Well, it's that time again - time to look at my Goals for this year and see how I am doing on them. I know this makes for a boring post but it helps keep my honest with myself! So, here they are:
1. This year I am going to continue with teaching crazy quilting that I started last year. I will make as many opportunities for myself as I can to do this. I am also going to build a workshop or class around a specific project that I'll design and submit an application to teach it wherever the opportunity presents itself. More of the same as last year - just stretching further with it.
Not doing tooooo badly - have 13 classes scheduled for October and November and one already for the new year. Of course, it depends if we get sufficient registration! I've also been approached by my LQS so I need to get back to them, I guess. I've made two types of classes on projects I've designed so not bad, not bad at all!
2. I will try to go ahead with the "Homemade Christmas" plan that fell by the wayside last year. I have already told my family that I intend to be on a cruise ship somewhere during the holidays next year (that part might not happen! lol) and that I will be making all the presents I give. 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. None of my family reads my blog so no worries there.
Okay, forget the two a month part but I do have a good start! I have projects done, not too many, and more in the works and plans for the rest. So, if time allows homemade Christmas will be a reality!
3. This year I will make, or at least make a good start on, an actual crazy quilt - not just single blocks.
I will! Honestly, I will at least make a start on two by the looks of it. My buddy and I are organizing a full size crazy quilt as a group project for our guild so that's one, right? Sort of! And, once I get home and can set up - and leave up - the sewing machine again, I'll get started on blocks for my own.
4. I will finish my crazy quilt Christmas tree skirt in progress in time to enter it in the Calgary Stampede Creative Living competition next summer.
Oh, oh! And I was doing so well! This is now put off til next year's Stampede entry but maybe I'll get going on it by taking it to retreat with me to work on...
5. This year I will enter at least four competitions with my stitching - that`s one every four months so it sounds not too intimidating! I only got halfway this last year on this resolution so I'm going to try again.
Yowsers! Only four eh? Well, nothing like being ambitious! I don't think I've done any yet but am working on a name tag contest for the local guild and a logo contest for the EAC contest. That's two so it's a start - just have to get them finished now.
6. 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. Their being accepted and published is not part of this goal but would be a great addition!
At last! Another one I've done okay on! I've written and submitted an article to the Embroidery Association of Canada magazine (remember the fine print didn't say they had to actually be published - just written and submitted!) and I've committed to a write up on the Colorado retreat for another two magazines - I'll finish that up as soon as I have the photos ready after retreat.
7. 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. Some of the groups I would like to do some work for are the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) continuing with the pledge I have made to them, Grandmothers for Grandmothers (the purse auction), Aids Angels, The Toy Society, and CQI's Making Memories project 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 placemats 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.
Almost all my efforts here have been going to producing AAQI quilts this year but since I do one a month for them, any other projects are gravy! So, I'm golden on this one! lol
8. 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 was the best goal I set for myself last year - I highly recommend it! Doing that 15 minutes a day keeps the creative blocks at bay and really increases my output. I just can't say enough good things about the 15 minutes a day. It has even extended to other areas of my life - 15 minutes of housework at a time, 15 minutes of organizing, or sorting, or computer work... They all add up!
I can't say enough good things about setting this goal for yourself! Those little bits of time do add up! And, because they are often "waiting time" like at the doctor's office, the dentists, kid's sporting events, etc., people will ask you what you are doing and you get to promote crazy quilting at the same time! Bonus!
More and more, I feel like a day without stitching is a wasted day! This is a goal I would like to add to everyone's list. Really! Don't let "life" get in the way of your art - this stuff we do is good for the soul and we need to feed that. It's a karma thing - you are giving beauty to the world!
9. 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 have added the library room adjacent to my sewing room to my work space as an annex so it should be easier to find places for everything.
(dancing the happy dance as I chant) Oh yeah! Oh yeah! And it make it so much easier to work too! All I need to do when I get home now is reincorporate the stash that came out with me and my trailer back into the sewing room. Sewing room? Heck, no! Now that it is this organized and a place I can work, I am going to start calling it my studio instead. How you like them apples? roflol
10. I am going to put the time and energy necessary into Leslie's and my Etsy shop and get it going.
It is a new area for me and that is always a bit scary but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Oh, I am sad about this. The differences in postage and shipping with Leslie in the US and me in Canada was just too confusing! Not only for customers, but for us too! So, we'll "un-partner" on this one and each open our own Etsy shops. I have a few great things to put in there as soon as I get home and settled again - watch for a much coveted copy of Dorothy Bond's little brown book!
11. The best advice I ever received about UFOs (UnFinished Objects),was from a quilting teacher, Anne Severson: that perhaps the reason you haven't finished something was because you had already learned what it had to teach you and have grown past it. So, bearing this in mind, I will deal with at least one UFO a month - either get rid of it if it no longer holds my interest or to put it back into my stitching schedule if it is still a part of my stitching journey. I might even finish a few in the progress!
I've actually taken to finishing a few, and incorporating a few more into other projects. Again, this is a goal that is going to be easier at home. There is only so much you can do at the lake in a little trailer!
Well, I'm getting there on these, aren't I? Yay for me!! lol How is everyone else doing on their goals for 2011? I find if I don't review them like this I tend to forget they ever existed. So, come on, drag yours out, dust them off, and let's see the progress!
