2025 Quilting Planning Party

Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl is once again hosting her 2025 Quilting Planning Party, a time to look back on 2024 and then to consider plans and goals for this year. I'm feeling like I met most goals fairly well last year, and am happy to have had plenty of quilt finishes. That said, I'm ready to look forward, as there seems to be lots of loose ends in the ole studio. As in 2024, the main goal for 2025, is to think small, do what sounds fun, and enjoy the process. Here are the projects I'm hoping to concentrate on in the coming months:

Quilts

• Finish Merry Mix!
• Effervescence Sew Along with Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl.
• 2025 Seattle MQG BOM - yet to be announced!
• Mini mini quilts for art swap - I'll share more about this when it happens.
• Small quilt with triangle blocks begun in Perfectly Pointless workshop with Maria Shell.
• Luminaries II - Begun in early December, it pretty much sat on my sewing table the rest of the month. Debating whether to finish it sooner or later. We'll see.
• Participate in the Pantone Quilt Challenge 2025.

Sewing

• Block Studies Collective months 4-6, which are as much fabric play as anything. Hopefully I'll be dabbling with this month's improv arcs yet this week.
• Bee Sewcial - A new prompt has been announced, and we have a few changes in the group. My month to share a prompt this year isn't until May, so until then, I'll be making blocks in response to the prompts of my bee mates.

Handwork

• Floral Stitches - several more months to go!
• A Year of Doodles - a new pre-printed stitchery from Stitchdoodles.

Community

• I plan to continue with regular blogging and publishing monthly or so issues of The Scrap Basket.
• Continuing participation with my local Seattle MQG.
• Join with Open Jar @open____jar, hosted by Jen Broemel and Bob Bosscher. It’s about trying new things, so who knows what that quite means. The first prompt is LEAP, so I'm mulling over where that can take me.
• In the next few weeks, I'll be sharing my 'research' on a good match for Pantone's COTY 2025, Mocha Mousse.
• Continue to periodically contribute mini mini quilts to Free Little Art Galleries.
• I'm going to QuiltCon!

Like last year, I want to work through that list of quilts, letting the unexpected sneak in there often. And of course, I can pretty much guarantee that there will be smaller sewn non-quilt projects sprinkled in. Let's just see what the year brings!

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's 2025 Quilting Planning Party.

2024 Quilting Planning Party

Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl is once again hosting her Quilting Planning Party, a time to look back on the goals made for 2023 and then to consider plans and goals for next year. Let's see how I did meeting last year's goals, then we'll look ahead.

The Quilts

• I really feel like my quarterly check ins - 2023 Quilting Q1 Check In, 2023 Quilting Q2 Check In, and #2023QuiltingQ3CheckIn - showed that I met my quilt goals quite well. The goal of at least one finished quilt project a month got interrupted when I began the liturgical quilt project in September. But since my last report, I was able to finish Split Second, which I entered in the QuiltCon 2024 Fabric Challenge, though it won't be included in the display.

And also I finished Albersesque, my latest Bee Sewcial quilt.

 

Handwork

• In addition to the hand-quilting of the bow tie quilt this year, I dabbled in Sashiko, and stitched several Dropcloth samplers. What was especially fun with the samplers was stitching with Aurifil's 12wt rather than perle cotton. I became hooked even before they announced they'd be coming out with an 8wt this year!
• Though I was stitching on one thing or another during the evenings of 2023, I basically have abandoned the Gingiber tea towel I started. Still thinking I'll get back to it, but no love will be lost if I don't. That said, I feel like my handwork goals overall were met. I was consistently working on something.

The Community

• The goals of regular, frequent posting on the blog here and on Instagram, plus publishing near-monthly editions of The Scrap Basket were met. 

QuiltCon 

• I'm not going to make it to QuiltCon in Raleigh, but shipped off one of my quilts going in my place, so that's nice.

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. And here's where that liturgical quilt project comes in! It has been my primary focus all during quarter 4 and beyond. The quilted panels are staring at me from my design wall, and binding is ready to go. Trimming the panels to size is in progress!
• I also unexpectedly sold A Neon Moment. Selling any quilts was not a goal and notable enough to mention as having happened.

