A Quilting Life: Mid-Year Review + Creative Reset

Hello, friends! Today I’m sharing my recent Mid-Year Review + Creative Reset exercises. I’m a list-maker and a goal-setter, and I feel like the absolute very most important part of both processes is the review aspect. Keep reading for a look at the methods I use and to download your free Creative Reset printable.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.

A Quilting Life: Mid-Year Review + Creative Reset

Mid-Year Review

I actually took a couple of sessions to do my mid-year review. Early in June I started by looking back at the goals I set for the second quarter and did a re-cap of things that I had already accomplished during that time period. Then in July I finished up and used the following set of questions:

• What has been working well?
• What were the wins for the previous quarter? (Accomplishments of any size that made a difference in how I feel).
• What hasn’t been working well?
• Brain Dump–I listed absolutely every I could think of that needed to be done in the upcoming quarter.
• Adjust–I chose three things on the list that I could either delegate or that wouldn’t need to be done perfectly.
• Delete–I chose three things on the list that I could simply delete.
• Top 3–next I chose the top three things I needed to accomplish in quarter 3.
• Next Steps–I mapped out the next steps for making progress on each of my top 3 priorities.

Wins: 2024 First Six Months

The first six months of 2024 were definitely a whirlwind for me. Sometimes it’s easy to look back and not realize everything that actually did get done! Here’s my list of wins from January – June 2024:

• Taught at a guild retreat, lectured for a local guild, and lectured/taught for a California guild
• Finished up the Laguna Sunrise sewing and collection launch
• Finished up the sewing for our upcoming Family Favorites book
• Photoshoot in Austin, Texas for Family Favorites
• Oldest son’s wedding
• Taught and lectured at the Modavation retreat for shop owners in Dallas, Texas
• Completed the Raspberry Summer collection sewing
• A girl’s trip and two mini-vacations with my husband
• Read some terrific books (post on those coming soon)

Not Accomplished

Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses as they say–there were long hours, deadline stresses, and all of the normal things life throws at us, but all in all it was a very productive first half of the year. Did I accomplish all of my goals? No, and actually there were goals I had at the beginning of the year that didn’t get touched. But considering, the wins, I’m good with giving myself grace on those other things. (I didn’t even start my Letters to Santa quilt, Swell Christmas quilt, or work on my Honey Bun blocks).

Quarter 3 Goals

For me, quarter three is often one of the easiest times of the year. I try to focus on making good progress or finishing up works in progress during this time, and I also try to do some design work for the collections and patterns we will be sharing the next year. Finishing my current year Block of the Month is always on the list for quarter three, and I also like to do home projects during this time of year. I only have one teaching trip this quarter, so that will also lend the quarter to being more relaxed. Our weather starts to get nice at the end of this time, so it’s also a time when I reset my exercise and fitness routines.

A Creative Reset

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a ten-day Creative Reset challenge along with members of my A Quilting Life Patreon group. It was a lot of fun, and many of the members made comments about what types of things they were working on. This was actually the time period where I finished up my Heart of the Home wall hanging in our Laguna Sunrise fabrics (it had been sitting for a few months, untouched). You can download a PDF printable of our creative reset challenge from the button below. (Note that items 11-13 were actually just the questions for the review on day 10).

Organizing in the Sewing Room

Since the Creative Reset printable was just one page, you’ll find a helpful printable for organizing your sewing room on the reverse side. I’m actually getting ready to do some more organizing in my sewing room later this week (I am shifting some furniture around and doing some decluttering at the same time). For more ideas on organizing your sewing room, visit the post below:

Thanks so much for stopping by for today’s Mid-Year Review + Creative Reset post. I hope you found some helpful tips and ideas you can use as we move forward into the latter part of 2024.

Happy quilting!