Wait. I thought we had just gotten started on this New Year’s thing, you say, and now you want to reverse course? Yes, because I am saving you from taking on too many things. And saving me, too. In some circles it’s called a “chuck-it list,” the reverse course of a “bucket list,” which we’ve all heard of way too much. I’ve also been reading about a parallel concept to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), which is JOMO (Joy of Missing Out), another way to not plow full speed ahead into Everything. For this is the week that resolutions get made, lists of quilts get written, projects get detailed. I’ve seen Way.Too.Many quilt-a-longs this week, too. Some new quilt ideas are genuinely tempting, like this one:
Lindlee of Plains and Pine has designed this, and it really looks wonderful. So many are doing it, so your feed will be filled with color and beauty all year long. I must resist the urge just this year. I’ve already made up my list for 2024, and am doubtful I’ll even get those done (one of which is one of my own patterns, long-lingering on every list I’ve written these past few years, but I want to make it in a different colorway).
What is driving this focus? My Index of Quilts: I’ve made 285 quilts. I count only the ones that are completely finished, which slows the pace a bit. But I’m really close to 300 quilts which is where I turn into a pumpkin, or something. (Stay Tuned.) But in order to get to that 300, which probably shouldn’t be a goal, I have to edit My 2024 List pretty tightly, not letting in other great ideas until I’ve reached that number.
I say this with some caution, knowing that “Focusing on pursuing our goals often leaves us running on a treadmill of desire and frustration,” as Valerie Tiberius writes in her article, “Why you should swap your bucket list with a chuck-it list.” She goes on to say, “Discarding goals that we really care about is difficult; failing to complete them can elicit sadness or regret.” Like me, with the above Temperature Quilt.
If I hadn’t just finished this one, there’s no way I wouldn’t be jumping in. (But there is always 2025.)
And I pinned up this appliqué mid-December, and have finished the two sides. Now to tackle the middle, with those vines. The dots were a birthday gift in 2022, and it’s taken me this long to figure out what I wanted to do. Working Title: Twilight Garden. So right there, there are two projects on my New Year’s List, along with seeing the Total Solar Eclipse in Texas (April), a trip to La Jolla, California (end of this month) with my three sisters to celebrate my recent milestone birthday, traveling with my DH this fall, and a list of quilts to be considered.
In days long past, I’d splash those goals up here — a way to keep “myself accountable” — or something like that. But given the tight real estate on the birthday cake (more candles than cake to hold them), I’ll politely decline that course of action. I’ll consider the best days the ones where I can work happy and contented, able to call out across the hallway to my husband, answer a phone call or take a walk, or pause to watch the bees attack the wisteria blossoms with gusto just outside my sewing room window — interrupting all evident progress.
Sometimes reversing course is the best way forward–
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Oh Elizabeth! You and I must be walking the same path in life. I can always identify with you. This is the first time I have heard of the “chuck it list” but I started following it a little before Thanksgiving. LOL Every year, I open my new planner and write down the exact same 3 goals in order of importance. 1. Get my affairs in order, 2. Organize pictures and f amily heirlooms, and 3. Sew up my fabric. While I do work on all three of those consistently throughout the year, my main focus is always the least important. I have not touched my sewing machines since that revelation. I technically “chucked” it. I am now focusing on number 1, and when I get that done, I will be more free to move on to number 2. My quilts and fabric can wait until I get there! LOL It’s taking me a while to adjust my focus, but that is the most important thing to me right now. Thanks for sharing. By the way, I do think that I have seen more new sew-a-longs this year than ever. That actually helps me to stay focused on my list because it would be too overwhelming to choose a couple of them and then try to keep up when I have more important things to do!
Another one here who thought, oh my goodness are we on the same page, so much so it’s a bit scary!😉 My decision for this year is to stick with mostly smaller projects and also unfinished WIP pieces. I have one full sized BOM I will join later in the year. Of course I write this down and I do have to say that I have heard a woman can always change her mind. 😆
Aye, the quilt a longs! They are in abundance! Love the appliqué flowers! I did a notion clean out (that was the most energy I could muster this week) and I am going to have a fabric go through again and donate to the Navajo quilt project. AND NOT SHOP! Although there’s a big national show coming up in April……. Happy birthday again and lots of love!
Hi, Elizabeth,
I have been following your blog for a few years now and I have to say I really enjoy your writing and your quilt photos and photo styling.
I am embarking on my first temperature quilt. I love your color selection for Wealth of Days, but I am intrigued by the palette for your 2023 quilt. As you said, still bright, but a little softer—just what I’m looking for. Would you be so kind as to share your Painter’s Palette color numbers for that quilt?
Thanks so much!
best regards,
Leigh Ann Kloefkorn
Alpharetta, Georgia
Sometimes it’s just time to let go. I’m (ashamed?) to say that I have 51 completed quilt tops in my possession. It seems I can no longer hand quilt due to wrist issues, so it’s time to learn machine quilting. I’m sure it will be faster, but still……………On a personal level, I’ve made over 250 quilts in this lifetime, and I own less than half. Such is life.
Chuck it list – great idea. I have so many plans and projects I want to do. But I am trying to choose the noble, best use of my time. That means often putting aside my desires, creating a little less in fabric to invest in the lives of those I love. I suspect it may be a lifelong battle.
It’s so easy to get sucked into all the great projects out there. I like the Chuck it list. Does it only have to be for ideas??? There’s a lot I’d like to chuck from closets, drawers, etc. One project at a time, I guess. 🙂 That temperature quilt has been calling to me for several weeks now. It’s such a great design. It sounds like you have lots of fun plans for the year ahead.
Glad to hear about the chuck-it list. I really need that to get rid of some very old UFOs that I’ve held onto for too long.
Knowing when to edit is a useful life skill. I hope that you find a bit of joy in each day this year. ❤
Thanks for getting me thinking about things yet again. I can’t say that I’ve chucked too many things but I’m certainly more selective about what I’m willing to spend time doing. I’m considering using super sized blocks and/or simple squares to see how many different quilts I can make. I’ve saved loads of ideas. The primary goal being to use my fabric in a way that shows it off and uses it up. Not to mention hopefully being a quicker way to accomplish more. But first up is finishing several WIPs so those don’t weigh on m e anymore. Happy Happy belated Birthday to you my friend. Looks like it was a great one with your kids there to surprise you. I loved that video on IG today.
I love your description of “best days” at the end of this post. I think you have defined “The Golden Years,” that elusive sense of contentment with life as it is.
I love the idea of a “chuck-it list”! I did Karen Brown’s January declutter -in-the-quilt-studio challenge (Just Get It Done Quilts) and got rid of a bunch of projects I didn’t want to complete, fabric I no longer liked, etc. It felt good!