Looking Forward

So. We've come to the end of the year. It is a good time to reflect, set goals, and move forward. As you know, if you've read my blog much, I'm a big fan of setting goals. Some of my goals are pie in the sky, others are more realistic. The 2009 Quilter's 12-step Program is a totally down-to-earth goal, in which we may not finish anything completely, but we WILL be moving forward. Baby steps eventually add up, and in the end, maybe an abandoned project or two will be completed.

My sewing mess kind of illustrates the concept. Here is the before shot of looking out of the room:


Here is the same view this morning:

It's still quite the mess, yet I've made definite progress in taming the out-of-control disaster that it was two days ago.

Again, here it was on Sunday:


Here it is today: Notice the "clean" surfaces on the chair, sewing table and ironing board. The things that were once there have not just been relocated, they've been put away. A definite step in the right direction!!


I think my next "clean-up" goal will be to piece together this wallhanging. The portable design wall is absolutely in my way all the time. If I take the pieces off, without piecing them together, they will be yet another impossible UFO that will be abandoned for years. If I take a few hours and make them into a top, odds are good that it will be finished some time during 2009. yay. Goals are good, and getting this portion of the mess off of my floor is a good goal. definitely.

And now, drum roll please, I will announce my goals for January 2009. First, my serious goal is to begin quilting this quilt. It is a 4' x 6' river rafting quilt, begun in a Ruth McDowell seminar at Asilomar in 2007. It's been basted for quilting for probably 6 months now, and I've done little more than quilt 2 or 3 lines of quilting. Ideally, I'd like to have the quilt quilted by the time I return to Asilomar in early March of 2009. Goals are good. ;)


My realistic, duty goal is to piece and finish one (or more) of these baby quilts. This is something that will definitely happen, whether I plan to get it done or not. (Past experience predicts future performance.) :)


And finally, ta da! This is my single Step goal, that I am proposing to the world, for January 2009. This coxcomb quilt, which has been worked on in bits and spurts and has been abandoned for much too long, is my January challenge. My goal is to decide what to quilt in the green setting blocks, and to finish the green portion of this quilt.


Since the green has been a stumbling block from the beginning of this project, this goal is much more of a challenge than you might imagine. I've got 31 days to accomplish it.

In the meantime, I plan to tack down the binding on this little goldfish quilt and put it in the finished pile. I finished the quilting on Monday, sewed the binding on yesterday, and will tack it down today. Another one done, completing my list of quilts finished in 2008.


How about you? Have you decided upon a 12-step goal for January?

Brenda has said that her January Step is to finish a baby quilt for a new grandson. I have a little giftie - not much, but something - for 6 of you that will put your goal into writing this month and accomplish it. If more than 6 of you do this, I'll draw names at random. But in the end? Everyone who participates will be a "winner," because every one of us will have taken one step closer to completing an abandoned project.

Okay team, let's go!!! It's time to set your step goal and we've got 31 days to make them reality!