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52 Project Challenge?

34K views 634 replies 42 participants last post by  sunnysandiegan 
#1 ·
Hi all,
I just signed up for the decluttering challenge (http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1174150 ) - but if I want to get a handle on my clutter, I have GOT to start finishing projects (mostly sewing, some embroidery and quilting too).

SO --- is anyone else up for a challenge? One project a week, we can report back here about what we've finished each week. Kudos for those who work ahead (and demerits for any 'new' projects we add to the stash) -

So for example, if I sew three projects Week 1, I am at 49/52. If in Week 2, I sew a project but buy two new projects, then I am at 50/52 in Week 2.

We could do a little bonus points system for completing something that is 'recycled' if we wanted to? I've got some t-shirts which aren't so stylish anymore, that would make cute shirts or pjs for the girls ....

C'mon, folks - let's motivate each other!
 
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#227 ·
32/52!

I put the elastic band on a pair of DS2s longies. I had no yarn to really match at all- so I just used my fave. Works well- just is kind of weird with the ribbing above the elastic. To those who are going to do this.... don't freak out if your yarn casing looks loose. Mine did too- until I got it all sewn and adjusted- then it filled in just like the tutorial.
 
#229 ·
I finally finished my slipper socks, my ds3's scarf, spinning the wool for ds2's socks, cleaned 3 fleeces (llama) and now I have to process them for spinning. I still have 9 more fleeces to clean and process.
I think I am at 47/52. I have to really get moving.
 
#230 ·
31/52

I finished my fetching wristwarmers- they are awesome! Super soft red alpaca and they fit just right! I even wore them last night to church! Now I need to finish up fitting my sundress remake and get moving onto other things....
 
#232 ·
I'm making progress! I finished readjusting all of my bellydance costumes I'll be using in the next month - moving snaps, fixing loose straps, etc. I'm counting it as one project, so I'm at 42/52. I am 2/3 of the way done with making necklaces & earrings for my troupe of 9, and have to finish the last three before next week! It's beading crunch time!
 
#235 ·
Yay on finishing the sundress! That's on my to do list, but i am saving men's shirts to do patchwork and need about 2 or 3 more.

I finished a top for me from a short sleeve men's shirt.

I made a sweater for the dog from a 2t vest- kinda late on that, but now she has one.

I designed and made a little gift for my aunt who i will be visiting next week. Or, it designed itself, actually, starting when I bent to the scrap basket to test a thread for another project. It's a little needle/ sewing book. The front and back cover are crazy patch rectangles (in greens and orange) 4x5"each, the inside cover is green suede, it ties with a ribbon closure, and has two soft green felt pages for needles and pins, and then a zippered pouch page which has folding scissors, seam ripper, and thimble. I just love it and will make one for myself and maybe more for sale.

I did the applique, embroidery, and quilting on all three panels of dp's flag, but still have to bind them and put it together. But not today. I am working on dolls, yesterday and today, but need to go to Jo-ann's when the baby wakes up for an embroidery hoop. I just figured out I can remove the foot on my machine to do machine embroidery but I have got to have a hoop. I was dreaming of working, making bouquets of flower embroideries freehand in this way, BOTH times in the night when the baby woke me up, lol. But what I need it for now is the dolls' eyes. I usually paint doll faces but I am making one piece dolls for babies and have been trying to get the eyes embroidered onto felt using the machine.
I also royally screwed up a slippers for dp, to the point where I am going to have to cut them down and make for me. It's thrown behind the scrap basket right now, though...and will likely be there a while! I made us each a good pair, but he liked the design of my pair better and asked me to do some for him in that way; I really should make those for him this weekend but screwing up that pair (as well as my older ds's pair, too- he can wear them, but they are an unmatched mess) has made me want to forget about fitting feet for a nice good while, lol.
We are also working on getting the garden ready this weekend. dp is outside now doing some construction and we will both be out most of this afternoon and tommorrow at least. It's a big project, as he chose to get us a puppy over winter and now we have to fence in all three of our big beds, as well as extending one of them over new ground. now i need to get offline. Hope everyone is having fun!
 
