New Year ahead
 

Now that it is 2015, what are your sewing plans? With the rush of gift sewing behind me, I plan on writing down my sewing goals by the week to see if I can stay ahead. It may seem odd, but this is the time of year I make ornaments for next Christmas for my grandchildren. What ideas do you have to stay organized or on track this year?

My first goal is to get the quilt I'm making for my new granddaughter who is due in a few weeks done. I was busy before Christmas with gifts so didn't get a chance to make it. I also want to get my row by row quilt done which I didn't get to before Christmas.

Writing goals is good. I always do that before Christmas to make sure I get things done but don't the rest of the year. Will have to try that. Thanks for the suggestion.

For 5 years I've had a quilt in mind to make for my son, a queen size Lonestar design. I have the pattern. For the first couple years I didn't have the skills to make it. Two years ago I made a few small wall hangings to get my skills up to snuff. I was going to start it last year and just kept putting it down the priority list until it was too late. This year my only resolution is to get that quilt finished in time for his birthday in October. I'm going to start it as soon as the two UFO baby quilts I have to finish are done.

Cari

I intend to work on finishing all my UFOs that I didn't get around to finishing last year. At the top of my list are finishing the baby quilts I've made...we have a new granddaughter born Dec 2 and I'm also expecting a new great niece or nephew at the end of Jan. AND...I'm going to finish some quick and easy gifts that I ran out of time to do in Dec.

I've been working on a BOM and I'm a few blocks behind. I need to make a baby blanket in soothing colors for Project Linus first, and then I'm catching up on the BOM.

That is a great idea to make Christmas ornaments now. I have had a few ideas floating around in my head. Writing down goals is a great idea. Sticking to those goals (even if they are a little late) is the better part of setting goals.

They say writing down a goal makes you more likely to complete it. So I like your idea. I AM! going to work on UFOs this year. There are also a lot of tops waiting to be quilted. I want to finish things this year not just start new ones.

I just need to sew. Just need to designate the time to play around in my space. Work has been stressful. We're putting our house on the market in the spring and moving (downsizing) in 9 months.

Unfortunately, I have no sewing plans for 2015 because we are going to move again and everything is still packed away. Wonder if I will need professional therapy this year since I won't get it from sewing and quilting??? ;)

Going to get one of those day planners (big one) and write my goals and keep track of the quilting items I purchase. I can staple the receipts to the pages. Better to budget. I stapled receipts in past years of money spent. Often easier to see in writing and budget than to keep in head. I have 7 quilts would like to finish by Valentine's Day!

I, too am writing down some quilting ideas to do throughout the year- especially holiday ones. There are a few holiday things I want to make for the house & never think about them until the holidays are on full swing & I don't have the time.

My plan is to finish some of these WIPs I have cluttering my sewing room. I am a great starter and a terrrible finisher. I have several new things I want to do but I have promised myself I will finish something(anything) before I start something new. We'll see how that works.

This is me.. so many projects started or finished tops but no quilts. My goal this January is to account for all the UFOS and attack them one by one. I like the idea of an oversized day planner... if I see it in black and white, it has a better chance of being done.

I have 2 bionic gear bags to start, 2 craftsy quilt projects, 2 craftsy bags to finish, and finish up my lover's knot so I can start my babies quilt, finish up 2 embroidery projects. Start 20 new UFO's for the upcoming year LOL

I NEVER set any goals. I never know what next will be asked for a charity quilt.

Each month I have to come up with new ideas for the TV program. I like to read all your posts to get ideas.THANK YOU ALL

I signed up for the Fabric Buying Moratorium and plan to stick to it this year. My UFO pile could easily suffocate a person if it were to topple over so I am going to focus on those. First up are a few Round Robins that are behind schedule.

I also just bought a planner so I can write down projects and finishing dates. Hope we all have a fun and productive sewing year.

I have so many wip and ufo's to do..I don't know where to start. I also have a lot of projects that I want to start!! Hubby is bad influence..He got me the Go Big cutter and I'm full of ideas to use it for even more !! Sometimes I feel like I will never catch up! Gotta make a list and stick to it!

My plans are to continue to push myself. Each project I undertake has to be something I'm not comfortable with, or something new. I have a couple of projects I'm going to revisit, as I bailed on them realizing I was in over my head. I have three "for sure" projects for the next few months. I also got a paper-piecing book for Christmas. I've never paper pieced before, and have read over, and then re-read the first few chapters, so I think I may try that. I also am not a "deadline" person. My sewing area/room is my dining room table, (also my computer area) so I have to share my space. Hopefully, IF we remodel the basement this summer, I'll get a little space down there.....that is so far down the list of household to do's that I can only dream right now!!

I don't write things like this down. I feel pressured then. I just love to sew and create as I go along and think of the person im making the item for. How happy they will be , this keeps me focused on getting it completed.

Every year I write down any UFOs and any quilts/projects I plan to make. This keeps me slightly more focused and does prevent me starting lots of new things( I am a great starter lol) until I have at least got the priority things finished. Also when I sorted out my sewing room in Autumn I put up a noticeboard and everytime I start something new I put up a card with the details of what it is and when I started it. That card does not come down until the project is finished and thankfully it is only a small notice board. I have found these things really helpful.

Cannyquilt I love the idea of a board with information of each project and keeping it up until the project is completed. My only problem is we are moving and most of my quilting things are packed. I think my UFO's are in the bottom box (maybe on purpose). My main goal this year is to quilt tops that are completed - at least one a month. There will be new projects that I am determined to not add to my UFO pile. Love the idea of writing your goals down and can't wait to see how many continue this or follow it this year. Hope each of you have lots of time to quilt in 2015.

