This time of the year I like to look back to see how much stitching I accomplished in the previous year and think about the highlights.  It's hard to pick favorites but here are a couple that stood out to me.

I'd be remiss if I didn't pick the Hornbook Bestiary finish as one of my finish highlights.  Oh. My. Goodness.  What an epic finish that was!  If only you could have been there when I put the very last stitch in that one.  I still can't believe I put all those tiny stitches in that thing.  Wow!

I didn't post about my favorite trip when I looked back.  It was my trip to Gatlinburg, TN, with my honey for our anniversary.  We really had a nice restful relaxing time.  We are still talking about how much fun we had on that trip.  We had no specific plans except to visit the Wheels Through Time Museum.  I like those kinds of trips.

Another highlight would be my trip to Utah with four of my favorite people.  It was such a nice getaway.  We had great weather the whole trip.  We ate well, stitched a lot and visited stitcher's heaven.  What more could you ask for?!

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Now to take a look at the numbers from 2014.  You know I like numbers, so in the spirit of my tradition here we go...

New Starts: 35

Finishes:  29

UFOs (unfinished objects):  7

WIPs (works in progress):  4

When compared to the year before I had six fewer starts, but two more finishes, one less UFO and 11 less WIPs.  I participated in four less exchanges, but made ten more gifts, participated in one more SAL and attended two less classes.

 

In reflection, I attribute the fewer starts to the three BAPs (Hornbook Bestiary, Snooty Parrots, and Quaker Faith) in addition to working full time.  I discovered I don't like having that many large projects going at once.  It made me twitchy and I missed my smalls.

Exchanges:  3

Gifts: 17

SALs: 5

Classes: 3

I've always liked stitching gifts for folks and those are usually smalls so I was able to get a smalls fix every now and then.  It really surprised me when added up the numbers to see I'd given away so many things.  Let's have a look at a few of my favorites.

I couldn't resist showing this one.  Is anyone else watching the show?

This was the second time I'd stitched this one.  This time I changed the colors a tiny bit.

These just make me smile every time I looked at them.  I'm so glad I stitched one for myself.  I'm going to try to do that more often this year.  I always say I'll go back and stitch myself one later but later never happens.

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So there you have it folks, my recap.  I don't usually make resolutions but I do like to set intentions or mini goals if you will.  Here are some I've been ruminating on lately in no particular order...

• I'd like to finally get my DMC collection wound onto bobbins.  That's how I started back in the 80s and I'd love to have that project finished.
• I'd like to get some sort of organization system sorted out for my charts.  I can't decide how to store them by designer, theme, some other way.  Do you have any suggestions?
• I'd like to stitch some things that are waiting for attention in the basket o'joy.  I've already got a start on that one!  More to come on that.
• I seriously need a finishing day!  The show and tell would be fun to share.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I put my mind to it but you get the idea.  What are your intentions for the year?  I'd love to know if you care to share.

I hope you all are having a good week.  I'm looking forward to the end of this week.  It's the LNS's annual retreat.  I've already got my projects picked out and I'm even going to have a new start.  I'll share more about that next week.  Thanks for visiting today!

Until next time,

The Inspired Stitcher