Tag Archives: goals

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2019 was a bit of a blur. We moved back into our house, then back out and back into it again. (All in the course of about 2 weeks.) We had an epic family vacation to Ireland in June. And my mom's health took a turn for the worse just after that. She spent a lot of time in the hospital the second half of the year, but is thankfully back home, stable, and generally feeling well these days.

I continue to rail against my perfectionist tendencies. I forget who said it or which podcast the interview was on, but I recently heard someone talk about how it helps their decision making process by knowing there are lots of right answers available and she just has to pick one of those. Other perfectionists may agree that our default is to analyze (and analyze and analyze) and try to optimize for the best option for all decisions. This is not only not an effective use of time, but also unreasonable. For any decision there are so many different aspects one could optimize for. For example, optimizing for lowest cost vs. lowest amount of time. (These aspects are often at odds.) Some analysis or thoughtful decision making is good... but the stagnation from overanalyzing is not. My husband and I have discussed the idea of a minimum viable product, the idea of putting something out that has enough value for the customer and will provide feedback for future development. This is a concept often used in tech, but I think it applies to many aspects of life. After a many years hiatus (and related mom guilt) I made holiday (New Years) photo cards. I could have agonized over the perfect photo or tried for a selection of photos to create a collage of what our family was up to in 2019. In the end I picked a good enough option. I considered just four group pictures of us from Ireland (not the entire year of potential options) and put two additional pics on the back, a cute one of the kids and a cute one of me and Evan. Done. I allowed myself an evening to get it done. More of my decisions need to be made in this fashion. A short term deadline and a "get it done" attitude.

I digress. I am supposed to be recapping my 2019 goals. They were lofty. They always are. And there were too many of them. I struggle with always wanting to do it all. Anyway. Here they are. Original list can be found in the bottom half of this post.

 

Pacing

I continue to be deadline driven. I think it's just my style. But I think I've shifted my sewing "work" to be more during the time that my family is occupied with other things. I've found that keeping my afternoons free for the kids is less essential than I thought because they like to come home, have leisurely snacks, and hang out with each other reading or listening to audiobooks, podcasts, or music. The plus side is that since they are getting older, dinner time is a bit later and bedtime can be a bit later, so there's still hangout time in the evenings. Our fun time is filled with board games, and cooking and sewing together.

 

Teaching

Aces! I taught and lectured throughout California, which I really love doing. I rolled out three additional workshop offerings, and presented my offerings at the Northern California (NCQC) and Southern California (SCCQG) Meet the Teacher events. I have limited availability left in 2020 and I've started booking into 2021.

 

Patterns, Products, Etc.

Welp... All that other life that happened really got in the way of bandwidth for this one.

 

Longarm

We've decided finishing the garage to house a longarm is the way to go. No timeline on the construction part yet, but I figure 2021 for that. And I have a goal of purchasing a longarm by October 2022.

 

Design

Another nope. I mean, I have designed many projects... but I did not develop a routine of regular design work.

 

Garment Sewing & Mending

My Blackwood Cardigan plans are still on the list, but I haven't cut into the fabric yet. I did make 2 1/2 garments for my niece and nephew (pants still in progress), so a small amount of garment sewing happened. I've also done a bit of mending, but not to the extent I was hoping for. I've started a collection of garments to use for patching other garments.

 

In short, despite being back in our house for 9 months now, there is still unpacking and related projects left to work on. Remodeling is no joke. It takes a lot of time and energy. Many of the spaces in our house are lovely and enjoyable. So much progress has been made around here in the last year. But numerous areas really need some attention. I'll be back tomorrow to share a few big picture goals for 2020. A couple of these above will remain on my mind, but didn't make it to the short list.

Thanks for visiting, today and throughout 2019!

 

I'm participating in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge with Cheryl of muppin.com.

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Well, I'm so out of OMG practice that when I met my goal last month, I totally forgot to linkup my finish. Oops. Onward...

This month's goal is a two-fer. My Island Batik project challenge is to try something new. I've chosen the product Fabric Magic by Pellon as my something new. A few weeks ago I looked at my "want to make" list and had significantly more on the list that time would allow in my life. I had to eliminate some fun "wants" like finishing the Trinket quilt top by the sew along deadline (you can see all my blocks on Instagram), and participating in the Riley Blake quilt challenge. I was nearing the realization that I would have to skip participating in the Pantone Quilt Challenge (which would be a bummer after participating in 2017 and 2018) when I realized that I could double dip with my Island Batik project. This year's Pantone color of the year is Living Coral. I've pulled these three fabrics (Tangy, Flame, and Peach) to start with (though I imagine I will add other colors). I also have some improv curves in mind. I'm giving myself a week to get it done. :-)

coral, flame, and peach colored batik fabrics with a package of Fabric Magic by Pellon

P.S. For anyone still wanting to participate in the Pantone Quilt Challenge, I shared some Living Coral color palettes.

