To be frank, I could use a little bit more self discipline in my life. I tend to be a fly by the seat of my pants kind of woman which often leaves me struggling to figure out what to make for dinner, or lying in bed reading a novel for four hours rather than quilting the baby quilt.
This tendency has it's good points as well. I spontaneously volunteered to test patterns for Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs in 2015 which took me out of my comfort zone and prompted me to participate in my first blog hop. I also jumped head first into the New Quilt Bloggers blog hop which again took me out of my comfort zone and opened up a world of possibilities. One of the things that was impressed upon us by our mentors was the importance of planning and of setting goals.
Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl is hosting a linky party to share our 2016 Plans, Goals and Resolutions. This prompted this seat of her pants non planner to do some planning and set some goals.
I'll start with the quilting goals.
1. Complete at least one quilt a month. This could be a stretch for me, but it's a worthy aspiration and doable so I'm leaving it at that. I have a lot of works in progress that can help me meet this goal. I'll start with the quilt my daughter has been asking me to quilt for her the past two years.
2. Design and make my own quilts, and quilt blocks.To help me with this goal I'll be reading Cheryl's Pattern Writing Blog Series starting in January, and I'll be mining the back posts on Yvonne's blog to re read her posts on block design. I'll be starting my own process by turning my contribution to the Fabri Quilt block challenge, the Graduated Cross Block into a quilt. I've bought the fabric to make a quilt using this block and I'm excited to get started on it.
3. Enter a quilt in to a show. Several quilt shows in our area are adding a Modern category to their shows so I think this is a good place to start.
4. I'm really excited to be in Hive 8 of the Stash Bee. I enjoy the social aspects of blogging and hope this continues in the bee. My goal is to complete all my blocks on time.
5. Improve my quilting. I'll work on this goal with the help of my Craftsy quilting classes on both Free Motion and Straight line quilting.
6. Continue to explore Modern quilting techniques such as improv, negative grid and minimalism. Kaja of Sew Slowly and Anne of Fret Knot Your Self and good motivators here.
7. Use my stash and come up with my own Stash Manifesto. I'll be joining Jenn at Quarter Inch From the Edge for her linkups which are still a bit of a mystery.
Here are my goals relating to blogging.
1. Post at least twice a week. This could take planning. I know, I know this is what this post is all about. I'll be using the Quilter's Planner to help me organize my sewing and my blogging ideas to meet this goal.
2. Post a tutorial or two.
3. Host a linky party.
4. Learn how to get a working button into the body of a post. I only know how to get them into the side bars.
I've got some goals which I guess would best fall under the category of self care.
1. Meditate daily. I know that meditation has a great positive effect on my mood and energy level but I find it hard to do. So once again it's on my list.
2. Get some exercise. I haven't figured out what this one is going to look like yet..possibly aquafit, possibly hand held weights....at the very least I will do my knee strengthening exercises on a regular basis.
3. Go back to keeping a gratitude journal.
4. Retain my flexibility and don't get too anal about meeting all the goals.
I've found writing this post to be a great way to articulate goals for myself for the upcoming year. Thanks Yvonne for getting the ball rolling with the 2016 Plans,Goals and Resolutions Link Up. I'm looking forward to Quilting and Blogging in 2016 and hope that I continue to be challenged and grow as much in 2016 as in 2015.
21 comments:
I like the idea of entering a quilt into a show. I would love to make something and be confident enough to enter it into our local fair. It's not QuiltCon, but I get quilty butterflies at the thought of so many people seeing something I made! Love your cross block by the way, those cool colors make me think of poolside lounging. :) Good luck with your goals!
Good luck with your quilty goals. Your cross block is lovely, I'm looking forward to seeing the quilt you create with it.
Good luck with your goals. As designing is the area I discovered is my favorite thing I will keep an eye out for what you come up with :-)
Thank you so much for linking up, Lisa. Many of your goals resonate with me. Meditate daily is a fantastic goal and one I have slipped up on recently myself. I am excited to see your Fabri-Quilt block turned into a quilt this year, and I hope that you have a wonderful 2016.
This sounds like a great list of things to do in the new year!
This is a great list Lisa, I need to work on my goals for the year as well. You and I have similar goals. It will be fun to see how we progress in 2016!
This is a great list. I agree with #2 and #4 on the quilting list. I finally chose the fabric to make a quilt with my block as well.
Love all these goals - they are all great for surging you forward. I wish you the best in keeping them.
I really am a fly by the seat of my pants kind'a girl, too, Lisa. I am so proud of how far you have come in 2015. And really enjoyed reading your post. Your Graduated Cross Block is a great design and I am looking forward to seeing you accomplish the goal of making it into a pattern. 2016 is going to be an amazing year!
I enjoyed reading your blog post Lisa. I'm pretty much a seat of the pants girl too. I think about it and think about it and think some more then finally buckle down at the last minute. Like yourself I often have my head stuck in a book. For example, I have been intending to link up to Yvonne's linky party for about a week.
I spent waaaay too many hours over the past couple of days reading a book I got for Christmas, rather than quilting :) Thankfully the (fantastic) book is now finished, so I can get some other stuff done! You have a great list of goals (especially that last one!). Good luck with them :)
I'm gonna head on over there to Yvonne's planning session, too. I still haven't posted my best of 2015 yet, though. I'm gonna do that first...Looks like you set some excellent goals, though.
You have a lot of great goals. It sounds like you know yourself very well, and I think the most important thing is to be flexible and kind to yourself. I'm working on my goals blog post, and my "list" is already overwhelming me a little bit. At least I'm feeling totally zen about the stuff that I didn't achieve this year (from last year's overachiever goal list). ;-) It seems like a lot of us want to make our fabric-quilt blocks into quilts this year. Me too! Thanks for sharing.
Great goals Lisa. Good luck meeting them. Thanks for the tips on courses on design and modern patchwork; I shall certainly be checking those sites. I found that compiling the list helped me focus on the issues. I hadn't thought about meditation, but for many years yoga and meditation were a part of my day, I think I, like you, should fit that in too; it would certainly boost my energy levels.
I'm nodding at so many of your goals Lisa! Good luck with all of them. I plan to do this too, but cannot get it together in time for Yvonne's linky. I actually DO have an excuse, daughter and grandson here for 8 delicious days...I especially like your sense of humour here, in the "not get too anal" and "post at least twice a week..could take planning" goals! :-)
Good luck with all your goals for 2016! I like that you have such a range of things you are going to try for: I'll look forward to following your progress on them.
I should have read your goals before making mine! I am looking forward to Cheryl's pattern writing series. Happy New Year!
And I love the block you designed!
Oh Lisa, discipline is overrated. I am disciplined when I am at work. I don't need that when I am home.
Wish you a very joyful and creative new year.
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Lisa, I can completely relate to so many of your goals, both Quilty and lifewise. I hope you keep a lot of your fly by the seat of your pants style though - that's part of what made you so brave this year! You did a lot of very challenging things. :)
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