The New Year-2015

The quilt that clinched the decision to get a Go cutter!

 My year end/new year post is essentially one of planning. I tend to evaluate the prior year, examine the planning, the process, the productivity and the cost of my work. A hold over from pre-retirement years, this evaluation process does keep me focused. Like most of us I work around my life. This is not a business, not a profession, but not exactly a hobby either. I have yet to define this exactly because it is more than that. It is a lifestyle, an artistic expression that has measurable outcomes.

Another Jelly Roll quilt, I called this one Butterscotch and Roses after the name of the fabric line.

As I examined all this recently it clearly demonstrated how all my planning went off the rails when my Husband became ill. That is where life supersedes the art. Three months later we are starting to recover and I have little peeps of time revealing itself again. It has been a long three months and many plans were sidelined as a result.

A dear companion crossed the Rainbow Bridge.The most intelligent and fiercely loyal dog I have ever known. And I have known a lot of great dogs!

 It all narrows down to four elements: planing, process, productivity, cost. Here are my thoughts:

1. Some highlights from last year: I discovered that making a little project between and during the big ones works well for me. Droning on and on with one large project bores me to tears. The little ones soften that. I will continue to do that in the upcoming year. 
2. I bought a new sewing/embroidery machine and a new machine to take to classes. I was ready for an upgrade. While there was nothing wrong with my other main machines I am inspired by all the new bells and whistles available in today's machines. I have spent hours and hours learning the intricate benefits of these new features. Happy times.
3. I have almost religiously spent Thursdays in the studio. No cooking, cleaning etc, just sewing. Having one entire day dedicated to my pursuits has been like a mini-vacation. 
4. I also invested in the Go Cutter. I mulled this purchase for a couple years and I am glad that I waited. It is an investment but I am thrilled with the possibilites and the time savings afforded by this machine.  As I collect cutting dies for my use I am anxious to get more involved with all the versatility this system provides for the quilter and for the applique quilter. 
5. Probably the most important element of the last year is the friendships that I have made because of quilting. I have met and continue to be inspired by all the amazing people that I meet in the process of sewing, quilting and even shopping. Great minds think alike. 

Now for the cons of 2014:

1. I habitually plan too many big projects. Because a piece of new fabric excites me I have three large quilts, in progress as we speak, and have had no time to work on them. I would love to think that I will remedy this behavior in 2015 but I probably will not. It seems that this is one lesson from which  I am not able to learn alternative  behavior! 
2. I had planned some major expenses for my studio this year (these are categorized as capital expenses ) but I may have blown the budget in 2014. Well, no doubt about it, I did. However, I have no regrets. I am a gadget and widget person. Love my machines and do-dads. 
3. Time management is always an issue. I suspect it is for most of us. I supposed (incorrectly) that retirement from my professional work would afford oodles of time for artistic pursuit. Not really. I need to work on that. I will keep Thursdays as Studio Time but I need to carve out a block or two during the rest of the week to dedicate to my Quilting.
4. I wanted to attend more classes than I did. I learn so much and am so energized after a class. I have some ideas lined up already for 2015. 
5. I need a larger space or I need to seriously reduce the visual clutter in my workspace. That is a big project that I struggle with regularly. I am a NEAT worker and the clutter is really getting on my left nerve! I see some furniture moving in my future. Or something.

I rediscovered Ric-Rac!

Most bloggers do year end summaries and I really enjoy seeing how successful they were during the year. Most of the projects I share publicly are listed in my right sidebar.  Several never made it to the blog or the sidebar because they were gifts through the year or for Christmas. I will try to do better with that next year, be a better photo journalist. Well, my exercise in thinking out loud did help me narrow down my thinking. Hope it didn't bore you too much!  

With that I will wish you a Happy New Year. With cautious optimism I will again plan too much, get behind, spend too much and not be as productive as I would wish... but that is life. For me anyway. Don't forget to enter my giveaway described in the Dec. 30th post.