Looking Forward: 2014

On the one hand, I really enjoy blogging. It is my crafty journal, with pictures, notes, stories... a record of the things I make. It is a wonderful thing to have that and to be able to share it with others.

On the other hand, blogging kind of stresses me out. It takes time. LOTS of time. And some days, the prospect of sitting down to try and accomplish a blog post just seems hard. Last night, as I was laboring over my coat post (which took me a couple of hours to put together), my husband suggested to me that maybe I should make it easier on myself by blogging projects in pieces rather than all at once at the end.

I like the sound of that! I have kind of been doing that some using Instagram-- micro-blogging, quick pics of what I'm working on with a little update. I want to do more of that. I want to do more of that using my actual blog-- smaller posts, vignettes of what I'm doing, small discussions/musings on whatever questions or challenges are developing as I work on something. So that is something I hope to work on for 2014. Smaller, more consistent, posting more regularly. I think it is a good goal.

Speaking of goals. Check out my 2013 completed projects collage:

Woo! Look at all of that! It is fun putting the collage together. Seeing it all together like that really makes me feel like I've been productive in the last year. Kind of cool! And some of those were big projects, too!

Here were my goals for 2013:

1. Use more fabric than I buy.-- Check! And an improvement over last year, too:
   

   Fabric In: 61.600 yards
   Fabric Used: 79.195 yards

2. Finish at least 2 UFOs.-- I finished a couple of lingering UFOs, and even dug out a couple of languishing projects and made progress. (Many thanks to Carrie P. over at A Passion for Applique for her yearlong "Nothing but UFOs" initiative-- it was inspiring!)


3. Sew more clothes for me!-- I only made three items for myself, but they were all awesome, and one of them was a coat (which I was shocked to see that I mentioned specifically in my goals last year!).


4. More handwork.-- Sigh... I guess I can't meet every goal. I am still missing handwork. But I did do some toward the end of the year as I have been working on Wild Olive's Autumn Stitching Club.


5. Lose that last 15 pounds.-- Almost. And I am okay with that! I managed to stay active and drop 10 pounds this year.

My goals for 2014:

1. Use more fabric than I buy.-- I intend to keep working on shrinking the stash.


2. Finish at least 2 UFOs.-- This is the year I am going to finish my Bargello Reflections quilt. For reals. And hopefully some other stuff too.


3. Finish at least 1 kit quilt-- In the past few years, I've acquired a number of quilt kits. I want to start making those kits become real quilts.


4. Blog once a week.-- See above. This feels like a reasonable expectation I can set for myself. (Says she who blogged one time last month... ha!)


5. Lose that last 5 pounds.-- ... or maybe even a little more. I am finding it harder to keep a regular exercise schedule lately. I want to re-focus and really push myself to be intentionally active at least 4 days a week as well as be more whole foods focused (and eat a lot less Doritos).

I'm feeling like 2014 is going to be a fun year!