Category Archives: Life

Forty Peaks Quilt Beginnings

April 12, 2021 kittywilkin 7 Comments

This year I celebrated a big milestone birthday, and I thought it was high time I made a quilt for myself to document it. I’ve discovered how powerful positive feedback loops with quilting and adventurous living can be, through our Summer Adventure Quilt back in 2017 and my 2020 Miles quilt that kept me running despite the pandemic. My 40th birthday felt like a perfect occasion for my next foray into quilting my life. I pulled out my Quilt Your Life project organizers and dove into planning.

During the weeks leading up to my birthday, I reflected a lot on age and what it means to get older, the power a measly number somehow has on my psyche, and how to break free from that feeling of impending mortality. I fully know that 40 isn’t “old” and that there is much grace and wisdom found through aging, but the whole “over the hill” thing got to me. In embracing the wonderful things that come with age, I decided to play on the “over the hill” bologna and instead, focus on climbing mountains. For my first year as 40, I hope to climb to 40 mountain peaks, celebrating my 40 year old body, mind, and soul from the highest points. Of course I’ll be making a quilt block to document each peak reached. I’m calling it my 40 Peaks Quilt, and I’ll be documenting it on IG under #40PeaksQuilt and hopefully blogging about it here.

This past weekend, my 40th birthday and associated quilt project kicked off with a bang–I have 3 peaks under my belt already!! The first hike was a birthday hike, celebrated with my kids and a few hiking friends and their kids. We headed up a favorite local-ish mountain on a gloriously warm and sunny spring day, and it was perfect.

The day began in an unexpected way: I woke up to an overflowing drain line in the basement, so instead of birthday breakfast in bed, I spent the morning helping Gare carry everything outside into the sun to dry. It was so apropo!! A friend came over to help, we got the drainlines all snaked, and Gare graciously offered to stay home and do the mopping, cleaning, and drying while I headed out on my planned birthday hike.

It was an absolutely stunning Maine spring day, and our hike up Blue Hill Mountain was delightful. I discovered that my sweet Finn, who during my last adventure-tracking quilt was my enthusiastic block holder, is very much like his mama and prefers to be behind the camera rather than in front. The photos of me shared here were taken by Finn.

So was this one, but this was his first official photography gig, so it’s all good. Hah!

Here’s the one photo he let me take of him as block holder, but I do think he will much prefer to be the one taking the photos during this project. Time to train the next generation of memory capturers!

The fresh air and sunshine was amazing, some dear friends joined the kids and me–including one of my fellow Mountain Mamas from our #SummerAdventureQuilt days, who I hadn’t seen in over 13 months. Then the day was capped off with our first gathering of any size–a bonfire outside, with everyone masked and distanced, but oh so happy to see each other. Many of the adults were fully vaccinated, we all wore masks and stayed outside, but just being together for the first time in over a year was the most amazing birthday gift. And we made plans for a regular weekly hike day all summer, so our Mountain Mamas Lugging Babies & Towing Trekking Toddlers will be reunited, now that our babies are five+ and we’re the ones being towed by our speedster youngsters as they race up the mountains.

Block one for my 40 Peaks Quilt, done! I am planning to stitch some embroidered details on each block to track the people who accompany me on each hike, but I’ll share more of those details in the next post.

The next day, we dropped our three kids off at my fully vaccinated in-laws’ house and Garrett and I headed to Acadia National Park for a date hike, our very first time away from our kids in over 13 months. It was another gorgeous sunny day, and it was amazing. I love our kids dearly, but we all were very much ready for a day apart!

L: The part I was thinking about when I planned my 40 Peaks quilt project. Sunshiny bliss on the top of Acadia Mt. R: Looking down along a part of the trail we’d just climbed, just one glimpse of the endless stone stairs that ascend parts of the two mountains we hiked.

Gare and I hiked the Acadia Mountain & St Sauveur Mountain Loop, hitting two more peaks and getting in a serious workout! Those trails were STEEP!! Halfway up the second mountain, I commented, “When I thought of this project, I wasn’t thinking about this part! I was thinking about the epic views at the top!” But lo, you have to take the whole journey, not just the peaks, right? If that’s not a metaphor for life, I don’t know what is!

One of the gorgeous views along the way. The day was GORGEOUS!

The hike ended up at 4.6 miles total, with an elevation change of 1,176 feet according to Strava. Because we hit two peaks, I am going to use two mountain blocks for this hike, and I haven’t yet fully decided how I will be marking the mileage. The block I brought with me, and which is in the photos for Acadia Mt and St Sauveur Mt has the color arrangement for a 3.5 mile hike. I made a 4.5 mile hike mountain for the second peak, and might just plan to do something similar for future multi-peak hikes: I’ll bring a block to designate part of the hike, and plan to make a new block after the hike to document the full mileage.

