Welcome 2021!

Never have I greeted a new year with such a sense of both optimism and cynicism. Rather than dwell too much on the year that has scarred us all, I’m looking forward to a new day. Today I’m getting started with planning out 2021.

In reflecting on my annual goals, I realized that I need to pick a new focus word for 2021. Previous words have included growth and clarity. I definitely acquired some clarity last year, and it has motivated me to make some changes.

This year I’m going to lean into prune. It’s easy to consider Dizzy Quilter to be my own creativity garden, and I like that analogy. Prune works well – I’m going to cut back on tasks that drain my energy, allowing me to grow in other areas.

By far, the largest use of my energy has been being an Island Batik Ambassador. I have really enjoyed the three years of receiving big shipments of goodies, and showing off my skills with beautiful fabrics. I averaged about 10 hours per week in various tasks related to that “job”. There is a new crop of ambassadors this year, and they are going to be great. Applications open up every year in November. I would encourage anyone to give it a shot if you are interested.

Another thing I’m moving away from this year is custom quilting. When I work on a custom project, I am totally absorbed for at least 3 days. It is physically and emotionally exhausting, and I just don’t want to do it anymore.

So, what am I going to do with all of this time I’ve reclaimed? I’m working on designing more projects to submit to quilting publications. I really, really love seeing my quilts in print. I also like getting paid. It feels strange when I say that, as if my time isn’t valuable. I’m working on it, though. There are so many people in the quilting world that expect us to work for free, and I’m done with that.

I’ve got a few quilt patterns that were published last year that I need to write up and release for sale, now that the rights have reverted to me. Color Catcher, Rotation, Jolt, and Pumpkin Play are on my schedule.

I’ll be working more with AccuQuilt as a Go Getter. I enjoy that partnership, and I haven’t been giving them enough time.

My teaching plans are moving forward. I’ve got two online classes coming up at Gotham Quilts. I’m hoping to offer one class per month in 2021.

• January 23 I’ll be teaching Sam Hunter’s Flight Club. It’s a fat quarter friendly modern flying geese quilt. I made my version using batiks from Gotham Quilts.
• February 2 & 9 I’ll be teaching Elizabeth Hartman’s The Puppies. I need to get crackin’ on this one, and make my version before class. I love Elizabeth’s patterns so much.
• March – I can’t decide on a Color Catcher sew along or straight up class. What would you prefer? A class would run about 4 hours over zoom and cost $75. A sew along would require you to buy the $12 pattern, but the rest would be free.

I’ve joined a few different guilds and groups this year to expose myself to new inspirations.

• Quilt Lab at Gotham quilts – I’ve renewed my membership, and I’m looking forward to all of the different experiments this year. I’ve got to get started on my Bojagi piece for this week’s meeting.
• Color Lab at Gotham Quilts – This is new, and I’m intrigued. Plus, it comes with a book by Rachel Hauser, whose work has inspired me for years.
• SAQA – my most adventurous quilting friend lured me into this one. Thanks, Regina! I’ll be learning more about art quilting this year.
• Color Collective – This is a monthly pattern and fabric bundle with Tara Faughnan and Sewtopia. I have three projects lined up for me already.
• Parallel Universe Mystery – Ebony Love, Gyleen Fitzgerald, and Latifah Safir are leading me on my first mystery quilt project. I’m excited to learn, but very leery of the whole mystery quilt idea.

As for projects – I have to do a bit of excavation in the studio. I still haven’t really set it up. We are planning to have it finished by a contractor, and I’ve used that as an excuse not to unpack. I can’t keep living out of boxes, though. So organizing the studio is going to be a priority to start.

I have a pile of finished tops and even one half-finished quilt waiting for my attention. I have several client quilts waiting for my attention, too.

I’ll get together a list of projects I want to finish and share them next week. I might just keep it to a short list, like 10 projects, so I don’t overwhelm myself.

Well, this has been a lot of words, and not a lot of photos. What are you focusing on in 2021?