2012 New Years Goals - Final Review

Another year is coming to an end, where did the time go?  First I have to say that I'm still working on the background for my Tranquil Garden wall hanging. I had the misfortune of the temporary design wall falling off the wall before I started sewing all the diamonds on. The good thing was I did have pictures of what it all looked like so I was able to put it all back the way it should be. That took almost as long as putting it up in the first place between getting all the diamonds picked up and sorted by shade and then making sure I got the right one up in the right place. I'm almost finished sewing the individual rows and then will just have to sew the rows together. That should be done this week sometime.

So today it's time to take a look at what I had set out as my goals for this year, what was I able to accomplish, what didn't happen and what else came along. First is a list of my original goals and what happened with each one.

Jan: Finish quilting the 2 wall hangings from Gloria Loughman’s workshops - completed
Jan: Develop my design for the reverse applique quilt "Sea Turtles" - completed
Feb: Create the "Sea Turtles" quilt top - on hold
Mar: Finish the quilt top "In full Bloom - Poppy" from Elaine Quehl's workshop - on hold
Apr: Design and create the quilt top for the shoe wall hanging called "Stiletto Heels" - cancelled
May: I'm signed up for Hollis Chatelain's workshop "Quilt Line as the Third Design Element" and need to bring in 3 quilt tops for discusion and quilt design creation. My plan is to take the "Sea Turtles", "In Full Bloom - Poppy" and "Stiletto Heels" quilt tops. - completed
Jun: Finish quilting "In full Bloom - Poppy" so it is ready to give to my mom for her 90th birthday in August - on hold
Jul: Attend Ricky Tim's Super Quilt seminar being held in Rochester NY. I enjoyed this so much when I went to Cape Cod back in 2010, that when I saw it being held so close to home, I figured it would be worth while to attend a second time and hopefully several of the gals from my small quilt group will also come. - completed
Jul - Aug: Finish quilting "Sea Turtles" - on hold
Sep: Finish quilting "Stiletto Heels" - cancelled
Oct: Finish Falling Splendor quilt  - on hold
Christmas charity quilt: Using blocks from the Friday Block Party 2009 - cancelled

Any time: 1: One block wonder quilt ( I already have the fabric and am curious as to how this will turn out) - never started
2: Start my own unique design of a Rhapsody quilt based on Ricky Tims techniques – the plan here is to have a completed design ready to start a quilt the following year, this in my books is a major project - never started
3: Create a landscape quilt based on the Picture Piecing techniques of Cynthia England - never started

UFOs that are outstanding: I wonder if any of these will come off the plate this year
Hawaiian orchid pillow – hand quilting
Kaffe Fassett – colour in design diamond quilt - cancelled and I donated the blocks and left over fabric to the community quilt group at my guild so that they can make somethng for one of the charities that they support
BOM: Drunkard’s Path Variations - cancelled (no longer have interest in this project)
Tranquil Moments quilt – quilting left to do
Small Wall Hanging (that was to go into a silent auction) – quilting done, need to finish beading and sew binding
In addition the following new projects happened in 2012:
Mar: Spirit of the Land - completed
Apr: Lone Star: - started and then put on hold
Jun: Oriental Odyssey - completed
Jul: Gerber Daisy Wall Hanging - completed
Oct: Alpaca Wall Hanging - completed
Dec: Tranquil Garden - started and to be finished in January 2013

So in addition to the 2 completed projects from the original list, 1 completed design and 2 seminars that I attended this year, I also completed 4 new projects and started 2 new ones of which the current one will be finished this coming month since it is a gift for someone and it needs to be given in January. I'm actually quite pleased with what I have been able to accomplish this year since I have continued to deal with medical issues for a good part of the year. After the doctors found a solution to the anemia and my blood levels were back to normal I was still dealing with a lot of fatigue so it was back to see more specialists and the thought was that it might be an autoimmune issue.

While I was in to see an ENT specialist for some tests he discovered that I had a lump on my thyroid. After several inconclusive biopsies it was decided to have both the lump and thyroid removed. That was the best decision ever since the pathology report did show that there was cancer in both the lump and thyroid. Fortunately it was caught in the very early stages and as of November I am in remission - YEAH!!! Also my anemia has stabilized since the surgery and I have not had to have any treatments in over 6 months. Somehow I think the two may have been related. I'm feeling much better, more energy and we even moved in November and I was able to pack up, clean and purge in Oct and unpack, sort and set up our new place and I still had energy for Christmas. What a difference a year makes.

So next I'm going to review what my goals are going to be for 2013 and then will post them hopefully on New Year's Day.

I wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year,
Vicki