The first three peaks for my 40 Peaks Quilt documented in fabric. Hike mileage is color coded in 1/2 mile increments, and the embroidered arrows are adults on the hike, and french knots are kids. I am using Aurifil 12wt thread in natural white-2021.

This is one part of this project I am still uncertain about: I love documenting memories through photos on each hike, but realize that without knowing the final mileage until the end, I won’t always guess correctly if I bring a guess block with me. Initially, I was thinking that maybe I would bring the previous hike’s block on each hike, since then we’d have a block for photos with us, but then the blocks would be documented on a different mountain than the one they represent. I might opt to relax the mile documentation aspect a bit and take a guess on hike mileage so that I can bring blocks with me on hikes, making notes so that the end quilt still accurately represents the mileage. I feel like for this project, the data tracking doesn’t rank as high as the memory making and adventuring, so this feels like a potential solution. I’m not fully decided yet, so if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments!

Either way, my positive feedback loop is in place and underway. I’m getting out in nature, climbing to new mountain peaks (I’d never been up St. Sauveur Mountain before), and enjoying the best views in Maine. I can’t wait to see where this project brings me, how my health and well-being improves through doing it, and to what gorgeous heights I climb over the next year. Bring it on, 40!

Life, quilt photography

A Color Crush Hike

March 11, 2021 kittywilkin 2 Comments

I’m due for a solid catch-up post here on this blog, but let’s just pretend we’re all up to date and have been sharing stories and inspiration like days of old. So many challenges were faced and lessons were learned in 2020, but I’ll reflect on those a little later. Today, let’s go on a little relaxed hike through a forest of whimsy, shall we?

I’m excited to share a fun little post I wrote for the Aurifil blog, which goes live on AuriBuzz today! Just over one year ago, I excitedly introduced my inaugural Aurifil thread collection, named Color Crush. I wrote about it here, so you can check out the threads in all seriousness before heading into a magical land of imagination if you want.

We had a super fun kick off party in Austin at QuiltCon, and then shortly upon returning home, the COVID-19 Pandemic hit and life was turned on its head. Fast forward a full year. Now that vaccine distribution is increasing, spring is beginning to show its face once more, and things are possibly looking up, I thought I’d finally share a introduction of the specific threads I selected for inclusion in Color Crush, as seen in their natural habitats.

While the whole world was locked down, my family and I found solace in nature. As any good tree hugging quilting photographer would do, I brought my threads along on many hikes and adventures, seeking out their natural habitats and color inspiration roots. My Color Crush threads trekked in every season, and I highly recommend heading over to the Auribuzz blog today to read about their personalities and see them in all their glory, out in nature. You can read it HERE.

Here’s a sneaky peek at one….

Enjoy the journey, and let me know which photo was your favorite!!

Design, Life, Quilting

Quilt Your Life! Live Virtual Workshop

December 14, 2020 kittywilkin 6 Comments

I’m excited to share that I am offering my first-ever self-hosted, live virtual workshop! Quilt Your Life: Milestone Quilts for Every Moment is a quilt planning workshop scheduled for December 19, 2020 from 7pm-9pm EST.

I will be hosting the workshop via Zoom and have listed registration in my Payhip shop. I’m super excited to be taking this first big step into being able to share my creative process with all of you while everyone stays home and is safe in the face of the rising COVID-19 cases in the US.

There has been so much talk about “pivoting” businesses because of the pandemic, and to be honest, March brought so many family changes, stress, and uncertainty, I instead opted for the “put the business on the back burner” course of action, and focused on helping my kids through virtual school, working through the emotional toll of having all five of us home all the time with no outside help or friends fully in our bubble, and finding the new rhythm needed to help all of us meet our emotional needs and be gentle when someone is having a rough day. This is hard. We spent a LOT of time outside, hiking in remote locations, hitting up the secret beaches, and working in the garden. It’s been hard work on everyone’s part, but I think we have actually begun to find our stride. Only took 280 days or so, but I’ll take it!

Now that we are getting back into the swing of virtual school once again, I’m ready to dive into this next step. This workshop is designed to introduce you to the idea of creating Milestone Quilts–quilts that document some aspect of your life–and help you create a plan to create your own such quilt.

I have been exploring the world of Milestone Quilts for the past 5+ years, beginning with Finn’s Milestone Quilt made during the first year of his life, and I have learned so much along the way. I have also confirmed the powerful positive feedback loops that can be created by making a quilt like this, especially this past year when my 2020 miles quilt kept me running despite the upheaval of life as we knew it.

As we are entering the final weeks of the year, my 2020 miles quilt (#my2020milesquilt) is still getting me out in the below freezing weather to run. Without a single race since January 1st, I’m pretty happy with the fact that I’ve met my goal of running more than 500 miles this year. This quilt has also helped document many other important aspects of the year, from the group runs with my fellow running quilters at QuiltCon right before the pandemic began, to the first days of lock-down, to the week I joined a virtual Womxn Run the Vote relay and logged 50 miles worth of activity, including 29 running miles–my longest mileage week by a lot. This quilt will tell a story, that’s for sure!

