2016 Goals

This year I've worked really hard on goal setting. It's taken a lot of reflection, letting go, focus, and reality checks. I went from hard core enthusiasm to awful pessimism in one day. Then back again. Not fun.

It's not a fine line between optimism and reality, it's a thick black one.

When I realized that it depressed me. I spent some days being awfully grumpy, ready to give up my professional work. Family first. But we all know I'm better, the family is better when I work, I was really struggling to see how I could be happy in both my business and my family life. But then MY reality showed through.

First, I spent some time talking with other professional quilty friends. They calmed me down, reminded me that I'm not the only one struggling with this, and encouraged me to still set high goals. They all agreed that the goals should be very specific. I've done that in the past, but I drilled down even more this year.

Second, I delivered a trunk show. Now, I give about 10-15 trunk shows a year. I absolutely love trunk shows. Not because I get to share my quilts and stories, but because I see audience reactions and talk to people about inspiration. It's amazing to know you inspire people to try new things.

To get to this trunk show last week I worked with my husband to get the kids to school. I turned to a friend with a day home to watch my boy. And no one got upset or cranky about it. We worked together to make it happen. Totally doable. A good reminder.

Third, I read this post from Anne Weil. And boom, it made me see that what I was doing was focusing on the hard stuff, the things I didn't do. Nowhere in there was I paying attention to the things I did accomplish and can do quite well. Talk about a glass half empty approach.

So I took my dog for a walk on a sunny winter day and found some clarity. With a bit more work I have 2016 goals. This year I broke them into categories and made them pretty specific.



Professional

1 Secure contract and write 4th quilting book.
2 Finish and launch new website and blog.
3 Teach at least one 3-day workshop.
4 Sell more local classes, potentially self hosted.



Personal

1 Try climbing and Crossfit and maybe Muay Thai again.
2 Leash train our dog, Roo.
3 Remember and celebrate friends' birthdays.
4 Relearn bread making.



Creative

1 Learn to English Paper Piece.
2 Finish 10 quilts from the Quilts Under Construction List.
3 Keep a weekly writing date.
4 Label all the quilts.

To get all this done I'm taking the advice from a few people about creating monthly breakdowns of the tasks that will get me to these goals. This Master List will keep me more accountable to myself and help me stay on track.

And in all of this I need to keep room for new adventures and possibilities!

Absolutely Legendary Sasquatch Quilt Top

This quilt is legend... wait for it... dary.

Based on Elizabeth Hartman's Legendary quilt pattern, launched recently, but totally supersized. The moment I saw the pattern on Instagram I knew I had to do this. The sasquatch itself originally finishes  at 18'' in the pattern. With a little quilt math I made it 5 times the size. Or, if you are so inclined to believe, life size. That made the sasquatch over 90'' tall and nearly 60'' wide.

The idea of trees on the side was improvised and added because we wanted this quilt to be big enough for the entire family. Now it comes in around 90'' square. Plus, the sasquatch has context now.

The making of this quilt was a family project over the holiday break. I knew that if I was going to get any sewing in I had to expect the kids in there with me. Rather than get frustrated by that, I decided to  invite them in for this group project.

You see, we are a family addicted to Bigfoot shows. None of us actually believe in the legend, but the shows are fun to watch and it's become a family joke to observe squatchy landscapes and conjecture about samsquanch (as we oddly refer to it).

So the kids were actually quite excited to make this quilt. After I did the match we sorted through my brown stash (small) and scrap bins (smaller) and whites/creams/greys for the right fabrics. I cut everything  - discovering that a transcription error was my only mistake!. As a team we sewed. 

It was the first time I let the girls use my Bernina. A bit confusing at first with no presser foot lever, but they were amazing. Can I just say? Thank goodness for adjustable speeds! We got into a rhythm with me prepping, one sewing, one pressing. Sure, there were times when their attention died out and wrestling matches were started - and quickly stopped because we were in the sewing room. Overall, I was pretty impressed with how engaged they were in the project.

My son sewed for the first time. You should have seen his excitement! He sat on my lap and covered my hands with his and we sewed together. He even admonished me if my fingers got too close to the presser foot. 

Unfortunately, my husband was quite sick the last week of the break. So his contribution, other than feeble encouragement, was to shout design ideas or selections from the sofa in the next room. That, and keeping us on a steady diet of Finding Bigfoot for the kiddos when their energy for sewing changed.

Everyone is on me to get this quilted ASAP. My Evil Genius voted for the backing to be a scrappy green one, which I think is a good idea. It will work with brown, white, and green thread on the front. I just hope I can get them all involved with floor washing and basting if they want it done quickly.

Quilts Under Construction - 2015 in Review

It seems I missed the last quarter's summary. Oops! Although, if I'm being honest, there wasn't much to report in terms of movement on this list in the 3rd quarter. But with a new year it is time to start fresh.