So looking forward to 2024, the overall goal is to think small, do what sounds fun, and enjoy the process. Though I'm thankful for the opportunity of the liturgical calendar project, I'm hoping this year is free of all-consuming large projects. That said, I do have several quilt projects already lined up.

Quilts

• Top priority are the liturgical calendar trio! I hope to finish them before tackling anything else this year. 

• Cozy quilt - this quilt along with Alison Glass will be a major handwork focus in the first few months of the year. I'm really looking forward to learning a new quilting technique and style.

• Baby quilt - needed for an upcoming shower. I'm debating whether one I already have finished would be appropriate.

• Finish Diamond Flare, the Seattle MQG BOM from 2023.

• Hourglass II quilt - I had 30 leftover quilt blocks stashed, and planned to either make them into a quilt or gift the blocks. I went ahead and included that project here even though on January 1, a friend offered to make a charity quilt with them. Perfect!

• A new Bee Sewcial prompt and quilt - I'm scheduled for July, so this is will be on the back burner for a few months. Meanwhile, I'll make nearly monthly blocks for my beemates.

• Blocks for a new group quilt opportunity, which I'll share more about when I work on them.

• New Seattle MQG BOM for 2024.

• Participate in the #PantoneQuiltChallenge2024.

• Other quilts as my whim dictates.

Handwork

• Cozy quilt fits here too
• Looking forward to trying out the new Aurifil 8wt
• Other handwork TBD

Community

• I plan to continue with the regular blogging and publishing monthly or so newsletters.
• I also plan to continue to participate in the Aurifil Artisan program, with several commitments upcoming.

New Directions

• Maybe not new exactly, but I feel the need for a studio refresh - recover ironing table, new cutting mat, new pins, organize supplies
• We'll see what comes up! 

So mostly, I want to work through that list of quilts, letting the unexpected sneak in there occasionally, and just see what the creative year brings. Though the list of quilts already in the works or planned is a bit daunting (ie. a clean slate would be nice), I think there's enough variety and element of the unknown that I'll enjoy them. If not, I'll re-evaluate! And as always, I expect there will be smaller sewn projects here and there, as they are a good breather, and I really enjoy them too. I'm definitely looking forward to a new creative year!

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's #2024QuiltingPlanningParty.

2023 Planning Party

Once again, Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl is hosting her 2023 Planning Party, a time to look back on 2022 and consider plans and goals for next year.

The Quilts

• This year felt different, and I know one big reason is that I retired on March 31. The use of my time has definitely been different since then, and I've felt like I've had waves of creativity alternating with very little. I keep telling myself that's ok.
• Again, I had a goal of at least one finished quilt project a month, and I was able to accomplish that until sickness hit the house around Thanksgiving. Looking at my collection of finished quilts, I was happy to see that the majority were improvisational or of my own design. 
• Stash-busting continued to be a priority all year, and I did my own 50 Days of Scraps and then some. For the third year, I logged every little bit of fabric I brought in and subsequently used up, gave away, or recycled. 
• Continued entering challenges with the Improv Quilt Studio, and occasionally with Curated Quilts.

Handwork

• My handstitching focus definitely expanded this last year. I stitched 8 more Dropcloth Samplers, joined in Alison Glass' new Stitch Club and made my very first Kantha quilt, learned a bunch of sashiko stitches in the 24 Days of Sashiko, and more. I even went so far as taking a workshop and subsequently making two Hand-Stitched Oven Mitts! 
• I've made slow but persistant progress on my hand-pieced bow tie quilt that I began in Jenn McMillan's 2021 100 Day Summer Sewalong. 

The Community

• Blogging continues to be consistent but not as inovative as I would have liked - mostly sharing all my projects, though I still really enjoy doing that. I obstained from the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge this month, even though I was prepared with topics for nearly all 31 days. I think it was the right decision even though I've enjoyed it in the past.
• The Scrap Basket newsletter continued as a mostly monthly publication, and the readership continues to grow, so that's all good. 

