2016 Recap :)

It's still January, so I'm going to go ahead and post a recap for last year.  OKAY then.  Without further ado, here are some numbers from 2016:

Quilts made:  12
(5 baby, 4 lap size, 1 twin, 1 queen, 1 king)
(2 were given to charity, 3 were sold, 4 were given to new babies, and the rest are still with me)
(Listed/Linked here in no particular order)

Puff Quilt in Hello Bear
Quilt Class Sampler Quilt (finished photos coming soon)
Puff Quilt in Bump to Baby
Diamond Ripple
Emily's Picture Perfect
Abecedary in Mint
ABC Improv
Carpenter Star
Diamonds in the Fire
Maggie's Charm Quilt
Do.Good:  Humility
Do.Good:  Believe Diamond Kites

A few smaller things I made last year (in no particular order):

Hot Pads for a wedding
Winter Table Runner for Mom (post coming soon)
Baby Quiet Books
Fabric Photo Book 
Red/Green Mini Swap
Vinyl Project Bag Swap
Microwave Bowl Cozies (custom order from a sweet and loyal Etsy customer - now I want some)
Hot Pads for a church service auction
Pin cushion thread catcher for a friend
Tons of new baby girl bibs
Cathedral Windows MINI mini swap

For those who have been to my blog once or twice, you may have noticed that 2016 (at least from the blogging side) was pretty much dominated by the Quilt Class I taught.  Here are the 12 sets of blocks.  Someday I'll show you the finished quilt!


And of course, here are my 12 bee blocks.  We started the year with one block in my old group before we were disbanded and dispersed into new groups.  :)



2016 Sep-Dec was also a very busy time for my Etsy shop.  I introduced a new quiet book in 2016 (check it out HERE and HERE by the end of February) and it (plus several of my bigger books) really took off during the Holiday season. 
p.s. If you go and check it out, just know that it's pretty sparse right now while I work on restocking it again on my own timeline.   :)

Because I spend so much of my sewing time working on things for my shop (which is the only reason I am able to keep my hobby fully funded), I have to document some of those numbers here too.  To prove to myself that I really did accomplish a lot last year.  ;)

Also - I tried out Amazon Handmade last year.  I like it, but once my free trial expires I will probably not continue selling on Amazon. :(  The fee schedule just doesn't work for the type/amount of products I create.  Etsy is still working great for me and keeps me JUST busy enough.  :)  For the record, about 15-20% of my sales in 2016 came from Amazon.

2016 Etsy/Amazon Shop Stats:

Total Orders:  81
Quilts: 4 (!) (2 puff quilts, 1 baby quilt, 1 custom order queen quilt)
Rummy Mats:  7
Patterns:  18
Baby Quiet Books:  27
My First Book of Colors:  7
Other Colors Books:  8
Other Quiet Books (Shapes, Letter Names):  9
Letters Quiet Book (all 26 letters):  1
Stockings:  2
Bibs:  9
Fabric Photo Books: 2
Microwave Bowl Cozies (custom order): 3

Most popular items based on views/faves:  Colors Button Book, My First Book of Colors, Shapes Book Pattern

One last thing - my most popular blog posts were these:
Quarter 1 Project List
Quilt Class Block 7: Flying Geese
Emily's Picture Perfect Baby Quilt
Diamonds in the Fire


You guys.  2017 is already turning out to be AWESOME.  I've created plan for keeping more on top of my shop this year during the slow months, and I've got tons of fun (and QUICK) quilt projects planned.  Plus, I'm going to teach myself a new skill this year - long arm quilting.  Wish me luck!!!

2017 Q1 Finish Along Time!

Hi friends!  I still need/want to write a 2016 year-in-review post (I think it was a pretty good year - very busy for my Etsy shop in the last quarter, although I still have SO many quilts still waiting to be made).   But for now I'm enjoying my new-found free sewing time (YAY no more orders!).  I would much rather be sewing than sitting here at the computer!
But since I've got all these new projects on the brain, I figured I could take a minute to write up a list and link up with the FAL.  :)  I have so many plans!

SO.  Here is my current list. I am making monthly goals on Instagram (find me at @tiffsewinsomethin), which so far is going super well.  But THIS.  This is my master list.  I have organized it according to level of progress:

Blog/Photograph:

1. WHW RS Sampler Quilt Class quilt.
It's finished!  YAY!  I finished binding this two days ago, but we can't call a quilt finished unless it's photographed and blogged, right?  (What do you think, hosts - can I still count this one?)

Bind:

Nothing in the queue at the moment.  Whew!


