Q1 Check in

 Yvonne has a check in for how we are doing with this years goals.  So I thought I'd review and see how I'm coming....

This year I want to finish quilt tops for 

1. Butterfly quilt - Cut out additional blocks but haven't done any sewing on this yet.

2. Labyrinth quilt. - I cut this out in January and took it to a retreat.  It took several days of the retreat  but I have the completed top.  It went together really well.  

3. Rainbow Triple Four Patch  - It took some playing and designing in EQ8 but I did come up with a layout I liked.  I cut more blocks for each colour and sewed them at the retreat as well.  The top section is almost put together.  

Original Layout Idea

EQ8 layout.  The black lines are the blocks I've assembled.

4. Love Entwined applique (I'm just doing the centre of this quilt) - haven't touched this one yet this year..

I ordered a Cherrywood kit again this year and so will make a monarch quilt.  -- I have a design and have started to make components for it.  I'm a bit behind where I'd like to be but I am making progress.

Photography  

Lightroom cleanup continues. I'm part way through 2015 and would like to get 2016 and 2017 done as well.  Actually I'd like to get all of it done but I'm not sure that is a practical for the year.  Anything more than the 2.5 years will be a bonus.  - I have done some sorting of 2015 and some of this year.  This needs a bit more work but I have made some baby steps.  In January I took a virtual workshop with Tim Grey  on Cleaning up your mess in Lightroom Classic.  It was a really good workshop.  Many of the things that I'm currently doing are things he recommended and I was able to get some answers to a few issues - like combining catalogs. (he advocates just one for 99.999% of the time and it was good to understand the reasoning).  

Digital Art.  One of the suggestions in an ongoing workshop is 3 quick pieces everyday.  They don't need to be polished - just go in an play.  I created over 370 pieces of these quick plays in 2022.  I'd like to continue the 3 a day next year.  I'll go month by month setting my goal.  For January, my goal is every day.  I did create 3 a day in December.  I need to continue working on selections and lighting.  I'm also working on my portfolio site and need to get that up to date and complete some additional setups.  - My 3 quick pieces continues.  I have created them every day this year so far.  There are a few I've marked to go back and look at some more and expand.  I've noticed recently that I'm blindly accepting the selections that Photoshop is doing.  While they are really good, in a few instances, they really did need refining.  I need to remember to check that.  

These are the two screen grabs I did on March 10th of the 100 days of doing the quick exercises.  I've continued on since then.  At the moment, my goals is to complete March.  Just 6 to do - 3 today and 3 tomorrow. 

My portfolio site did get some additional setups and a few changes.  A class I'm involved in offered feedback on our websites and I'm slowly working my way through the changes.  One of the changes I made was a link to the pieces I've uploaded on Fineart America for sale.  I also added an instagram account just for my artwork helenannelemke_art and am slowly populating it.  

I'm pleased with my progress so far.  A few things that need a bit of attention but that is one of the reasons for participating in the review -- so come December, I won't look back and see I did nothing I had originally planned.  

Linking up with Yvonne's check-in here if you'd like to see how others are progressing on their goals for the year.