Seasonal Goal Update: Autumn 2025

Hello Friends and Happy Autumn!

The first few days of the new season have arrived in a rainy and overcast fashion, which in my opinion is prime Autumn weather!

In addition to the lovely weather, we've also finally got our house listed and on the market! After all the effort we've put into this process, it's really gratifying to have people showing interest in the property, and I'm looking forward to hearing if they have any feedback or offers for us!

But until we do hear something, we'll be staying where we are and continuing life as usual, and for me, that means taking a look back at the goals I set for the Summer and sharing some new ones for the Autumn season to come!

Summer Goals

For the last few months, I've been working towards nine project goals across a range of digital and stitched mediums!

Each of these projects has progressed at their own pace, some coming together slowly but surely over time, and others leaping forward in short bursts! Of course, there are other projects that find themselves falling behind or getting sidetracked, so I'm excited to see how well I was able to work towards the completion of last season's goals!

To start off, let's take a look at the digital goals!

The first was to share weekly posts here on the Fibre Arts blog, which I was able to do up until we started packing. Sure I missed two posts at the end of August, but I think it's important to make allowances for major life changes, so I'll be calling this a success!

My other digital goal was to post more frequently on social media, specifically to share at least one fun post between every blog post announcement. Some weeks I did really well, but other weeks I didn't, so I'll call this a partial success. Posting to social media is definitely a skill that I'm still working on, but I like to believe that I'm getting better at it over time!

Next up are my stitched projects, which I find much more exciting and interesting than the digital goals!

My first goal was to complete my Potato Chip challenge quilt top show at a quilt guild meeting in September. Unfortunately, I had anticipated having time to work on it late in the season, but moving took priority and I only managed to piece one block.

While I failed to complete this goal, I had a very good reason for not working on it, and I'm sure there will be more challenges for me to join in the future!

My Potato Chip quilt is based on a design by Brenda Logan of Conquering Mount Scrapmore.

For the next three quilts, I was much more modest in my ambitions; I wanted to simply make any amount of progress on Ice Cream Soda, Old Town, and the Generations Quilt!

Since these quilts had such a flexible schedule, I thought I wouldn't have any difficulty doing a little piecing on each, but I ended up not working on Old Town at all this Summer.

Comparing these projects, the two I did work on were both being pieced by hand, while the one I didn't work on was machine pieced. Since I was also working on my Midnight Circus sample quilt at the time, it was getting sewing machine priority, so I think that's the reason I didn't have time for Old Town.

Regardless of the reasoning, that's two more completed and one incomplete project goal!

My Ice Cream Soda quilt is based on a design by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.

The Generations Quilt is based on the traditional Dresden Plate and Six Pointed Star blocks, using templates drafted by Valerie Anne.

My Old Town quilt is based on a design by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.

The next goal was one of my "don't start a new project by a designer if you're already working on one of their patterns" goals. For this one, I was really excited about the ongoing Cherish quilt along from Tales of Cloth, but didn't want to start working on that pattern until I had finished piecing Ice Cream Soda.

In that, I was successful! I haven't finished Ice Cream Soda, so I didn't start Cherish!

Cherish is a design by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.

Moving away from quilting, there was one project I wanted to do some quilting on over the Summer; Meadow Mystery!

For this quilt, I had hoped to make any amount of progress, and I succeeded in that by finishing the quilting and joining of a new row of blocks!

My Meadow Mystery quilt is based on a design by Cheryl Brickley of Meadow Mist Designs.

Finally, my big project for the Summer was preparing my Midnight Circus pattern! For this goal, I wanted my instructions completely typed, my quilt top pieced, and to start quilting!

Though it wasn't completely assembled for the pattern release, all the necessary units were pieced, I had started quilting, and the instructions were ready, which I consider to be a success!

Midnight Circus is an original design by Valerie Anne of the Fibre Arts blog.

All together, I successfully completed six of my goals, worked towards one without completing it, and was unsuccessful in completing two goals.

I'm really happy with the progress I made this Summer! I put a lot of new stitches into many of my ongoing projects and can't wait to get back to working on them!

As for the goals I wasn't able to complete, that was largely the result of a huge lifestyle change that's going to affect me for many months to come. While I would have liked to work on Old Town and my Potato Chip challenge quilt, I'm proud of myself for being able to judge my priorities and move on from the disappointment with a positive attitude!

Autumn Goals

Moving forward, I'll be doing my best to maintain that positive outlook, but I'm also anticipating some interruptions from the house selling process.

With this in mind, I'll be setting some goals for the Autumn season that I hope are realistic, but will still keep me inspired and ready to stitch!

Starting off, I have a few digital goals;

• Continue posting weekly on the Fibre Arts blog, notifying readers of breaks in advance whenever possible and prioritizing the scheduled posting of Midnight Circus instructions on the first Tuesday of each month

• Post updates to social media, with at least one fun post for every blog post announcement

Moving along to stitching, I kept four project boxes to work on while we wait for updates on the sale of our house;

• For Midnight Circus, I would like to continue making progress on the quilting and assembly of my sample quilt

• For Potato Chip, I would like to have at least the quilt top assembled to share at a guild meeting before the end of 2025

• For the Generations Quilt, I would like to meet with Mom and Grandma to start planning block layouts

• For Ice Cream Soda, I would like to make any amount of stitching progress

Other than those four quilts, all of my other ongoing projects are currently accessible, but stored at my parents' house. I would prefer not to pull out projects that have already been packed away, but depending on how the sale of our house progresses, there is a chance I might need to pull out another project to work on.

Should that happen, I would like to adhere to the following;

• I will not start a new quilt project by a designer who's pattern I am already working on (example; not start Cherish by Jodi Godfrey until Ice Cream Soda is completely pieced, or not start Bonnie Hunter's 2025 mystery quilt until Old Town is completely pieced)

• I will not start a new quilt project, or pull one out of storage to work on, until one of the four I already have is completely pieced

This gives me eight goals to think about and work towards as the Autumn season progresses!

Friends, I am so proud of everything I accomplished over the Summer months and can't wait to start stitching my way into the new season!

If you have been working towards your own creative goals, I would love to hear about them! Please share your stories and progress in the comments below, by sending me an email, or by visiting me on Instagram!

I hope we can all accomplish our goals and keep the creative spirit alive as we fall into Autumn!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating! ~VA