2019 Review and Highlights

Tis the season for taking the time to reflect on the past year with a focus on my 2019 creativity and quilt teaching business goals:

Steps Towards Health & Happiness

1. Prioritize Work/Life Balance
Joining a gym was a huge step in focusing on my health and wellness. Weekly yoga and cycling classes, morning walks with the pups, and time on the treadmill have greatly benefitted my overall fitness, eating habits, sleeping habits, stress levels, and surprisingly, my creative practice. Just as important was making time for family & friends.

Mixing It Up with Ice Dyeing, Word of the Day, We Create 408, and Fabric Painting

2. Mix It Up
This year I explored a few new creative outlets including 4 days of Ice Dyeing experiments, Word of the Day sketches/journaling in January & February, We Create 408 daily prompts in October, fabric painting with Betty Busby at Art Quilt Tahoe, and becoming a 2019 Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador.

Michael Miller Ambassador Projects

However, I still found myself focused on deadline driven work for Michael Miller, Project Quilting, Fabric Challenges, and Teaching Samples.

Project Quilting Challenges

Fabric Challenges

Sampling of Quilts and Samples Used in My Teaching

3. Expand My Teaching Reach
My teaching schedule included 27 workshops, 18 lecture/trunk shows for 25 different organizations/guilds located in California, Oregon, Washington, and Nebraska! I also taught and presented at several larger quilt venues including Craft Napa, Road to California, SAQA Annual Conference, and Pacific International Quilt Festival.

Teaching Adventures at Craft Napa, Road to California, SAQA's Annual Conference and Pacific International Quilt Festival

Moreoever, I had the chance to connect with a wider audience through several media channels including: Tapings for Quilting Arts TV, writing an article for Quilting Arts Magazine, being a Featured Artist for Dharma Trading Company, joining a Back to School Blog Hop, and doing a Just Wanna Quilt interview with Dr. Elizabeth Townsend Gard.

Connecting with New Quilters via Quilting Arts TV, Quilting Arts Magazine, Dharma Trading Company Featured Artist, and Back to School Blog Hop

4. Launch New Content
Earlier this year I expanded my free motion quilting offerings by launching FMQing CREA-TV & Reality lecture/trunk show which pairs well with my new Modern Free Motion Fillers & FUN! worskshop. Additionally, I presented "Innovate & Create through Comedy Improv" for the SAQA Annual Conference and facilitated a Design Challenge for the SAQA NorCA/NV Region. Last but not least was delivering new FMQing demo videos, unboxing videos, and virtual trunk shows via Instagram and Facebook.

Free Motion FUN and Design Challenges

5. Develop Product Line
Unfortunately my endeavors to develop a product line just did not happen. On more than one occasion I would begin researching the steps/resources needed and got side-tracked by other deadline driven tasks. I will keep this goal on my radar and hope to revisit again.

Transition Time

2019 was also marked by a number of unexpected transitions in my personal and professional life:

• Adopting Callie, an adorable stray chi/doxie mix that I first spotted outside my studio window in early June. After daily visits, I finally gained her trust to capture and rescue her off the streets. She has been a welcome addition to our family.
• Both my laptop and car started to experience mechanical issues necessitating replacement around the same time.
• And I just completed a significant studio reorganization and layout change to accommodate a longarm quilting machine that arrived 2 weeks ago!

Phew! No wonder 2019 seemed to fly by in a flash!?! Thanks to all who were part of this year's Quilting Adventures--whether it was attending one of my workshops/lectures or following my adventures via my blog posts, monthly newsletter and/or social media. I hope you'll join me as I finalize my goals and plans for 2020!!