Friday, January 1, 2016

Goal Setting for 2016

It's a new year. It's a fresh start. It's time to make plans for finishing projects!

Last February, I set some goals. In May and June, I planned how long it would take to finish some projects. By September, my plans were totally derailed! 
I tried too hard to stay on my plan and when I stalled, I was unable to jump start myself again. This year, my goals are listed in bold below.

Choose a word and use it to help me meet my goals.
This is the third year I've chosen a word. This year, I'll see it in the studio every day and I've written it on the front of my journal to help me stay on track.
My previous years' words were:
2014--finish
2015--complete
2016--focus
This year, I'm going to focus my energy; write more realistic work plans and then meet those deadlines! 

Finish these on going projects:
President's blocks, 
butterfly quilt, 


















TQS BOM, 


















Three past book club projects:

























and chickens. 


















I also want to finish my stitch book.

















I want to buy an accuquilt die and make a project with it. I'm considering this die

I have many more On Going Projects. Rather than list all of them, I'm choosing to focus on these six. I have more success when I post my plans. Perhaps, if I possessed better project planning skills, I would have better success with project management! I do plan to set a work schedule; but, this year, my plan is to set smaller intermediate goals. If I encounter a stall, my plan is to work a little on the stall each day until I'm unstuck. I also plan to work on another project so that I end the day with forward progress. . .somewhere in my quilting world!

Continue to make progress on my current projects.

Start new projects.

Sew another 50 yards from my stash. 

Try new to me techniques like paints, crayons and color pencils on fabrics.

Participate in the 6x60 guild challenge.

Enter four quilts in our guild's quilt show.

Sew projects with the grands.

Have FUN!



Pat Sloan blogged about UnFinished Object (UFO) busting. You can read her blog here. I liked that she starts new projects guilt free. I appreciated how she used a quilting type planner to set goals for herself. 

Now that I have set these ten goals, my next step is to complete a work plan with wiggle room for success! 

Do you set annual goals for yourself? Do you choose a word for the year? If so, please share one of your goals in the comments. Remember, I LOVE receiving comments!

Happy New Year!!!


PS Thanks dear daughter for reading every one of my blog posts!

8 comments:

Monica said...

LOL, your DD is better than my family! Ruffled Roses is on my list to start this year, so it will be very motivating to see you finish yours. Have you already done most of the pieced swag border?

Happy new year!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Monica, DD told me at Christmas that reads every post which surprised me! I sure tried to infect both of our daughters with the quilting virus; but wasn't successful. Perhaps, it is a latent strain that will come later in their lives? Yes, I have most of the swag border pieced although when I add this embroidered bordered. . .well, the math is going to be different!!!! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!--Terry

Deborah said...

Sounds like you have set wonderful goals for the year Terry. My goal is to somehow get the six quilt tops that are finished quilted and bound! I do not machine quilt so will either have to start or save up some $$s for a longarmer! One New Year's Eve I did get five of those tops out and backing and binding for three of them prepared. I don't choose a word of the year as I can never decide on one but the theme of my life for the past 25 years has been persevere and I will continue to do that. Happy New Year. I look forward to reading about your progress in 2016. Enjoy the journey.

Luann Fischer said...

Terry,
Always fun to see a recap of ones work! Yours has been fun to watch it unfold this past year. We can keep each other encouraged for 2016.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful set of goals for 2016. I don't pick a word and I don't have a lot of UFOs. But I do keep a running To-do list with all of my quilting ideas listed and assign due dates. Something that helped me clear out the backlog many years ago was to give away my unfinished projects from classes, quilts that stalled, and scrap bag pieces. It's so freeing to get rid of the guilt associated with those old projects.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Debbie, developing your machine quilting skills will be easier on your wallet! I like your word persevere and that it has been your word the last 25 years! Enjoying the journey is what quilting is all about isn't it? Thank you for your comment!--Terry

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Luann, Yes!!!! Let us offer each other encouragement so we can maximize your success in 2016!! I've been inspired reading your blog!--Terry

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Joanne, I didn't have a lot of UFOs until I had that car accident. Perhaps, some of my UFOs will no longer have something to teach me and like you will be able to clear them from my studio. I'm going to try a more simplified to do list to see if that will work for me. Your comment has given me lots to ponder!--Terry