Even with fairly regular running, I’ve been slacking on my cross-training exercises, and my body notices. For that reason, I began a short, one-month-long milestone quilt tracking plank. push-ups, and Russian twists, to help motivate myself to do even just 1 set per day during the month of December.

Nearly halfway through the month, and it’s working! I’ve done some amount of exercise every day, and I haven’t woken up with a sore back or neck since! Positive feedback loops are the best! Note: I am making two versions of the same quilt, with different color assignments, so the photo above shows progress for both. Same data, same length of time, same block pattern, same fabrics, just different color assignments for the activities and intensities. Pretty neat, huh!?

If you are interested in learning more about Milestone Quilts and how to make a plan to quilt your life, I encourage you to join me for my virtual workshop this Saturday evening. It’s going to be loads of fun! I’m also working on creating printable pdf planning documents to help you track and plan your activity, so keep an eye on my Payhip shop for those. In the meantime, I hope that your sewing is bringing you peace and that you are staying safe, at home as much as possible and masked when out and about! Be well, my friends.

Life, Patterns

Plant Worry Grow Hope Pattern Release

November 20, 2020 kittywilkin 5 Comments

Two hundred fifty-three days into our coronavirus stay at home stint, and the Plant Worry Grow HOPE quilt pattern is finally ready for release! This pattern includes 14 different foundation paper pieced block patterns, including a taste of appliqué with the three large tree tops, as well as three different project ideas: a lap quilt, a table runner, and a pillow. It is now available for purchase in my Payhip shop, and 50% of all profits will be donated to charities that are working to grow hope in my community.

Sewing these trees has been my balm during the past many months, and I am excited to be able to share them with you. The forest always brings me solace, so being able to stitch my worries away as I slowly built this quilty forest of hope has been a big help these past months. I hope that the serenity of sewing helps bring you some peace and hope as we buckle down and renew our stay at home efforts as the coronavirus cases steeply rise once more.

The lap quilt option finishes at 53″ x 60″ and can be made larger or smaller simply by including more or less trees. I’m looking forward to wrapping up in this quilt once we get through this pandemic!

The pillow option finishes at 20″ x 20″ but can also be customized by switching out different tree options, or by choosing different fabrics. There’s also a table runner option that finishes at 12″ x 53″ and will certainly brighten any setting.

This pattern is available for an introductory $14 for the first week, after which it will be its standard $18. Fifty percent of profits from the first month of sales will be donated to the following three organizations:

Waldo County Bounty, which is working to improve food security for ALL people in my county here in rural Maine during the COVID-19 crisis;
Reparations Maine, a mutual aid project working to connect land owners with descendants of enslaved Africans and other indigenous people who want deeded land on occupied Wabanaki Confederacy territory in Maine; and,
The For Us By Us Fund, a flexible funding and organizing initiative that seeks to support the creative and organizing efforts of People of Color (PoC) in Maine.

While my first quilt top is complete, I’m certainly not finished sewing these trees. Coronavirus cases are again on the rise, and the fight toward an antiracist country that values and supports all people is going to be a long road.

Head over and buy Plant Worry Grow Hope now, and join me in burying some worries with a needle and thread, and watching the hope grow.

Community, Design, Hand Stitching, Life, Patterns, quilt photography, Quilting

Irons on the Fire & Return to Blogland

November 29, 2018 kittywilkin 9 Comments

Heading into the summer, I had too many irons on the fire, as the saying goes. I began writing this post back in June, and not only did it not get published, but I haven’t blogged since. This past summer was full of so many fun things, and between a summer of family adventures, big projects, and exciting opportunities, I just didn’t have the time to dedicate to blogging about them. I take pride in the quality of the posts that I share, which means that each blog post requires forethought, a photo shoot, photo editing, writing, formatting, and of course the sewing part! With all of the deadlines I had on top of an already full summer with all three kids home and ready to rumble, blogging needed to take a back seat. I needed to let it fall off my mental (and written) to-do list.

Fast forward through summer, then back-to-school, then how are we already past Thanksgiving?! I’ve been thinking about returning to this space and I figure now is as good a time as any! I will certainly need to reevaluate the frequency and depth at which I share, but I do hope to be sharing something here with more regularity.

I thought it might be fun to return with just a few peeks at what I accomplished over the summer, some complete and some still in progress. For those of you who want to be sure to stay in the loop, you can opt in for my emails, follow me on Instagram @nightquilter, follow my Night Quilter Facebook page (which is mostly another place to view my IG posts and fun announcements), or join my Pollinate EPP Garden Party Facebook group, where there’s a fun group of stitchy friends gleefully hand-stitching my Pollinate EPP quilt (there’s so much I haven’t shared here!).

