Well, I think it is time to look at my New Year Goals again since the year is coming to a close and I'm running out of time to do anything about them. This makes for a long post with no photos so bear with me!
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.
I have worked as hard as I could on this one. The classes I proposed in the spring did not run due to lack of registration although I taught a full day workshop to Calgary Guild of Needle & Fibre Arts. My fall classes are running now - I have a full day workshop this Saturday on Fabric Manipulation and Embellishment and then two full day workshops on Crazy Quilting before the end of the year. I am going to be featured as the Artist of the Month in January in the Country of Vulcan so I hope that will promote some interest in crazy quilting there and maybe I'll get enough registration for a class to run there in the spring as a result. The big project I wanted to design never got past the planning stage - just not enough hours in the day!
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.
There is less than two months til Christmas! Did you realize that?! lol This plan is still in effect as far as the Homemade Christmas portion goes but the part about no annual Christmas panic might be overly optomistic!
3. This year I will make, or at least make a good start on, an actual crazy quilt - not just single blocks.
Still only in the planning stages! Drat! I am working on a wall hanging at the moment but the full size quilt hasn't even been started.
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.
This one has been rolled over to next year's goals - hoping I'll get it done by then. Right now classes, Christmas coming and the new job are taking every hour of the day and then some!
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.
Just didn't happen! I am working on two entries for the EAC logo contest but who knows if they will be done in time to submit?
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!
I actually did this one! I have a couple articles submitted, three in fact, and am now just waiting to see if they are published. Writing and submitting them were my goal though, not getting them published since that part is out of my hands, so I achieved this one!
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.
I went over the top on this one - more than achieved these goals! Most of my donations were AAQI art quilts, one a month since February, but I also managed to donate items to the library's silent auction, the silent auction for the school here in town, and to the local hospital. So, this one is achieved!
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!
This goal is met or not met every day and continues to be a daily challenge. Most days I manage it now but some days I miss due to life getting in the way and ordinary, garden variety fatigue. I continue to recommend this goal for everyone who wants to be more productive though - can't say enough good things about the 15 minute a day goal!
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.
Done! Having a workable space is great too! Of course, you have to manage the upkeep as well and keep it organized... Not in a good spot right now but still workable. The stash does seem to have spread again though into almost every room in the house!
10. I am going to put the time and energy necessary into Leslie's and my Etsy shop and get it going.
I decided that sharing an Etsy shop with someone else was not the way to go - much too complicated with the postage costs from two different countries to contend with. So, I've bowed out of this and will get my own Etsy shop up and running instead - only time is stopping me right now.
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 didn't keep track but I'm sure I have made it on this one. I consider anything I have bought and brought home a UFO even if I haven't started it since it takes up space. I've sent items to the ladies in Texas, other stitchers, donated kits to various causes, so it's all good!
Well, that's it! I'm running out of year here to achieve my 2011 goals but I have managed to make progress on them and that's what counts!
Right now my life seems insanely busy - adjusting to the new job is really taking some doing. I am working as a caregiver now for a gentleman in town who was badly injured in a car accident a couple years ago. I drive him where he needs to go and visit with him on the days he doesn't need to go anywhere, make coffee and help where needed. This week we have just added three outings a week to a wheelchair accessible swimming pool in a nearby town so busier and busier! This is pleasant work though - he is a very cheerful and congenial man and very easy to get along with. It can be tiring though so fatigue has become a factor in what I get accomplished at home. After work tonight, I'll be coming home to put together all my kits for the class I am teaching tomorrow. I have lots of great things for us to play with - tyvek, texture magic, silk velvet to emboss, angelina fibers, etc. so it should be fun! I became inspired when I took a Fabric Manipulation class as Seminar this year and have been experimenting with other methods since then and want to share my excitement about these techniques. I'll try to remember the camera tomorrow and will share how it turned out here afterwards.
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.
I have worked as hard as I could on this one. The classes I proposed in the spring did not run due to lack of registration although I taught a full day workshop to Calgary Guild of Needle & Fibre Arts. My fall classes are running now - I have a full day workshop this Saturday on Fabric Manipulation and Embellishment and then two full day workshops on Crazy Quilting before the end of the year. I am going to be featured as the Artist of the Month in January in the Country of Vulcan so I hope that will promote some interest in crazy quilting there and maybe I'll get enough registration for a class to run there in the spring as a result. The big project I wanted to design never got past the planning stage - just not enough hours in the day!
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.
There is less than two months til Christmas! Did you realize that?! lol This plan is still in effect as far as the Homemade Christmas portion goes but the part about no annual Christmas panic might be overly optomistic!
3. This year I will make, or at least make a good start on, an actual crazy quilt - not just single blocks.
Still only in the planning stages! Drat! I am working on a wall hanging at the moment but the full size quilt hasn't even been started.
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.
This one has been rolled over to next year's goals - hoping I'll get it done by then. Right now classes, Christmas coming and the new job are taking every hour of the day and then some!
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.
Just didn't happen! I am working on two entries for the EAC logo contest but who knows if they will be done in time to submit?
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!
I actually did this one! I have a couple articles submitted, three in fact, and am now just waiting to see if they are published. Writing and submitting them were my goal though, not getting them published since that part is out of my hands, so I achieved this one!
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.
I went over the top on this one - more than achieved these goals! Most of my donations were AAQI art quilts, one a month since February, but I also managed to donate items to the library's silent auction, the silent auction for the school here in town, and to the local hospital. So, this one is achieved!
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!
This goal is met or not met every day and continues to be a daily challenge. Most days I manage it now but some days I miss due to life getting in the way and ordinary, garden variety fatigue. I continue to recommend this goal for everyone who wants to be more productive though - can't say enough good things about the 15 minute a day goal!
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.
Done! Having a workable space is great too! Of course, you have to manage the upkeep as well and keep it organized... Not in a good spot right now but still workable. The stash does seem to have spread again though into almost every room in the house!
10. I am going to put the time and energy necessary into Leslie's and my Etsy shop and get it going.
I decided that sharing an Etsy shop with someone else was not the way to go - much too complicated with the postage costs from two different countries to contend with. So, I've bowed out of this and will get my own Etsy shop up and running instead - only time is stopping me right now.
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 didn't keep track but I'm sure I have made it on this one. I consider anything I have bought and brought home a UFO even if I haven't started it since it takes up space. I've sent items to the ladies in Texas, other stitchers, donated kits to various causes, so it's all good!
Well, that's it! I'm running out of year here to achieve my 2011 goals but I have managed to make progress on them and that's what counts!
Right now my life seems insanely busy - adjusting to the new job is really taking some doing. I am working as a caregiver now for a gentleman in town who was badly injured in a car accident a couple years ago. I drive him where he needs to go and visit with him on the days he doesn't need to go anywhere, make coffee and help where needed. This week we have just added three outings a week to a wheelchair accessible swimming pool in a nearby town so busier and busier! This is pleasant work though - he is a very cheerful and congenial man and very easy to get along with. It can be tiring though so fatigue has become a factor in what I get accomplished at home. After work tonight, I'll be coming home to put together all my kits for the class I am teaching tomorrow. I have lots of great things for us to play with - tyvek, texture magic, silk velvet to emboss, angelina fibers, etc. so it should be fun! I became inspired when I took a Fabric Manipulation class as Seminar this year and have been experimenting with other methods since then and want to share my excitement about these techniques. I'll try to remember the camera tomorrow and will share how it turned out here afterwards.
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