#236 ·
I'm back!

I've been making progress each week, but have only finished 2 additional projects since I posted ages ago.

Peg baskets - we've been using tacky plastic ones since my old handmade peg basket fell apart a year ago. I used a different design this time ... adapted from a project in "The Crafty Minx" (a book which was my Christmas present from DH). I'm not happy with the result - they're a funny shape and don't look very aesthetically pleasing - but they're functional and will hold the pegs in place.

Knitted longies for DS - these are a size extra large and took me FOREVER to finish knitting. I used a dyers hank of organic merino wool to knit these with, so my next project will be dyeing them. I've never dyed wool before, which is why I'm counting it as a separate project


Tally: 48/52
 
#237 ·
sunnysandiegan- those invitations are too cute
How lucky your dd is and I hope her b-day rocks!

Peppermint Poppies- the longies are yummy! well worth the time.

I had a productive day today. I completed three fast projects- I finished sewing a pair of recycled sweater longies for dd, I sewed the elastic waistband fix onto the longies I knit dd, and I made a very pretty, gaudy blanket for dd. My grandma bought some pink Pooh Bear fleece with rainbows for me to make the blanket for dd. I backed it with dark pink fleece and used rainbow colored satin blanket binding around the edges. I love it, I want it, lol.

iowaorganic- thanks for posting your results on the elastic casing for the longies. It helped me push through it. It totally looked like I must be doing something wrong in the beginning as I could see the elastic through my stitches. It definitely adjusted and filled in towards the end like you said.

So that leaves me with-

32/52
 
#238 ·
Thanks iowaorganic and MissRubyandKen!
The girls who have received the invitations thus far have been enthralled with them and are sooo excited!!!


ms.shell and MissRubyandKen - You ladies are rocking through this challenge!!!


I ended up having the night to myself and am scrapbooking. I haven't gotten very far, though....
 
#240 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyflakes View Post
I am so bummed that I just found this thread
I would have loved to be in it. Maybe next year

or.... you can join now on a slightly prorated challenge of 44 projects..... join us!
 
#242 ·
Yes, Bunnyflakes - join us anyway!
And start counting from where you are in the year (44 weeks left, as iowaorganic said, I think).

I look at my stash and think, it's like I haven't even made a dent in it (!) -- but really, I am getting things done. It's just that I have soooo many projects piled up. If I can actually hit my 52 project goal, though, I will have made a noticeable dent in the projects.

I am so distractible though! I was looking for etsy diaper bags for a friend who was having a hard time finding what she wanted, and found the She Creates store on hyenacart - with some awesome looking patterns for diaper bags! Dh and I have a back-pack diaper bag, it's sturdy and wonderful and great for dh to carry too (just plain navy). And we DON'T have a baby. But I still have a bad case of the wants for these diaper bag patterns!
I ordered three more Oliver+s patterns this week - but no fabric, so am not counting them towards my 'balance.' I expect that I'll be using them to complete some of the projects, in fact - I ordered the larger pj kimono pattern to whip up some for dd1 since they work great for dd2.

At some point, I'm going to have to go buy some fabric though - I want to make redondo skirts for my nieces too, so at what point I'm ready to tackle that, I'll be canceling out at least 4 completed projects (I need to buy fabric for a sundress for one niece, too).

So I ought to recapture motivation and get to work right now.
I have two friends who are expecting their first baby this spring, and both are planning to cloth diaper, so I want to get through all the cloth wipes I have cut and ready to sew together, so I can send them each some cloth wipes to start their diaper stashes. Those and my cut projects should keep me busy for a couple weeks .... unfortunately!
 
#245 ·
I've decided to set myself a new goal, a goal within the goal. I bought six felt food patterns on etsy (they're really cute), each with multiple food items, months ago. I've only made three pieces of food from them. So I'm setting the goal of making one piece of felt food a week but not counting them as a finished project until they are ALL complete, then I'll count them as one project together. I really need this push to get them done as well as continue making progress using up stash items.