Anyway, here are some highlights of my past few months:

Quilter’s Planner 2019 Photography

Once again I was honored to have the task of doing the quilt photography for the 2019 Quilter’s Planner, and it was loads of fun this year! I’ve learned a lot each year as I have tackled the monumental task of photographing 12-15 projects out in the wilds of Maine with the help of my strong, tall, patient husband, usually in a fairly short timeframe.

This year, we were definitely a lot more relaxed and peaceful during the photoshoots, which I’m sure Garrett appreciated!

With projects photographed all through Maine, next year’s planner is sure to inspire, and if you haven’t ordered yours yet, I definitely recommend doing so! As an added bonus (and added irons on the fire) I also contributed a pattern to the Quilter’s Planner 2019 Companion Magazine (the Pollen Pillow, which is shown above and is a baby bite from my larger Pollinate EPP pattern, which I’ll talk about soon!), and I wrote an article with the basics for English Paper Piecing (EPP). There’s so much value to the package you get with the Quilter’s Planner, and I’m grateful to have been able to contribute so much to it this year. See more and order yours HERE.

Summer Adventure Quilt Pattern

In the beginning of the summer, I released my Summer Adventure Quilt Pattern, which was a project I realllllly wanted to get out before the summer months hit. It was actually my very last blog post on here before I began the summer juggle, so you can read more about it HERE. With everything else on my plate, I wasn’t able to do as much with the Summer Adventure Quilting with Kitty Wilkin group on Facebook, but there’s always next summer! The pattern is out and available in both my Craftsy and Payhip shops, which are linked in the blog post.

Pollinate EPP Pattern

Perhaps the most exciting and monumental project I tackled over the course of the summer was the design of my very first English Paper Piecing pattern with Karen the DIY Addict! My pattern is called Pollinate and it’s absolutely wonderful (yes, that’s a proud mama’s take on it, but from what I’m hearing, a lot of others agree!).

Perfect for both beginner and experienced EPPers alike, Pollinate is a diverse pattern that has endless possibilities for design and color play. Plus, the “filler” sections look like bees!! You can see the many different Pollinate quilts taking shape on Instagram by checking out the #pollinatequilt hashtag (you don’t have to have an Instagram account to see them, I don’t think). There are 3 finished quilt tops so far, and each completely different! I will definitely share more about that here soon. In the meantime, you can read more about the pattern and order yours (if you want to join in on the Garden Party fun) HERE. Join the Pollinate EPP Garden Party on Facebook for more inspiration, a joyful group of stitching cheerleaders, and a community of help! Or you can watch my totally amateur videos on YouTube. Yes, I have finally created a channel, and with my phone taped to a tripod, I’ll slowly add video tutorials all about EPP and anything else you want to know!

Aurifil Photography

This summer I was honored to work with Aurifil to update the photographs on their website. As you all surely know, I love photography, and combined with my favorite quilty notion, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity.

I photographed all 9 different weights of thread offered by Aurifil in a variety of stagings, and truly enjoyed the process. You can scroll through the photos on the top of the Aurifil Thread website to see a selection of my photos, and I’ve included a couple of my favorites here. There’s also a fun interview with me on the Auribuzz blog HERE.

100 Days of Sew Smaller Challenge

This summer I also tackled the 100 Day Project, and chose to go with 100 Days of Sew Smaller. My goal was to sew a teeny tiny quilt block that finishes at 1 1/4″ square each day for 100 days. I created foundation paper piecing templates as I went, stretched my comfort zones in both minuscule piecing and fussy cutting at a tiny scale, and really had a great time. AND I actually finished all 100 blocks!! The progress photos and finished mini quilt will be exhibited in the special exhibit at Quilt Con in Nashville in February of 2019, so be sure to check it out if you’re planning on attending QuiltCon!

The Splendid Sampler 2

I’m excited to be one of the contributing designers to the Splendid Sampler 2 book by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson, and have been sewing along as much as I could fit in. They released 20 free blocks to kick off the Sew Along beginning in June, and now we are diving into sewing the book! My block will appear somewhere along the course of the sew along, but you’ll just have to wait and see which one it is!

Here is a screenshot showing some of the blocks I’ve made so far. You can see all of them on Instagram HERE, and I’ll aim to share updates here as I make more!

Phew! There’s surely so much more that I’ve forgotten to share, but this is a pretty decent start on catching up! What have you been up to this summer?

Business, Community, Life

QuiltCon or Bust!

February 17, 2018 kittywilkin 17 Comments

With one more day to get through all of the laundry and packing before I head off on my adventures to QuiltCon, I’m in that final push! Monday morning I set off south with my three little ones, driving all day down to NJ to help them get settled with my awesome parents. Then Wednesday eaaarly morning, I’ll be hopping on a plane and flying across the country to sunny Pasadena! It’s nearly here!

