2023 Quilting Q1 Check In

Back in December, Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl hosted a 2023 Planning Party, a time to look back on 2022 and consider plans and goals for this year. Currently, she's encouraging us to do a little 2023 Quilting Q1 Check In, so let's see how things are going.

Happily, I have several first quarter quilt finishes.

Scrappy Sparkle Punch

The BOM

Adjunct

l'uscita

Whisper

I'll just link to my current WIPS:

2023 BOM Diamond Flare - a year-long project with Seattle MQG

Brown Scraps quilt - in progress

Bow Tie quilt - a left-over from 2022 and one I hope to finish this year

Special Aurifil Challenge - secret sewing that I can share in a few weeks

So on to my stated goals back in December. Note my current status/notes are in bold italics.

The Quilts

• More stash-busting and scrap-using is definitely in order. In fact, I'm considering starting 100 Days of Scraps (or maybe I already have??), since I enjoyed my 50 so much this year. AND my scrap basket is truly overflowing. Again. I DID indeed start in on a 100 Day Project, AKA 100 Days of Scraps. My rules for myself are loose - basically move a scrap project forward each day, even if it's simply pulling scraps, trimming, or actually sewing. I missed two days while out of town, so I'll tack those on at the end. Keeping the focus fluid and workable.
• There are just a couple of key quilt WIPs that I'm still working on finishing - our Seattle MQG block-of-the-month; and the hand-pieced bowtie quilt begun in the 100 Day Summer Sewalong. I expect the first to be a priority early in the year. Well, both actually. You can see I finished The BOM, above, but haven't touched the bowtie quilt. I've purchased batting though, and I haven't forgotten about it!
• I had in mind to start in on a scrappy Christmas quilt - something that can go on our bed come next December. Impulsively, I made a few wonky sawtooth star blocks the other day to see what I thought and I like it A LOT. So that just might be my current and on-going project. I did it! Scrappy Sparkle Punch is done and ready for the Christmas season later this year, though I didn't make it as big as I originally intended.
• Also on my list for next year is a quilt using the stack of Giuseppe Ribaudo's Entwine that I picked up at Quilt Festival. An impulse buy for sure, they are soft and lovely wovens, so I was thinking something I'd hand-quilt. We'll see. Haven't touched them yet, but I've admired them several times in my stash. The day will come.

• As usual, I plan to make something with 2023's Pantone color of the year, Viva Magenta. Once I get an official Pantone swatch, I'll work on figuring out fabrics. Fabrics have been explored, and I hope to start in the next week or so.
• The goal of at least one finished quilt project a month continues to encourage me along, so I plan to continue with that. I really think I want to continue to go with the flow, though, about what those quilts might be.... whatever brings me joy in the moment would be my preference, and discovering what that might be is a big part of the fun. So far I'm on track with at least one quilt finish a month, deciding as I go along what those might be.
• Bee Sewcial, an improv and solid-only bee, is heading into our 9th(!) year together and I'm up again to offer a prompt come spring. Yikes! I kind of struggled with a prompt this year, but I'm ready to share with my bee mates on April 1. 
• And I plan to continue to participate in challenges with the Improv Quilt Studio, as I really enjoy the community and the challenges. The latest IQS challenge, Dualism, has been announced, and I still plan to participate. I've thought about it, but haven't come up with a quilt plan quite yet.
• A new (possible) goal is that I was approached about creating a trio of quilted liturgical wall hangings for our church. I know the basic colors and themes, but no specific design ideas yet. This project will take some dedicated focus.

Handwork

• I definitely want to keep up with the handwork, and continue to be open to learning new techniques. I recently started in on a new sashiko project, and am stitching away on it in the evenings. That sashiko project was great fun, and my Coffee Fukin is being used under our own coffee station in our kitchen. I'm really glad I made it.
• Plus I have a new project I plan to start in January - stitching a 2023 Gingiber tea towel along with Jen @stitchalongwithjen. And I do have a nearly finished cross-stitch project to work on too. Let's just say I'm plugging along on this one - haven't abandoned it, but I've let other handwork projects sneak in. The community aspect of the stitchalong didn't turn out as I expected, but I still plan to stick with it.
• I expect I'll continue to stitch the occasional Dropcloth Sampler, and have one in my 'to do' pile, as well as seeing what else new comes up. I stitched the Love sampler in February, am currently working on the Strawberry Needle Book, and have the new Garden Path standing by to work on next month. These samplers continue to be my favorite kind of hand-stitching.
• And I hope to hand-quilt that bow tie quilt, since it's all hand-stitched so far. It goes in and out of priority, and I guess that's ok too. Like I said, I haven't forgotten about it!

The Community

• Regular, frequent posting on the blog here and on Instagram. Still wishing I could master reels, but that takes some focus I haven't yet given it. Maybe it'll happen. I'm averaging 2-3 blog posts a week, and posting most days on Instagram. And I actually made a couple of successful reels - here and here! But honestly, it's a big challenge each and every time I try.
• I'll take The Scrap Basket into its 8th year, and monthly editions seem to make sense for the time being. This plan has gone pretty well and I hope to continue monthly publications.
• Bee Sewcial has a new website, and I'm hoping to help with that this year, with updates, etc. Haven't done anything new, but I'm up for it as needed.
• I realized I had nothing in my December goals about being an Aurifil Artisan! I began in that role in May 2022, and have enjoyed it very much, participating in nearly-monthly challenges and using a much wider range of Aurifil threads than I even had before. 

QuiltCon 

• I'm not going to make it to QuiltCon in Atlanta, but just shipped off threee of my quilts going in my place, which I'm grateful for. I so appreciated friends sharing photos from the show! Even though I wasn't there, I totally kept watch on things via social media. 

New Directions

• Nothing specific! One day at a time is my motto of late, and I plan to stick with it. Of course, I'm open to new opportunities - I just don't know what those might be yet. I was able to take a workshop with David Owen Hastings @davidowenhastings, and that proved to be such a good choice, resulting in l'uscita, in which I tried a lot of new-to-me techniques.

So that was a bit much, but a good little review. I feel like I'm on track, yet have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. All's good on the creative front!