I cleaned out my one closet that stores a lot of the Quilts Under Construction. Only because I was looking for something specific and couldn't find it. It was a good thing to do. I resorted, reevaluated, and restocked the shelves. Some things are now off this list because I know I will NEVER get to them. So I started a pile for a quilty garage sale in the spring. Some quilt tops, sets of blocks, and fabric. It's good to let go.

The other difference is that I truly separated out class samples. In time they may make it on this list, but if they never make it out of the class bin then there is no point to them being here.

So, the number looks different. I am still totally okay with this number. In fact, I don't give a poop what the number is. I care that the projects are still interesting to me.

Quilts Being Quilted

1. Low Volume Circles
This might be the winter I embrace hand quilting. Maybe.
2. Antonio's Quilt
It is half done and I've pulled it out of the closet. It is the first one up for January. I swear.

Quilt Tops Ready for Quilting

3. A giant version of the Legendary Quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. We finished it yesterday so look for it here in the coming days.
4. Improv Sampler
5. Checkerboard from Sunday Morning Quilts
6. Slaveship Quilt
7. The Evil Genius' Triangle Quilt
8. Giant Hexagons
In a recent clean-up I found a block from my bee that missed getting in the quilt. So yes, I do plan on inserting it into the finished quilt.
9. Lilac Lovely
10. Cirrus Solids Pinwheel top
11. Solid Sunday Morning
12. Oh Canada Quilt in Red
13. Orange Is For Nerds
Just waiting for Carkai to be available in my LQS as I am stuck on a certain print being the backing for this quilt.
14.  A mini/small quilt in a low volume rainbow. Geez, get it done already!
15. Shh...
My low volume Shoeman's Puzzle quilt top. So excited about this one.
16. Circle Lattice
17. Mod Christmas Tree Take 2


Blocks and Process

18. Beach Grass Take 2
19. The girls' clothes turned into a quilt with the Gee's Bend quilters.
20. Hand Pieced Diamonds
21. A values quilt in neutrals
There are more than enough blocks after teaching this class a half dozen times that it needs to be turned into a quilt now.
22. Edges/Studio Stash Play
This is one that has been on my mind lately... It may be a few months before I get to it though.
23. A found quilt top that I would like to overdye in Indigo as an experiment.
Risky? Absolutely. When the weather is warm enough to try it outside I have it on the agenda. So, in 6 months.
24. Mid Mod Bee
25. Snippets on Dates
Technically this could be a finished quilt top, but the snippets never end. And I have that issue with not making small quilts.
26. The X-Plus blocks I used in the Creative Live Quilting with Low Volume Fabrics class.
Periodically I pull out fabric and make one more. I like the break of precision piecing.
27. Respite - a project started in a Bill Kerr design workshop
28. Chandelier quilt
This one might get some attention this year. It was always one with a certain recipient in mind and she could probably use it one of these days.
29. Name quilt for my daughter
30. Park blocks
Up to 10 right now. Again, could finish at a decent size, but I will likely make many more.
31. A whole bunch of pinwheels that I'm playing with. Started as prep for my CreativeLive Pinwheel Play class.
32. Piecemakers/Peacemakers 
My Gee's Bend inspired blocks after my trip to Alabama are coming together, slowly. Definitely a project for the right kind of time.
33. Small Wonders
Some test panels of Flying Geese are made and I've shared a few Periscope broadcasts on this project.
34. Liberty Circles
35. Pieced Stars - in recent weeks I've made a few more stars. Crazy precision piecing kick I've been on.
27. The Water Quilt
I know I said I wasn't counting class blocks, but I now have enough blocks to turn this into a quilt. Maybe very soon.
30. Y2K quilt
31. Another leaders and enders project, intended to be like Up, Up, and Away from Sunday Morning Quilts
32. Round and Round blocks - Up to 16 of these now.
34. Leftovers from Modern Paris
These almost got put into the garage sale pile. They may still end up there.
36. Paperless paper piecing block from my class with Cristy Flincher. I once thought it needed to be the start of a medallion quilt, but I've dug into my solids stash and the same colours are long gone. So, we'll see what happens.

+ one bit of secret sewing that is in the quilting phase.

2015 Finishes

Vintage French Quilt
Alturas
Caterpillar
QuiltCon Quilt
Values Plus
Precious
Argyle I and II
Glitter Pen
Aloha Kakou
Smooch

+ two more bits of secret sewing that will be revealed in a month or so.

Most of those finishes were in the early part of the year. Not much sewing over the summer and fall as the family demanded more time. I feel more in control of my time and reactions to time. And I am committed to some more finishes before more starts. Although really, I didn't start much last year either!

This year, like all others will be busy. There will be more secret sewing (!!), unexpected inspiration that HAS to be acted on, and a very indelicate balance between life, work, and fun. I'm glad you are along for the ride.