Friday, December 30, 2016

Ambitions for 2017

As the year winds down, it's just natural to start looking towards plans for the incoming year.  I've taken a bit of time the last few days to assess how my 2016 went and where I'd like to see things go in 2017.  I've had the extra advantage of reading many of the posts over at Jet Girl's 2017 Planning Party



Now I'm finally ready to post my ambitions for next year.  Mine are rather plain Jane vanilla, but they focus on where I want to go next year. 

1.  Finish a few quilts.  Participate in the One Monthly Goal and UFO-2017 to help with this effort.  My 2017 quilt plan can be found on the 2017 Quilt Plan tab.  The "have to" finish quilts are Bejeweled, Geometry, and The First Amendment Quilts.




 2.  Participate in challenges and mystery quilt alongs.  These are some of my most favorite quilting and blogging activities.  Yes I have a long UFO list, but saying no new quilts just takes the joy out of the sewing room.  Plus planning which ones I'm going to participate in drives me to finish the quilt along projects from the previous year.  Here's next year's list:

     1.  RSC 2017 - Fan and Log Cabin blocks
     2.  2017 Meadow Mist Mystery
     3.  2017 Bonnie Hunter Mystery

3.  Manage the stash/organize the sewing room.  This is an ongoing battle for me (like most quilters I think).  I have lots of pretty fabrics, but not all of it is where I can see it and use it. 

     1.  Use 70 yards of fabric
     2.  Spend 30 minutes per week on sewing room organization
     3.  Make Wild Goose from Bonnie Hunter's book Addicted to Scraps (I have a ton of scraps that need to get into a quilt and this one looks like a good one to make that happen).  

4.  Make time to sew.  Seems obvious, but with a full time job, a husband and a daughter, there are lots of other things in my life too.  Making a conscious effort to get to the sewing room for 15 minutes will make a big difference in fulfilling my first ambition of getting a few quilts finished.

5.  Work on my blogging skills. The blog community functions as my quilting guild since the local one only meets while I'm at work. The quilty blogsphere is a wonderful source of friendship, feedback and inspiration.  This year was my worst in terms of posting and content since I started blogging 7 years ago.  So it's time for some refocusing here.

     1.  Post three times a week
     2.  Improve my photography intended for the blog
     3.  Write 4 tutorials this year
     4.  Review progress on these ambitions at the end of each quarter and report the progress or lack thereof on the blog.  

Those are my ambitions for the year.  Putting together the list is a good start, but sometimes the implementation doesn't go so well.  At any rate, good luck on your ambitions for 2017.  We'll know in about 12 months how we all did.  

Linking up with Jet Girl's 2017 Planning Party.  

12 comments:

Julierose said...

You have a lot of goals for 2017--I don't usually set any for myself--(I never seem to stick with them) but this year I want to really FINISH up the projects I started (uhhh..got stuck on!!) and use my stashed fabics. No buying except for larger backings as needed. This is a super idea thanks Happy New Year hugs, Julierose

Vroomans' Quilts said...

You are very organized and sure you will tackle 2017 with a vengence.

Alison V. said...

This is a great set of goals! I like that you've already decided what QALs you're going to participate in, I usually get caught up in them and thats why I have so many WIPs!

Darlene said...

I like following your blog. The idea of 15 minutes a day resonates with me, and possible achievable in my crazy life. I too have been thinking about goals for 2017. Can't wait to see those pretty dresses and all your graduation quilts.

Kate said...

Ooh, the First Amendment quilt looks interesting! And I'm with you - I slacked off on the blog community this year (both my own and commenting on others) and I really want to get back into it. I'm also planning tutorials! Can't wait to see yours!

Sandra Walker said...

It's funny but just putting thoughts out there in public sure helps me feel more accountable. But YES!! Hallelujah and praise the goddess of fabric that you said that bit about saying no to new quilts takes the joy out of sewing. Thank you! Best of luck!

gayle said...

You're way more organized than I am, so you've got a great chance of achieving these goals. I may try to adopt a few of them myself, but I'm more likely just be a cheerleader for you!

AnnieO said...

Plans and directions are good to start out a year and check in with as you go. I'm also going to do more with my scraps this year and have already found an easy pattern I want to try. I'm surprised you felt your blogging was less this year as it sure seemed you were pretty regular every week. I had a couple months with only one post!!

The Colorful Fabriholic said...

You have some great goals for 2017. You're right about putting them into writing and putting them out there being helpful to stay focused. I'm looking forward to following your progress. I agree with you about the quilting blogosphere community, so many encouraging quilters we can learn from and share with. Happy New Year 2017!

Marly said...

You have some great goals; I hope you can fir everything in. The most important thing is to enjoy what you're doing, and not to get stressed over a hobby; there's enough stress in the world as it is!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

This is a great list and there is nothing vanilla about it! I agree so much that the blogging community is my "guild" and I wish you much creative joy and a wonderful 2017. Thank you for linking up.

Val's Quilting Studio said...

I always find it so frustrating that classes and quilds ALWAYS meet during the day....thus like you, our blogging community is my "guild" too. You've done a great job setting your goals...especially as working ladies, I think it creates intention and insures we get the stress release we need through our sewing.