Tuesday, January 3, 2017

2017 Quilting Goals

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
I never make New Year's resolutions. If I did they would be the like those of much of the population
   • lose weight
   • declutter
   • exercise more
   • socialize more

Evaluating these resolutions is often demoralizing twelve months later when
   • my weight has not changed by much (if it did, it came right back)
   • I'd still find it hard to throw out things I love (or did love at one time or another)
   • my preferences would still be that I'd much rather quilt/read/sew/knit than exercise
   • socializing is still an effort for an introverted person who is not energized by a crowd

However, I do set quilting goals and I try to make them SMART
   • Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
   • Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
   • Attainable – assuring that an end can be achieved.
   • Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
   • Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

PARALLEL QUILTING GOALS
I'd much rather post quilting goals that are quite parallel in concept to New Years resolutions but are much more likely to be achieved because they are something I want to do rather than feel obligated I should do. I liked my four focus areas from 2016 and so I have tweaked them here for 2017.


Reductions (like losing fabric weight from my stash)
   • At last count I have ten purchased kits waiting in the wings. Complete four of them.
   • Another kit purchase is permitted only for every two completed.
   • Continue to implement a method for scrap management, organization, and usage
   • Buy tools or threads instead of fabric
   • Take only technique oriented classes. Success is learning the technique not completing a class project.

Completions (like decluttering those UFOs & USOs -  unfinished & unstarted objects)
   • Complete quilt begun from the Sandy Klop Flying Circles pattern by April
   • Piece, FMQ, and bind Who Says Woof quilt by Christmas
   • Assemble and FMQ Mask Quilt and bind by Halloween
   • Make one mandala wall hanging
   • Complete anything new I start within six months of beginning it.

Skill-building (like exercising more)
   • View at least half of purchased Craftsy classes (new goal)
   • Practice with my new featherweight Fiona by taking it to one class or visit
   • Make one quilt top or wall hanging with curved piecing OR appliqué OR paper piecing
   • Practice my FMQ skills by quilting at least three community outreach quilts

Reflection/Networking (blog and internet socializing)
   • Enter at least four quilts in my guild's show this year
   • Publish a blog post once a week on average or at least 50x/year
   • Take time 1x/week to comment on other quilters blog posts - not just read them
   • Share items at guild meetings and at Handi-Quilter club meetings 3x/year
   • Keep a running draft of my 2017 in Review post as I complete items
   • Remember to add labels to blog posts so I can find them more easily
   • Generate at least one blog-to-print hardcover book

Now I will publicly share these goals at Let's Bee Social #158 so my quilting network friends can keep me honest.  

13 comments:

  1. I think goals are the keys and keeping it real. I like a lot of your goals you have set. i might have to take some on myself. I hope you achieve lots of them.

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    1. Thanks for visiting and commenting. I too hope I achieve a lot of these goals. It is especially helpful for me to write goals and go back and reread them throughout the year. I reminds me of items that I forgot about and really do want to do. Oddly enough, even when I thought last year I was missing a bunch, I really was not. (See for example my post http://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2017/01/2016-in-review.html)

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  2. Oh my goodness, viewing my Craftsy classes needs to be on my list too! Thanks for the idea.

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    1. Somehow buying Craftsy classes makes me feel virtuous. It is kind of like buying fresh fruit to be healthy. But when the cookies and chips are all gone and the fruit is rotting... well you see what I mean. Buying the classes is NOT the same as watching them. Putting them as a goal will help me remember! Thanks for sending me this note.

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  3. I love your goals! My New Year's Resolution this year is simple in words, tougher in practice... improve my posture. Not kidding, all my time spent at the sewing machine and computer have taken a toll. Great ideas for 2017 quilting - thanks for the boost!

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    1. Posture is a great goal to be aware of. Thanks for mentioning it. I have two of these Gypsy Sit Upon cushions - one at my computer and one in my sewing room that I move between my domestic and and my sit-down long arm. I highly recommend it. It is available at many quilt shops as well as online shops. I bought mine from Amazon. It is definitely worth the money. Here is a you tube about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLwtEQu0a14

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  4. Your goals seem doable and at the same time Ambitious to me. Does the photo of the Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt mean you are planning to make that? If so, one lucky grandchild is going to get a great quilt! Not that all of yours aren't gorgeous. I admire your SMART goals. I haven't set any goals for 2017 as yet. I think I will take a page from your "calendar" and set some down for myself. Geeze, being retired has things like SMART, etc. flying out of my mind. Time to dust those off and get some things down on paper and accomplished this year. (I think I've given up on the weight thing.) One goal I have set this year is to be compassionate and that means to myself as well as others.!