This year is especially exciting since I will be co-teaching four classes with my awesome friend and colleague Michelle Bartholomew: two sessions of Quilt Photography Basics, and two sessions of Advanced Quilt Photography. Michelle is the mastermind/owner of Quilt Theory and spent years as a successful wedding photographer in her past (pre-quilty) life. We’ve been working hard, collaborating via Zoom since I’m in Maine and she’s at the far reaches of the country in Washington state, and I think we’re ready! These classes are going to be awesome!

I’ll also be giving a lecture on Quilts to Mark Milestones on Sunday morning, during which I’ll talk all about my Milestone Quilt project for Finn, my Summer Adventure Quilt, and so much more! I’m honored to have the opportunity to share my journey with other like-minded people, and hope to inspire a few more makers to make meaningful quilts that document the milestones of their lives.

I’m triple excited since I *just* managed to finish my Summer Adventure Quilt flimsy, so it will be traveling to Pasadena with me! Those of you attending my lecture will be able to see it in real life! I’ll share one quick photo here now, but will write much more about it upon my return. This quilt is quite special to me, and I can’t tell you how great it feels to have the quilt top together!

Are you going to QuiltCon? I hope to see you there–please do stop me if you see me, since I’m often the deer in headlights walking around with a permagrin! Tomorrow I’ll be up to my eyeballs in laundry, packing, and prepping some hand-stitching for my travels, and then the adventure begins!

Follow me on Instagram @nightquilter for live updates next week, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you when I return home!

ps. In the whole QuiltCon-prepping, social media world, Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl is my hero. I love her post Social Media Honesty here. So so true, and worth a read!

Life, Quilting

My Best of 2017

December 30, 2017 kittywilkin 10 Comments

I’m in the thick of that time warp of a week between Christmas and the New Year, and I admittedly don’t even know what day it is. We are traveling, visiting my family in New Jersey, spending days relaxing, visiting, and watching the kids play with toys, aunts, and uncles. I *do* know that it’s not yet 2018, though, so I’m reveling in that end of year coast into the new year.

My dear friend Cheryl at Meadow Mist Design is once again hosting a “Best of” linky party, inviting bloggers to share the best five posts from 2017, so it’s a perfect time to look at the analytics and statistics from my blog, as well as reflect on my personal highlights from the year. I invite you to reminisce along with me.

Most Viewed Blog Post(s)

I’m considering this one a tie, since the views for these posts have a less than 20 views difference:My Staggered Quilt pattern release for Quilt Theory’s spring collection had the most views from 2017. I did not have many big quilt finishes this year, and this is definitely one of my favorite quick and easy patterns, so I’m excited to see this one at the top.

A very close runner up was my post about Finn’s Milestone Quilt finish. This project is very near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons, and I’m happy that its completion was as exciting for you as it was for me. What an epic project, and I’m happy to report that Finn sleeps with the quilt every night and still drags it around with him from time to time.

Most Viewed Tutorial Blog Post

I was happy to see that my Easter collaboration with Hillary of Entropy Always Wins ranked the highest on tutorial posts this year! A combination of using repurposed materials (leather, wool, felt, etc) and hand stitched detail, this project is uber versatile and so much fun. It also can be made in any imagined shape, so it’s pretty timeless.

My Favorite New Project

While my Summer Adventure Quilt didn’t rank among highest views, it’s definitely my favorite new project. I’m guessing that the fact that I’ve not yet been able to complete all of the blocks and get the quilt top together is part of what’s to blame with its lack of public enthusiasm, since it’s kind of hard to be enthusiastic about a project you haven’t yet seen in its entirety, but it’s one of my favorites. I’m hoping to have the blocks finished and the quilt top complete by early 2018, so it just might actually rank a bit higher next year. Time will tell!

2017 Best Nine on Instagram

Since I love Instagram so, I would be remiss if I did not share my top viewed posts there as well. This collection is a fun one, including my big 10K follower milestone, two of my favorite Greenery quilt blocks, my Bee’s Knees quilt, Plenty of EPP, from Flowermania, to Moonstone, to the EPP and pieced skinny bins I made for an Art Gallery Fabrics stitchy party with Mathew at Mister Domestic, and a cameo by the gorgeous mini quilt Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl made for me (bottom center). Neither Finn’s quilt nor my Summer Adventure quilt made the cut this year, but they still rank high in my list of favorites for the year.

Most Viewed Blog Post EVER

While the blog posts listed above rank highest of those written in 2017, the post about the one hour basket (that took me six hours to make!) written back in 2015 was the most viewed ever with over 7,000 views since it was written. This was such a fun make, featuring my favorite Alison Glass fabrics paired with Robert Kaufman’s Essex linen, but also is a favorite since I made this basket while attending a class with quilty friend Sarah from Berry Barn Designs at one of my fabulous quasi-local quilt store, Alewives Fabrics. It’s fun to see how timeless this post is, and I’m thinking perhaps it’s time I make a few more one hour baskets. They are a super handy and quick project!

