Reviewing Old Goals

Each January I make a list of goals I hope to accomplish in the next 12 months; additionally, I recap the previous year's goals to take stock of how well I did. I have not yet posted this year's goals, although I have begun working on a few of the items that will be listed. I plan to share the '21 goals tomorrow; today, let's look at how I fared at accomplishing all that was on my 2020 list.

Clicking here will take you to my post that reveals the goals for last year. To avoid having to do that, I pulled just the list to reference in today's post.

 

This past year became such a different year, everyone will agree, and things that one planned didn't always pan out. I cannot blame my non-finishes on the virus, but it may have factored in.

The first 4 items on this list are gifts, only 2 of which are actually in the hands of the recipients. I completely finished and gifted the first two items. I have made the Everhart wedding quilt, but have not yet quilted it, and that goes, too, for Garrett's baby quilt.

Other finishes include the quilts and flimsies listed below. Clicking each link will explain some details, and show you some pictures, if you are interested. As a point of clarification, my listed name might have changed by the time I wrote about the quilt. (For example, Blue and Yellow Stars became Dreamy Stars.)

6-Summer Nights

7-True Blue

8-Frankfort Girls' Sew Along

10- Kim Diehl quilt

11-Larkspur Quilt

12-Blue and Yellow Stars

13-UFO - Purple and Green Thimbleberries

16/17-Diagonal Madness was made with KF fabrics, so I really did both in one quilt.

18-Scrap-busting focus (more on this below)

19-Two-color quilt - Lady of the Lake

20-Test Block 30s Quilt

21-Impromptu Projects - besides #19, Lady of the Lake, I made a scrappy table topper (counts for #18, too), Peachy Surprise, Summer Breeze, Larkspur 9-Patch, and Larkspur Topper.

I feel pretty darn good that I was as successful as this for my goals. It certainly was a year that presented its fair share of hiccups, but at least in the quilt-making area, I feel as though I prevailed.

Two big fails: #9 - quilting 2 quilts per month on the long arm. I really do want to get this goal going in a big way. You all know how many quilt tops I have made here and they MUST be quilted. You can be sure a goal very similar to this is again on the list for 2021. 

Dreamy Stars, above, is one quilt worth highlighting, as I stitched it and quilted it all in the same calendar year. That is an amazing feat. I hope I can get so efficient that I am doing this as the norm, and not as an anomaly.

Another fail is #14 - the UFO called Row-a-Month. That thing is so old, and the part that needs to be dealt with is applique. Well, I am pretty busy with my ongoing WIP, #15-Lake Effect, which is presenting enough applique for now. Row-a-Month is just gonna have to wait.

A moderate fail is #5 - working on the Blockheads is fun, but I fizzle out on them; I have them nearby, and work on them occasionally. I will get back to them, eventually.

Sorry for another word-laden post, Peeps. Clicking will get you lots of pictures, though, so have at it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Goals Check

Having finished Dreamy Stars as quickly as I did has made me revisit my 2020 goals list to see how I am doing. I will take you all along for the check up. I mentioned in a previous post that Sharon and I have decided to work with our Larkspur stashes in June; this plays right into my goals as it is item 11 on the list! Hooray! I have already begun to play around with some blocks of this gorgeous (older) line of fabric from 3 Sisters/Moda. I feel like I might be doing pretty good at maintaining my focus on the goals.

Each January I post a list of quilting goals I hope to accomplish in the new year. I probably have never completed every item on any list, but the exercise of posting each list does keep me focused and occupied on projects that I want finished. Here's 2020 goals post.

I pulled the list to use here so that I can reference each item.

Then I played around with a photo-editing program and marked the list with symbols.

Now for an explanation of those symbols - I think I might have gotten carried away.

Green checks - Finished; the gifts have been delivered or I am using here at home.
Pink checks - Quilt top finished; needs to be quilted.
Purple boxes - Ongoing; sometimes referred to as WIPs (works in progress).
Blue arrows - Goals that are suffering from neglect. I need to refocus on these.
Red arrow - Current project.
Blue stars - Still very eager to begin these. In due time, right?