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    1. Before I ever had any grandkids I bought TWO of those Hungry Caterpillar kits from Fons and Porter. I now have four grandkids, two each via my daughter and my son, ages roughly 4, 2.5, 1.5, .5 and have not touched those kits. A couple years ago I bought backing, two different fabrics, so the made up quilts would be alike but still distinguishable. The kits make up twin size. Now the older two that are in beds, have double beds. So how do I dispense these kits? One per family? Two per family so siblings each have one? Aargh. I will never be so impulsive again (so I say now). I am going to view them as a good practice of my FMQ since the piecing will go quite quickly and decide where they go later. I will also reconsider when I buy more than one of something. With three granddaughters I bought three of the Lil Red doll panel by Moda designer Hsu. I have made two and cannot build up the oomph to make a third. So what do I do? I buy THREE mermaid doll panels also by Hsu. Perhaps doll panels should have been in my 2017 goals. I like your goal of being compassionate. I should give myself a break and only make one of something. After the first, the novelty is gone and I want to move onto something else. I've gifted two of the Lil Red dolls to the 4 and 2.5 year old cousins. You can see the made up Lil Red dolls in my post http://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2016/03/lil-red-and-bit-o-pink.html

      Thanks for visiting and commenting.

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  5. Great goals! I can't to see what you create this year!

    Dan and I create new year's resolutions every year. I keep them in a note in my phone and we actually do refer back to them and work throughout the year to achieve them. Typically, we create resolutions around a few different areas of our life - financial goals, health goals, marriage goals, kids goals, etc. For example, some of our resolutions for 2016 were to read a book together as a couple (did that), potty train Vivian and read more to her (did that), run a 5K together as a family (did that), and pay down some debt to a certain dollar amount (did that). Admittedly, we did not complete all of our goals. We wanted to volunteer as a family, but when I researched that, I discovered that no one really wanted babies and toddlers to tag along to parent volunteer activities. Dan had said that he was going to learn Spanish (ha). I wanted to loose all my baby weight, but I'm still 7 lbs. away from that (I'm blaming breastfeeding for as long as I can). We created our 2017 resolutions and will be working throughout the year to meet them. We may not complete all of them with 100% accuracy, but they do give us something to aim for, like your quilting goals above.

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    1. I like your selection of goals and glad that you met so many of them. I aim to read 26 books a year - one every two weeks. I fell short at 19 in 2016 but overshot slightly at 29 in 2015. Maybe Frank and I should try reading the same book as a couple like you and Dan did. I just gave him Sully for Christmas. Maybe I will read that once he finishes it. He usually reads World War II stuff that would bore me to tears. How did you and Dan decide on one you both would like? Also I think I need to read it after him. We read at different speeds. Plus when he gets around to reading a book I've read, so much time has passed that I've forgotten a lot of what was in it and therefore cannot have a reasonable discussion.

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    2. I suggested that we read Bill Bryson's, "A Walk in the Woods," since I like that author and I knew that Dan would like his humor, too. Plus, the book is about hiking and camping and so the subject was something that we both would enjoy reading about. We read the book out loud to each other; we didn't both read individual copies at the same time or in close time proximity. Reading it to each other was really nice and a special memory that I'll always have. We actually finished the book in the NICU while sitting with Lillian. Dan wants to do this again this year, but we haven't chosen a book yet.

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  6. Good goals! I am amused that my 2:1 completion to purchase ratio made it onto the list. The classes and the mastery sounds like a good idea, as does the Fiona Familiarization (tm), and everyone loves blog comments!

    Is it bad that I don't even remember if I ever finished my 206 completions post? last time I found a 2016 resolutions post I never posted, and was kind of glad I never posted it because I didn't complete anything on it (I don't think). I like the way you broke this year's resolutions down into categories for easy mental sorting.

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    1. Your 2:1 completion suggestion is excellent. Of course it made it on the list!

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