Meetup | January Goals

I declare this the year of no big posts reflecting back on the year that was and another big post of what my word of the year and what my big goals are! Frankly, the thought of creating those posts just wears me the heck and has been holding me back from blogging in the spare bits of time that I’ve had, so I release myself from this burden!!!

Well, I can share my #2015bestnineinstagram posts because this collage was super easy to generate:

My #2015bestnineinstagram collage: is all about moments rather than things. It's been quite a year! #fbp

And it does sum up a big part of the year! Liam having great experiences and starting life as a college student at Vanderbilt was a big part of last year (there he is with his new teacher Jeremy Wilson in the upper right).  I posted a lot from each of the few shows that i did this year, the picture of me in front of my booth got a ton of likes – I guess it’s true what they say that pictures with people in them get more likes! ALSO! Pictures with PIE in them get lots of likes too! 😉 This also was the year that I found my groove with indigo dyeing!

After Mom and David returned from visiting my Step-sister, we spent a day in LA visiting the Broad Museum:

Took these folks to @thebroadmuseum today!

A photo posted by Candy Glendening (@candiedfabrics) on

Look at the huge table and chairs by Robert Therrien!

Huge table and chairs! Totally forget the name of the artist at @thebroadmuseum!

A photo posted by Candy Glendening (@candiedfabrics) on

It had rained a lot the previous 2 days, but it was beautifully sunny this day!

We had beautiful sunny cool weather, in between all the reason this week!

A photo posted by Candy Glendening (@candiedfabrics) on

We had a great lunch at the Blue Cow Kitchen, we sent Celia off to the second of her five college auditions all fuelled up and ready to go!

Then deeelicious food at #bluecowkitchen…@celialto_6 needed extra protein for her BU audition!

A photo posted by Candy Glendening (@candiedfabrics) on

Then I had 2 days of EARLY MORNING airport runs, Mom and David needed to get to the Long Beach airport yesterday really early – a 90 minute drive, but such a cute little airport without all the stressful traffic that surrounds LAX:

Long Beach Airport is far away but it’s a cute airport! Bye @memabuck2 and grandpa Dave!

A photo posted by Candy Glendening (@candiedfabrics) on

And then very very early this morning to take Liam to the local, Ontario airport:

And he’s off! 1 semester down, 7 to go! #vandygram

A photo posted by Candy Glendening (@candiedfabrics) on

And so, classes start up at the University on Monday, so this is kinda the vacation that wasn’t. Visiting was fun, but not nearly enough down time was had. This has been a running theme in our lives for the past two years, and something’s gotta give. Fingers crossed we can find a way to take some time this summer!

I’ve felt pulled in a million directions, and I really need to re-kindle my making spirit. So much of what I do right now is focussed on making something to sell or develop into a pattern, I need to look for the spark to make something just for making’s sake! as I look forward to the Spring, I’ve got just a few major points to keep in mind:

  1. Finish Dyeing 104: Multicolor Silk
  2. Continue to schedule and teach FMQ classes at the Redlands Sewing Center
  3. Move forward with my part of the Fiber Art Connection online class
  4. Make for making’s sake – and if that includes using scraps, that’s all for the better!!!

That’s it! No huge pronouncements, no sweeping goals, no investigating SEO matrices, nada! I need a break! 🙂

How did my December goals do?

December Goals

Advertising for Open Studio December 12 100%
 Make ornaments for Open studio  December 12 100%
 Decorate house!  December 12 100%
 Open Studio!!!  December 12 & 13 100%
Curtains for Lucy December 31 100%
Dyeing 104 session 8 December 31 0%
 Tree Quilt in Kitchen Blues palettes December 31 0%
 calendar email to students December 31  100%
Recover from hacking December 31 100%
Move website to new hosting  December 12  0%
Re-stock scarves  December 12 40%
Stuffed animals for Teigan  December 20 100%
Pillow for Debbie  December 20 100%
Bag for Celia  December 29 100%
Finish the next mystery project back burner 50%
Mod House Quilt back burner 5%

I did get all the prep done for my open studio, and those ornaments did very well, perhaps I should offer those at other Fall shows? I love the way hubby and I figured out how to display them:

Open-Studio-2015-Dining-Room-06

I really enjoyed making the squirrel and bunny for Teigan, but won’t be making many more of these at any time in the future – they are a bit fussy to make!

Forest-Folk-for-Teigan26

I really enjoyed making just a single bag for Celia! So much of the time when I make a bag, I’m making multiples, so the task looms large. A single bag, even this big take-off tote, takes 4-5 hours from start to finish, but making just one isn’t so overwhelming!

Celia-Takeoff-Tote-06

And she really likes it! Apparently when Liam and Celia were roaming around in the rain in LA one day last week, her viola and the bag got coverage from the one umbrella they had between them, while the humans got wet! 😉

And so, here’s how I can start the year focussing on those goals:

January Goals

Dyeing 104 session 8 January 31  5%
 New quilt for our bed! January 31  0%
 New curtains for our bedroom! February 28  0%
 calendar email to students January 31  0%
 First half of Fiber Art Connection class sorted January 31  0%
Move website to new hosting January 31  0%
Tree Quilt in Kitchen Blues palettes back burner  0%
Mod House Quilt back burner  5%

 

My bedroom – it’s like the shoemaker’s children! I’ve had the same quilt on it for many many years now:

hand dyed fabric quilt made of simple squares earth colors

and it is starting to shred! The binding is quite worn away, aiyiyi it really needs to be retired! This has been weighing on my mind all Fall, and I think I’ve got the perfect idea for what to do, and it’s got me jazzed, so hooray 2016, let’s get going!