Back in December, Yvonne Fuchs (Quilting JetGirl) hosted the #2020PlanningParty to share our goals for 2020. This week she’s hosting a #2020MidYearCheckIn on those goals.

2020 has steamrolled blindly over my goals, just as it has for everyone else’s, but not all of the changes have been disappointing. I am overwhelmingly grateful every day for the continued good health of those I love and for the way my extended family is following best practice guidelines for staying safe and healthy. I’m grateful to have a job I can do from home, and I’m grateful that there are still opportunities to get out and enjoy Seattle’s best weather, even if we do that a bit differently this year.

I remain completely bummed that we had to cancel a much-anticipated trip to the Bordeaux region of France, but I have hopes that someday it will be safe to travel, Americans will be welcome in Europe again, and we will still be able to go.

Anyway, on to my mid-year quilting goals check-in.

I did pretty well with my goals in January and February. I finished one of the two tops on my list (Sea Glass) and completed another top (a variation of the Boomerang pattern by Jaybird Quilts; my version is called Kinniken’s Dragon). I started a new commissioned quilt and got about a third of the blocks made. Progress!

Then came March. I started a new full-time job on the second, and we all got stay-at-home orders three days later. What with working full time from home and coping with the stress of coronavirus, I was totally unable to quilt from March to the beginning of July. I would walk into my quilting space, look around, and walk out without touching anything. I just couldn’t do it. It was incredibly frustrating.

But sometimes all you can do with quilter’s block is let it be until it passes. I turned the corner the weekend of July 4th, which kicked off a two-week vacation (the one that was supposed to be taking place on a river in France), and I’m happy to say I’ve been quilting up a storm since then. I made great progress on my commissioned quilt and I’m looking forward to completing the top by the end of this week, if all goes well.

Here’s the roundup of this year’s goals, my current progress, and my revisions for the rest of the year.

1. Finishes. There were two tops on my to-finish-this-year list, and one of them is complete and has been gifted (Sea Glass). The other one (my Tula Pink City Sampler, Hello Seattle) is still waiting to be quilted. I’m taking that quilt off my list for this year and marking this goal as complete. Victory!

2. New quilts. Of the four new quilts I’d hoped to make, only one has gotten anywhere. The Boomerang top is done and ready to be quilted (pictured above). I also started the commissioned quilt, which was not on the original list, and I hope to have the top complete by the end of my vacation this week. Revised goal: Finish Boomerang, the commissioned quilt, and one more quilt of my choice.

3. Appliqué progress. I’ve worked on this one only a tiny bit, and have not made quarterly progress as I’d hoped. I haven’t given up on it yet, though. Revised goal: Finish one of the appliqué blocks.

4. Enter a show or competition. I haven’t, but since most of them were cancelled, I’m giving myself a pass on this one.

5. Take a quilting workshop, class, or learning sew-along. I did take a longarm class early in the year before everything shut down, and I’m ready to start the Free-Motion Quilting sew-along Echoes & Curves — I bought all the materials but didn’t sew it along with the group. At any rate, I’m counting this goal as done. Victory!

6. Write a pattern for an original quilt design. I have the design sketched out and I’ve bought the fabric for the first test quilt, but I haven’t progressed farther than that. Revised goal: Make the tester top and update my pattern notes this year.

The hardest part was not being able to quilt for four months. I felt frozen. It’s hard to sit with that and just allow it to pass. But I know from experience that it can’t be forced, and that when I try to force it I end up making poor choices and making mistakes and wasting fabric. I’m glad to be on the other side of it and I look forward to spending some time quilting each week, even after my vacation is over.

I hope you and those you love are safe and happy, wrapped in quilts, and finding small moments of joy in the midst of the uncertainty around us.