Goal Setting and Getting Started

Week 1 Goal Setting and Getting Started

It’s Week 1 for the Alphabet and Shirts Quilt Along, and this week I am goal setting and getting started.

Watch the Week 1 video

In this week’s video, I share my dreams and goals for my project and what my hopes are for you. I share some insights from you, and I answer some of your questions too.

Dream Big

I challenge you to dream big this week. The start of a project is an exciting time where you can let your mind run wild with ideas. I love this part so much. Write down notes, take photos and pull swatches to document all that you are seeing, thinking about and inspired by as you start to plan out your project. These dreams not only give you the juice to get started, but they also will be helpful to reflect back on later down the road if your excitement gets dulled or if you need a little pep or redirection.

My Plans

As for me, I am making too many plans and dreaming big. When it comes to Alphabet, I want to finish a throw-sized quilt for my niece (pictured below), and I also would like to piece out a quote that I’m thinking about. With Shirts, I want to add a slight twist to my focus this year. I’ll be making Shirt blocks each day, but I’d really like to use some to commemorate elements from my wedding last month! Yes, I got married, and I’m eager to share some of the MeMade details of it with you–there were many–and this Quilt Along will be the perfect way to do it.

Because it’s May and MeMadeMay, I also have some garment goals. MeMadeMay is not an official part of this Quilt Along, but it is something that I am inspired by and thus I want to include it. I have a few dresses that need buttons. It’d be great to refresh my drawer with some new TShirts, and I am sort of drooling over this shirt by Closet Core. I could see myself living out of this shirt this summer.

Too many plans? Like I said, today I am dreaming big.

Here’s a look at the name badge that I made for QuiltCon in February–it’d be a perfect, little project to think about this month if you need one. The Shirt on the right mirrors my first outfit that I’m kicking things off with.

Your Goals

This Quilt Along is intentionally open-ended, because there are a lot of possibilities and variables at play. I talk about this more in the video this week, but think about what you want to accomplish during this time. Do you want a reason to sew each day in little bits? Maybe making a Shirt block or a Letter a day will be the right pace for you. Maybe you have a specific need in mind, like making a quilt for a new baby in your life. Whatever the case is, determine your goal and then think about how to break it down into steps.

I’ll be posting here each Wednesday, so that gives me a hard day to show big progress. I can share smaller snippets along the way more often on Instagram. This will encourage me to be making daily steps as well as let you in on my progress and help me feel connected. Maybe it will help you to think of big and small steps too.

I have 30 Shirts templates printed out and sitting by my sewing machine. I’ve pulled some fabrics that I’m wanting to use for blocks, but I plan to pull much more so it’s ready when I next sit down.

For Alphabet, I need to outline the steps to finish my niece’s quilt, and I need to nail down the quote that I want to piece so I can get the templates printed and ready to go!

Important Stuff

You can find Alphabet here and Shirts here.

See the Quilt Along Schedule here.

Make sure you are signed up here so you are eligible for the prizes at the end.

Submit a question here for me to answer in a future video.

So that I can see your projects, tag me on instagram (@carolynfriedlander) and use the hashtags #CFAlphabet and #CFShirtsofShirts