2025 Quilting Habits: September Update
Click on the image above or HERE for the 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 September’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:
August Happenings
Some Highlights Since I Last Posted:
Mitchell, our youngest son, came to visit from Vermont. We relaxed, went thrifting, ate great food, and played many games of Azul.
I went to an auction with my parents and bought (won?) two vintage quilts. The pie picture is from the auction. Yum!
I made a Just One Layer Cake tutorial and quilt using Acorn Hollow by BasicGrey for Moda.
My friend Sharon gave me more wreaths that she thrifted and some wonderful vintage metal trays.
Harvest Season! I made and froze a million roasted tomato sauce batches and corn, fresh from my dad’s amazing garden.
I finally tackled that huge roll of batting I bought a few months ago, and prepped a ton of quilts for quilting.
Quilted two quilts: Sew Merry scrappy quilt and the Acorn Hollow quilt from the tutorial.
I reached 60K subscribers on YouTube! Thank you to everyone who supports my YouTube channel!
Daisy is recovering well from her surgery. She hates physical therapy (don’t we all?), but is doing it anyway. Mostly.
September Update: How Did I Do?
Goal 1: No Home Zone
Score: 0/5
Still not doing well with this. Can I give myself a negative score? I find myself piling more and more in there. I think I know why (maybe): I brought up a bin from the basement that is full of fabric from my Aunt Amy. I got this bin after she passed away. It is kind of like a magic bin. Anytime I need a fabric color/texture/whatever that I don’t have in my stash, I seem to find it in this bin. I brought it up to organize it and get onto my shelves, but I haven’t really done that yet. Currently it is sitting right smack in the middle of the No Home Zone area. It has made it hard to even get into my shelves, causes it to look even more clutter-y, and it’s the perfect place to stack stuff. I think it needs to be moved back to the basement and continue to be that allusive magic bin. Will this work? We will find out!
Glow: Recognizing what changed, what the problem could be, and removing the bin.
Grow: Actually moving the magic bin back to the basement.
Goal 2: Being Intentional with Quilting-Related Purchases
Score: 4/5
Someone mentioned in last month’s video that I actually say the goal is Intentional purchases, and they are right! I did buy quite a bit this month, including backings, precuts for videos, marking pencils, and a few other odds and ends, but all of the purchases were necessary and intentional. Well, ALMOST all of them were! I went to an auction with my parents and I did buy two antique quilts. Do I need more antique quilts for my Lessons from an Old Quilt series? No. I have a ton that I haven’t reviewed yet. BUT could I resist these? Also no. Now, to my defense, there were several other quilts I didn’t bid on, so I call that growth!
Glow: I am paying attention to this more and more. I am becoming much more intentional, have a plan, and don’t just impulse buy like I used to.
Grow: Continue to do this, especially with a few shopping trips and quilt shows coming up. Making a wish list is going to be my saving grace on this.
Goal 3: Paring Down My Scraps
Score: 5/5
Remember that scrappy Christmas quilt we made during Christmas in July 2025? I not only finished the top, I actually quilted and bound it, too! YAY! I also used fabric I owned for the backing. It is so satisfying to use scraps to make something beautiful, isn’t it? I also finished up all 90 of the hexagon blocks, I worked on my leader and ender project, and so much more. It has been a scrappy productive month, for sure!
Glow: Each time I finish a scrap quilt, I am amazed. I think, “Did I really make this beautiful project out of scraps?” Yes. Yes, I did!
Grow: I wish I could bottle this feeling and remember it, especially when I am tempted to buy new fabric!
Goal 4: Getting Out of My Quilting Comfort Zone
Score: 3/5
The bad news is that I have even started that shirt class that I was so excited about. The good news is that I tried a new quilting technique and I used a thin thread! I usually use a boring old 50 wt. thread. For this project, I expanded to 60 wt. I know, I know—this isn’t the first time I have done this. I also used different weights of thread in the snowflake quilt from last year, but I haven’t since then so I call this a win. I LOVE how this turned out! It was so much fun to echo quilt this. This design is from the book Walk. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and with each line, I was more and more giddy with the results!
Glow: Small step in expanding my bravery, but it was still a step!
Grow: Continue to do this type of stuff. It is so rewarding! There is nothing wrong with having quilts longarmed (I send them to the longarmer all the time). I am loving this, too! Keep being brave, Kris!
Goal 5: Better Health/More Movement Breaks
Score: 3/5
Our youngest son, Mitchell, came to visit from Vermont. I cannot begin to tell you how much this fed my soul! It had been seven long months since we were together, and as you may know, it has been a rough year for me. I have had some health issues (Shingles, and yes, I did get the vaccines), some major personal events, and some mental health issues. This visit helped with all of that!
Let’s get to the other stuff, however. I JUST started walking and getting in some movement. I am not sure why I was stalled in this area, but I was. I really do feel so much better after a walk, even if the walk is only 15 minutes. I have also said yes to a lot more things. I went to an auction with my parents, went shopping and on other outings, and have been a bit easier on myself lately. If this year had a theme, it would be Slow and Steady. Overall, I still have places for improvement, however, and like always, I am not letting myself off the hook completely.
Glow: Again, baby steps (are you noticing a theme?). I am getting there, slowly and steadily.
Grow: Keep it up! Baby steps turn into bigger steps over time.
I would love to know how you are doing with your goals! Let me know in the comments.
Happy Quilting,
Kris