Due to worsening macular degeneration I cannot make plans for next year. My daughter will quilt up all my quilt tops as she has time but I cannot do much sewing now so I may have to find some other way to enjoy my life as it looks like sewing and quilting are not on the radar any more.

I, too, write my goals and have already done so for 2015. I use an 11x14 piece of poster board and prop it up in my sewing/guest room in visible sight. I spent most of New Year's Day organizing my sewing room and came across my 2013 goal list... one of the unfinished items is my youngest son's Tumbling Blocks quilt... since it still remains a UFO guess what was the first goal listed on my 2015 list of goals?

Well, before I can even begin listing my UFOs and tackling new projects, I need to force myself to clean my studio. Someone has gone in there and made the most horrible mess, scattering fabric and batting everywhere, looks like maybe two or three spools of thread unspooled, cut up, and tossed around, scraps that even the most dedicated hoarder would not want liberally sprinkled around the whole room. There used to be an ironing board in there, but it has disappeared, so I've gotta unearth it, maybe get my battings, fusibles, and stabilizers organized, etc. BUT...it's too much like work and I'd rather sew! My mental rule though, is that when I can't find a single pair of scissors, it is time to neaten. Reached that point last night, so sadly, my poor machine will get a little vacation.

Once I get everything neat, a list of UFOs would probably be a good idea. Keeping it in sight, as jmoore has said, might be helpful. Then I could track my progress. What a novel idea!

I love your ideas about writing goals on a planner. That is a good visual motivator. I make a list of my goals every year, but the list gets pushed aside and I don't always complete my goals. I've already completed one UFO this year, and I have at least 7 more to do. I'm going to buy one of those planners and prioritize my projects. Thanks for all the great ideas.

Happy New Year! In 2015 my goal is "Creat or Donate". I really have to downsize my stash and my machines. I need to sell my longarm and reclaim some of my sewing room since I have a bigger machine in my once Livingroom! Maybe I could sell 1 yard cuts or fat quarters? I just don't know what to do really, any suggestions?

My daughter is getting married in June so will be making a wedding quilt. I still need to have her pick out the fabric and pattern. Also I have a pattern for a quilt by Cozy Quarters titled Paper Dolls. I have had this pattern for a few years but would like to finally make it this year. It is a good pattern to use up some scraps.

Have a blanket (more blanket than quilt, but will have lots of hand work and sewing on it), needs to be finished before March 1st. Got the order in December (had to make the lady understand that she would NOT be getting it for Christmas 2014 - due in part to the fact that she placed the order 10 days before Christmas), so I have been pulling the fabric together with all the after Christmas sales. My own design (sometimes I make more work for myself with my own design, than if I used a pattern), it's for a man and it's an Oregon Duck's design I made up. So now that they just won at the Rose Bowl, I need to make sure it's even better than before the win(see more work for myself - lol).

I find I get more done when I make a list. Last year I determined I wanted to finish 4 quilts I had been working on the last couple years. Finished 3 out of 4. This year I plan to finish the 4th quilt and make 2 more quilts. I also try to make at least 2 charity quilts a month for the group I belong too. For me, planning is the name of the game!!

I am working on goals as well. I am almost done with all of my scraps to make log cabin lap quilts for a retirement home. I have 2 completed - (boy, quilting them is hard on my machine.) 3 more to to quilt. I have an appliqued' spring table runner to and a Hunter's Star table topper to finish, and an oriental bedspread (that I started a few years ago) to work on. THEN, it is to make those quilts that are on my TO DO list. We all have several of those! Happy New Year!

My New Year's goal is to finally finish something for ME. In addition, I have two baby quilts to quilt, a twin quilt to start for my DGS (Turtle Travelers which is heavily appliqued - by machine) and a full sized dinosaur quilt (also appliqued) for my other DGS by Christmas 2015. All should be fun to work on. Naturally, I just ordered enough material to make a darling baby quilt to have on hand, LOL. I NEVER run out of projects to work on or ideas for more. Sound familiar quilters?????

I have three tops pinned, and each one is partially quilted. If I can get those out of the way, I believe that it will be a good start to 2015.

I have two tops nearly finished and a third to baste and quilt. My goal is to finish them all this year. Hopefully.

The quilt with my highest priority is making a reunion quilt for our bi-annual family quilt for the July 4th reunion. Then my DS and DDL have requested that I make them a purple king size quilt for their bed, possibly a Dresden Plate Quilt. I'm contemplating replacement shoulder surgery sometime soon, so the sooner I get things done, the better I will feel. I will also work on items for a holiday fair, possibly in Nov., so I'm hoping I can do it a little at a time so that I won't be panicking at the end.

I have a PhD list for the year and then I set monthly goals. I break the monthly goals down by the week. I get more done that way.

First, I intend to get my sewing room organized, then work on UFO's.

I think it is time to write things down. I am planning to work on quilts for my nieces and nephews. I just signed up for a machine quilting class to help me reach this goal.

My son and aniece just both got engaged in the last two months. I would love to make them both bed size quilts. So I guess I better get busy. Good thing I am retiring in June.

what kind of rehab time does that replacement shoulder take? I just got another new knee and while I can sit and sew for about 1 hr periods at a time, standing to do lots of cutting or working on long arm are still very difficult-my goal is to be able to do some charity, simple edge-to-edge quilting in the next 2-3 weeks, then put on a quilt of my own to do a panto, then hopefully I will be ready to do a customer quilt that is being very patient. and then I have another of my own quilts that has to be done by end of Feb latest. I've got an art quilt ready to tackle on the cutting board, and have promised my DD a storm at sea by her first anniversary (Sept). And I want to quilt a chair cover by end of June. all that being said, I always have other projects creep into my "schedule"!