Seasonal Goal Update: Autumn 2024

Hello Friends and Welcome Autumn!

With the passing of the equinox last weekend, Autumn has finally arrived!

I've experienced a damp start to the season, but I really enjoy the rainy weather! Meara, however, doesn't like getting wet above her tummy, so she hasn't been able to enjoy much outdoor time over the past few days. We still go walking, rain or shine, I just get rewarded with a grumpy side eye if it happens to be the former!

Of course, the rainy weather can't get to me while I'm working in the sewing room, and Meara is happy to keep me company there while I work away at my projects!

There are several that have been underway over the past few months while working towards last season's goals. Let's take a look at my progress on those and prepare some new goals for the season ahead!

Summer Goals

Last season, I selected seven projects to work on! Four of those were physical stitching projects, and the remaining three were digital. Each of these had different goals associated with them, ranging from any small amount of progress throughout the Summer months, up to completion.

Let's take a look at which goals I succeeded in completing, and which still need a little bit of work!

As usual, the first goal was to continue posting here on the blog!

I had hoped to maintain my weekly posting schedule, or to notify all of you of breaks in advance when I needed them. I'll call this one a partial success since I posted almost every week throughout the Summer, but wasn't very good at presenting advanced notice for the weeks I didn't post.

The next goal was to make progress on my custom quilt labels. Unfortunately, I was not successful in this and didn't think about label making at all throughout the Summer.

The final of my digital projects was to work on the instructions for the recently released Blackwork Roads quilt along. And though I'm still typing my way through January, I'm calling this goal a success!

On a related note, the first of my stitched goals was to assemble a sample of the Blackwork Roads pattern!

The goal was to work on this sample following my typed instructions rather than making it as a sample to draft my pattern from. In this, I was successful, but I had hoped to finish the whole sample in time to show a picture with the release of the first instructions at the beginning of September, so I'll call this goal a partial success!

Blackwork Roads is my original design. Instructions for fabric requirements and the September Chunk are available on the Fibre Arts blog.

The next project is another I had hoped to complete; drafting a custom pants pattern and making some new clothes for myself!

As I've shared many times, I am outside of the standard size range of mass-manufactured clothing. Beyond that, I am typically very disappointed by the quality of such garments, so I've been wanting to draft my own custom patterns for a while!

Unfortunately, I didn't get my pattern finished over the Summer. Between the heat and a very busy schedule, I usually didn't have both time and motivation available on the same day. However, this is still something that's really important to me and I'm looking forward to bringing this goal into the new season!

My next Summer project was the Generations Quilt, which I'm working on collaboratively with my Mom and Grandma!

The goal was to complete the remaining Six Pointed Star blocks, bringing me to a total of 30, and I finished piecing the last of my blocks at the beginning of July!

The Generations Quilt features two traditional block patterns, Dresden Plate and Six Pointed Star, and uses self drafted templates.

The final project I planned to work on over the Summer was, of course, Ice Cream Soda!

For this project, I had the very ambiguous goal of making any amount of progress throughout the season, and after completing several more blocks, I can happily call this a success!

Ice Cream Soda was designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.

To summarize, of the seven projects I'd planned to work on throughout the summer, I successfully completed my goals for three, made partial project towards my goals for two, and was unsuccessful on the remaining two.

Overall, I'm really happy with the progress I've made! Though some projects didn't get as much attention as they deserved, I'm happy with what I did complete and am looking forward to making more progress on a variety of projects, both new and continuing, in the months to come!

And speaking of the months to come, let's take a look at my new goals for Autumn!

Autumn Goals

With the arrival of the new season, I have some old goals to adjust, some projects to continue and a few new ideas I'd like to start working on!

Starting off is my usual goal of continuing my weekly posts here on the Fibre Arts blog! And in the event that I need a break from posting, I hope to let you know in advance. I really do love sharing my progress on all of my different projects with all of you and appreciate your tips, stories, and suggestions!

The next project is another that continues from last season; working on my custom quilt labels!

As I've been saying for many months, the next step towards my labels is to design a custom font. While I could use an existing font for this, I want my quilt labels to reflect my personality and use a font that looks like my own handwriting.

So far, I've collected samples of my handwriting, but I haven't started digitizing any of the letters. So this Autumn, my goal is to create at least one letter every week to get started on my font!

Also continuing from last season is my Blackwork Roads pattern!

I would like to finish typing and editing the pattern instructions, as well as finish my sample quilt. Ideally, I'd like the sample finished before the next chunk release, but realistically, that's only a week away and I don't want to rush it too much. I'll be patient and work at it until it's done!

Another project I'm looking to finish part of is my Indigo Way quilt!

I haven't worked on Indigo Way in quite some time, so for anyone who doesn't know, the pattern is one of Bonnie Hunter's winter mystery quilts. I've enjoyed participating in her mystery quilt along the last few years and am very much looking forward to this year's project!

But before I start the new mystery, I would like to finish the one I'm still working on. I'm still planning to use quilt as you go as the quilting method, so I'll plan to finish piecing all of the blocks for this before the release of this year's mystery quilt fabric requirements, which are typically available in mid November!

Indigo Way was designed by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.

My next piecing project once again carries forward from the Summer; it's my Ice Cream Soda quilt!

Once again, I have no particular schedule for this project, so I'd like to continue piecing any amount of blocks throughout the Autumn season!

And moving away from quilting, I still need pants!

My goal for this Autumn is to finish creating and testing a pants pattern for myself. Once it's drafted, I'll be able to make myself clothes that I know will fit well and be of a good quality!

Finally, I have a new social goal for this season; I'd like to get involved with the local quilting community!

Since moving to my current town, I've tried to stay connected with my old quilt guild, but there are still a lot of events I miss out on. So I'd like to try to connect with one of the guilds here!

After a lot of searching over the past few weeks, I've managed to track down an email address for two local guilds. One I'm waiting to hear back from, but the other has let me know they have a meeting coming up on 09 October, so I'm looking forward to attending and possibly joining them as a member!

So for the Autumn season, I've got three digital projects, four piecing projects, one garment project, and one social endeavour, a total of nine unique goals! This may seem like a lot, but I'm confident I'll be able to make good progress on each of these!

Friends, it has been so informative to check in on my progress from the past season! I've seen several projects that I'd like to make a lot more progress on, some I'll be revisiting from past seasons, and a few new ideas I'm inspired to get started on!

If you have any new plans or projects for the Autumn season, I would love to hear about them! Please share in the comments below or by sending me an email! Or if you've been posting about them elsewhere, I would love to be tagged on Instagram @v.a.fibre.arts to see your projects there!

After seeing all the progress made so far, I can't wait to get back to working on each of these projects!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

~VA