Seasonal Goal Update: Summer 2026
- vafibrearts
- Jun 23
- 7 min read
Hello Friends and Happy Summer!
Over the weekend, the passing of the solstice ushered in the start of the Summer season!
In my house, the longest day passed with little fanfare, since we were in the process of moving our remaining furniture into the basement so we could start working on the living room renovations.
And though I'll miss the beautiful view from the big front window, the cool basement is quite nice considering the house is not air conditioned!
Of course, the arrival of a new season also means it's time for me to look back on my progress over the last few months, see how well I've been keeping up with my goals, and decide what I want to prioritize in the months ahead!
Let's take a look!
Winter Goals
This year, selling one house, buying another, and moving between them fell right on top of the arrival of Spring, so I was much more concerned with all of that than with updating my seasonal goals.
So now that Summer is here, we'll be looking all the way back to the goals I originally set back in December!
Of course, those Winter goals were made while I was still in the old house, so they reflect what I was working on at that time, not the projects I've been working on since moving into the new house, so it will be interesting to see what has changed in the last half year!
I started off with a few digital goals; the first being to continue posting on the blog, with particular focus on sharing the Midnight Circus updates on time.
I would say I was quite successful in completing this one, since all of my quilt along updates made it out on the right days, and the only week I skipped a post was when there was water in the basement and we didn't yet have our home internet set up!
As for the other digital goal, I was hoping to post more frequent updates to social media!
For the Winter season, I was definitely successful in this, but into the Springtime, I have posted fewer updates because I've been wrapped up in renovations. I'm calling it a success, but there is still some room for improvement in the coming months!
Getting off the computer and back to the quilts, there were four specific projects I'd hoped to work on over the Winter.
For my Midnight Circus sample, I wanted to continue piecing together the quilt top and quilting as I went, which I was successful in doing!
At the time this goal was set, I had about half the quilt put together, and it's now almost a full square!
Midnight Circus is an original design by Valerie Anne of the Fibre Arts blog.
The next project was the Generations Quilt, for which I wanted to assemble one complete quilt top! Despite this being one of the easiest goals to complete, as the blocks are all pieced and together in a box, I didn't end up working on it at all.
Though I wasn't successful in completing this goal, I do have plans to work on it again this Summer!
The Generations Quilt is based on the traditional Dresden Plate and Six Pointed Star blocks, using templates drafted from extant blocks by Valerie Anne.
Another quilt top I had hoped to finish last Winter was my Old Town quilt, and though I hadn't found time for Generations, I was successful in assembling Old Town!
I'm really happy with how the quilt top turned out and I can't wait to work on it again when I find time to do some quilting!
The final quilt I'd planned to work on last Winter was Lupine and Laughter, and I think I would have started on this quilt if we hadn't received an offer on the house just as I was finishing Old Town.
So while it's unfortunate that I wasn't able to complete this project goal, selling the house was much more important to my life overall!
My Lupine and Laughter and Old Town quilts are based on designs by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.
Moving away from specific projects, I had a few goals that weren't tied to any particular quilt.
The first was to keep myself limited to four or fewer active projects at any given time, which I think I've succeeded at since most of my projects were packed away for the move.
Another was to not start a new project by a designer who's pattern I'm already working on.
This was another successfully completed goal as I waited to start Jodi Godfrey's Cherish pattern until after I had completed my Ice Cream Soda quilt, which she had also designed, and I finished Bonnie Hunter's Old Town pattern before starting Lupine and Laughter.
My Ice Cream Soda and Cherish quilts are based on designs by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth.
And finally, I had hoped to completely finish any quilt!
Unfortunately, this one was much harder than expected since I had to keep the house tidy and my quilt projects put away while we were showing it, then once it had sold, I had to completely pack up the sewing studio. As a result, I haven't succeeded in finishing a quilt yet this year.
That being said, of the nine goals I set for this past Winter, I was successful in completing six and unable to complete only three, all while selling and buying a house!
Though I fell short in a few places, I'm really proud of what I've accomplished over the last few months, and in my ability to continue sharing my creative endeavours in the midst of a huge change in my life! I can't wait to see how that progress continues into the new season!
And speaking of the new season, I can't wait to share a look at my plans for this Summer!
Summer Goals
Heading into the Summer months, I'm looking forward to working on a few specific projects, carrying on with some of my long term goals, and preparing for a new quilt along project!
Beginning as I usually do, I have two main goals for documenting and sharing my work! I hope to:
continue posting to the Fibre Arts blog on a weekly schedule, giving advanced notice of breaks when possible
share updates to social media, with at least one fun progress post between every blog post announcement
If you have any advice to improve the way I document and share my work, I'd be happy to chat!
As for specific projects, there is one I need to prioritize for logistical reasons, and one for more personal reasons:
For my upcoming quilt along, I need to finish adjusting the digital mock up, draft pattern instructions, and piece a physical sample
Ideally, I would even have this sample completely quilted and bound, but I've been considering a change to my quilt along schedule that might conflict a little.
In past years, I've run my quilt alongs on my guild's schedule, starting in September and ending around June. Now that I've finished my term as convenor, I've been thinking that I'd like to change the schedule to start at the beginning of August, right around my birthday!
Moving the release forward by a month won't have a huge effect on the overall feeling of the quilt along itself, but it does mean I'll have one month less to prepare everything. So if I'm ready at the beginning of August, I'm going to go ahead and make that change, but if not, I'll be starting in September like usual.
We'll have to wait and see how that goes!
For the Generations Quilt, completely finish at least one quilt
This is the more personal project.
Unfortunately, my Uncle has been struggling with some pretty serious health issues over the last year, so Mom, Grandma, and I agreed that he deserves the first of the completed Generations Quilts.
Those are the two most important projects at this time, and the ones I plan to prioritize, so these next goals are meant to help me stay focused, and not take on too many distractions:
Limit myself to four or fewer ongoing stitching projects
Do not start any brand new patterns until something else has been completely finished; quilted, bound, and labelled
Finally, not exactly a stitching project and not entirely within my control:
finish renovating and setting up the sewing studio
I'm pretty sure our plan is to have the room usable within the next few months, but given that I am a sewist and an artist, not a trades person, I may have misunderstood the timeline. Either way, I plan to be optimistic about the situation!
All together, that gives me two specific stitching projects and seven unique goals to guide my progress! This might be a little less than in past seasons, but I feel like the workload behind them is pretty large and balances out the amount of actual work these goals represent!
Regardless, I'm looking forward to getting started on these projects soon!
Friends, it has been so good to look back on my Winter goals after all these months and all the recent changes in my life!
Though it may feel like my stitching progress has slowed down as a result, it's so gratifying to see that I've continued to make progress during such a busy time, and to look forward to what I want to achieve in the future!
If you've been working towards any goals of your own, please let me know how they're progressing! Or if anything I shared inspired you for the coming season, please let me know what goals you're planning to work towards!
I can't wait to take the next step into this new season and to see what exciting experiences await!
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