Goals for 2013 and a Year in Review!

A Year in Review

We cant start a year in review unless we talk about what started it all.  Just over a year ago (well make that 2 years ago) Tanya and I decided to have another child.  It was a hard decision on our part as some of our kids are more grown up then most families expanding (James was 16 at the time, he will be 18 this year).  I had always wanted to have six kids. Our first child we lost to miscarriage. We had 3 wonderful children.  Tanya had prayed about it and we decided we were going to have 2 more kids.  Tanya got pregnant and we were so excited.  The baby was growing and kicking and then one day that sick feeling was in our soul, we lost another child.  When after the appropriate wait after the miscarriage we tried again.  This time Tanya and I were so afraid that we would loose another child we did every thing perfect and then I began to stew.  This was going to be the last baby we would have.  It had to be perfect.  I need baby toys and clothing and diapers and Quilts.  Where the heck do you get a quilt?  I at that time knew no one that would make me a quilt.  My mother and Tanya's mother both told me they were too old or tired to do it.  I asked people at church and they just gave me funny looks.  I looked online and found these funny quilting blogs and they made it look so easy.  I pointed one out to Tanya and told her, here follow this blog and make me a quilt.

At the time Tanya was a few months pregnant and this was after a miscarriage and almost a full year of being sick (did I mention that when Tanya is pregnant, she is sick and loosing her cookies as they say, every day multiple times).  My wonderful wife just gave me one of them looks like if you want a quilt make the stupid thing yourself.  Hum, I had thought about that before, but never made a serious thought of it.  I needed a quilt.  I just had to have a quilt for baby Julia.

Well she did not look like that then, but I could not resist making her a quilt.  So on Christmas Eve 2011, I made my first quilt, well it was more of a quilt sample.  It was a 3 square by 3 square rag quilt sample.  After all the searching online about quilting I realised I would never be able to make a real quilt as they were too hard and too complicated. (Boy has that changed).  With that first quilt under my belt I made a full blown Twin size rag quilt (its kinda funny my first real quilt was bigger then the next 40+ that followed it). With Blues and Browns I completed my first real quilt and created a blog (hey if others could do this I could too), plus I need to learn and the best way to learn is ask questions.  So on January 2, 2012 Richard Quilts was born.  Yes it was not Richard and Tanya, it was Richard Quilts and pregnant Tanya just tried not to toss her cookies on my quilts.

Then I finally did it, I made my first quilt for Julia, still in her mothers tummy, but it was for her.  I could have just stopped at this point, I had every thing I wanted. By this time, my kids and my wife was cheering me on and I could not resist trying to see if I could out do my self.    As time went on, I realized that maybe I could try making a pieced quilt and then the Train Wrek happened.

I called it such because every thing it was suppose to be just failed.  It had all kinds of mess ups.  My original design I had to toss out, because I did not buy enough fabric and so I had to improvise.  Even doing that I put one of the blocks in backwards.  If you look at the block 3rd row down on right side the pink should have been on left instead of right.  Sigh.  Good thing I don't let my failures keep me down.

Dance and Flight of the Dragonfly

Fug Runner

Paisley Parade

Dad's Zag Zag

and

Green Quilt of Awesomeness

were some of the early quilts to bring fun and laughter to our family. We still did not have Julia here.  She was holding out on us. Julia was born March 28th 2012.  Well my wife is going to come read this post and tell me to just shut up.  I will not review the rest of the year. but this year was the Year of Baby Julia in the Healey family.  The blog is no longer Richard Quilts, but Richard and Tanya Quilts (in fact Tanya is down finishing her 2nd quilt for the week, I am getting behind).  I will can hardly believe the past year I lost count on how many quilts and other items I made, most are here on my Complete Page.  If you are new here or just need a trip down memory lane please check it out.  Now what are our goals for the next year?  Well goal number 1 would be to spend more quality time improving my blog posts and bettering my quilting skills.  Here is the formal list here.

Goals for Richard

1. Learn to Paper Piece.
1. Sword & Shield's Quilt
1. Quilt that James and I plan to make
2. Charity Quilt that I want to make with blocks others make.
2. Temple Paper Pieced Pattern (I have 2 of them, one I won and one I bought) I currently lack the skill to complete them and would like to build up to that skill.
2. Sew Curves
1. I got a Drunkards Path template that I want to make at least one quilt out of it.
3. Go Big with my quilts.
1. I would like to make at least 2 queen size quilts for my bed.
4. Go bigger making more twin size quilts.  All my kids think they need more quilts and I never did finish  my older daughters that was planned, but never finished for Christmas last year.
5. Go all Orange
1. My wife hates orange and I think that this more then anything else, spurs me to make more of them.  I have plans for at least 3 orange quilts for this year, maybe more.
6. Go more modern
1. I belong to a modern quilt guild and its been pointed out to me, that I don't do much modern, so I need to make some more modern quilts.
7. Enter a quilt or 10 into competitions.
8. Make more patterns and custom blocks. 

Goals for Tanya

1. 2 Puzzle quilts.
1. Jared's School
2. Just Because
2. Rainbow Quilt with Ticklish
3. Tanya's Mom's Pinwheel Quilt.
4. Finish the blue and brown hearts quilt for our bed.
5. Two lap size plus quilts, one out of Twirl, and one for Jared in Greens and Oranges (his request, he liked the quilt James got for Christmas, but didn't like the one he received).
6. Learn to be more daring and quilt some of my tops.  I have quilted mini tops and one baby size.
7. Learn to bind a quilt instead of having my "Binding Fairy" (Richard) do it.  I think I will start small with the unfinished 12 day wall hangings for next years Christmas.
8. Make a pieced rag quilt.  
9. Make a couple of lap quilts for friends
10. Have fun instead of major rush to finish for deadlines ie Christmas.