Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Reflecting on 2020 and Welcoming 2021

The end of one year and the beginning of the next is a wonderful time to reflect on goals accomplished and to set new ones for the upcoming year.  I'll be linking up to the #2021PlanningParty!

And this year was clearly like no other we have every experienced!  I shared my Best 5 (well actually 6) of 2020 in this post along with some quilting eye candy so take a peak.)  In today's post, I'm including some more photos of quilts from 2020.

My Happy Pineapple Quilt

In December of 2019, I set my goals for 2020 (see that post) and I feel good about the results.  My word for 2020 was boundaries - as in set them to find balance in my day AND break through them to push myself to use try different colors in my quilts and work hard to improve my skills in my quilting, in my writing, and in my daily exercise.   (My words for the year have been balance (2019), bold (2018) and brave (2017).)

From a quilting perspectives, I burst through my own creative boundaries as worked on techniques and color combinations that were new to me and stretched me out of my comfort zone.  The pandemic created an interesting world for all of us and as a result, I found plenty of time to quilt and enjoyed some respite from the stress of the day as I did so.

For 2021, I choose the word seek - as in seek new challenges in quilting and seek opportunities to connect and collaborate with others.

My specific goals are simplified for 2021. (The status of my 2020 goals are below.)  Basically, 

  • Experiment with color and design and play outside my comfort zone  
  • Seek inspiration everywhere and work to provide through my blog posts (tutorials, OMG etc.)
  • Establish a social media plan - when and what to post
  • Collaborate with another quilter(s) on a QuiltCon submission
In addition, I intend to stay focused on fabric purchases specific to projects and to make an effort to use up my stash.

As I did in prior years, I had very specific goals for 2020, some were achieved and some not so much!

Create
  • Participate in a group quilt for submission to QuiltCon 2021- this didn't happen (other than my guilds submission) and is something I'd like to strive for in 2021
  • Submit new quilt design for publish - Accomplished!  The quilt will be revealed in February and I can't wait to share
  • Improve my design skills through weekly challenges - did nothing with this goal
  • Keep pushing my boundaries on color - my quilt Carnival and my improv Curves WIP fit this goal as will the quilt to be revealed in February.   That said, I still tend to gravitate to the same shades of blues, aqua, green with plenty of gray!
Motivation and Inspiration (my blog tag line)
  • Collaborate with other quilters/bloggers on a project - Kristin and I held a successful hand pieced QAL called Book Club.  We are planning another for 2021, details to be released soon!
  • Encourage participation in One Monthly Goal - Overall the number of participants stays about the same; some people have stuck with it for years and others drop off as yet others discover the link-up.  Still more to be done there.
  • Figure out how the purpose of the ESQ Facebook group - Did nothing on this one.  I've ignored it completely, sadly.
  • Publish tutorials at least quarterly - While there were several posts ( stacked improv curves, left-right geese quilt block, and two from our hand-piecing QAL on partial seams and templates), I really did not focus on this goal
Improve my skills
  • Practice and perfect a new FMQ design - Did not focus on this at all - I was having too much fun hand-quilting.  Perhaps with this new book, I will give it a try in 2021.
  • Practice my photography flat shot - Nothing on this
  • Do more with the fabric I already own - Definitely - the pandemic gave me time and motivation to sew with my stash
  • Improve my technique in quilting and in my exercise - Most definitely - this year it was all about the curve!
It's Circle Time!


Happy New Year!  All the best to you and your family for a wonderful year!


Have a wonderful day! Patty

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing more eye candy Patty. I appreciate your OMG so much. I have done it for years, but took a long break in 2020. But I am back for 2021, just thinking about my January goal. Have a safe and Happy New Year with good health throughout.

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  2. You had a good year. I feel so fortunate to have this hobby and virtual connection with so many. I do appreciate OMG and you will see me there! Happy New Year to you and yours.

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  3. Sometimes simple is better. Congrats on all the accomplishment from 2020. Even if you didn't do so hot on some goals, you should celebrate the progress. Good luck with your 2021 aspirations. Happy New Year!

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  4. How nice that you enjoy setting goals for yourself! Truly, I admire that trait, particularly because I have an inability - or perhaps unwillingness - to set myself up for failure. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't achieve every goal. So, I set little goals all year long. That works for me. It's wonderful that you tackled and achieved excellent curved piecing, and that you'll be published again. Wow! That's great! I'm very happy for you. So what would you have done if you set yourself that goal (to be published) and then submitted something(s) that were NOT accepted? Would you feel bad about not accomplishing your goal? Or would you count that as a "win" because you tried? I'm truly curious. This is a reason for me not to set goals for myself. To me, it's much more fun to review only the previous year's accomplishments! :-)

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  5. Balance is a great theme for a year--might have to snag that one at some point. Congrats on a good year and thank you for hosting the monthly goals!

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