I'm linking up to the June OMG goal setting party. Someone remind me to linkup my finish when I post it. ;-)

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When I was a child, I remember my mother asking my grandmother if it was true what they said about "the older you get, the faster time flies." My grandmother replied in the affirmative, to which my mother replied, "well it must just be whipping by for you!" I totally get this! I feel a little bit like I was just writing the last annual goal post. Despite the whirlwind, I finished 32 quilts this year. (I'm counting the one I'll finish by Monday!)

 

2018 Goal Review

My goals for 2018 were Teaching, Patterns, Design, Challenges, and Garment Sewing. In hindsight, this was a lot of things. I guess that's how I roll.

Teaching

The majority of my year was spent preparing to teach and lecture. I attended two Meet the Teacher events as planned to market my offerings, developed two workshops and three lectures, and built a body of work to support my Rules an Options of Planned Improv Piecing lecture and Planned Improv workshops. I spoke at Amador Valley Quilters in November and scheduled with eight guilds for 2019 and 2020.

 

Patterns

The majority of my sewing energy went into quilts for my teaching and lecturing, so I still have some patterns in the queue. I did publish my Floating Hexagons pattern, though due to the downsizing at Craftsy it is not currently available for sale.

 

Design

In my design work I wanted to work with more solids, continue with Planned Improv, and use letters of the alphabet as design inspiration. I have numerous ideas of alphabet inspiration, but I think my i Mini is the only one I completed. I had a small number of quilts from solids, the most successful of which was my Pantone Ultra Violet All About Angles. I did, however, focus deeply on Planned Improv and ways that I could play with design in a structured way.

 

Challenges

The vast majority of the quilts I finished were from challenges, namely Project QUILTING and Island Batik Ambassador monthly challenges. Additionally, I had a handful of projects for blog hops to feature a particular fabric or pattern (which is a type of challenge in itself).

 

Garment Sewing

This one really fell flat. I started the year with the intention to make garments for myself. I have fabric and a pattern ready to go, but I just haven't taken the time to make it.

 

 

2019 Goals

Pacing

I'd almost say "balance" here, but I think balance a bit of a facade. Or a mirage. Anyhow, life and quilting life were all a big hustle in 2018. As 2019 starts I will be working on improving the routines and scheduling in my life. I would like work hours to be primarily while the kids are at school, leaving my afternoons to be more present with my kids. I tend to be deadline driven. I'd like to work on some goals that don't have deadlines, which will require planning and commitment. And for the projects with deadlines, I'd like fewer of them to be finished at the last minute.

 

Teaching

I'm excited to continue traveling to lecture and teach at quilt guilds. I'm booked throughout 2019 in Northern and Southern California and have started booking dates into 2020. I have a couple additional workshops on my mind that I'd like to develop. I'll be thinking about what I have the bandwidth for. I suspect I will unveil a couple more workshops later this year for booking in 2020.

 

Patterns, Products, Etc.

I have a couple patterns in the queue to self-publish, but this will require that I put up a pattern shop on Sarah Goer Quilts. I would also like to revisit submitting patterns to magazines as time allows. And I have a book idea and another product idea that I will be working to develop in 2019. This bring me back to pacing. I'll be prioritizing these different projects and scheduling dedicated time in my daily and weekly routine for these items.

I have started the process of creating a shop on Sarah Goer Quilts for pattern and product sales. I'm researching which platform I want to use on my site for sales. I will also be working to find a local printer for pattern printing which will allow me to bring patterns for sale when I speak and teach.

 

Longarm

I have really enjoyed using the longarm at a local shop to freehand longarm some of my recent projects (Greenery, both Wonder Full All About Angles, and Fandangle Scrappy Squares). At a minimum I will use 2019 to decide what I want in a longarm. Maybe I'll even purchase one and find a place for it in my house. ;-)

 

Design

I'd like to develop a regular practice of designing, either on paper or by computer. I continue to be interested in exploring Planned Improv as well as modern traditionalism design.

 

Garment Sewing & Mending

I still want to start making clothing for myself. Atop my list is a Blackwood Cardigan with a small black and white stripe. I have the fabric. And I've printed the pattern. I've made note of numerous other patterns I'd like to make for myself, but I'm only allowing myself to stash fabric and pattern for two projects in the queue. This will help keep things in check so I don't just end up stashing garment fabric and patterns.

My daughter has outgrown some clothing as she's gotten taller, so we have plans to add skirts onto a couple shirts to turn them into dresses. My son's biggest clothing woe is wearing holes through the knees of his pants. He's on board for learning how to patch his clothing. So this goal is a bit of a team endeavor.

 

Like I said, a long list is how I roll. Just ask my WIP list. ;-)

 

2019 Planning Party
I'm linking up to the 2019 Planning Party with Quilting Jetgirl.