2018 Goal Review and 2019 Goals

I can't believe that 2018 is almost gone! It seems like it was just the summer and yet we are just a few days away from Christmas.

My wonderful bloggy friend Yvonne, who blogs are Quilting Jetgirl, hosts an annual planning party to layout goals for the upcoming year. I thought that I would use this post to first go back to my 2018 goals to see if I had actually accomplished them and then post my 2019 goals.  There are tons of great prizes for linking up (I am a sponsor).

2018 Goal Check-In

My main goal and word for 2018 was to be BALANCE.  I set less goals for myself this past year to help bring more balance and a smaller to-do list.

On my list were:

• Launch of the Modern Plus Sign Quilt book (including a book hop, Quilt Market, guild lectures/workshops) ✅
• Host the Modern Plus Sign Sampler quilt alongcombining almost all of the plus signs from the book into a lap sized sampler. The QAL kicked off in July. ✅
• Host a twice yearly Tips and Tutorials Festival with Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl. ✅
• Make at least 4 charity quilts ✅ (I made and donated five)
• Host the Best of 2018 Linky Party ✅ (starts right after Christmas)

Due to the book launch (and associated book blog hop, magazine submissions, and sampler) along with saying "yes" to too many commitments made for a very stressful first half of 2018.  It never seemed that I could get ahead of my to-do list, I was always doing things right before they were due.  Here were my thoughts on the first half of 2018.

I am happy to say that the second half of this year has been much less stressful and more balanced.  My last quilt that I was committed to making was finished in July.  Since then, I have actually had time to make quilts just for the fun of it and get back to being organized and working ahead on my to-dos.

2019 Goals

I have really enjoyed having a more relaxed and less "have to" sewing the second half of 2018 and I am planning on continuing this into 2019.  I am being very selective to what I commit to.

My main goal and word for 2019 is going to be SHARE.

I am planning to share my joy and knowledge of quilting with others in the upcoming year.  For this goal I am focusing on teaching (I will be teaching at QuiltCon 2019 and my teaching schedule for the entire year is almost completely booked), making more charity quilts to share joy with others, and hosting another mystery quilt starting this summer.    

Here are some of the more concrete items:

• Design and host the next mystery quilt starting this summer
• Host a twice yearly Tips and Tutorials Festival with Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl.
• Make at least 6 charity quilts 
• Host the Best of 2019 Linky Party
• Quilt pattern for the 2020 Quilters Planner
• Become a better quilt teacher.

How are your 2019 plans shaping up?  You can read all of the 2019 planning posts at Yvonne's #2019PlanningParty.

Isosceles Addition ++ Pattern Launch

You may remember Isosceles Addition from late spring when I shared that it was included in Issue 60 of Love Patchwork & Quilting.  I am now releasing the design as a stand alone pattern and have expanded it to include instructions for both baby and lap sizes.

For my version of Isosceles Addition, I used Robert Kaufman for the Kona Cotton Solids in honeysuckle, chartreuse, and white, Aurifil for the piecing and quilting thread, and the Warm Company for the Warm & White batting.  I really like how the bright pink and green pop against the white.

Special Introductory Isosceles Addition Pricing

Isosceles Addition will be available for a special introductory price of $8 for 1 week through December 21st and the pattern can be found in my Craftsy and Etsy (both digital and print) shops.  

Save more on Etsy ... Buy 2 or more patterns for a discount! Buy 2 patterns and use the coupon code TWOPATTERNS for $2 off. Buy 3 patterns and use the coupon code THREEPATTERNS for $4 off.


Here were two other colorways I was considering when I was playing with the design...

Isosceles Addition Pattern: 
Craftsy, Etsy - Digital, Etsy - Paper

Many thanks to Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl and Paige @Quilted Blooms for their help with tech editing this pattern!

Blogger Bundle Giveaway by Needle and Foot

You may remember that I curated a bundle of 5 fabrics for Bernie's shop Needle and Thread back in April, here was the bundle and The Quilt in the Hat quilt I made with it:

Well, Bernie has saved one bundle from each of the 11 designers throughout the year and is now offering the chance to win all of them over on her blog!  She would love for you to vote on your favorite bundle through the year.

