Wednesday, January 7, 2015

It's 2015!

In an attempt to unravel my tangled thoughts about what did & didn't happen in 2014 from my hopes for 2015 I'm going to jump ahead with the "easy" part today as we are a week into the New Year already. Perhaps some forward thinking will settle my mind for an insightful look back in a few days!
I'm starting off the year with 43 UFOs that need some serious attention. In a perfect world I would love to have 10-12 quilting projects in various stages of completion. I am not a start-to-finish quilter - instead I need choices and options when I go into my quilting room.

I have 3 main quilting goals for 2015:

1. Make quilting a primary focus again in my life. Plain and simple.

2. End the year with 12 or less UFOs/WIPs. As a person who enjoys having multiple projects to choose from this would be very comfortable for me. It could be 8 UFOs and 4 WIPs or 12 WIPs... the key thing is that I have enough variety to maintain interest but keep the projects moving along.

3. Learn how to FMQ at a basic level and ENJOY it! A meander, some loops & swirls and a few other options that I can use to finish my tops would make me a happy quilter.

Goals 2 and 3 are basically the same from my failed 2014 quilting goals. To reach goal 2 I need to finish at least 33 UFOs in 2015 and keep new projects moving towards the finish line. To accomplish this I am going to resurrect a variation of my UFO Reward System (blogged HERE) that worked so well in 2012-2013. I haven't worked the 2015 version out yet so stay tuned.
My Button I'm also going to try to recapture the magic that being an active participant in A Lovely Year of Finishes and Finish-Along gave me during my UFO Busting Heydays. If you aren't familiar with these challenges click on the buttons for more information.
2015 FAL at On the Windy Side
My January goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes will be (once again) Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown. Blocks assembled, sandwiched, quilted, bound and off to our son in New York - that's it!

I've selected the following UFOs to tackle during Q1 of the Finish-Along. 

1. Charming Snowmen, 2. 10 Path and Stiles Blocks, 3. Blue & Yellow Strings, 4. Scrappy Strip Stacks, 5. Strip Stacks in Blue & Brown, 6. Warm 16 Patches, 7. Picnic In Serenade, 8. Crossroads Blocks = 4 Quilts

8 pictures equals 11 finishes as I have enough Crossroads blocks to make 4 quilts for Project Linus. Yes, I'm going big... but winter traditionally is my prime sewing time (even in 2014!) so I'm feeling pretty confident that I can achieve a jump start towards my goals in the next 3 months.

Tomorrow I will post about the word I have chosen for 2015 and try to fill in the gaps now that I've selected my targets and linked up to the challenges today.

14 comments:

  1. Wow, I have the same goal as your #3. I wishing I could feel more comfortable doing FMQ. Just curious, How are you going to tackle this goal?

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  2. Hello Deb, nice to see you blogging again.
    Good luck with your goals. Like you, I have heaps of UFOs and WIPs. I often sew a bit of this one, then a bit of that, and never seem to get anything finished. But each session at the sewing machine is a further step forward, I feel.

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  3. I too need some similar goals. I'm curious - how do you differentiate between a UFO and a WIP?

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    1. Since I'm unable to reply to you via email Quiltlady I'll answer here. I have a simple definition - WIPs are started during the current year and UFOs are not. In my system everything unfinished is a UFO as of 1/1/20XX. So I currently have 43 UFOs and no WIPs.I hope this helps!

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  4. I look forward to seeing what you accomplish this year. I too have a number of UFO's to get done.

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  5. It will be fun to watch your progress - especially in learning to FMQ. Great goals for a long cold winter.

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  6. Great goals. I hope you do enjoy FMQ. I sure do.

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  7. I'm glad you're back! I've missed your periodic quilty updates.

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  8. I've been working on fmq at a very basic level. Jess at Elven Garden Quilts has a series of u tube videos on several patterns. I followed along and made myself work on each one of them on a quilt...no matter how difficult I found them.

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  9. Love your approach this year. Unlike you, I can't face the UFOs again this year. I am taking a little break from them. I will mostly be doing small projects (besides the quilt I I want to make for my bed). I can't wait to see all that you accomplish in 2015.

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  10. I guess I hadn't been keeping up with blogs during the holidays because I missed the one about your mother and Tucker. I hope you mother is feeling better and deepest condolences on the loss of sweet Tucker. I know how hard it is to decide to put a pet to "sleep". I hope 2015 brings good health and happiness to everyone in your family, including beautiful Elsa!

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  11. I love following your UFO progress, so I'm glad you're back!

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  12. good way to start our the year, looking forward.
    I have not decided yet how I want to approach the new year. I hope to get in my sewing room this weekend and figure things out. Happy new Year.

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  13. Love the Strip Stacks every time I see it. I also would like to learn FMQ this year and I've bought the book you talked about. Want to join me for a QAL to move us both forward? Like you, I also prefer variety in my sewing room but the time has come to get serious with finishing! It's basting that's my problem: my knees can't handle basting on the floor (every room is carpeted except the kitchen so that really not practical anyway) and I don't have any table except my good timber dining table which I don't want to scratch with pins! I've just had an idea -- I'll have run it by WM!

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