New Directions

• One big new opportunity this last year was being selected as an Aurifil Artisan, which has been great fun. I've participated in the monthly challenges, which has giving me a lot of chances to experiment with new-to-me threads or techniques. 
• Bee Sewcial having a special exhibit at Quilt Festival in Houston was huge, and what a wonderful thing it was to be able to travel to experience and enjoy the show with my bee mates. 

So considering everything, I'd say 2022 was successful enough! So on to 2023....

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

• 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. 
• 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.
• 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.
• And I plan to continue to participate in challenges with the Improv Quilt Studio, as I really enjoy the community and the challenges.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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'll take The Scrap Basket into its 8th year, and monthly editions seem to make sense for the time being. 
• Bee Sewcial has a new website, and I'm hoping to help with that this year, with updates, etc.

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.

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.

Boy that feels like a lot, though, and I'm sure I'm missing something. But it's been good to give a little thought to my creative side, and am looking forward to a fresh start in 2023.

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's #2023PlanningParty.

2022 Planning Party

Once again, Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl is hosting her #2022PlanningParty, a time to look back on 2021 and consider plans and goals for next year.

The Quilts

• I said this in 2020, and it's true agaon.... it seems that the biggest success of the year has been that I was still inclined to sew regularly. It's been another very unique year, and I'm glad I've had the consistency of creating.
• That said, I had an unspoken goal of at least one finished quilt project a month, and I was able to accomplish that, though having a December finish remains to be seen.
• Stash-busting was a priority at the beginning of the year, and I sewed right through 50 Days of Scraps, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
• New and unexpected was the opportunity to make liturgical quilts. Definitely a unique challenge each time.
• Continued entering challenges with the Improv Quilt Studio.
• For the second year, I logged every little bit of fabric I brought in and subsequently used up. Generous gifts of fabric near the beginning of the year threw off my stats considerably, so I kind of felt like I was playing catch-up all year. But the goal remained and I prioritized sewing from stash.

Handwork

• I definitely met my goal of continuing the handstitching focus I started last year in Alison Glass' Stitch Club! I stitched a slew of Dropcloth Samplers this year, and learned to do chickenscratch embroidery in Blair Stocker's Snowflake Sampler. I also started hand-piecing a quilt for the first time in years in Jenn McMillan's 100 Day Summer Sewalong.

The Community

• Blogging felt just a tad sluggish this year. Not terrible, still consistent, but not as inovative as I would have liked. My second year participating in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge this month, though, has me on my toes, and I'm really enjoying it.
• The Scrap Basket newsletter settled into monthly publication, and the readership continues to grow, so that's all good. 
• I DID make my Instagram account professional, which mostly allows me to see insights on each of my posts. That's interesting, but can't say I'm doing much to evaluate that.  Stories still seem a bit of a struggle, but I'm trying.
• Another thing this year was needing to figure out a new way to get my blog posts to my readers who subscribe by email. After Feedburner quit supporting that option, it took a bit to figure that out, but my solution with Mailchimp has been working well, so thankful for that!
• Besides social media connections, my local Seattle MQG guild has been awesome in trying to keep us connected, and I've really appreciated that. Also, the VQG (Virtual Quilt Guild) begun in 2020 continues, and has been a good connection, allowing me to meet some new creative folks.

QuiltCon Together

• It wasn't quite the familiar QuiltCon experience, of course, but QuiltCon Together was still great fun. I had a quilt in the magazine for the first time, some quilts in the show, and took classes I enjoyed, so can't complain.

New Directions

• I honestly made no real plans for 2021, feeling the need to just take it as it came, and that felt like plenty

So considering everything, I'd say 2021 was successful enough, though pretty much more of the same. So on to 2022....

The Quilts

• More stash-busting and scrap-using is definitely in order. In fact, I'm considering starting 100 Days of Scraps, since I enjoyed my 50 so much this year. AND my scrap basket is truly overflowing. Again.
• There are a couple of key WIPs that I'm still working on finishing - my 2021 Summer Sampler quilt, and the hand-pieced bowtie quilt begun in the 100 Day Summer Sewalong. I expect the first to be a priority after the holidays.

