When I sat down to write this post and thought about all that happened in 2017 I realized what a crazy, wonderful year it was. Our family had many big events – the marriage of one son, birth of our first grandchild, my husband changed jobs to a new company and new position, Julia raised two pigs for the first time, and most recently, my youngest son became engaged to his girlfriend. We traveled more than usual with two trips to Vermont and one to Toronto. The year was filled with so much joy and it buzzed by so very quickly.
Looking back at what was accomplished in the sewing room was also interesting. I made nine quilts, two shirts, a number of projects for my grand daughter, as well as numerous small projects like tote bags, mini quilts and zip pouches. Additionally, I made about 50 chemex cozies for my Etsy shop. I am happy with what I got done, especially in light of all that was going on in our family.
My biggest accomplishment has to be the expansion of my shop to include quilting cottons. I began this process at the first of the year. It has been a tremendous learning experience and a rewarding one at that. Figuring out how much to buy, how to market it, when to promote and when not – all of this has been a wonderful process. I am grateful for all of you who have shopped with me, supporting my shop. Thank you so much!
In addition to my fabric shop, I opened a second Etsy shop where I carry sewing patterns. This has been a great project but quite time-consuming. It is satisfying to have over 400 patterns listed, with another 150 or so that still need to be listed. The shop opened in June and I have had 145 sales thus far.
Now to look forward. In the new year I will focus on five goals:
- Continue to grow both of my shops. Adding new fabrics and holding occasional promotions is something I am looking forward to. I also will be working with a group of quilt bloggers and creating blogger bundles each month. Stay tuned for more on that, beginning in January!
- Work on my free motion and long arm quilting skills. I have an opportunity to work with a gal that lives quite close to me who has a long arm. She is interested in trading me time on her long arm for fabric from my shop. This will enable to me have access to a machine close by, rather than driving to the shop where I rent time. (That shop is 45 miles from my home.
- I have three quilts in process right now. I would like to really focus on these and finish them up. I love each of them. My Twisted quilt top is about 50% complete. I have a scrappy HST project that I made as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2016 and it sat in the closet all year, lonely and wanting to be finished. Finally, I have my Ring Me quilt. This is going to be such a cool quilt. I started it when I took part in a blog hop to celebrate No Scrap Left Behind, Amanda Jean Nyberg’s latest book last spring. Originally I was going to make it lap size but the more I look at it, the more I like it. So, I have decided to make it a queen size and it will be used in the guest room.
- Not really quilting or sewing related, but I want to set a goal to send birthday cards to my family and friends. Seems like a small thing but I love receiving a note from someone in the mail and it is becoming a lost art. I have a huge family but I am putting everyone on the calendar and cards will be sent!
- Finally, and most importantly, I need to work on acceptance of the limitations I experience due to my health. For years now, I have had this drive to be super productive as a blogger and quilter (and also as a wife and mom). But my situation makes it really difficult to have a consistent level of productivity. It has been especially apparent over the past six months or so with my unhealthy days far outnumbering my healthy days. This is really frustrating for me. So, the goal for 2018 is acceptance. Not that I won’t do what I can to stay healthy, of course i will. But on the days I am down with a migraine and unable to be out and about, on the computer or at my sewing machine, I need to be OK with it. Blog posts are fun to write and I really enjoy the on-line quilting/crafting community but there will be weeks with less interaction. Such is life. I am blessed in so many ways and on the down days, I need to remember this.
OK – Five goals. I am absolutely confident I can achieve the first four. It is the fifth that I will struggle with. I am up for the challenge though! What are you planning for 2018? If you are a goal setter, be sure to link up your post with the 2018 Planning Party hosted by Yvonne over at Quilting Jetgirl. You can link up until end of day on December 31st.
In closing I need to let you know I am having a huge End of Year Celebration over at my shop!!! All fabric, including the newest additions, is on sale. Hop over and take a look.
Bernie, you have had quite a year! So many fun things for you and your family! I enjoyed reading through your goals and I think all of them are well thought out. I can understand why #5 is a challenge. I think accepting our limitations often helps us get through those bad days better, because we relax and don’t try to push ourselves beyond what we can do on those days (hope that makes sense). Happy New Year, Bernie!
This makes sense for sure. My approach for a long while has been to get through the migraine and be back on task asap. But it makes things worse. Sort of like trying to fake a smile when you don’t feel well. Plus I am finding if I talk about this and try to find some normalcy in it, it becomes less maddening. Keeping something to oneself magnifies it, whatever the issue. Happy New Year to you and yours Wendy! Looking forward to more friendship and quilting in the new year!
Best of wishes for a happy and well thought out new year Bernie!
Thank you Pam. Same to you! Here’s to a wonderful new year. 🙂
Oh, you are so bad, just placed an order in your Etsy store. I wish my fabrics would sell as well as yours! Great goals! Yes, life does intervene at times, just go with the flow, your readers will be here.
Well, I appreciate your sweet thoughts as well as the order! I will pack it today and ship it out. Happy New Year Carole. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I hope that you find acceptance goes smoother than you fear and that by letting go of self-expectations you can be gentler on yourself. I also hope that you are able to find a solution and move toward better health in 2018. Thank you so much for linking up and I look forward to seeing what you create in the year ahead!
You’ve got it– I was having a difficult time articulating the sentiment but “letting go of self-expectations” – you summed it up perfectly.
Thank you. 🙂
Just an FYI…You mentioned Amanda Jean in your blog post. Her last name is Nyberg. 🙂
Love your blog. Have a super New Year.
How funny. Nystrom is the last name of a friend and it just popped out somehow! Thanks for letting me know. Happy New Year to you too!
Blessings and Happy New Year to you Bernie!
Thank you Kristi. Same to you and your family!!
Happy new year, Bernie, and good luck with your goals. If you only have three WIPs to finish, you’re already ahead! 😃
Three is certainly manageable. I just want to be sure to finish them up rather than let them sit. Happy New Year to you as well Mari! 🙂
Before you even mentioned the migraines I was thinking “and she’s done all of this despite or in between the migraines”
I think I mentioned before that my BIL had them, and his mother before him. He’d see a sort of aura of black and lights and then he was down for the count, in extreme pain for a good 12 hours. This went on for years, but seasonally..as in maybe a cluster of them for months and then free for awhile. In the end, for him, some med that dealt with the blood flow at the back of the neck helped and they lessened and he doesn’t have them any more, but maybe they were going away as he got older…who knows.
But because I”ve been there when he’d had some of them I have an idea of what you heroically cope with.
Ugh, that sounds awful. I am so glad he doesn’t suffer with that anymore.
Happy New Year Deb! Looking forward to lots of fun projects and creativity in the new year. 🙂
Love your list!!!! I’ve never told you this…but I’ve so admired your shop development! I think your number 5 should be your number one….LOL…as a cancer survivor I can relate to having to accept situations out of our control. I was a young mother….it’s probably why I enjoy my grands so much as I was sick when they were 3 and 4. With acceptance you will find joy.
Thank you for this wonderful perspective Val. Probably does make sense to push number five to number one (although I didn’t really order the goals in any certain way.) But without it, the I will struggle to meet the other four goals. Happy New Year! Hope all is well with your family. 🙂
Bernie: You have accomplished so much with your shops this year. It’s wonderful to follow along with you as you do this. Acceptance….that’s a big one and one that I have had to work with as well. Good luck in 2018. I hope I can follow along a bit more actively this year.
Lisa, you had a crazy year! I hope 2018 is a bit calmer for you. You can take some time and enjoy your sweet grand babies and sew, sew, sew!! Happy New Year.