New Year, New Fabric, New Projects

Happy New Year! Despite the popularity of posting a collage of completed projects for 2011, I am not going to follow the trend. My  main reasons are because I am too lazy to try to remember everything I’ve completed and too lazy to track down pictures of everything I’ve completed. Tertiary reasons are that I’m afraid I will be disappointed in the number of projects I’ve completed or disgusted with the amount of time (and money) I’ve spent making projects. Basically, it’s a scary for me to recap like that. However, I am great at making “To Do Lists”, so listing out resolutions is the exactly opposite of scary for me. Note: I actually think resolutions are crap and I believe you should be able to make resolutions at any time of the year…but I’m trying to get in the spirit of the occasion.

Here’s my list of personal goals for the upcoming year in no order of importance:

1. Do more other types of crafts, like embroidery, knitting, crocheting, decorating, etc.

2. Read more. I LOVE reading and the activity basically describes my entire life between the ages of six and 18, so I would like to do more of it, especially since I have a Kindle.

3. Host more events. Andrew and I enjoyed hanging out with our friends, but we definitely do not hang out with them enough. We have the space and a central location, so we want to plan more get-togethers.

4. Do yoga. I have never done yoga. I love pilates,but have never gotten into yoga. Andrew thinks I could benefit from it, so I would like to try.

5. Dance. Andrew and I used to swing dance A LOT in college. We need to get back to it. And we want to try other types of dances.

6. Do a better job of separating my work and personal lives. There are too many times when I allow work to interrupt my personal life. Most of the time it’s my fault because I can’t stop thinking about it, but it’s not healthy. I really like my job, but I really need the separating. I definitely do not think my company understands or values this, but for my mental (and probably physical) health, I’m going to do it.

7. Design my blog. Part of my job is web design. I have no excuse for putting off designing my blog for this long.

8. Take better care of myself. This includes eating well, exercising regularly, drinking water, taking vitamins, get more sleep, etc. I am pretty good about the eating thing, but could be better. I definitely have the exercise regularly down, but I suck at the rest.

I am going to include some work goals, just so I have a record of them. Again, in no particular order:

1. Become a better engineer/become a real engineer. This includes front end web design, back end web design, hardware, systems, etc.

2. Become a better project manager.

3. Choose a disciple. Basically, I need to decide that if I ever leave my current job, what job title I want to go after. Do I want to be a project manager? Do I want to be a front end web developer? Do I want to be a back end web developer? Do I want to work in search engine optimization?

4. Learn graphic web design. I need to be able to design web layouts and slice them properly.

Now…on to the more fun stuff. FABRIC!!!

These are the wonderful Christmas presents Andrew gave me.

That is Prince Charming by Tula Pink. Andrew said it’s Prince Charming from my Prince Charming. Isn’t he cute? I honestly don’t even remember putting this on my Christmas list, but I LOVE it. Andrew did a great job of choosing from the massive list I gave him. Isn’t that frog adorable.

I don’t think Putting’ on the Ritz by Bunny Hill Designs is really that “baby”-ish, besides the phrases on a couple of prints. I seriously doubt I will be using it for a baby quilt.

These are Christmas presents to myself.

I went to Bon Bon Atelier and while I could have bought their entire fabric supply, I limited myself to a couple voiles, one tana lawn cotton, and some shot cottons.

I am going to make infinity scarves and those are the pairs. Beautiful, right? I’m so totally in love.  First pair is Mixed Signals by Anna Maria Horner (voile) and a Kaffe Fasset shot cotton. Second pair is Liberty of London Douglas Stripe (tana lawn cotton) and another shot cotton. And third pair is Greenfield Hill by Free Spirit Fabrics (voile) and yet another shot cotton.

This is a great segue into new projects, which include infinity scarves. I have one UFO…Kate’s curtains and pillows. I made a HUGE dent in it this weekend. I finished the pillows and I only have a bit left on the curtains. I need Kate’s consult before I can finish the curtains, but they will be complete before the end of the week!

Other projects include Window Pillows from Moda Bake Shop. Only I will not be making pillows. I think I will do a wall hanging for our living room.

I also tested out my embroidery skills to see if I would like to do some embroidery projects. I definitely will be doing some embroidery this year because I totally enjoyed this.

I have not embroidered for at least eight years. I didn’t do too bad, especially working with yarn. (I did not have any embroidery floss on hand and I want to decorate some sweaters with yarn embroidery.) I bought A LOT of patterns online, but the one above I quickly drew myself. I think it’s pretty…even if it’s amateur.

As for other projects, we’ll see what sparks my interest.

In recap, 2011 was a GREAT year. We bought our condo. I learned A TON at work. I started this blog. And we’ve had fun. I think 2012 will be just as good…if not better.

Happy New Year!