January Quilting Goals Update
Check out the video that goes with this blog HERE.
Where It Started:
It is hard to believe that it it my third year doing this. Setting these yearly goals that I hope to turn into habits has changed my quilting life, and I hope it has changed your, too. Interested in finding out more about previous years and goal setting in general? Start here.
2026 Quilting Goals and Habits
Without further ado, here are my Quilting Goals/Habits for 2026! If you would like to follow along and create your own goals, I have a list of I also have a free monthly worksheet to help track your goals each month.
These videos and blogs have helped keep my 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!
Want to work on your own quilting habits and goals? Here’s a tracking worksheet to help you!
January Happenings & Highlights
Let’s start by saying this: it has been cold here in Pennsylvania! Oh my goodness! All I want to do is cuddle up in a quilt and hibernate until spring. Needless to say, this has been a slow month for me, and maybe—just maybe—that’s the way it should be in January. Here are the highlights from this past month:
I took a barn quilt painting class! I learned how to paint a beautiful block on 24” x 24” board. It is harder than it looks. For more information on how to do this, check out the book Barn Quilt Addiction by Talara Parrish.
My wonderful husband built me a pegboard for the side of one of my cabinets.
January is my birthday month. I celebrated by buying myself a new serger! I had one that I loved, but I hated threading it as it was nearly 30 years old. I have been wanting a serger with an air threading option (LOVE this!). After trying and testing A LOT of sergers, I purchased the Janome AirThread 2000D, and I love it!
While serger shopping, we went to State College and ate at the The Field Burger & Tap . If you ever get a chance to go, do it! Make sure to order the hot honey sweet potato fries. So good!
With my new serger, I made a few upcycled flannel shirts and sweatshirts. My favorite one is the Knoebel’s, another favorite place to visit in Pennsylvania.
Snowstorm Alert! We got hit with the big snow storm on January 25th. We ended up getting about 15” of snow.
January’s Goal Update
Goal 1: Use It or Lose It
Score: 5/5
Although I haven’t used the fabrics I showed at the beginning of January (yet), I did decide to look closer at my WIP (Works in Progress) bins, including one that I haven’t revisited in a few years. I started this quilt in 2022. I decided to take apart one of the blocks and rework it. I like it much better! I also organized and sorted out the bin, using some of the fabrics for an upcoming project and pulling out some that won’t work anymore for this project. Although I love this project a lot more now, I am still not super excited about it. It may be one that I lose (donate to my guild).
Glow: I really evaluated this project and figured out what I didn’t like. I am open to donating it if I am still not excited about it moving forward.
Grow: Continue to do this process, especially with my WIPs and UFOs (Unfinished Projects). It is helpful to look at it through the Use It Or Lose It scope.
Goal 2: Clean As I Go
Score: 4/5
This area is super impactful for me, and although I wasn’t perfect at doing this all month, I recognized it helped so much when I did do this. I wasn’t as overwhelmed at the end of a sewing session and was more prone to finish cleaning up at the end of the day. This created a snowball effect where I wasn’t as overwhelmed at the beginning of a sewing session the next time I was in my sewing space. I used to think I worked best in the chaos, and maybe when I was younger I did work better in the mess. Now, however, I am much happier sewing in a clean space. There are a few things that I do to be successful in this. I equip my space with essentials. Blog on this coming soon.
Glow: Recognizing the good that comes from cleaning up my space as I go, especially at the end of the day when I am tired and don’t want to clean up a huge mess.
Grows: Continue to practice cleaning as I go, knowing my future self will be happier. Do this more consistently to form it into a habit.
Goal 3: Curate & Catalog My Quilts
Score: 3/5
I started! YAY! That’s the good news! The bad news is that I haven’t done much more since that first surge of energy. BUT what I did is pretty neat. Because I am a very visual person, I made up sheets with pictures of the old quilts that have accompanying Lessons from an Old Quilt videos. I went through and made sure I knew what quilts were used in videos and when they were published. It’s a start! I haven’t actually found those quilts in my collection yet, but I have a record. I am happy with this progress as it will help me move forward in making more of these videos.
Glows: I took steps to start. Starting is sometimes the hardest part, right?
Grows: Continue to curate this list. I think I missed a few of the videos, and I need to go back and find the gaps and the actual quilts.
Goal 4: Practicing Walking Foot Quilting
Score: 3/5
I wasn’t super adventurous this month, but I did manage to quilt one of my many flimsies. This one is one of my Just One Layer Cake Quilt patterns. I just did a straight stitch quilting technique along the sides of the seams, creating a grid. I love how it turned out, especially with the flannel backing. It has wonderful texture and is a great example of how you don’t have to quilt things super fancy to have them be beautiful. I am hoping to bind this beauty this weekend, making this the first finish of 2026. As I finish quilts and projects this each month, I will be tracking them on my 2026 Finishes blog. Make sure to check back often to see what I have been working on.
Glows: I kept it simple, but did it! Love this grid design on this quilt.
Grows: Get a bit more adventurous with quilting.
Goal 5: Sewing 15 Minutes Each Day
Score: 4/5
First, the good news: I completed ten of the 100 Modern Quilt Blocks from Tula Pink’s book. YAY! I am loving how they are turning out. I am also sewing most days, which is great! The bad news is that I haven’t been very consistent in sewing for 15 minutes each day for fun. Making this a priority has become a bit more challenging than I first thought. I tend to sew for my business each day, but sewing for fun has taken a back seat, and that’s what I really want to work on. To help with this, I have decided to prepare some projects–some being the modern blocks–so I have a few Sew and Go things ready.
Glow: Again, as with any goals, recognizing and adjusting is part of the process. I am happy I recognize this and am adjusting.
Grow: Remember that sewing for fun is good for me!
I would love to hear how you did with your goals this month. Let me know in the comments!
Happy Quilting,
Kris
