2025 Quilting Habits: November Update

Click HERE or on the image above to see this month’s video.

My 2025 Quilting Goals/ Habits

How It Begun:

I decided in December 2023 and the beginning of January to change some things in my quilting life that just weren’t working for me. After evaluating the good, bad, and ugly, I came up with my top five habits I wanted to implement in 2024. If you want to check out those videos, here’s the 2024 Quilting Habit Goals playlist.

Since 2024 was so successful for me and helped inspire you, I am continuing this series in 2025! Each month I will update you on my progress. If you would like to follow along and create your own goals, I have a worksheet to help you. You can download this free blank worksheet HERE.

I will also offer a worksheet for each month, too. You can find November’s habit worksheet HERE and December’s habit worksheet HERE. These videos and blogs have helped keep me accountable. After all, I know I will be reporting to all of YOU on this, and I don’t want to let you down. I highly recommend having someone to keep you accountable, if not in a public way like I am doing, then in a group of friends. It helps me so much!

Here are my 2025 quilting goals:

November Happenings

November Update: How Did I Do?

Goal 1: No Home Zone

Score: 1/5

This is a hard one to confess to, but I didn’t do well at all with this goal. I started off really well, but when we came home from Vermont, things started to get dumped into the No Home Zone area AGAIN! And as we all know, once it starts, it is like a magnet for more and more stuff. Needless to say, the No Home Zone has been piled up yet again. I had so much hope for the solution of removing Aunt Amy’s Magic Bin in September! It worked for a month, right? I am continuing to struggle with this one. Any ideas to help would be appreciated!

Glow: Again, just like in September, I am recognizing I have a problem keeping this area clear and am assessing how to find a solution or decide to just live with it.

Grow: Try a few solutions and really look at what is being dumped in that area.

Goal 2: Being Intentional with Quilting-Related Purchases

Score: 5/5

After Goal 1’s failure, I am happy to say I knocked this one out of the park! Other than thrifting (I did thrift a lot!), I only purchased a few new items that I needed for videos. YAY! I even resisted the urge to hit a few quilt shops when we were traveling! I am very proud of myself for this one, because it wasn’t easy. I was tempted a few times, but didn’t give in. Keeping with the idea of intentional purchases, I created a running list of items I wanted (and a few I need) to purchase on Black Friday. Since these will be intentional, they are well within the perimeter of this goal.

Glow: I resisted the urge to mindlessly shop for fabric and other impulse items that I didn’t actually need.

Grow: Continue to be intentional with my purchases.

Goal 3: Paring Down My Scraps

Score: 5/5

Again, I really did well (again!) with this goal! YAY! I used the strips of fabric to make the scrappy string quilt (AND finished it with scraps!); I worked on my Forever Project of Cathedral Windows while traveling; I finished several quilts including a scrappy Patriotic quilt (using the Sew Merry Pattern) for a Veteran’s charity; and so much more! Although I used a ton of scraps, I still have a ton of scraps. HA! How does that happen? Do they multiple at night while I sleep?

Glow: I am reaching for scraps more and more, especially now that they are organized and I can see them all.

Grow: Continue to keep up the excellent work! Will I end up running out of scraps? Probably not, but I am putting a dent in them!

Goal 4: Getting Out of My Quilting Comfort Zone

Score: 4/5

I have been having fun using thrifting items, and I think that qualifies as getting out of my comfort zone, maybe? I also pushed myself with the scrappy string quilt. This quilt was THICK! I resisted the urge to send it out to be quilted. I wanted to try to quilt it myself, and I am so glad I did. It turned out so pretty! Now, that’s not to say it wasn’t a challenge! It was! But it was also a lot of fun, and now I have a beautiful quilt made from items that may have ended up in a landfill.

The next thing I did was using my serger to finish the edge of the string quilt before quilting. WOW, what a difference that made! A viewer told me about this tip! It helped so much! I am going to start doing that with all my quilts. So smart!

Glow: Tiny steps in being brave, but steps nonetheless.

Grow: Continue to get out of my sewing comfort zone.

Goal 5: Better Health/More Movement Breaks

Score: 3/5

I am continuing to listen to my body, and respond accordingly (and appropriately!) in and out of my sewing room. I am spending more time with friends and family, including visiting my youngest son and his girlfriend in Vermont. This has helped my mental health so much! Brendan and I also spent a day in Lancaster, going to see Noah for the second time! Adding these breaks has helped, especially since I tend to be a homebody.

Glow: Doing more things outside of the house with friends and family.

Grow: I REALLY need to add consistent exercise to my life.

I would love to know how you are doing with your goals! Let me know in the comments.

Happy Quilting,

Kris