Two items are not marked: numbers 13 and 14. Guess what? Both of those are UFOs. Begun many years ago and found to contain mistakes (mine) or difficult sections, I just quit and put them away. Maybe I will get in the mood to work on those yet this year. I sure hope so.

Sharon is coming shortly for a day of sewing. I have begun the Larkspur project, and will share it in a day or two. Tomorrow the every-other-Friday morning get togethers of the Frankfort Girls will resume! Yay! I sure look forward to that!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

2020 Quilting Goals

Exciting stuff today, Peeps! I dither and dither over what to include on my goals list each year - and this year has been no different. Finally, I have come up with a list that suits me. I like the direction I am heading, and yes, some of the items on this year's list have been on the list in previous years.

What can I say? Plans - at least my plans - always have wiggle room. *grin*

Right off the bat, I must get busy. I have lots of babies coming this year! Friends of our kids are having babies as well as grandbabies for my girlfriends - lots of babies. I have my fabrics; just need to devote a day or two to each one and they will be quick work. There is actually yet another baby quilt needed that I became aware of after I prepared my list.

Baby quilts and wedding quilts take the top 4 spots. For the wedding quilt, I plan to shop my quilt tops, quilt one of them and send it off. I have no concern that all of these will get done fairly quickly.

Now, on to the remaining items...

I have posted about number 5 - The Blockheads 3 sew along. Click here and here for particulars. I will probably not finish the sew along, because of limited fabric in the line I am using; I will work something out as best I can.

I worked on item 6, Summer Nights, this past weekend. Back when I bought the pattern (in 2018? Maybe?) I made one block and it hung ever so regally on my design wall for months while I moved on to other things. I then took it down to free up design wall space, but it remained on my mind, always niggling at me to finish - how can I not finish a blue and white quilt?? I now have 4 blocks done, and I am motivated to keep going. Below is the pattern cover.

Item 7 is a new quilt on the list, and I have the pattern here somewhere. While I have not had this specific pattern on previous lists, I have planned in previous years to make a churn dash quilt, so this is a goal that is both sorta old/sorta new.

I've blogged about item 8 - the sew along we Frankfort girls are doing. Click here for deets. It is a very loosely structured sew along, and I am so eager to continue. Below is a rerun of the first month's block. We have made the Churn Dash our block for February, and I have mine done; it's hard to wait a whole month on a new "assignment." If you skip to item 20, the test block quilt is an off-shoot of our sew along.

That item 9 will be a fun goal - finally, I can include quilting my tops! The goal of two per month is a low-ball goal; I sure plan to do more!

Items 10 through 14 are the ones I have put repeatedly on previous yearly lists. By gosh, I sure would like to knock those out this year. That number 12 is a take-off on this quilt which I wrote about all the way back in 2012! Eight years is a long time to wait on a quilt, so I really have to make it this year. Here are the fabrics I will use.

Items 15 and 16 are current works-in-progress. I won't finish Lake Effect, but I will make quite a lot of progress. Diagonal Madness, like those baby quilts, just needs a day or two entirely devoted to it and it will be a finished top. Here's a reminder pic of Diagonal Madness. I would guess I am about half-done with the quilt top.

 Items 17, 18, 19 and 21 are of the "loose" variety. I have nothing terribly specific in mind, yet am open to any creative inspiration that comes my way. It always happens, so I have no desire to tie myself too strictly to specific plans.

And that completes my 2020 goals. I put them on paper and "go public" with them in an effort to hold myself accountable. At some point along about June, I will do a self-check to see how I am faring on the goals. Then a tallying up of the accomplishments at the end of the year. (Which reminds me that I need to see how well I did on my goals for 2019.)

I have a non-sewing goal to work on today, Peeps - a kitchen cupboard is going to be purged. Yikes.

Happy Quilting, Friends!