• As usual, I plan to make something with 2022's Pantone color of the year, Very Peri. Once I get an official Pantone swatch, I'll work on figuring out fabrics. 
• 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.
• Bee Sewcial, an improv and solid-only bee, is heading into our 8th(!) year together and I'm up again to offer a prompt come April.
• The blocks aren't quite done yet, but will be early in the new year, so I plan to make a quilt out of my Snowflake Sampler blocks, hand-stitched all through 2021.

Handwork

• I definitely want to keep up with the handwork I've been doing this year, and continue to be open to learning new techniques. I'm mulling over what new to explore.
• I expect I'll continue to stitch the occasional Dropcloth Sampler, and am looking forward to a new one that is coming soon!

The Community

Hope to do more of the same:

• Regular, frequent posting on the blog here and on Instagram. Don't expect me to try any fancy stuff though. ha.
• I'll take The Scrap Basket into its 7th year, and monthly editions seem to make sense for the time being. 
• I'm mulling over whether to focus more on entering quilts into shows. I really like that idea, though the process of entering doesn't bring me joy - ha. So we'll see. 

QuiltCon 

• I'm not going to make it to QuiltCon in Phoenix, having to settle on a couple of my quilts going in my place.

New Directions

• I've been debating whether to move my blog away from Blogger but need to consider my options. I've also been toying with the idea of adding a shop to my brand for the occasional (most likely small) quilt or other sewn item. Still debating.

Boy that all feels like a lot, doesn't it? One day at a time is my motto of late, so time will tell....

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's #2022PlanningParty.

2021 Planning Party

It's time for Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl's #2021PlanningParty, so I'm taking a moment to look ahead. First though, I want to glance back at the plans I made this time last year.

The Quilts

• Overall, the biggest success of the year has to be that I was still inclined to sew. More than ever, my quilting kept me centered in some very turbulent times.
• Specifically, my Begonia quilt and the 2020 Summer Sampler did get done at the beginning of the year as hoped. Happily I was able to finish at least one quilt a month throughout the year. Some small, some large, a finish is a finish. Though I didn't use Enchanted, the Kona color of the year, I did manage to focus on Pantone's Classic Blue in Utterly Blue as well as Blue II, so I'm good with that.
• Stash-busting was successfully a priority, and I enjoyed the challenge. And through November, I was able to use over 100 yards of fabric from my stash. I feel good about that! I also incorporated scraps into several quilts, so that goal was definitely met though the scrap basket is still full.
• The hope for a Christmas quilt didn't pan out, but maybe someday!

The Community

• I was able to blog 2-3 times most weeks, though the hope of expanding from just sharing what I make didn't really happen. This year has been weird, and though I sewed plenty, getting out of my routine of basically sharing projects didn't evolve much.
• Publishing The Scrap Basket newsletter every 3-4 week did happen, and the readership has consistently grown. More about that below.
• Learning more Instagram features didn't really progress as I'd hoped. I'm in a quandary about whether I should make my account professional, which might unlock some new features. I did try to post on stories more, and was successful (enough) there.
• Another IG improv sewalong did not happen either. I just didn't have the focus to put into it.

New Directions

• Neither the artist challenge I had hoped to do nor any progress on monetizing my blog panned out, but I was successful at doing more "surprise" making and gifting, especially through about August. I made and gifted impromptu gifts to at least 10 of my friends or family members, so that felt really good to do.

So considering everything, I'd say 2020 was successful, but maybe not forward-thinking as much as I'd hoped. So on to 2021....

The Quilts

As usual, quilts are where I'll spend most of my sewing time. My goals surrounding them are minimal though.

• Of course I want to make something with 2021's Pantone colors of the year, Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. Once I get official Pantone swatches, I'll begin the process of choosing fabrics. 
• Dare I say there are no wips lurking about? Still hoping to finish my RAY quilt before 2020 ends, but if not, promptly in 2021.
• More stash-busting and scrap-using is definitely in order. AND improv. The goal of at least one finished quilt project a month really encourages me along, so there's that too.
• And Bee Sewcial, an improv and solid-only bee, is heading into our 7th(!) year together and I anticipate the group growing a bit. This bee has really challenged me over the years, and I look forward to more of that.

