2019 Year End Wrap Up and Quilting Goals
How are we at the end of 2019 already? This has been a crazy busy year! So many unexpected things have happened, some good, some lousy, but one thing remains, I quilt. I quilt for fun. I quilt for work. And, I quilt when I am beyond exhausted but need to work out some tension. Always, I quilt. Working this small business has been far more time consuming than I expected, but I’ve accomplished more than I anticipated. Here is a look back at my quilting goals at the beginning of the year, and how successful (or not!) I was at accomplishing each.
In 2019 I wanted to…
Clean out the scrap bin!
Sort of. Each of these quilts was made with scraps, and you can get to the individual tutorials by clicking on the photos. So yes, lots of scrappy quilting, but no, the scrap box is not empty. I intend to continue working on that quilting goal next year, and will write up more tutorials for you as I go.
Write 2 patterns. Sell the patterns. Increase pattern sales.
Yes! I published FOUR patterns.
Hexie in a Hexie, Sweet Pea, Diamond Twist and Ombre Blitz are all pictured here and each photo will link you to the pattern.
Monetizing the blog.
In progress.
I’ve added Google Adsense and it seems to be working okay. Hopefully you, my readers, think it’s okay. I don’t ever want ads or pop ups to make reading the posts difficult for you. Shoot me an email or go to the “contact us” link and let me know if they do.
Amazon affiliate links are a little trickier. Y’all don’t seem interested in shopping through the links, so my account may get deactivated (they require a certain number of sales in the first 6 months) and that’s okay. I can focus on other things.
Take a quilting class.
Ummm…. Nope. Ran out of time. 2020 quilting goals, here we come!
Visit a quilt shop I’ve never been to before.
Yes! I visited my mom in Minnesota and Wisconsin and we went to several. It didn’t occur to me to note their names while we were there, but now I wish I had so I could tell you about them.
Instead, I’ll tell you about the weather that happened while I was there. It was 94* with a heat index of 114*. I’m a Seattle girl. I can do hot. I can do humid. I’m not really up for combining them. We also had a tornado watch for most of one afternoon, which I hope to never experience again.
Also, we went to a Minnesota Twins baseball game (they won!) which puts me at 10 MLB stadiums visited, getting to all 30 is a not-quilting-related ambition.
Okay, enough vacation, back to quilting goals.
Sew something that isn’t a quilt.
Maybe?
I made some pot holders as Christmas gifts. I wrote up a really easy tutorial so that you too can make awesome homemade gifts. But is a pot holder really something that isn’t a quilt? It’s two pieces of fabric with (specialized) batting in the middle and finished with binding. That’s sort of a small quilt.
The photo will link you to the tutorial, but I don’t think this goal can be checked off yet. Next year.
Make a Temperature Quilt
Yes! Instead of January 1-December 31, 2019, I used January 30, 1981 to January 30, 1982 which is my first year. This project was so much fun! Even though I had all the past weather data (I used wunderground for the historical data) and could have made the whole thing in one sitting, I chose to work one month at a time, just like everyone who had to wait each day for their weather data. That was a challenge, because I wanted to keep working, but it was fun to see it come together just a little bit at a time. That is, until I got to early December, then I worked ahead to finish it and write up a tutorial. The link in the photo will take you right to it, and I highly recommend you think about making one next year!
Make a mystery quilt.
In progress! I’m following along with the Quiltville Mystery called Frolic. We were given the colors and yardage requirements around Halloween, the first clue came out on Black Friday, and we’ve gotten one clue every Friday throughout December.
I’m making approximately ½ as many units as the directions say to make, because the finished quilt is meant to be 82” square and I do not have any need for anything that big.
Although, these are some of my most favorite colors and maybe I do need a new bed quilt. Probably not. But maybe… As of press time, I STILL haven’t decided if I’m going to use the grassy or minty greens.
Make a New York Beauty Quilt.
Yes!
Look how beautiful it is!
I wrote two tutorials, but only one is published so far. The photo above will link you right to the tutorial on sewing curves. The detailed quilting that is available through Quilt-As-You-Go is a tutorial that will be out in early January.
Grow the business. Build fans on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
In some ways yes, in others not so much.
My Pinterest account blew up, all thanks to this pin. Even if the business falls apart next year, at least I went viral once. Who knew so many people were interested in how to fix a damaged quilt!
Still on the to do list for next year is mastering Instagram. As always, you can find me in all these places:
How did your 2019 quilting goals go? Do you already have your goals for 2020 set? I do! Check back tomorrow for everything I aim to do next year!
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2 Comments
vickie
Wonderful blog! It sounds like it helped you to write out your goals. Perhaps we should all do that in all walks of our lives.
I pray 2020 brings you more growth and joy
And new quilt shops (With me!!)
Darcy
I think writing out goals helps to keep focus, which I definitely need more of.