Quilt:

2.  Sweet Life Kaleidoscope
The SID lines are finished, I just need to figure out how to quilt it.  It's a little strange to think that this might be one of the last quilts I quilt on my domestic sewing machine!  (Oh!  Did I mention I scored a used quilting machine/frame for Christmas?  It's not as fancy as you think, and the machine is in the shop at the moment, but I'm excited to see if I can get it to work!)

Baste

3.  Moda Row Quilt

4.  Purple Runner
I don't really like the way this one turned out, but I might stick it on the aforementioned quilting frame for practice.  Do charity organizations accept table runners?

Assemble:

5. Do.Good Stitches December Quilt
All blocks have been received!  I'm planning to slice these blocks into quarters and stitch them back together into a quilt top.  I just need to decide if I want to slice vertical/horizontal or diagonal...

6.  Churn Dash Swap Quilt
I'm participating in a Churn Dash block swap with some friends.  We are each making 4 churn dash blocks for each member in the group, in their chosen color scheme.  I'm going against my normal bright, rainbow colors (well, mostly) and requested dusty/muted/burnt rainbow/fall colors.  I'm SO EXCITED!  Here is a photo of all the blocks I have made for my friends (mine are the ones along the top row).  We're swapping in February.

Piece:
7. Summerfest Hexies
I started this one on a long road trip and now it is my long term slow-stitching project.  But I really love it, so maybe it won't be so slow...

8. Swoon in Blushing.
Just in time for the #swoonalong on IG!  I'm about halfway through making these blocks.  :)

9. Be My Neighbor in B&C Basics.
I really wanted to participate in a quilt-along this year, but none of the current quilt-alongs appealed to me enough, so I picked one from 2016 that I never had time to join.  I'm using a bundle of B&C basics I won from Happy Quilting on Giveaway Day.  I'm shooting for two blocks a month.

10. Jelly Roll Race in Joel Dewberry True Colors
I've always wanted to try a Jelly Roll Race quilt and I figure this will be the perfect quilt to practice quilting with my new machine.  Fast to put together, with lots of busy prints to hide quilting, and lots of straight lines to divide the quilt into sections for practicing different designs. Here's my progress after one hour:

Cut:
11. Noah's Growth Chart.
Maybe I'll make him one for his 2nd birthday.  :D  I've got some Mixed Bag scraps set aside and the background is even already cut.

12. Apron for me.
Someday?

13.  Chunky Windmill in Little Miss Sunshine.
Again, I'm looking for a fast quilt I can practice quilting on.  I've got a layer cake of Little Miss Sunshine just begging to be made into THIS quilt.  I like that the blocks aren't set into a "background," making it easier to hide quilting mistakes.  :)

14.  Ombre Diamonds in the Deep.
I had so much fun making my Orange Diamonds in the Deep, I immediately went out and bought some ombre fabrics to make another one.  I have big plans.  I just need more time!

15.  Criss Cross in Summerfest.
I've got half a jelly roll left over from my hexie project and I'm going to see how many of April's Criss Cross blocks I can get out of it.  :)

16.  Moroccan Tiles.
I'm thinking of using my Pie Making Day bundle for this.  Or maybe one of these groupings a got in a destash from a friend.  Also - I purchased this pattern as part of the "May is for Makers" campaign (back in May).  Did anyone else participate in that?

17.  Triangle Quilt.
I've always wanted to make a random scrappy 60 degree triangle quilt.  Well, I got the ruler for Christmas, now I need to decide which of these bundles (or which of my many charm packs) to cut up.

18.  Goody Goody Binding Kit.
I NEED ONE OF THESE!  Who wants to make me one?

19. Easy Charm Quilt for the shop/quilting practice.
I keep collecting these charm packs (not pictured: Prairie) and they are begging to be used.

20. Quilt for Lisa.
A friend of mine is finally having her first baby and we are SOOOO excited for her!  As soon as I can figure out her color scheme, she's getting a quilt from me. :)


AND NOW.  Not only do I have crazy ambitious plans in my personal sewing life, I have plans for my Etsy shop.  This year I am going to focus on preparing one specific line of products roughly each quarter.  Most of these product lines will be old things remade, and some of them will be new.
For the record, here are my plans:

February:
Quiet Books (at least 8)

April:
Card Holders (12)

June:
Bibs (birthday, boy, and girl sets - about 18)

August:
Quilts (puff, charm, whatever I can get finished - hopefully 6-12)

August:
Stockings with plain cuffs for personalization (10)

September 
Rummy Mat Gift Sets (9)


OKAY!  Enough of this!  I've got some sewing to do!

Linking up: