Best Quilting of 2017 and New Goals
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share a commission.I never thought I would look forward to a new year as much as I do right now….come on 2018!
Best Quilting of 2017 and new Goals
This Christmas tree table runner was a remake of an older tutorial of mine – the Christmas Tree Table Runner from 2011 which is still one of my most popular posts
My friend Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts posted her Best of 2017 and Plans for 2018 a couple of days ago and her post gave me the push to write my own Best of 2017 post and share it at Cheryl’s Best of 2017 Linky Party.
I am also linking up with Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl’s 2018 Planning Party
Wow! Looking back at the goals and plans that I shared for 2017 was a shocker! I completely forgot what goals I had actually made. I am almost afraid to say that I will still have the same goals for this year!
Goals for 2017
- Continue doing a monthly guest post and project for AccuQuilt
- Continue being an ambassador for Island Batik
- Share more quilt projects from Fat Quarter Shop
- Create at least one new tutorial a month – didn’t get this done
- Submit more quilt patterns to magazines – didn’t get this done
I for one am tickled that 2017 is coming to a close and can only hope that 2018 will be a much better year.
I had great plans for the year, in fact, I bought a new website and planned on sharing information on how you can make money with quilting and crafting online. My new website was bought, I paid for the hosting for one year and then my dad got sick and everything was put on hold. Hopefully, in 2018 I’ll work on it.
I was doing quite well will my passive income in the first quarter of 2017 but it really took a nosedive when my blog posts dwindled as dad got sicker.
My favorite post of 2017 was actually about hand stitching on wool and also about my dad.
In this particular post, I shared some precious photos of my dad and family as we took my dad for his last boat ride. This was just days before he passed.
I was very surprised at the guilt and depression I felt after dad died and I thank so many of you wonderful friends who shared your own stories with me in emails and helped me through this time. I think many times it is easier to talk to someone this way….especially for me as I am really more of a loner. Builder Bob is the people lover!
Tutorials
It comes as no surprise that the most popular posts are tutorials! I know that has to be my favorite thing to find on the internet. I have many of them and continue to update them whenever I can.
My fabric basket tutorial from 2014 continues to be one of my most popular posts. I still enjoy making them and made a couple of new fabric baskets for Valentine’s Day.
I mentioned that one of my goals for 2017 was to update my old posts for SEO…..it has been embarrassing to see how many posts I wrote that say “Tutorial coming soon!” I’ll be working on that in 2018!
Did I mention that I bought a new computer just before dad got sick????
It is a desktop…..why oh why did I buy a desktop?? I enjoy carrying my laptop upstairs, out on the deck, downstairs, on trips……you don’t do that with a desktop!
In the last month, I have finally sat down and started using it and transferring my files to it. It is fast! Photoshop opens in seconds! So does Electric Quilt 8! I can’t justify a new laptop LOL, so I guess I’ll get used to computing in one place and quit whining.
Best Quilting of 2017 and new Goals
Thankful
I am very thankful for everything and everyone I have in my life. Both of my parents are gone and I am now the oldest in the family. I am 66 years old….I can’t believe how fast time goes by now!
I am thankful I have a blog! I remember my first computer with cassettes! I remember paying for internet service by the hour….4 hours a month for $10 and thinking how neat it was! My first website was on GeoCities! My grandchildren will never remember a time that there weren’t internet or cell phones, imagine what their grandchildren will see!
The amount of people blogging has slowed down considerably, with Instagram, Twitter and Facebook being much faster to post to. Blog posts with pictures take time…..lots of time but I do love being able to go back and read a post I wrote a year or two ago. I hope that people will continue to share blog posts and maybe some will start up again.
Learning
I love learning new things and have a habit of signing up for way too many classes! Can someone be addicted to internet learning or buying??
I also purchase classes like Skillshare and Food Blogger Pro which have yearly or monthly fees.
I originally started blogging when I was doing digital scrapbooking and digital images are still my favorite thing to create. I am always learning new things with Photoshop and now Affinity. Learning new skills for my website is constantly going on.
Goals
When I was working you were expected to have goals, I have continued to have goals but I have reached the point in my life where goals aren’t that important. I am thankful for every day that I have and all that I have.
I enjoy posting tutorials on my blog, sharing some of what goes on in my life and writing patterns. I love being an ambassador for Island Batik, working with AccuQuilt, Fat Quarter Shop, and Aurifil.
Teaching……this is something I have no desire to do, traveling….same thing much to Builder Bobs dismay. I love my quilt studio…..my happy place.
Thank you everyone for your support this year and I hope all of you have a wonderful 2018!
Update: Craftsy no longer sells patterns or fabric. My patterns are still on sale for $3.99 or less at Craftsy – they will go back to their regular price on January 1st, 2018.
We are heading out of town this morning to visit Builder Bob’s daughters and families and will be gone for a few days. Of course, little Sadie will be going along….she is a wonderful traveler.
Happy new year Connie! Glad to see you again with Island Batik and Accuquilt of course 🙂
Here’s to another productive year!!
I am so sorry to hear about the difficulties and hard times you went through in 2017. I am also hoping for a more peaceful and calm 2018. Thank you so much for sharing and linking up, and I hope that whatever comes, you have a lot of quilting joy in the new year.
Your amazing. No matter the challenge you get thru it and inspire us all. Here’s to a great 2018. Looking forward to seeing what you have to delight us with in the new year.
Life happens Connie, we can’t put back the clock. Both my parents are ill and I can empathise with how hard it has been for you, all we can do is support them best we can and enjoy the time we have. Goals are like stars in the sky, we may never reach them but they help us to navigate, or something like that although I can’t remember who said it. Just enjoy your quilting and navigating for 2018, you will get there whenever it is meant to be, just enjoy the journey best you can. Happy New Year, I wish you happiness for 2018
Connie, I am so happy I found your blog and you do a wonderful job of keeping it all going. I would love to learn from your blogging experiences…how to grow my own or monetize it possibly. Whatever, I know it would be valuable to me.
I lost my dad a year ago when he was 87; I think of him or quote him every day.
Happy New Year, Connie. I do hope 2018 will be brighter and happier for you than 2017.
I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize your dad had passed, and because I know of how that loss can affect you it just makes me sadder to think of how easy it is to become depressed. Both of my parents are gone now, and there were some tough times but just by trudging on and working thru it, we come back and remember all those good things, the bad just seems to fade into a past you don’t quite remember. I’ve loved your tutorials of the past, and this wonderful post today, thank you for sharing your memories of last year, and don’t worry about the past goals, that is just what they are, in the past, there is always tomorrow.
Connie Dear you really have had the most trying 2017. I love you and your blogging and sharing of sew much that you create and make. Please do not be hard on yourself for not accomplishing everything you wanted to. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while we are busy making plans.” Blessings and Peace and Joy and Creativity for all of 2018 Dear…XO <3
It was so nice to read about your goals past and present. I feel like we could be sew-sisters, Connie! I, too, could stay at home all year and be totally happy. Especially if it includes my sewing room. My husband is the outgoing one who keeps things interesting. I tend to start things and not finish them, which is why I’m afraid to post my 2018 goals. But that’s what I’ll be working on today. And “yes” to learning about how to earn money blogging. Best of luck to you in 2018!
I am very interested in business side of blogging /crafting online and hope that you get to explore a new blog focused on that in 2018. Thanks for linking up and happy new year!
I always learn from you. Your year has been rough but you have endured and shared so much. Thanks for all of it. And a big successful year to come!
I love your tuto, always a good time!
I hope that you and others like yourself continue to blog and share your knowledge of quilting. I have learnt so much by “blog hopping”.
Hi Connie, You are a very caring and thoughtful quilting buddy. I am enjoying blogging with you! Looking forward to more fun blogging in 2018.
Happy New Year Connie! Thank you for your blog all year long; love it!
I love blogs!! Mine is my journal of quilting and also life. But I love reading other blogs. People don’t share their stories as much on Instagram or Twitter. And getting to know the blogger a little bit is part of what I enjoy so much, along with lots of inspiration, new ideas, helpful tips, etc. And I’ve even met a couple of fellow bloggers in person which was great fun.
Your goals were pretty realistic even though life got in the way of some of them. You would be superhuman if you reached all of them!
Happy New Year Connie! I am looking forward to 2018 as well.
Oh Connie, this was a tough year for you but your memories are precious. Maybe you should put Builder Bob and trips on your UFO list. Take hand work or/and the lap top for designing along. with you. Love your blog and many of your patterns. I’m getting where smaller is much better. Who needs tons of BIG quilts?
I can imagine how thrilled you are to have 2017 behind you with a clean slate for 2018.
The advantage of aging is that those high pressure goals are a thing of the past. I love going with the flow and appreciate the fact that I do not need to set wild goals anymore.
Blogging does take more time, but like you, I feel it create stronger bonds between people. I hope you continue.
I wish you a wonderful 2018 with lots of time for you!
Please don’t stop, I have so enjoyed your blog this year and felt for you as you accompanied your Dad on his final journey. Today’s blog is brilliant, I so agree with what you say. I love a whole blog, pictures and sometimes a tutorial and linky Tuesday is such fun. So complete, proper swimming not paddling like instagram or Twitter. Even Flickr can frustrate me as I try to find out how to make it or if there is a pattern! I made a fabric basket from your tutorial some years ago and it was very special because with a friend whose mother died we found some fabric she had saved, it was dirty and some of it damaged from being in a damp box for a time but I washed it and there was just enough to make the box for her son to keep bits of change or cufflinks in and remember her each time. Thank you. You may not have completed all your tasks or challenges but you sound to me like a pretty complete person and surely that is the most important thing. I wish you all that you can comfortably manage in 2018 and expect no more!
First, I want to say that your blog is one of my favorites and I thank you for providing free tutorials, even while you are trying to earn income from your blog.
You certainly had good reasons for not accomplishing all your goals in 2017. You did a lot despite the circumstances and we all look forward to what you have in mind for 2018. I really enjoy your monthly recaps.
Happy New Year
It’s always good to see the backside of a hard year, but we do grow through experiencing them and I hope that has been the case for you. Best wishes for a happy busy 2018!
Life does have a way of interfering with blogging, doesn’t it?! Your posts I will never forget were the ones about Pelly…every morning when I got on the computer and opened my email, I would look for an email from you first so I could find out the next chapter in the saga of Pelly!! I would be interested in knowing how to earn money on my blog…the one I posted twice on this year (caring for my father who is 96 really makes actual quilting take a back seat), but who knows what the future holds! I’m horrible at setting goals at the beginning of the year, but I am going to try a BOM online, maybe making a QoV with it (I hope that will keep me motivated). I find it really hard to even piece anything with my stash so far away and knowing everything will end up a WIP because my longarm doesn’t travel well (I have at least 50 waiting for backings to be made and quilting to happen at home). Looking to you for motivation!!!
Connie, I love reading your blog. I understand the depression and yes, guilt. Both of my parents have been gone for 30 years now, and my husband for 26, I still have some of those feelings, especially this time of year.
I think you did quite well on your goals last year. You are an inspiration to so many of us. I love your patterns and tutorials. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.
Yes I would like to know more about earning money with your blog….not sure I am going to do that but who knows. I hope you are feeling better, I know I went into a funk when both my parents passed too. It gets better. I just got a new laptop, our son has been home for a few days and I put him to work transferring stuff from the old to the new. DH will finish it up. I have not set goals for this year and not worrying about how many UFO’s I have this year either, I just want to enjoy whatever my mind says it wants to do that day!
I am so blessed to have made a connection with you through blogging Connie and am so glad to see you decided to write a post to take part in Cheryl’s kinky party. Thank you for reaching out to me and providing me with a virtual hug when I needed it most. Looking forward to spending more time with you in the new year! May it bring us both much happiness and pretty stitches, my friend!
Hahaha! I was just re-reading my comment after publishing. Gotta love auto correct. A kinky party does sound like more fun than a linky party, but that wasn’t my idea!
I know what you mean about not wanting to do too many goals, over-scheduling is so easy! That is an ambitious list, LOL!! Be kind to yourself, it is very difficult to learn to live without a parent. Fun tutorials!!