Get It Done! January Goals

Towards the end of last year, I had decided to keep doing these monthly "Get It Done!" posts because they helped me realize that I've got to be more efficient (my word for the year) in terms of the goals I set and how I approach what I do.  As you get older, it's all about working smarter not harder!! 

In my previous post, I laid out what my interests are for 2016.  There may be more as the year goes on but I'm trying to keep my lists short this year.  Although dumping out the contents of the "To Do" list in my mind was good for seeing my vision, it didn't help my productivity at all!  The thing is, I like finished quilts.  They don't have to be finished quickly but they do have to get done.  Over the last few years I've found that putting too many irons in the fire meant that all I did was get burnt! 

Last year I sorted the monthly lists by what type of quilting or project I was doing (ex: hand work, UFOs, Wool projects, ect.) but I think I need to change it this year to focusing on the actual projects I want to work on.  I can talk about the what type of quilting I'm doing when I report on the actual project. 

Normally these posts begin with a recap of the previous month's goals and what did or did not get done.  However, the same thing that happened with the November recap happened in December, none of the stated goals got done!  I did get some things done in December (and you can see those here), just not the things I planned.  So since there's no use crying over (or posting about) spilt milk, I'll just move right onto what I hope to get done for January. 

The January Goals are: 

1.    Finish the Tucker mini Sew Along project:  This one should get done either today or (Plan B) by the end of the weekend.  I have four more Flying geese units to make up and then can attach them to the previous two sections (pictured below) to complete the top.  This one doesn't have to be quilted so once the top is done it can be backed and bound.

2.  Quilt "High Strung +2":  This one was supposed to have been quilted and done by Christmas.  That plan got changed when my sewing machines went on the fritz right before that.  The good news is that I immediately saw an opportunity to try something new that I've wanted to do: "Big Stitch" (hand) quilting.  I also saw the perfect set of Valdani threads for this quilt at the Craftsy year-end sale.  So while I'm waiting for the thread to arrive, I can layer the quilt and decide on how I want to quilt it.  I'm hoping that they'll get here quick enough to leave me time to stitch this up and call it done by the end of the month.

3.  Start on the Wholecloth project:  I'll go into more detail on this in the actual project post but for now, know that the plan is to get this layered and on the hoop by the end of the month.  I'll be using a pre-printed top but want to add some details to it too so have to think about what those will be.  This will be an ongoing project until whenever it gets done which could be mid-year, year-end or next year.

4.  Start on the Baby Quilt:  For this month I definitely want to finally get this in gear.  At minimum, I'd like to finalize my plans for which quilt I want to make and stash the supplies for it.  If I'm lucky and can also get it made up, that'll be gravy.

5.  Start on the Featherweight:  In addition to sending my electronic sewing machines in for service, I also want to get my Featherweight machine up and running.  Last year, I bought a book on servicing it and now need to sit down with it, take a close look at the machine and purchase the supplies I think I'll need to get it up and running.  I'll settle for that for now although if I get to actually fixing the machine this month that will (again) be gravy!

That's it and I believe it's doable.  The end of the month will tell!  Happy Quilting!