For my own reference (to be edited as complete)-

orange with slices- complete
potato- complete
carrot- complete
apple with slices-
grapefruit half-
lemon-
lime-
kiwi half-
pear-
avocado halves-
onion-
corn-
tomato-
banana-
sandwich-
cookie-
pineapple-
peach-
grapes-
plum-
strawberries (2+)-
cup of orange juice-
pancakes (2+)-
egg-
maple syrup-
bacon-
cake slices (2+)-
cupcakes (2+)-

See why I need incentive? There are so many of them and the patterns weren't exactly a small investment.
 
#246 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by zebra15 View Post
another day with out progress
Up until a couple of months ago life was keeping me so busy I felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything I wanted to do. Not sure if this has you feeling down, but felt like you might need a hug. It comes in spurts for me, yk? A couple of months ago I had a baby under two wanting held alot of the time. Now I have a crazy two year old toddler running around, throwing food, asking to watch dvds, spilling cups, making piles of toys, and doing other interesting, diverting stuff, lol.
 
#247 ·
Yesterday I cut out antoher sundress for myself and have it about 1/3 done from working on it while cooking this morning. And I have been pluggin away at my sisters bday lave scarf- beautiful.....

I think I will have enough leftover sundress fabric to make a cute twirly skirt for DD.
 
#248 ·
Okay the first project I am working on now is a baby blanket for a coworker. I might be slower than the rest of you, I had the carpal tunnel surgery on both sides the past year so this is actually my first time crocheting since then. I am going pretty slow to rebuild my muscles. But steady and slow wins the race
 
#249 ·
Hi 3/52 today... I made some progress, I actually completed something. DS has needed a new laundry basket setup for well... a year now... while I didn't make it, I assembled it ( actually went to the store, bought it on a Saturday no less) and put it in the room. That ladies is no small feat around here these days. So for that I am giving myself ONE HUGE POINT


This year I completed a x-stitch table runner, crochet dishrag, and the laundry center. I have work in progress of 1 x-stitch pillow case and 1 crochet blanket (i could finish this project by sunday IF i put my mind to it)

DS asked me to make him those Huge letters from the craft store to spell his name all fancy.... http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/p...DID=xprd233338 the 'official' craft name escapes me now so we are brainstorming ideas and I will get all the supplies we are missing this week and do that with him. (can i count each letter as ONE craft LOL)

Keep up the good work ladies....
 
#250 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MissRubyandKen View Post
Up until a couple of months ago life was keeping me so busy I felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything I wanted to do. Not sure if this has you feeling down, but felt like you might need a hug. It comes in spurts for me, yk? A couple of months ago I had a baby under two wanting held alot of the time. Now I have a crazy two year old toddler running around, throwing food, asking to watch dvds, spilling cups, making piles of toys, and doing other interesting, diverting stuff, lol.
Thanks... I'm just in a personal rut right now... I'm student teaching (early mid life career change) and my mentor teacher and I just dont 'jive' After I leave 'school' I don't feel much like doing anything but driving off the proverbial cliff which is odd since crafting is my stress outlet. My eyes are all on 4/9/10 which is my last day of S.T. then hopefully *I* will be back to normal cranking out crafts and such.

BTW those felt foods are just too cute. I wish my son was younger.
 
#251 ·
MissRubyandKen, I would definitely count those felt foods as more than one project! They look like a lot of detail work. What if you kept a tally and once you'd completed everything from one pattern set, that was one whole project? Just my opinion, of course.


I spent the afternoon looking for good tutorials for felted slippers from recycled sweaters.
-- I didn't find any that I liked, what I found was wooly-baby's site and I love all her slippers. Maybe I can talk myself (and dh) into buying some of hers instead .... will still need to come up with something to do with some of my old wool sweaters though.
 
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