Last January I set myself eighteen challenges to do in 2018, they were a mixture of sewing, quilting, embroidery and general lifestyle ones. I really enjoyed having something to aim for, especially as I didn’t stress or beat myself up if a challenge clearly wasn’t going to happen! I achieved a lot of my aims and it does help to visualise my progress over the year. I achieved quite a lot!…
- 1 Etsy Store Opened; This hasn’t quite materialised but it is still on my to do list! I’ve spent most of the year hovering between a self hosted site and Etsy, there is so much conflicting advice out there! I think I’m settling on starting with an Etsy store, see what sells and what doesn’t, I can always move to my own site at a later date. Just got to get myself organised!
- 2 Tutorials written; This hasn’t happened either, although I do have one half written, it’s not as easy as it looks! I’ve had a few requests for instructions on how I made my stitch sampler, so hopefully I’ll write that up soon.
- 3 Sessions a Week in the Garden; Success! This was one of my most successful challenges, not necessarily because I stuck to it rigidly all year, I have drifted a bit in the last couple of months, but because it worked so well. Particularly for the first few months of the year just getting out for a short spell three times a week gave me a head start as well as some fresh air. Even if it was only 10 minutes, that’s half an hour a week I wouldn’t otherwise have done. I going to keep this challenge ongoing!
- 4 Quilts; Completed! I’m including my Down the Rabbit hole quilt in this as the top was such a major undertaking, it can be another finish when I finally quilt it! Feel the Sunshine was the first quilt of the year, it now lives in sunny Australia. The peacock was a practice piece for free-motion quilting and my hummingbird quilt was a present for my niece.7
Feel the Sunshine
- 5 Craftsy Classes; complete! I just managed to watch five, finishing the last one over Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and length of the classes, several hours of instructions. I still have an embroidery one to watch. I found when Craftsy had their free sessions it made nice ‘background’ listening when I was sewing, rather than having to sit and concentrate on the computer.
- 6 New Patterns; complete; I actually managed to sew seven new patterns this year, including the two dresses I made over Christmas, I still have quite a few unused patterns in my stash though!
- 7 Kits Stitched; complete! I made two more kits up in December, with my little chamomile cross-stitch and the scissor fob, making nine kits altogether, I still seem to have a rather large box of kits waiting to be made up though!
- 8 Pages for my Stitch Sampler; Complete! This has got to be one of my favourite finishes of the year, I stitched eight double page spreads and made it up into a little book, I’m pretty proud of this one!
- 9 Pounds Lost; Well this is another one that went by the wayside!
- 10 Mini Embroideries; Complete! I like doing these little embroideries, it helps to push my design skills as most of them are my own creations.
- 11 Letters to friends; No letter writing this month, so my tally remains at five, not as many as I hoped, but five more than I would have otherwise written!
- 12 Boxes or Drawers sorted in my Sewing Room; Complete! I’ve had a few good sort outs this year, though my sewing room doesn’t necessarily look any tidier!
- 13 New Recipes; I tried ten new ones over the year, not bad!
- 14 less lengths in my stash! Complete – I think! I’ve used another four lengths this month with two cardigans and two dresses…and I only bought one length! I’ve lost count on this one a bit, I also can’t remember if it was meant to be 14 lengths used, or 14 less off the total number! My stash has definately reduced so I’m calling this a success!
- 15 Posts a month complete! ; I managed 23 posts in December, I’ve just checked my stats and I published 264 posts over the year, so a good average of around 20 a month!
- 16 cross-stitch smalls; Complete! I’ve really enjoyed making these. There’s 19 photos here and at least two or three more I couldn’t quickly find a photo of!
Faby Reilly Poppy Humbug 
- 17 Items of Clothing; success! I didn’t quite make 17 but with the dresses and cardigan I made this month I did make 14 new things for my wardrobe over the year. That’s over one a month so I’m happy with that and calling it a success if not completed!
- 18 walks; complete! My walk from Melrose to Lindisfarne tipped me over the target and I’ve done a couple of walks since. Next year we’re walking part of the Cleveland Way in June, so I need to get some practice walks in again soon!