Thank you, as always, for following along with me here, sharing in my inspiration and project progress, and creating the community I hold so dear. I’m hoping to blog a bit more regularly in 2018 and look forward to sharing more tips, tutorials, project progress, and inspiration with you! I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful holiday season and look forward to a colorful, productive, and FUN 2018!

Life, Quilting

Reflections & Goals for 2018

December 22, 2017 kittywilkin 18 Comments

This time of year always results in the oddest collision of feelings–excitement for the family filled fun that comes during the holiday season, either stress over the projects I need to finish for the holidays or disappointed-letting-go of projects I will never complete in time, introspection and reflection on what goals I met (and didn’t meet) in the year behind me, eager anticipation and renewed inspiration for the possibilities that exist in the new year, gratitude for the gifts that I experience daily, and many more in between. As 2017 leads into 2018, these feelings seem to crash together like waves, one emerging strongly at one point only to be engulfed and buried by another the next moment. That odd transition from one year to the next, it’s really just the passing of a day like any other, so how does it hold such power? Does this happen for you, too? or is it just me?

Every year, my dear friend Yvonne hosts a Planning Party on her blog Quilting Jetgirl, which really helps motivate me to sit down and sort through all of these feelings, reflections, dreams, and limitations, and try to determine my goals for the next year. I’ve decided to share my reflections on 2017 and goals for 2018 here, both to make a record of my intentions at this moment, and to maybe help inspire you to not only define your goals and determine steps to help you reach them, but also to be gentle with yourself when life doesn’t go as planned. Since honestly, when does life ever go as planned?

Reflection on 2017

Let’s start by looking at the goals I set for myself in January of this year. A few days ago when I read this over, I honestly laughed out loud. I’ll give you a spoiler: I accomplished hardly any of these goals, but oh, I had such high hopes back in January! Here’s the list, with my comments in bold after each one.

Focus on incorporating repurposed textiles into at least three (3) quilt projects. Here I intended to pick up my repurposed 100 blocks in 100 days project that used all upcycled garments, but that wasn’t meant to be. I did use repurposed textiles in my contribution to Mel from Mel in the Attic’s Woman’s Work, so I’ll give myself a 1. I also am realizing I never shared about that collaboration here!;
Minimize new fabric purchases; focus on using the fabrics that exist in my stash already (not very measurable, but important to state!) I definitely did that this year. I only bought fabric for specific projects, or Alison Glass fabric (my weakness!), and not much at that. I consider this one met.;
Experiment with at least six (6) of the #beesewcial prompts to help stretch my creativity and build improv skills. While I sketched out ideas for three (3) of these prompts, not a one made it into reality. I did not meet this goal.;
Use a purely green color palette (inspired by Patone’s color of the year, Greenery) on all bee and quilt along blocks to help create a visual statement on being “green” and to stretch my design skills by fitting them all together at the end. I did this!!! My Greenery quilt was really quite fun, and I did a fairly good job of making blocks from various bees here and there, until I had the idea for my Summer Adventure Quilt. Once my Summer Adventure Quilt began (see the most recent update here), Greenery took a backseat and has been sorely neglected. I do not have enough blocks for a full quilt yet and I’m still deciding what to do about it.;
Create a more concrete plan for my social action quilt idea, including:
- a full sketch
- 2-3 sample blocks
- brief description I did not meet this goal. Fear, or fear that I would not be able to dedicate the time needed to organize, piece, and follow through with this idea has stalled me. It’s still simmering, but has not been met.
Dive further into the “Slow Fashion” movement:
- Overcome my fear of garment sewing by making at least three (3) items of clothing I attended the Slow Fashion Retreat with A Gathering of Stitches in August and I very much am slowly wading into the Slow Fashion movement. I’ve made two tops–one of which I might actually wear!, and I’ve found a sewing buddy with whom I aim to sew 9 garments in 2018, so I did pretty well with this one!
- {BONUS} hand stitch one garment. I did not hand stitch a garment, although I’ve mended 2 pairs of my jeans, a pair of my son’s shorts, and began repairs on my daughter’s jeans. Not what I meant by the goal, but hand stitched garments all the same!;
Complete two (2) quilt photography projects to deepen my repertoire and experience. I did this! I did quilt photography for Carole Lyle Shaw’s newly released book Patriotic Modern, did product photography for two local artisans (including Spring Fed Farm), and I also completed the epic Quilter’s Planner photography project of 14 quilted items for the 2018 Planner. Combined with ongoing photography projects for the Quilter’s Planner, I consider this goal met and surpassed!;
Teach at least three (3) different quilting and quilt photography related classes–spread the love and inspiration for creating beautiful things! Not yet! I am teaching at QuiltCon in Pasadena in February 2018, so that will be one (well, 4 courses and 1 lecture!).
Use my Quilter’s Planner to set manageable goals and help myself feel successful and motivated–including building up to exercising 5 times per week! Sad to say the exercise habit hasn’t happened. I have built up to doing yoga 3ish times per week, and I did a LOT of hiking over the summer, but I consider this goal not met.
Stitch daily for 365 days as part of my participation in #1yearofstitches (more on this soon!) I very nearly succeeded in this! Near the end of the summer, I got off track, but so far have stitched for each day, even if it’s not posted on the correct day. I have a couple week’s worth of stitches to update on Instagram, but it looks like I’m actually going to meet this goal!
Finish eight to ten (8-10) works in progress from last year!!! Oh goodness. No goal met here. I finished Finn’s Milestone quilt, but that might be the only WIP from 2016 that I finished. Oops. Yikes.