1. This year I am going to continue with teaching crazy quilting that I started last year. I will make as many opportunities for myself as I can to do this. I am also going to build a workshop or class around a specific project that I'll design and submit an application to teach it wherever the opportunity presents itself. More of the same as last year - just stretching further with it.
Not doing tooooo badly - have 13 classes scheduled for October and November and one already for the new year. Of course, it depends if we get sufficient registration! I've also been approached by my LQS so I need to get back to them, I guess. I've made two types of classes on projects I've designed so not bad, not bad at all!
2. I will try to go ahead with the "Homemade Christmas" plan that fell by the wayside last year. I have already told my family that I intend to be on a cruise ship somewhere during the holidays next year (that part might not happen! lol) and that I will be making all the presents I give. 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. None of my family reads my blog so no worries there.
Okay, forget the two a month part but I do have a good start! I have projects done, not too many, and more in the works and plans for the rest. So, if time allows homemade Christmas will be a reality!
3. This year I will make, or at least make a good start on, an actual crazy quilt - not just single blocks.
I will! Honestly, I will at least make a start on two by the looks of it. My buddy and I are organizing a full size crazy quilt as a group project for our guild so that's one, right? Sort of! And, once I get home and can set up - and leave up - the sewing machine again, I'll get started on blocks for my own.
4. I will finish my crazy quilt Christmas tree skirt in progress in time to enter it in the Calgary Stampede Creative Living competition next summer.
Oh, oh! And I was doing so well! This is now put off til next year's Stampede entry but maybe I'll get going on it by taking it to retreat with me to work on...
5. This year I will enter at least four competitions with my stitching - that`s one every four months so it sounds not too intimidating! I only got halfway this last year on this resolution so I'm going to try again.
Yowsers! Only four eh? Well, nothing like being ambitious! I don't think I've done any yet but am working on a name tag contest for the local guild and a logo contest for the EAC contest. That's two so it's a start - just have to get them finished now.
6. 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. Their being accepted and published is not part of this goal but would be a great addition!
At last! Another one I've done okay on! I've written and submitted an article to the Embroidery Association of Canada magazine (remember the fine print didn't say they had to actually be published - just written and submitted!) and I've committed to a write up on the Colorado retreat for another two magazines - I'll finish that up as soon as I have the photos ready after retreat.
7. 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. Some of the groups I would like to do some work for are the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) continuing with the pledge I have made to them, Grandmothers for Grandmothers (the purse auction), Aids Angels, The Toy Society, and CQI's Making Memories project 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 placemats 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.
Almost all my efforts here have been going to producing AAQI quilts this year but since I do one a month for them, any other projects are gravy! So, I'm golden on this one! lol
8. 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 was the best goal I set for myself last year - I highly recommend it! Doing that 15 minutes a day keeps the creative blocks at bay and really increases my output. I just can't say enough good things about the 15 minutes a day. It has even extended to other areas of my life - 15 minutes of housework at a time, 15 minutes of organizing, or sorting, or computer work... They all add up!
I can't say enough good things about setting this goal for yourself! Those little bits of time do add up! And, because they are often "waiting time" like at the doctor's office, the dentists, kid's sporting events, etc., people will ask you what you are doing and you get to promote crazy quilting at the same time! Bonus!
More and more, I feel like a day without stitching is a wasted day! This is a goal I would like to add to everyone's list. Really! Don't let "life" get in the way of your art - this stuff we do is good for the soul and we need to feed that. It's a karma thing - you are giving beauty to the world!
9. 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 have added the library room adjacent to my sewing room to my work space as an annex so it should be easier to find places for everything.
(dancing the happy dance as I chant) Oh yeah! Oh yeah! And it make it so much easier to work too! All I need to do when I get home now is reincorporate the stash that came out with me and my trailer back into the sewing room. Sewing room? Heck, no! Now that it is this organized and a place I can work, I am going to start calling it my studio instead. How you like them apples? roflol
10. I am going to put the time and energy necessary into Leslie's and my Etsy shop and get it going.
It is a new area for me and that is always a bit scary but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Oh, I am sad about this. The differences in postage and shipping with Leslie in the US and me in Canada was just too confusing! Not only for customers, but for us too! So, we'll "un-partner" on this one and each open our own Etsy shops. I have a few great things to put in there as soon as I get home and settled again - watch for a much coveted copy of Dorothy Bond's little brown book!
11. The best advice I ever received about UFOs (UnFinished Objects),was from a quilting teacher, Anne Severson: that perhaps the reason you haven't finished something was because you had already learned what it had to teach you and have grown past it. So, bearing this in mind, I will deal with at least one UFO a month - either get rid of it if it no longer holds my interest or to put it back into my stitching schedule if it is still a part of my stitching journey. I might even finish a few in the progress!
I've actually taken to finishing a few, and incorporating a few more into other projects. Again, this is a goal that is going to be easier at home. There is only so much you can do at the lake in a little trailer!
Well, I'm getting there on these, aren't I? Yay for me!! lol How is everyone else doing on their goals for 2011? I find if I don't review them like this I tend to forget they ever existed. So, come on, drag yours out, dust them off, and let's see the progress!
Comments
Next year I am going to try your idea of 15 minutes of stitching per day. I will have to precede that with some neck/arm exercises to keep them from going numb, but that’s life.
See you soon! Hugs, Cathy
so I have more space to fill with stuff. lol Debbie S.