2025 was quite the year for us! It was DH's first year of retirement. We travelled four months of the year, largely for his business since he only retired from one job.
DH being retired actually gives me less time to sew than I had before he retired. I knew that would be the case, but wasn't really prepared for the change.
Here are the goals I made for 2025, and I'll be honest about how I did.
1) Finish all the quilts for my nieces and nephews.
Mostly done. I finished the four bed sized quilts, but the one throw I need to make is in progress.
2) Finish all the queen/king quilts that are started.
Not finished. My goal was actually to use up all the king sized batting I had in stash. I finished four queen/king quilts in 2025. I have one that just needs binding, I have two more that are basted. I think I have two more king sized battings in stash, and one of the quilts for those just needs borders, and the other needs assembly. Of course, didn't DD#2 ask for a new quilt, so I'm actually adding a big quilt to the list, but that's the way it goes. Overall, I'm pretty happy with my progress on that front.
3) One scooter quilt and a quilt from DH's scrub tops.
I actually made three scooter quilts this year, but did not get DH's scrub top quilt finished. In fact, I just finished cutting it out this past week. It should be a quick one to sew, and he's got a birthday coming up...
4) 100 pillowcases to donate.
I did make pillowcases for the grandkids, but nothing on the donation front.
5) 200 scooter luggage tags.
Not only I I make 200, I made over twice that! I think I made right around 450.
Of my five goals, I only knocked one out of the ballpark, one was a complete fail, and the others all had good progress made on them.
Here's my empty spools of the year. Those spools held 17,422 yards, or 9.9 miles of thread.
I finished 15 quilts in 2025, nine of which were UFO's.
After one year of DH's retirement down, and me having a better idea of what that means for my time, my goals are a lot less specific this year.
1) Low buy year, unless I need fabric or other supplies for a specific project, I'm not going to be going crazy buying anything. I've been asked for several quilts with minky backing, and I'll have to buy the minky because I don't really have that in stash, but the tops and batting I should have in stash. If I'm traveling or go to a really cool quilt shop, I'm making individual fat quarters or remnants a legal buy. The only legal buys for yardage would be something like a perfect border fabric for a quilt I'm already working on, or replacing a bolt of a solid I keep in stash for backgrounds, IF I used up the bolt I currently have. An example of that is I try to always have a bolt of white, cream and black solid in stash. If I were to finish one of those bolts, I'd feel free to buy another.
2) Keep multiple quilts basted so I can be consistent with my hour of FMQ per day. We do have travel planned for this year. One the hardest things I had to do when coming back from a trip was getting back into a normal routine. Normally, I FMQ the first hour of sewing on any given day, then I take a break from that and do some housework or whatever else needs to be done, before I go back to sewing other things. Most of the trips we went on this year, I had tried so hard to finish things up before we left, that I had no quilts basted for when we got back. So before I could get back to FMQ every day, I'd have to choose a quilt top, piece a backing, baste it, and then I could start quilting. This year, I'd like to always have more than one quilt basted and ready to quilt, so I can back to a routine ASAP. Currently, I have three quilts basted, and one that just needs binding. I'll bind that one before I start quilting another.
3) Keep up with my progress on UFO's. I've been working through stacks of blocks I've squirreled away everywhere it seems. It's really easy to see that patchwork is my favorite part of quilting. I don't like assembling quilts during the summer, so with that in mind, I'd like to assemble as many quilts as I can before it gets hot again, then possibly work on some smaller projects during the summer. I'm also thinking summer will be a great time to concentrate on some piecing heavy projects, like crumb blocks. I've been making good progress getting UFO's moved along to the next stage, so this goal is more of a keep it up rather than something new.
4) Make some pillowcases for donation. I'm not putting a number on it this year, I failed horribly when I did that last year. We'll just see if I can get any done.
5) Work on deadline quilts. I've been asked to make several quilts with a goal of next Christmas. I'm not sure if I can get those all done by then, but it's a goal.
I'm working on some non-quilt related goals right now as well, although some of those things will affect quilting. DH and are are doing a NO BUY January. We will, or course, pay our bills, and buy needed groceries, but discretionary spending is on hold. Lunch dates with my sister are allowed, as well as DH eating out when he's riding with his scooter club friends, but aside from those, we'll be eating at home, avoiding shopping as much as possible, and doing a big declutter as well. My personal goal is to declutter 16 things per day in January. That puts me almost exactly at 500 things by the end of the month. I'll be going through my quilt books, quilting magazines, rulers, notions, etc... I've already started on kitchen items. Nothing makes me want to NOT shop like going through all the stuff I already have.
Why do a NO BUY January, and or a big declutter? I find January to be a fantastic time to reset things. I've always believed the cheapest way to redecorate is to get rid of things. I do not have a goal of being a minimalist, but I do listen to a lot of minimalism podcasts. I like the idea of simplifying things, consuming less, and having space to breathe. The quilter in me looks at things and says, I can make a quilt from that shirt, tablecloth, sheet, whatever, and I could, and I have. I also know I would not be able to have the stash I do at today's prices. DH doesn't want me to get rid of any of my stash, and I may not be getting rid of any fabric right now, but I know I have quilting books that I've already made the pattern that interested me. I know I have books that I'm no longer interested in. The same with quilting magazines and notions. Some specialty rulers I use all the time, and others I've used once and never again. Should I keep things that are just taking up space? I don't think so. I also have had things like a stash of king sized batting, that I don't use often. Most quilts I make I can use a piece of batting cut off of a queen sized roll. I want to use up my king sized batting, and know that I can buy it as it I need it, I don't want it taking up space in my house for the "someday" when I'll need it.
I'll be decluttering all over the house, but yes, I'll be doing some decluttering in the sewing/fabric rooms as well. My goal is to declutter 500 things in January, is that striking home with anyone else?