So clearly, I did not meet many of my goals from 2017. It really was a year of very few finishes. In looking back at what quilts or projects I’ve finished, the list is very short: Finn’s Milestone quilt, two quilts for Quilt Theory: Staggered and Into the Forest, and my Superbolt Mini Quilt. I may have missed one, but that very well may be the extent of my finishes for 2017. So much for the mantra of “Finish what I’ve started.”

summer adventure quilt progress — Photo from about midway through the summer. There are many more blocks than these!

So what did I do in 2017? I did a LOT of hiking! We hiked at least once per week pretty much every week from March through September.

Paired with making an improv tree block before every hike, as well as other blocks to represent other summer adventures, my summer was pretty much filled with the Summer Adventure Quilt and all of the family adventures that went with it. I call that a win.

I also did a lot of work for the Quilter’s Planner. Between photographing all 15 projects (I really need to share a post on this soon!), taking photos of the 2017 and 2018 planner both for marketing and for posting on the Instagram feed, and working as the Social Media Manager heading off the Instagram feed, I spent a lot of my time helping inspire others and providing tips on how to plan, stay organized, and create a positive routine of productivity and inspiration. In 2018, I aim to practice what I preach! (laugh with me here!) Honestly, though, the Quilter’s Planner is such an amazing tool, jam packed full of inspiration. Working with Stephanie is really fulfilling and I really do love it. As with any job, it takes time.

Finally, of course I’m also the full time mom of three amazing children, the wife of a fun-loving husband, and the keeper of a lovely home in rural Maine. That in and of itself is a full time job. All this to say, I’m not disappointed in what I accomplished in 2017. I do, however, hope to use this reflection to help me set more manageable goals for 2018.

Goals for 2018

Where to begin? Since my high aspirations were a bit too high for 2017, I decided to focus on self care, family time, and finding a good balance of time spent on work and fun (both quilting and otherwise!).

I pulled out my 2018 Quilter’s Planner and opened to the Yearly Goals page (this planner really is amazing… and that’s not just my bias talking) to help me brainstorm and get ideas down on paper.

I chose 3 main goals, and then listed a few steps that would help me achieve each goal. Here they are:

1 – Sew for my family and me, and not just work

Finish Max’s Eye Spy quilt
Finish Moonstone pillow
Plan for 2-3 hours per week dedicated to me-makes
Finish Summer Adventure Quilt–finish making blocks, piece top, quilt, finish
Sew 9 garments for me!
- Pick patterns
- Find sewing buddy!

2 – Focus on Self Care and Family Time

Yoga-make it a routine at least 3x per week
Schedule and plan ahead more (using Planoly, scheduled blog posts, etc.) so that work isn’t constantly on my mind
Actually make goal #1 happen–finish the family quilts that have been on my WIP list for a year+
Say NO to some opportunities
Summer Adventure 2018?

3 – Continue to Grow and Maintain Night Quilter

Blog 3x per week
Newsletter 1x per month
Quilt & Product Photography – 2 jobs (Quilter’s Planner and ???)
Pattern Development:
- Release 2-3 personal patterns
- 1 submission to a magazine
- Stretch: QAL
Teach – rock my QuiltCon classes and lecture and then evaluate direction from there–do I actively pursue teaching gigs, or focus on home and family time until my kids are older?
Take on no more than 4 outside sew-along, blog hop, or other pattern promoting projects unless it has a measurable impact to build my business.

So there you have it. My goals for 2018 are laid out and in public. They now are real, even if they are still written in pencil in my planner.

Any tips to sticking with your goals and making it happen? I’m going to begin by using my Quilter’s Planner in a more organized way. Right now, I absolutely can’t live without it, but I use it more of a to-do list brain dump and “if all stars align and everything is awesome” weekly and daily goals list, than a meticulous plan with actionable, measurable, and attainable steps to get me there. The brain-dump helps keep me sane, prevents me from missing appointments, and helps me feel like I accomplished something even on my craziest days. Now I think it’s time to step it up a notch and work on improving my routines to help me make better use of my time AND take better care of myself.

Here’s to an inspired, productive, and nurturing year ahead!

What are your goals for 2018?

I’m linking up with Yvonne’s Planning Party 2018 over at Quilting Jetgirl.

