This year’s 100 day project kicks off on February 22. Or I guess I should say — the “official” project that most people are familiar with from Instagram kicks off that day. Because I firmly believe you can and should start a 100 day project whenever you feel like it, whether or not that corresponds to the Instagram version of it…
In any case, it kicks off in a couple weeks. Most of the 100 day projects I’ve done have been as part of this particular coordinated timeframe, and 2023 will be my 7th year. But I’ve been thinking on and off about project ideas for a few weeks, and at the moment I’m admittedly struggling a bit with what direction to choose this year.
Do I want something easy? Do I want something more in depth? Do I want it to be quilting-related, or creative in a different way? What if it’s not very Instagram-worthy? Does that matter?
I took a moment to sketch out the things that I already know will be spanned by this particular 100-day stretch…and it’s a lot. February 22 to June 2. That covers QuiltCon, spring break, the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. I’ll also be co-hosting the Pantone Quilt Challenge in April and May, right smack in the middle.
My project needs to either be something small that I can do in 15 minutes or less each day — or it needs to be something that I can do in batches. I’ve done batch-style projects before and been successful, but I do tend to enjoy the “something every day” rhythm too. Ugh! I’m torn.
And thus, my extremely scattered list of ideas:
- Quilt designs, one per day. Simple, and could lead to fun makes in the future. But I’m kinda picky — could I really do this in <15 minutes and be happy with the results? Hmm.
- Some sort of hand stitching. I really like the idea of something I can carry with me. Hand appliqued blocks with…some kind of shapes? Hand stitched curvelets? Bojagi? My track record with English paper piecing isn’t great, but I could give it another go.
- 100 days of UFOs. I’ve got a long list of them, that’s for sure. This doesn’t lend itself well to my “thing per day” rhythm, so maybe weekly Instagram updates on my progress? This is a contender…
- I discovered a block in Barbara Brackman’s book called Sarah’s Choice — and it’s a star! It’s a basic sawtooth variation. Make one block per day, keeping a limited color palette and highlighting different parts of the structure? But would they mesh well at the end?
- I kinda wanna just make checkerboards or trip-around-the-world blocks, but I feel like this would get really boring by day 50…
- Another 100 postcards. I think I’d enjoy this quite a bit. But is it a copout to repeat a project?
- Something with text/letters. I’ve wanted to play more with the improv letters I used to make blocks for E.A.’s “Hope” quilt. To keep it manageable, probably one letter a day? What would I spell?
- Something with constellations. There are 88 of them. Stitch each one onto a block? Or heck, just make the Haptic Lab constellation quilt — I’ve had the pattern for years.
- Cross stitch. Just 100 days of working on a new piece. Not super Instagrammable…but fun?
- Something with a classic block. Log cabins?
- Practice piano. For something totally different.
See what I mean? Super scattered. I guess I’ve got about 10 days to figure it out…
I’ve been thinking about this since I read your blog post a day or so ago. Here’s how I would approach a quilt design 100 day challenge: work on a segmented approach that you can refine in 15 minutes a day. For instance, do row by row designs for a while (and I’d personally heavily think about how I could make secondary patterns emerge – fun). A row a day. A full quilt in a week or so? Do a few iterations. Then move on to medallion style. Same thing there; add a little bit each day. I think it could definitely be Instagram-able (and each design would be perfect for a Reel at the end of the design). And nothing stops you from tweaking each segment as you go and develop an idea. Anyway, I think that might keep it fresh and fun. And a palette cleanser might be to take one element from each of those designs and flesh those out into full quilts. 🙂
This is such an interesting idea and I’ve been pondering it in the week since you left this comment! I think I’ve settled on a handwork project for this year’s 100 days, but I really want to try out something like you suggested. I’ve never played with row by row designs, and only minimally with medallion style quilts. Maybe a shorter month-long project later this year…?
I likes Yvonne’s idea for design. I’ve been thinking of a design challenge myself. Paper and pencil mostly but then every tenth day, move it into EQ. I also want to practice making FPP block patterns.
I think your idea of sketching out ideas, and then choosing one to develop every 5-10 days is an excellent way to approach it!
100 3D fabric creations? From simple to complex
I’m a fan of the postcards again or the piano! Why not do something for yourself that you don’t have to have the added thing of sharing it?
I have totally struggled with the “for me” vs “I can share” aspect — which makes me feel insane, honestly, enough that I considered just not doing a project at all.
I’ve been aware of this IG community challenge for years but your 100 days of post cards caught my attention more than anything else – I looked through your posts to see all you had already made and followed your makes to the final one.
I’m glad that you are sharing your thoughts as you decide.
I’m thinking of combining the 100 day challenge with my quilt guild’s unofficial “15 minutes of play” inspired by Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s book. On days when I’m home, I’ll make fabric on my sewing machine. When I’m at QuiltCon and a knitting retreat in late April, I’ll try making fabric by hand.
I love the 15 minutes of play idea! I heard Victoria give the keynote at QuiltCon a few years ago and have loved that concept ever since.