Quilting Intentions: Organize Your 2020

If you didn’t set intentions at the start of the new year, take a moment to think about that now. Having intentions helps you organize your schedule, your space, and your growth as a quilter. Start an inspiration board—an online pin board or a cut-and-paste collage—to help get you going.

Define Your Values

Why do you love quilting? What does it mean to you? Free associate a list of five words that spring to mind when you think of your love of quilting. Do your goals for the year tie in with why you love quilts? For example, if quilts make you think of ‘family,’ you may want to make time to quilt with your grandchildren, or make sure one of the quilts you make this year is for your daughter-in-law. It will make the act of quilting even more fulfilling.

Empower Yourself With New Skills

It’s time. Whether it’s learning to longarm or tackling that sampler quilt, trying out quilt design software or trying ruler work on your domestic machine, make a commitment to it this year. Find out about classes you can take online or at your local shop, or even an event you can travel to. Give yourself a timeline, mapping out the steps to get you there. If you need to make 111 sampler quilt blocks, well, there are 52 weeks in a year—that works out pretty close!

Tip!

Telling your intentions to friends and family goes a long way to keeping you committed. Even better, invite people to join you in achieving your goals. Invite your quilt buddy along when you rent some longarm time at the local shop—it makes it so much more fun!

Make Space for Creativity

What do you want your space to look like? Why? If you grab photos that feature lots of natural light, but your quilting space is in the basement, there are ways to achieve something similar without building a new room on your house. Daylight-balanced lighting—and there a plenty of lamps out there for quilters—and white or brightly painted walls will help.

Let Your Stash Spark Joy

If you feel overwhelmed when you look at your stash, it’s time for a change. Your fabric should inspire you. If it’s not, you need to channel Marie Kondo and find the fabric that sparks joy. Yes, blenders and backgrounds can be useful, and yes, you paid for that large print, but I will tell you right now, it’s better to get rid of fabric you don’t like anymore, rather than forcing it into a quilt. Release that fabric from your stash so you can move on, and welcome the new quilter you’ve become.

Tip!

Just because that fabric no longer sparks joy for you doesn’t mean it won’t ‘spark joy’ for someone else! There are plenty of options for de-stashing: selling it online, a fabric swap at your guild, donating to charity quilting associations or the local high school’s drama club are all possibilities. If you’re lucky, there may even be a quilt shop in your area that buys fabric for re-sale!