Looking Forward to 2024

Happy New Year to everyone.

I have been doing blog posts looking back on the previous year and looking forward to the coming year for the last few years and it is always interesting to read back on them.

Having been retired for eighteen months, Mick and I have now transitioned to what we call our "new normal".  It is a rather good life.

A lot of what I am looking forward to seems to be similar to previous years.  It obviously works.

STITCHING GOALS

On the stitching front, I will continue to join in on a few structured challenges.  Fortunately, they are fun and not too onerous.

One Monthly Goal is a great incentive.  I always try to set my goal to be achievable, depending on what else is going on at the time.  Having said that, it is also a good opportunity to give myself a kick up the butt little nudge to work on something.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is always fun. 

In 2024 I will continue to make split nine patch blocks and hopefully at the end of the year will have enough for a donation quilt.

A new challenge this year will be the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge.  We have each chosen ten projects and each month Deana will select a number at random and we will work on that project during the month.  Hopefully, it will be relatively stress free and a bit of fun.

I will also be taking part in the Meadow Mist Quilt Along.   I will share more details in my January Goals.  I’m looking forward to joining in.

After successfully working on projects for 15 minutes each day during 2023, I will once again participate in the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge.

I like stitching to be social and have now joined two local stitching groups.  One is "Stitch and Chat" through U3A on a Friday morning and is mainly, knitting, crochet, hand embroidery or whatever you like.  Patchwork doesn't really feature much.  The other is "Bathurst/Orange Patchwork and Bag Making" on a Wednesday.  I am finding that I am mainly taking hand work to both these groups, as it is nice and portable.  This is working really well, as I have loads of projects that fit the bill, but have previously been put aside.

The Chookshed Stitchers enjoy days on Zoom approximately once a month.  It is a lovely friendly group of women.  Having the 2024 Challenge will bring us even closer this year, as we see each other's progress and cheer us on.

As always, I look forward to travelling to Baradine for Scrub Stitchin' in April.

So what do I hope to work on?

Last year I said I needed to get a wriggle on with some UFOs.  I had made a little list of twelve, and when I read it I realised that I had only finished two!  Mmmm, not the best result.  I have made a little list for myself again this year and listed 24!  My goal is to complete twelve.  Some really don't need a lot of work and also fall within the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge.  Wish me luck.

I don't really want to start anything much until I do whittle down those UFOs.  I am finding they are starting to hang over my head.

I do like to have a long term project on the go.  My “Make it Blue” quilt falls into that category.  I aim to have it finished before June, which will be two years after I started it.  It is very achievable.  The only thing I worry about is the quilting.  I don't know if my quilting is good enough to do it justice.  That is something to consider once the top is finished.

I also want to get the Laundry Basket Spring Mystery Quilt finished in the first half of the year.  There is lots of applique to be done.  It will be a lovely quilt once completed.

I seem to have failed to set up a decent leader and ender project over the last few years.  I am going to try once again.  It can't be that hard, can it?

On the whole, I tend to flit between things, in different crafts as well as actual projects, rather than concentrate on one from start to finish.

Each month I hope to:

• Work on a donation project
• Use Monique, my quilting machine
• Do some knitting or crochet
• Do some hand stitching - embroidery, cross stitch or EPP
• Complete at least one project
• Work on a UFO

Mind you, sometimes one project can tick many of those boxes.

I want to get in and try to organise my fabric stash better.  It is always a chore to pull fabrics, as they are in several different spots.

NON STITCHING GOALS

Read a book each month

Try a new recipe each month

Travel - for the first time since I don't know when, we don't have any firm travel plans.  We have a couple of ideas we are tossing up, and will see what pans out.  I do hope we can get to use the caravan quite a bit through the year.  We managed to get away six times last year, so hope to do something similar this year.

Fun days out - We do enjoy getting out and about attending local events, visiting local places and generally having a day out.  It is so nice being able to visit places mid week now.

Last year I said that I need to do some decluttering and organising.  I did do a big declutter of our home office at the start of the year, but that is about it.  The office needs another declutter now and I actually need to get in and sort some other areas of our home.  Wish me luck on that too.

Reading back over what I have just written, I realise that I will never have any excuse for being bored.  It will be fun to work on everything and then check back at the end of the year to see how I went.