GIVEAWAY

11 designers x 5 fat quarters each = 55 fat quarters!!  

Almost 14 yards of fabric!!

The giveaway is open now over on the Needle and Foot blog and will run through Saturday.  The giveaway is open only to US shipping addresses due to the cost of shipping this much fabric.

Here are all 11 of the bundles:

Hop over to the Needle and Foot blog for a chance to win :)

Needle and Foot Blog

Best of 2018 Linky Party Coming Soon

It is no secret that I love blog link parties.  One of the main reasons I started my blog was so that I could take part in the sharing of knowledge and inspiration through the parties and so I am very excited to announce that I am hosting my fourth annual blog linky party, the Best of 2018 Linky Party!

To take part in the link party, simply write a new blog post highlighting your "best" 5 posts from 2018 and linkup.  There is no set way or rules to pick your best, you can pick and highlight your posts anyway you would like.  Some examples include:

• Posts with the most views
• Posts with the most comments
• Posts that provoked the best discussions
• Posts showing your favorite 2018 finishes
• Posts of your best tutorials
• Posts that are simply your favorites

This post is not only a great way to find new readers, it is also wonderful to be able to highlight some of your best posts for those readers who have joined your blog throughout the year.

The link party will open the day after Christmas, Wednesday December 26th and will be open for one week ending on Wednesday, January 2nd.

I hope that you will consider writing a post to highlight your best of 2018 and link up! Here is a button for your blog if you would like:

<div class="meadow-mist-designs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://meadowmistdesigns.blogspot.com/p/best-of-2018-linky-party.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Menri0WMyW0/XAKAiGWdq7I/AAAAAAAALSI/V0CoAC4AiQcKs-kqWOUCouqYtXsSDZbxQCLcBGAs/s320/1.jpg" alt="Meadow Mist Designs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>

While you are waiting for this linky party to start up, you can take a look through the Best of 2015, 2016, and 2017.  Thanks!

Wooly Bear ++ Quilt Finish

I am happy to share my last QuiltCon entry today, Wooly Bear.  Wooly Bear is my entry into the Michael Miller Challenge category.

For the challenge, we were given fat eighths of four fabrics, three Hastdot prints and a peach colored Cotton Couture solid.  We had to create a quilt using using at least two of the given Hashdot prints and the peach solid in the quilt top and binding, but in addition to these fabrics we could also add other Hashdot print colors and any other Cotton Couture solids.

When I started to play around with the colors in designs, I could easily make all of the Hastdot prints work well together, but the peach was throwing me for a loop.  It just did not seem to fit in with the other colors (I think that in real life the peach is a little less bright and a little more pink than in the photo above).

None of my ideas were working until I thought to incorporate in an even brighter orangey color.  I added in the Cotton Couture lava and that seemed to calm the peach down in comparison.  I then added in some black just for a little contrast and depth.  I wound up not using the turquoise hashdot print.

I knew that I wanted to create an almost floating image and incorporate some curves into the design.  After playing around in EQ, I had my block design.

I first pieced random sized strips together on the diagonal and trimmed them down to 12 ½" square.  Then I added Drunkard's curves to two of the opposing corners.

Oreo "helping" me quilt

Once the quilt top was complete, I got to move on to the quilting.  For the background, I used a combination of large pebbles, teardrops, and elongated swirls using a matching Aurifil thread in 50 wt.  This was my first time ever using wool batting and I was really happy with how puffy all of the quilted shapes were.  I used Tuscany 100% Wool Batting by Hobbs and it basted and quilted wonderfully.

My initial thought for the pieced sections was to have dense straight lines echoing the seam lines within the blocks.  After doing half a block though, it was not turning out well.  The ruler work was causing some tucks and it was looking messy.  After a bunch of un-sewing, I tried again using a dense, small scale bear claw.

I used a lime green Aurifil thread in 50wt for the pieced sections (that matched the lime green hashdot print), which looked decent on all of the different fabrics in the pieced areas.

For the backing, I used some acid lime green Cotton Couture fabric.  For such wild colors on the front, I had to go equally as bold for the back :)  After quilting, the quilt measured 53" x 57".

Thanks for stopping by, I'll let you know if the quilt is accepted or not.