Life, Quilting, Why I Quilt

Sunday Musings and Why I Quilt

December 3, 2017 kittywilkin 6 Comments

This morning during the weekly coffee date I have with my husband and youngest son while our big kids are at Sunday school, while I was soaking in the bliss of a peaceful moment, I had a fleeting thought of how lovely it would be to write a bit while sitting there in the quiet West Market Square Coffee house. Isn’t that where many people write? In the peace of a moment in the corner of a coffee house while enjoying a latte and a delicious piece of almond coffee cake? But then, Finn eagerly handed me a carefully curated word built with Bananagram tiles in his little palm by my loving husband, and I realized that this moment was not for writing about quilting. I took a quick photo, then put my phone away. With this daily writing challenge on my mind, I’m realizing that my lack of writing is not because of other tasks getting in the way; it’s because little people are always needing, wanting, and deserving of my attention.

We spent the rest of the day in the thick of Sunday family activity: we went to church, went out for a special family brunch at Dysarts (those familiar with Maine will know the draw of a good Dysarts breakfast), then headed off to our local tree farm to cut the perfect, tallest-one-yet, Christmas tree. I sit here now, the rest of the family asleep, typing by the glow of the lights of that tree, which was fully dressed in lights and ornaments before the kids would even think about heading up to bed. It was a full day, an exhausting day, and one during which I didn’t stitch a single stitch or write a single word (until now), but that’s ok.

As I opened my laptop to write, I saw that my dear friend Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl wrote today about why she quilts, and her post really resonated with me. I found myself reading along, nodding, reminiscing, and reflecting. I highly recommend heading over to her blog, giving it a read, and joining the conversation. I especially love the part where she talks about what she believes and wants other quilters to believe–absolutely, this!!

I think it’s so important to reflect on why we do the things we do, and especially on a day–a weekend, really–during which I did zero quilting or sewing or writing, it’s the perfect time to revisit some posts I wrote on the topic a couple years ago. In reading through these, the reasons still ring true. I definitely have another post to add to the series, though, since much of why I quilt and make now are for the sake of my own sanity. Quilting is an escape from the busyness and chaos of life with little kids. I’ve come to realize that it’s part of my self care regimen, and fortunately for me, my family does, too.

I still very much quilt because I love to make beautiful things, and I love to wrap my loved ones in gifts from the heart, and I love to share inspiration. I also find peace in the quiet of my sewing loft, matching seams and choosing color flow, watching beauty come from tiny pieces of fabric.

Here are my original reflections in case you’d like to reminisce with me:

Missing June {Why I Quilt}

The Gift of Love {Why I Quilt}

I could write pages on the sanity that comes from sewing, but for now, I’m going to head to bed since sleep is another KEY factor in my self care regimen, and it’s one that often gets left by the wayside to make up for other things (like late night sewing and crack-of-dawn-waking toddlers).

Here’s to a good night’s sleep, and the promise of a naptime sewing session tomorrow!

Life

The 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

December 1, 2017 kittywilkin 10 Comments

December! Say, what!? The end of the year always spurs a rekindling of intentions, fueled by reflections on the past year as well as the promise of a fresh start and a clean slate in one short month. I’m not really one for new year’s resolutions, but I also am not afraid of beginning fresh. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about all of the habits I’d like to rekindle, routines I’d like to develop and actually stick to, practices that can help my body, mind, soul, and creativity, and then trying to decide how to make it happen. I finally decided that the best way to begin is to JUST DO IT. Nike really was on to something.

This past week, for example, I’ve practiced ashtanga yoga three times; the first three times in over 3 years. What changed? Absolutely nothing, except for the fact that I rolled out my mat in the middle of the living room with my 2 year old climbing all over me, under me, on top of me, and instead of stopping and lamenting that I cannot practice yoga with a little one, I just KEPT GOING. And you know what? Finn did fine and I felt fantastic.

You may have noticed, but I also blogged… twice (make that thrice, now!) in the past week. Activities that once were part of my routine have dropped off, with enough excuses to bury them for life if I’d let them. But you know what? I’m not going to let the excuses win. I’m going to make a schedule, create habits, form a routine, and find a way to keep myself motivated so that the things that help me be a better mom, wife, friend, and human can become a firm and comfortably permanent part of my life again.

Today I saw a post about the 3rd annual 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge, hosted by Cheryl at Muppin.com, and it felt like a perfect tool to help me jump start back into regular writing again. Now I know better than to think I will post every single day for the next 31 days, but I’m going to use this challenge to make it a point to write every day. My goal is to post at least 3-5 posts per week again, and to write a little bit every day.

So, hi! Remember me? Here’s to a month of getting a head start on new year’s resolutions, trying on new habits to see which fit best, and finding a routine that has room for self care and exercise, creating beautiful things daily, sharing inspiration and creativity here, keeping my house in order, and of course playing and exploring with my kids and husband. It’s going to be a beautiful month.