2017 Goal Visualization Quilt

I’ve written before about how I needed to make the designs for these yearly quilts as simple as possible in order to make continuing this project feasible. The 2017 quilt is a great example of that. I started the year with 4 goals:

  • exercise 250 times

  • host friends for a meal 6 times

  • make three quilts, start to finish

  • meditate 3500 minutes

2017 Goal Visualization Quilt

2017 Goal Visualization Quilt

I represented the completion of these goals with a percentage of a circle. That was my whole design for the quilt. But then there happened to be two other big things that took place that year: 1. We bought a house and moved, and 2. I went back to school. And I felt like I should get credit for those things, even if I didn’t fully complete my four goals for the year. That’s when I added the two big circles around the edge of the quilt.

This quilt measures 46” square. It was quilted by Nikki Maroon. Mitch Hopper took final pictures for me.

2017 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2017 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2017 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2017 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

back of quilt

back of quilt

embroidered label

embroidered label

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt

Another year, another list of realistic and unrealistic goals, another quilt to represent it all.

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

After my 2014 quilt I knew I had to simplify my designs if I had any hope of keeping up with a yearly series. My design for 2016 was a basic bar graph. Completion of goals is shown in percentages. For those items where I was able to surpass my goal, the bar goes beyond the 100% mark in a slightly different color. And one of the items didn’t make it onto the graph at all (0% completion).

Nikki Maroon quilted this for me. The piece measures 53” x 33”. Mitch Hopper took photos for me.

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, back

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, back

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, label

2016 Goal Visualization Quilt, label

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt

When I made my 2014 Goal Visualization Quilt, I thought maybe I was at the beginning of a series. I typically start each new year with a list of resolutions or measurable goals or whatever you want to call them, so why not document them in quilt form? I knew that I would have to really simplify my designs if I were to make this a yearly project, since my first goal visualization quilt took me 3 years to complete. So I set about planning this series, each year writing down my resolutions and then sketching a visual representation for each year. And now, four years later, I’m finally getting around to making the quilts.

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, 56” square

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, 56” square

For 2015 I grouped my goals into 5 categories:

Strength for fitness related goals,

Center for things related to spirituality and mindfulness,

Work for goals related to finishing art/quilt projects,

Family for things I wanted to make time to do with my husband and kids, and

Routine for some simple daily self-care habits I wanted to build.

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, label

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, label

I represented each goal as basically a box to be ticked. And X means I accomplished the goal for the year, an empty square means I did not. Even though at a lot of these boxes were empty at the end of the year, I still found it a valuable exercise. This process of “failure” helps me hone my goals each year and make them more realistic, helpful, and useful for me.

This quilt measures approximately 56” square. It was quilted by Nikki Maroon and Mitch Hopper took photos for me.

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, detail

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, back

2015 Goal Visualization Quilt, back