So that’s my final tally for 2018, I completed ten challenges, another four I counted as a success, so there’s only four I didn’t manage. I’m happy with that! There’s a few things I made which didn’t fit into any challenge, I’ve just done a quick tally and I made a total of sixty items! Yes, even I’m surprised, no wonder the house never looks tidy!
Another tally I did was the amount of thread I used over the year, this is very much a guestimate as I started and finished with various half reels of thread, but counting the empties I’ve used 5150m of thread, it will be interesting to compare with another year.
I haven’t quite worked out my challenges for 2019 yet, but in the meantime I wish everyone a Happy New Year 🙂
thecraftycreek 
You did very well indeed. Happy New Year!
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Phew!
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WOW!!!! This just left me speechless! Holy smokes! You accomplished A LOT and you’ve inspired me to do the same! Thank you and a Happy New Year to you and yours!
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I couldn’t manage that much. Think you have done wonderfully. Happy new year.
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Wow! When you set your targets, I thought it was impossible! You’ve achieved amazingly. So many beautiful things made. I might set a mini target. I’ll have to think about that as any targets ought to be within reach of being achievable , like yours. My targets must include weight loss and increased exercise for the sake of my health.
I’ve been wondering what you do with all these beautiful creations – is that what the Etsy shop is for?
Happy New Year!!
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Thanks Anne, I agree that challenges need to be fairly achievable, some of my targets overlapped, which helped a lot, so I could make a dress from a new pattern and fabric from my stash and that covered three challenges! These things have been as presents or for me, they tend to take too much time to realistically sell them.
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Girl you are amazing. You accomplished all of this and work too!? I can’t imagine doing all of this and I am retired. ha… Just goes to show if you keep focused you can accomplish a lot. Your embroidery skills are so impressive. I would like to tackle learning how to embroider. I tinker with the needle but have not really accomplished much. I guess I need to put my mind to it and carry on. I have so enjoyed what you have shared regarding your challenges, especially the walks which show so much of your beautiful country. I wish you another successful year and I hope you continue to post. I look forward to reading about all your challenges whether they be a success or not.
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You did great!
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You are amazing! I need the focus that you have!
I want to make a stitch book like your’s, so I am one who is anxiously awaiting your tutorial. I am so glad that you introduced me to TAST! I haven’t said so on my blog, but I want to follow along with her this year.
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so many things accomplished during the year – well done!
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What a super productive year you have had with some lovely makes. It has been great fun following your progress and I am very pleased to have been the recipient of one of your embroidered hoops. Hope 2019 is equally productive for you.
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Prodigiously energetic! Congratulations & much success in 2019!!!😘
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When I first saw the butterfly, I thought it was real. Wow you got a lot done. I love your jackets best.
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Oh, well done! That’s an impressive tally for one year, and some, like the quilts and the clothes are big items. The time spent in your garden has created such a beautiful place. I’ve loved your photos over the year. I haven’t done my 18 in 18 accounting yet, but I know there are areas where I didn’t meet my ‘targets’. I haven’t decided about 19 in 19, but it sounds like you will be doing it again.
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I am in awe of you!! You have re-ignited my love of “making” and I look forward to seeing more posts through 2019!! you have a beautiful garden and I am sure that you have been gifted more hours in the day than most humans!
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You’ve been busy!
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What a wonderful, productive year for you Margaret! I so enjoyed scrolling through your year!
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What a wonderful group of photos. Congratulations on completing so many of the lists that have been completed
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Wow wow wow! So many accomplishments and I love them all! I like how you call them challenges too! Makes you more determined to complete them 😁 Love seeing your “Never Give Up” pillow!! Love all your pillows actually!
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That is a very successful year I would say! You set yourself some very big goals and to have achieved most of them is an enormous achievement. I look forward to what you will bring us this year!
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You are amazing. Happy new year!
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You’ve done so much over the last year! Wow! You had a huge list – so well done. Keep it up and please keep telling us all about it here.
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Love this, very inspiring, I was thinking of setting myself some goals too – but maybe the SAL is enough to keep me on task at the moment??? Food for thought
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