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Checking back on those New Year resolutions

It is almost halfway through 2010 so I decided to look back on my New Years Resolutions and see how I am doing. 

1. This year I will bite the bullet and arrange to teach a class in cq. Something a little more adventurous than just at my local guild. The main obstacle is my shyness and how to teach when my tendency is not to speak above a whisper!
So far, so good.  I received the contract in the mail to sign just this week - I will be teaching a class on Beginner Crazy Quilting one evening a week from Oct 18 through Nov 1 of this year.  Ta-dah!  Of course, it could still be cancelled for lack of enrolment but I'll worry about that closer to the time.

2. The group, Quilting on a Budget, has something going for next year called `Homemade Christmas`. During discussions on the group we realized that if you made two gifts each month, you would have 24 gifts ready next Christmas. Not just that you have made something from the heart, but avoiding a good part of the annual Christmas panic! I am resolving to do this and will post photos of them as I get them done.
I might as well cancel this one off the books right now.  I have made a couple gifts and have bought some more as I saw the perfect thing for certain people but the most ambitious I am likely to get out here at the lake is knitting dishclothes, scarves or mitts.

3. This year I will make, or at least make a good start on, an actual crazy quilt - not just single blocks.
Haven't started yet but I watched the wonderful DVD by Judith Baker Montano the last couple nights and now it actually seems doable.  Wonderful DVD, by the way.  I would highly recommend it.

4. This year I will enter at least four competitions with my stitching - that`s one every four months so it sounds not too intimidating!
Four!  Did I say four?  Okay, I have entered two things, an ArtBra to The Way to Women's Wellness, hoping it would make it in the calendar, and my EAC Notecard Contest entry.  At least I said enter, not win!  So this is still doable and since the year is only half over I am halfway there.

5. This year I will write about crazy quilting and stitching and submit it for publication somewhere. Let`s see.... twice! So at least two separate things will be submitted for publication.... somewhere. I don't expect them to be accepted or anything - but just the writing of them will help me clarify my teaching techniques, right?
Okay, I still want to do this and no, I haven't got beyond research on one article.  So, I guess I better get moving on this one.

6. I will create and give at least one item a month to charity - this will be my service project for the year. I will post pictures to keep myself honest. lol Some of the groups I would like to do some work for are Grandmothers for Grandmothers (the purse auction), Aids Angels, The Toy Society, Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, and of course I'll take part in CQI's Making Memories project again this year for Breast Cancer. In addition I'll be doing small things on a local basis like baby quilts and baby sets for the hospital gift shop (profits go to the Ladies Hospital Auxiliary) and knit caps for the newborns at the same hospital as well as place mats for Meals on Wheels. There are actually a lot of things you can do locally if you look around. Even the local library is in need of book bags for the local literacy program.
Not doing too badly on this one.  My first AAQI quilt is finished and sent away, the ArtBra is done and sent away and I have taken one baby set to the hospital.  So, I need to pick up the pace a bit but it is still doable.

7. I have decided, because I am a terrible procrastinator, that I will stitch a minimum of 15 minutes per day. Once I start I am likely to carry on longer, but starting is the difficult part for me.
This one has been great and a bit of a break through for me.  No matter how I am feeling I am usually disciplined enough to do this now every day.  And, as planned, 15 minutes usually turn into a couple hours so that is all good.

8. I will organize and clean out my sewing room so that I can actually work there! And find things! I'll work on this one hour a day (minimum) until it is accomplished.
I got a good start on this one before coming out to the lake but unfortunately I am no longer living in the same house as my sewing room so I can't do anything more on this until I go home in the fall.

Wow!  Were there only 8?  It seemed like a lot more before I had accomplished any of it!  I am definitely feeling pretty good about accomplishing these this year!  (patting myself on the back, lol!)

Comments

Laurie said…
As you should pat yourself on the back Kerry! Your list is going really good, If I do a list, the first thing on it would be "be disciplined in doing the list" and see how far I get beyond that. I'm so disorganized because I get doing one thing and get side tracked into something else and forget what I started to do in the first place!
Diane Matheson` said…
Well done Kerry! You are well on your way with many accomplishments from your resolutions begun and completed. You are quite brave to list your progress too. I don't even remember what my resolutions were.
Connie said…
These are actually really great goals. I could never keep up with you. I should really try the stitching for 15 minutes per day one. It would take that long just to get out my stuff. (-;

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