Do you “kit up” projects from stash? My HeartStrings group has set aside the last week of December and the first week of January to kit up projects for 2022. While some people actually cut their projects while kitting them, I’m just choosing patterns and bundling fabrics together for quick and easy “grab and sew” projects.
Some of mine will be 3 yard quilts … I had a bin with fabric bundles set aside when I moved in June but I’ve been in and out of it for months including during Mom’s visit when we pulled a bunch of fabrics for her to make several 3 yard quilts.
I’ve assembled/re-assembled several bundles from that bin but I haven’t decided on which pattern I’ll use with which bundle yet – that’s my next task. I also kitted fabric for one of our Sharon Inspired HeartStrings quilts. I like to start with a stripe fabric for those quilts.
I have bins of precuts and purchased kits and pulled a couple projects from them. Right now I’ve got 7 projects set aside for my Grab and Sew bin and once I decide on the patterns for the 3 yard bundles I’ll add them.
I’ll also spend some time looking through my website and my quilt inspiration folder next week and come up with a list of scrappy quilts I’d like to make in 2022. I won’t cut them out yet but just having a list of scrap quilts to work from will make it easier to get started.
Have you started to think about what you want to work on in 2022?
I have a bookcase with lots of kits I have made but quite often I remained. Good luck.
Love this idea. I sorta do the same thing. If I get an idea for a project, I will print the quilt inspiration picture out and put fabric I think I will be working with in a clear plastic shoe box. I also use those shoe boxes to organize scraps left over, such as bigger pieces and leftover blocks from making 6 Christmas quilts this year. At a later point those might turn into some table runners or a scrappy Christmas quilt and the 2 and half strips are not mixed in with the rest of the 2 and half pieces large box.
I am actually finishing up my Christmas quilt that I did not get done for this year. And I have a couple more Christmas projects I am going to get done before I start anything else. But my goal for 2022 is to finish some UFO’s and make the patriotic quilt kit I bought for my husband, who is a Vietnam Vet. He would love it, and it is a beautiful quilt!
I have enjoyed reading your Blog the past two years. Thank you.
I have 15 [? +/-] plastic see-thru boxes [Costco] that contain from 1-3 projects each in various stages of construction! I think the oldest is 5 or maybe 6? My goal for 2022 is to finish at least half of those UFO’s! My problem is I am always taken in by new fabric, a new technique or a friend’s ‘challenge’! I have finished many quilts in 2021, some were gifts, some were old UFO’s and some start-finish donation quilts that never made it into a ‘box’- plus all the kennel mats I make. To accomplish my goal, I may need to put duct tape over my mouth and tape my arms to my sides!
Have a Sewtastic New Year!
Can you share any info on your kennel mats?
Karen D
You continue to amaze me with your organization, Mary! I don’t tend to sew with purchased or home-curated kits. I’m not much of a planner (in any area of life.) Maybe when I grow up, I can be more like you. :o))
I have a rough idea of what I want to make but haven’t kitted any yet. I like to cut the fabric when I prepare the kit — odds are greater that it will be made when I do that. I purchased so zipper bags for the quilt kits I cut.
Hi Mary, Have a Happy & Healthy New Year!
I have never done this but I really like the idea and make take some time on New Years day to do that. It’s a great idea.
Hi Mary, what a lovely way to start the New Year. Since I saw the beautiful 3-yard quilts that you made this year I am hooked on Donna Robertson’s patterns. As a treat to myself I bought some kits from her on Black Friday and they are ready and waiting for me to make them into quilts in the new year. Wishing you and your family and Happy New Year!
I do kit up my projects too. Right now I have 5 kits sitting in a big basket next to my cutting station. They are my first “Pick a PIG” options for the new year. Each month I try to pick one kit or Project In Grocery Sack to begin and make some progress. Usually they are smaller things, like baby quilts, wall hangings, etc.
Some really cute fabrics there! I can’t wait to see what they all become. I’m trying cutting this year. I hope it works out better for my chopped up schedule but, I’ll try something different next year if it doesn’t. My sewing room is also rather small without many flat surfaces so I’m hoping this will help me keep my cutting table (mostly) cleaned off. I’m really looking forward to the new year, new plans, and lots of new quilt starts!
I’ve always wanted to try your Sharon heartstrings quilt… maybe this will be the year. Love the idea of the stripe fabric as the center stripe. I do have quite a few items roughly kitted up… I have to be careful – sometimes looking at all of those things I want to get started on can become overwhelming! My sister and I will be doing our UFO list again this year where we number the list, and put squares of paper with just numbers in a bag. Our husbands pull a number out of the bag and we work on the project with that number on our list. We have a month to get it finished. Haven’t decided on the penalty this year for missing the deadline – in the past we owed the other sister an hour of labor. Quite the incentive! Happy New Year, Mary! Thanks for your uplifting posts!
I did that last year with veterans quilts and have been thinking about doing it again. I’m running a a little low! I think I’ll do scrap quilts this year.
I love when I can kit a project all or mostly from stash or from the leftovers from a curated or purchased project. I’m quilting up one now that came from the leftovers from a self-styled BOM project. Ironically, I just purchased the backing for the original BOM project during an end of year sale and hope to also get that quilted this year. My problem is I do the “kits” thinking they will be “grab and go” and then they sit, sometimes for years, before I can get to them because my attention gets drawn to “squirrel” projects that just “have to” be made up as soon as sighted!
You are so organized! I have bins of fabric but hardly any cuts that are even a yard long… It seems that I just collect scraps that keep getting smaller and smaller…