Thoughts for 2018

I am so not a Resolution Person! I make statements, and they seldom become conclusions. So for the most part, I have avoided New Year's Resolutions.

But December has seen me coasting with my quilting projects, primarily because I had a hefty-duty month with a setting up a craft fair booth, being sick, hosting our quilt guild's Christmas Party, and hosting family for Christmas. I am tired!  But now that family has gone and my batteries are recharged, I feel refreshed and ready to tackle my sewing studio again!

Mountain Quiltworks Shop at our Holiday Bazaar

 I didn't want to bore you with all my plans, but this post is mainly so I can see my goals in black and white, refer to them back here on my blog and not use the excuse of, "I don't know where I put that darn piece of paper that had my goals written on it. Guess I don't have to follow through now...." (This is the sad way my brain rationalizes for me. Silly brain.)

So here goes:

2018 is the Year of Me!  My quilting customers have gone astray for cheaper quilters. That's okay - my time is valuable and I'm not going to break my back for nothing. I don't have a computerized machine, so everything I do is hand guided. Less customers actually gives me more time to do the things I really want. Which is:

1. Make a king-sized quilt for my son
2. Make a king-sized quilt for my daughter and son-in-law
3. Make a blue quilt - blue is not my Go-To color, so this is my challenge
4. Make a queen-sized quilt for our cabin
5. Finish up my Christmas Trip Around The World Quilt
6. Make a flannel quilt with fabric I won last year
7. Quilt the two lap quilts that have been hanging in my closet for nearly two years, lol!

Beginnings of my Christmas Trip Around the World Quilt!

I also want to take time to learn new quilting skills. To that end, I'd like to do a Whole Cloth Quilt. Maybe. It scares me, so maybe that's exactly what I should be doing. Expanding my horizons. Plus, it doesn't have to be king or queen-sized, lol!

I know that if you set SMART goals, they are more likely to materialize (SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Related). But I refuse to set a deadline for any of these. I am officially 'retired'. So I'm just going to do them as I please.

And while I'm thinking about which project to start with, I'll leave you with this pretty view - there are actually mountains in the distance that you can't even see.

My frosty morning view of our neighborhood!

What are your quilty goals for 2018?

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with:
#2018PlanningParty
Midweek Makers

January Goal Setting

With a new year it seems only appropriate to take time to clear the dust and cobwebs away and begin fresh and new!  I'll do that when I put away my Christmas decorations, but for now, I'm doing that in my sewing room.

I have so many ideas and so much fabric to put into those ideas. Having access to so many blogs and seeing all you wonderful people making gorgeous quilts in every color and design leaves my mind, well, simply put - boggled!  Which quilt to do? Where to start? "Oh, oh, oh! I like that one. Wait! No - I love that one."  My tendency is to have the My-Eyes-Are-Bigger-Than-My-Stomach Syndrome.  You know the one - I bite off more than I can chew.

So, once again I am thankful for my bloggy friends to have challenges in place to keep me on task and moving forward! This year I am going to participate in A Lovely Year of Finishes by Fiber of All Sorts and Sew BitterSweet Designs.  Also, Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework Scrap-A-Palooza (don't ya just love that name!) will be hosting a Scrappy Quilt Along this year and I'm jumping in on that one, too.





Just these two things. That's all I can put on my plate this year.  I'd love to do a BOM, QAL or some swaps, but realistically, I don't have time. I would start out fine and then fail by not following through and then feel bad. So I'm not going there.  If I can get 12 projects of my own finished this year, I will give myself a hardy Pat On The Back!

So to start off, my January Finish will be getting this quilt top pieced together, quilted and bound. I've got most of the pieces cut out already. I'm using a pattern that I won in December from Michelle who blogs as Mrs. Sew And Sew.  It's called Round & Round by Camille Roskelley.  So far, I'm liking the overall design.  I'm not sure about the gray background fabric that I chose. Gray is just not my color, but when it comes all together, it will probably work just fine.

Since I began my longarm quilting business, the time I have to make things 'just because' is very limited. So I'm excited to have these goals in place for this year.  It will be fun to hear what your quilty goals are for 2014!

Quilt with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River!
and Needle and Thread Thursday

2013 Adventures in Quilting

There is a problem that exists in Blogland.

What might that be, you  ask? It's the simple fact that it is way too easy to quickly become overwhelmed by all the possibilities that exist in the quilting sphere.  I read about all the great things that quilters are creating out there, see the fantastic photos of quilts and projects, and my brain automatically wants to do them all.

What a ridiculous brain I have at times. So I have to talk to it and keep it at bay and tell it to just be logical.  Theoretically it knows it's impossible to do it all, and yet it still goes to that dark side if I let it!

So, in an effort to reign in my brain with its wildly distorted view of reality, I am making a list of my unfinished projects that I should finish before I start new ones. In this way, perhaps my brain can see that I will just have to bookmark the best ideas for another day. Or month. Or year, lol!

So, in no particular order, this is my list:

• Quilt my Kaffe Fassett quilt
• Quilt my red and white and black quilt
• Make a project for the Dresden Challenge that I signed up for (this should be Number One on this list as it's due in two weeks!)
• Make the Honeycomb quilt that I have purchased fabric for and practice my quilting skills on this solid colored quilt
• Use the Simply Color fabric I've purchased to make a quilt
• Use the Good Fortune fabric I've purchased to make a quilt
• Piece up the Lucy's Crab Shack fabric I've purchased into a quilt
• Participate in Happy Quilting's Starburst QAL (fabric purchased)
• Make armrest covers for my chair (these aren't quilted, but really need to be done before I wear out my new chair - it's almost a year old now :(
• Make a few table runners for my Etsy shop
• Make my daughter a quilt - she hasn't picked out fabric yet, thank goodness!

All this and I am starting to take orders to do long arm quilting for other people. Plus I have a job that is very part-time this time of year, but very full-time in the fall and summer.

Am I insane? Wait. Don't answer that. I already know the answer. Guess I just need about 36 hours in a day, and I'd be all set!

Barb