New Year, New Goals

Somehow January is almost over, so I better review my 2012 goals and set some new ones for 2013 pronto!

Reviewing My 2012 Goals: 

1) Find a permanent .com home for this little bloggy.
     - Done! I love being Sewing Over Pins, and I'm so grateful to Mr. Pins for helping me find a home on the web.

2) Make quilts from these patterns I'm crafting up and make the patterns available to everyone!
     - With one pattern for sale in the Craftsy shop, I'm pleased to have blazed a trail.

3) Sew up a couple of baby quilts for some new humans and ones that are on the way.
     - It's hard not to laugh out loud at this. Lots of sweet kiddos had birthdays in 2012, and I'm thrilled to say that quilts I made went home with at least half a dozen of them.

4) Finish this frustrating Storm at Sea quilt at some point. At least the top. I'd be thrilled to piece the top.
    - Blurg. This was a great disappointment of 2012. I was so grateful for everyone's support while I tried to figure out what to do. Ultimately, I decided to walk away from the project rather than try to unpick all of that sewing and re-use pieces where I'd already trimmed off the tips. The next time I try a Storm at Sea, I'll probably go with a paper pieced version.

5) Try not to repeat the mistakes of 2011.
     - Haha, well, I guess I did a fair enough job of that. I've done so much sewing over the last year, and I've picked up lots of new skills thanks to participating in Block of the Month series, hours of classes at Quilt Festival, and seeking out info and tutorials online. At the end of 2011, I couldn't have envisioned how much I would learn and how much sewing I would do over the course of 2012. While I would have loved to have done twice as much, I'm definitely not disappointed, just unrealistically ambitious sometimes ;-)

Here's a recap of some of my sewing in 2012!

It started off innocently enough making baby quilts and testing out my Cascading quilt pattern. By the time summer was fading, I was finishing up two donation quilts. The end of August signaled the beginning of Renegade Holiday Market preparation.

There were lots of smaller projects that kept me busy during the year. I took my first stab at zipper pouches, made a few iPad envelopes for Renegade, and did a little hand embroidery.

I enjoyed making all kinds of bags from my little BB travel purse, to Amy Butler's Everything Bag for toting my crafts, to metal frame clutches to sell at Renegade.

2013 Goals:
1) I'm going to get more quilt patterns put together this year!
     I'm working on a pattern for the Marine Den quilt right now, and I did a lot of work on the Empire quilt pattern while I was sewing for Renegade. I'd also love to share my template and tips for making metal frame purses.

2) Strike a balance between sewing and exercise.
     I was doing great through June, then I lost my way. The summer heat in Austin just gives me an excuse to slack off. By the time I started sewing for Renegade, exercise went completely by the wayside. I've done a great job of running this month, despite being under the weather. Alas, it's going to take more than three runs a week to get me where I want to be.

3) Keep my sewing space organized.
     I came home with lots stuff after Sewing Summit, and much of it never found a home. Somehow it's become acceptable for me to have a pile of stuff on the floor outside of The Clubhouse (aka my sewing space) for months. I'm over it. I'm going to do some decluttering and reorganizing to keep everything functional and tidy.

4) Finish my Summer Sampler Series quilt.
     We're already having 80 degree days in Austin this month. I'm sure we'll get another freeze before it's officially spring, but it's already too hot for the comforter most nights. I'm using flannel instead of batting in this quilt, and it would be great to use it as a cooler alternative in the coming months.

5) Finish the Rose Star Quilt.
     I need to decide how big I'm going to make this thing. Once I know what number I'm going for, I'm going to cut a bunch of blocks so I'm ready to sew whenever. This worked pretty well during the holidays, and I think it's the key to getting this quilt done. This project is already a year old, so it's time to wrap it up!

Happy Crafting in 2013!

Claire