Tuesday, July 3, 2018

2018 Ambitions - Checking in for Mid-Year

Hard to believe we've passed the mid-year point for 2018.  I just finished doing mid-year reviews at work. It's a chance to look at the goals from the first of the year, make sure they are still appropriate and that you are on track to complete them.  Back in April I  reviewed how things were going on my quilty ambitions (that post is here) for the same reasons.  Yvonne over at Quilting Jetgirl is hosting a mid year review linky party to encourage us to take a look at where we are mid year. 


So here's how I'm doing on my quilty ambitions as of the end of June.  

1.  Shorten the UFO list.  


I started 2018 with 17 quilts on the UFO list. As of the end of June there are 18 quilts on the UFO list.  I consider a quilt a UFO once it's been on the project list for a year.  There's only been one finish this year and it wasn't on the UFO list yet.  So I'm not doing so hot on this ambition. It's not from lack of trying. There has been good progress on the six projects I've worked on this year. It just hasn't been enough to get those quilts to the finish line.  

2. Participate in quilt alongs/mysteries.  Since the goal is to finish up the old stuff, I limited myself to just three this year.

     2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Started
     Meadow Mist Designs Plus Sign Sampler Quilt Along
     Bonnie Hunter Mystery


I've decided not to do Cheryl's Plus Sign Sampler, but may start one of the quilts in her Modern Plus Sign Quilts book.  Or since my goal is to clear off the UFO list, I may skip out on that quilt along completely. 

3. Find 15 minutes to stitch each day. 


I'm doing well with this ambition.  The success rate for the year is 94.54%.  So I'm not sure why I'm not seeing any finishes.  

4.  Stash Management/Stash Organization
       Limit purchases to 5 yards per quarter: at 18.91 yards incoming
       Spend 30 minutes each week on organization:  hit and miss
       Any new projects must use stash fabrics only:  good here
       Pick a RSC project that uses precut strips:  Sampler uses strips

Well 3 out of 4 ambitions on this point is pretty good.  I'm over my goal for incoming fabric as of the mid-year point, but as long as I don't add more than one more yard the next 6 months, I'll be OK on that one for the year.  I'm not doing so hot on organizing the stash.  It's been hard to find time to sew this year, so spending time organizing has just not been as high a priority. 

5.  Blog once a week.  
I've managed at least 2 posts a week since the first of the year. So I'm doing OK on this front too.  

Other than getting quilts to the finish line, the year is going pretty well.  I'm linking up with Yvonne's mid-year review party where you can see how well other's are doing on meeting their quilty ambitions.  

Since finishes don't seem to be happening, I'm going to use the rest of this post to document the progress for the year.  I need the morale boost.  The picture on the left is where the project was as of 12/31/2017. The picture of the right shows the status as of the last time I worked on the project. 

January Project:  Chain Reaction (aka Geek Chic) Done 

 


February Project:  Magnolia Mystery Quilt (Needs binding)




March Project:  Vintage Dresses (Needs borders)




April Project:  En Provence (Sewing on binding)

 

May Project:  Christmas Angels (Needs borders)

 

June Project:  Red, White and Blue Stars (Finish making blocks)



So I'm close to finishes on two quilts.  But only one is on the UFO list.  Magnolia Mystery wasn't started till September last year, so it's still a WIP.  Well I got this far in the last 6 months and there is still 6 more to go.  Time enough to move a couple more off the list you think?  

14 comments:

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm said...

I need to cut and paste your post, it reflects me too. You have made great progress on so much. Just nice to get past the finish line. Bet by the end of the year we will see many of those finished.

Libby in TN said...

I get slowed down at the border stage, too. I don't have a really good space to lay everything out to measure and pin so I usually save borders for a retreat where there will be big tables. Side benefit, I come away from retreat looking super productive!

Val's Quilting Studio said...

WHen you showcase all you've done like that....you've made a lot of progress. And your quilts are just beautiful!!

The Colorful Fabriholic said...

Wow, seeing your Dec. 2017 and most recent photos of so many projects really shows how much progress you've made on them this year. Congrats on all the progress you've made and on achieving your 15 minutes of stitching, especially since you've been devoting so much more time to work lately.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Thank you for sharing and I really hope the comparison of work at the bottom of the post is a big morale booster: you have made great progress and are really close to several finishes! Have you considered linking up with One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts (http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/)? It might also be a good way to set goals and track progress if that is beneficial for you. :)

maggie fellow said...

great wrap up and I think you have done a great job with your goals. Any progress is worthy of applause - hooray:)

Sue said...

I'm impressed! A bar chart to track your UFOS! Great idea!

dq said...

I loved seeing your charted progress reports. It really helps to understand the progress when it is set up that way.

I like how you don't count it as a UFO unless it has been a year. That is a wonderful idea because those projects are really WIPs (works in progress) anyway.

Alison V. said...

This is all great progress! I think I've decided against doing the Plus sign QAL too with all the WIPs that I have but I might just save the directions for another time. I wish I could squeak in 15 minutes a day like you do!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

You have made tremendous progress on so many projects this year, and your projects aren't the easy get er done type of projects. I'd be happy with just one finish for the year if my quilts were as nice as yours!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

I know myself well, so if I start any project it's automatically a UFO.

Jennifer said...

You’ve made great progress this year, even if it hasn’t resulted in many finishes. I enjoy watching your progress in what has clearly been a really busy year for you!

Karin - BluePip Designs said...

I love your graphs and your projects looks great too. I think my WIP list is the longest it's ever been right now - I'm feeling pressure to finish some of them up.

Lisa J. said...

It looks to me like you have made quite a lot of progress on your goals even if it hasn't resulted in finishes. Many of your quilts are very complicated with lots of pieces.