Happy New Year! Yuri and I have been hard at work on this year’s goals. Unlike regular resolutions, which can be difficult when all you want to do is stay inside and eat comfort food, January in the northern hemisphere is a good time to renew commitment and focus on quilting. The house is clean (or it will be when our Christmas is all put away), we’ve received new books and tools as gifts, extra family has gone home (or will soon), and I’m certainly not outside gardening or even walking right now!

2018 Goals:

Time on task: Similar to last year, I want to be more disciplined about spending time in my studio. I’m not really going to do much housework anyway, so I may as will quit procrastinating and get to sewing. Especially in these cooler months.
No, I can’t really say I achieved this goal. My husband’s work schedule is erratic. My son was living at home on and off this year (and his sleep schedule is erratic!). The summer made it too hot to work upstairs. I could go on and on. I just have to make time and do it. So this one goes back on the list for next year. For the third year in a row. Hmmm.

Creativity: Let’s not say “art quilt”. Let’s just say I want to experiment with more techniques and incorporate new things into my quilting. I plan to read/reread some books and magazines and choose some to try.
I made some progress on this. I re-read some technique books and bought some magazines. I thought about a lot of artsy techniques and tried a couple that weren’t successful. I looked at a lot of quilting and tried to stretch my quilting. I made my first bags, even if they were pretty easy.
This one goes back on the list, but it should probably always be there, anyway.

Color: My color selection tends to be…bold? bright? saturated? I want to make at least a few where I lower the volume and get a bit more subtle. This will be limited by my current stash and scrap collection, but it’s a goal.

Yes! I really worked at this and made conscious decisions about purchasing and using fabrics. And now I don’t have to anymore! I like most of what I made, and there’s a place for it, but I quilt for the color.

Stash: I’m going for another fifty yards of stash reduction. This is pretty modest. It allows me to buy quite a bit of fabric, turn my stash over a bit, and use the scraps. Some of the new fabric will be low volume.
Yes! I had a net use of 51 yards. So that makes 500 yards I’ve removed from my stash in the last seven years. It still has some pockets of old or odd fabrics, but it’s much fresher and more managable.

Best of luck to all of us in this fresh, new year!

January Goals:

1. Quilt and bind low-volume donation baby quilt (zebras). Yes!
2. Quilt and bind bright cat donation baby quilt. Yes!
3. Complete Clue 1 of Charlotte H’s Summer Stars at Fawn Lake. Yes!
4. Make string blocks for Kat’s Jan/Feb Covered in Love block drive. Yes!

Bonus: I also made two quilts for my Etsy shop, and another on commission. I also appliqued cardinals to complete an old wall hanging.

February Goals:

1. Complete Clue 2 of Charlotte H’s Summer Stars at Fawn Lake . Yes! Cute, tiny units.
2. Complete and mail current commission quilt. Yes!
3. Quilt and bind Gold and Green Christmas Quilt . Yes!
4. Sew up grocery bags from birdseed bags. Mostly. Two are finished and the other four need handles.

Bonus: I made a Quilt of Valor, using the same design as the Christmas quilt.

March (April) Goals:

1. Participate in March-Along, sponsored by Darla, the Scientific Quilter. Yes, I think I only missed three days during the month, so I consider it a success. Thank you, Darla!
2. Clue #3, Summer Stars at Fawn Lake. Yes, and I’m working away on Clue #4
3. Make blocks for Kat’s March/April Covered in Love block drive . Yes!
4. Complete donation top using green and white leader-and-enders blocks I’ve completed. Yes, and I quilted it.

Bonus: I turned a backing scrap with a tree print into a wall hanging.

May Goals:

1. Complete Clue #4, Summer Stars at Fawn Lake. Yes!
2. Complete Clue #5, assembling the top. Yes!
3. Make donation blocks (This month, Kat asks us to make blocks for her friend Briawna.) Yes, I made a dozen, and they’re in the mail!
4. Make a low-ish volume baby quilt. Yes, the Train baby quilt (in a post soon).

June Goals:

1. Add borders to Summer Stars at Fawn Lake. Yes, finally.
2. Quilt and bind Summer Stars at Fawn Lake. Nope.
3. Make Heart baby quilt. (low volume) Yes. Here.
4. Make Anchor baby quilt. (low volume) Yes. Here.

And three more baby quilts and a batch of donation blocks. It was the whole summer.

September Goals:

1. Quilt and bind Summer Stars on Fawn Lake. Yes! Here. DH claimed it.
2. Piece top for Christmas quilt from truck and tractor panels. Yes!
3. Quilt and bind Christmas quilt. Yes! Here.

Bonus: Almost finished with another (blue) Christmas quilt!

October Goals:

1. Make a mat for a cart in my kitchen. Nope.
2. Piece the cardinal panel Christmas quilt. Yes!
3. Quilt and bind cardinal Christmas quilt. No. I’m almost finished with the quilting.
4. Make blocks for a donation quilt (probably log cabins). No, not at all.

Bonus: Made a little pillowcase for a travel pillow.

November Goals:

1. Finish cardinal Christmas quilt. Yes! Here.
2. Secret Christmas project. Partially. I finished one, and have one more to go.
3. Make blocks for a donation quilt (probably log cabins). Yes, I’ve made 24 blocks.

Bonus: Made two hostess gifts.

December Goals:

1. Finish Secret Christmas project. Yes! I made two tote bags (the Picnic Tote by SewCanShe).
2. Sew two more Christmas gifts. Yes! I made two sets of bowl cozies as gifts.
3. Make donation blocks for Kat’s Covered in Love. Yes! I think the final count was sixteen blocks! I used four yards of fabric from stash that I’ve had for way too long. And I’ve already mailed them to Kat.
4. Pull fabrics and begin cutting for Charlotte Hawke’s mystery quilt. No. I’ve printed the cutting directions and chosen my background fabric, but I haven’t pulled scraps or done any cutting. I’ll have to do it in January.

Bonus: Made myself a set of bowl cozies, and a pillowcase for donation.