Handwork

• I definitely want to keep up with the handwork I've been doing this year, and continue to be open to learning new techniques. Thus I joined Blair Stocker's Snowflake Sampler to learn chicken scratch embroidery. 
• I'm also currently working on a large Dropcloth Sampler, and finishing that in the new year is also a goal.

The Community

Again, mostly I want to do more of the same:

• Regular, frequent posting on the blog here and on Instagram. They pretty much go hand in hand for me.
• I plan to carry The Scrap Basket into its 6th year, though as much as I enjoy publishing it, I keep debating if it's cost-effective. Prices have jumped with a growing readership, and considering I publish just once every few weeks, it's costly. At this point, I consider it a gift to my community and justify it that way.

QuiltCon Together

• It's not the same as QuiltCon, that's true, but I'm really looking forward to QuiltCon Together, and have signed up for a pretty full experience.

New Directions

• Is it bad to say I have nothing major planned? So much is uncertain, I'm giving myself the grace to take it as it comes.

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's #2021PlanningParty.

2020 Planning Party

So even though I'm still finishing up some 2019 wips and doing a bit of holiday sewing, it's time for Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl's #2020PlanningParty, so I'm taking a moment to look ahead. Well, ahead and back just to review the plans I made this time last year.

The Quilts

• My Summer Sampler and Homage Bee Sewcial quilt got finished early in the year, and as hoped, I participated in Meghan/Then Came June's I Heart You sew-along, and made the quilt for my grandgirl. Of course, that was only the start.

The Community

• I managed to blog two to three times a week most weeks, sometimes more, and kept up on Instagram too.
• The 88th issue of The Scrap Basket just went live. Publication has slowed just a bit but it is still going strong and readership continues to grow.

QuiltCon
Going to Nashville was a treat, that's for sure, and there was so much to love about this year's experience.

Trunk Shows
There were three, all went very well, though I get pretty nervous beforehand. Once I start, though, it's fun and feels good.

The Rest
The pattern I had on my mind dissipated, and the right time for hosting the next improv sewalong never came along. But thankfully, the spontaneous sewing was able to happen, so that was a good thing.

So on to 2020....

The Quilts

Knowing that making quilts is where I'll spend most of my sewing time, I do have several goals, most of which aren't much different from the past few years:

• Finishing a couple of wips is first on the list, namely my Begonia quilt and this year's Summer Sampler.
• Finish at least one quilt a month throughout the year.
• Incorporate both the Pantone and Kona colors of the year in at least one quilt, as a way to experiment with color.
• Stash-busting will be a priority, basically because it adds another element of challenge.
• Make a couple of scrappy quilts.
• Maybe make a Christmas quilt? Come December I always wish I had one for our bed, and I never do.

The Community

Again, mostly I want to do more of the same:

• Blog 2-3 times/week, hopefully expanding from just sharing what I make, but I'm not quite sure what that will look like yet.
• Have a goal of publishing The Scrap Basket every 3-4 weeks.
• Figure out some Instagram features like linking to posts etc.
• Definitely find time for another IG improv sewalong. They are so fun, and I've had so many questions about 'when can we do that again?' that I really want to make it happen.

New Directions

I love what I do, but have been feeling for a while that I need to tweak it a bit, though the vision for that is fuzzy at this point. A few ideas though:

• Do a new kind of challenge: a friend who happens to be a computer artist and I have talked about doing a challenge together from a single prompt. I'm hoping that can happen.
• Look into monetizing my blog in some way, basically to cover the rising cost of publishing the newsletter.
• Do more "surprise" making and gifting.

So I feel like I could mull over this list and tweak it till the end of the year, but I think I'll let it be what it is and move on. Creating isn't a science, and it doesn't need to be. Above and beyond everything written here, I want time for spontaneous sewing - letting the joy in it take me wherever it wills. 

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's #2020PlanningParty.