Let’s just jump right in and take a look at the goals I set for 2020 and how things are progressing.
2020 Goals
- Host and have fun with the Push-Pull Quilt Along. – Yay and Complete!
- Make a queen size version of Push-Pull to replace the deteriorating bed quilt I made as a wedding gift to my husband 16 years ago. – Complete!
- Be on the crew at QuiltCon. – Complete! (And just in the nick of time, too.)
- Teach at QuiltCon. – Complete!
- Continue to blog 1-2 times a week as content arises. – So far, so good.
- Being online less in 2019 showed me that I was over extended in the time I spent on social media. As a result, continue to engage on social media 1-2 days a week maximum. – Busted; I’ve spent waaaaay too much time online. More discussion about this below.
- Release 6+ new Quilting Jetgirl patterns and continue designing. – 7 patterns released already, with probably more ideas than I can realistically pursue/release in the remainder of the year.
- Bubbly
- Push-Pull (full pattern at the end of the quilt along for those who were not interested in participating in the QAL)
- Arctic Summer
- Tire Tracks
- Scoop
- Pulsar
- Downstream
- Two Hearts Beating as One
- Dancing Diamonds
- Mum’s Garden
- Sky Full of Stars
- Pistils & Pollen
- Grow technical editing by continuing to explore new opportunities, especially as some businesses shrink or close. – This is going very well. Again, more details below.
- Traveling meant that I was not able to coordinate some teaching opportunities. Now that I am home and settled again, I am looking forward to exploring opportunities with guilds that are interested. – In a rare silver lining, COVID19 induced pivoting to online teaching is helping open up more opportunities here.
- Work on finishing long term WIPs. – 2 of 3 complete!
- Finish Aurifil BOM quilt
- Finish Modern Plus Sampler QAL quilt
- Finish Splendid Sampler 2 quilt
- Have fun with other new projects! – Yes, I am currently in the middle of exploring a lot of new ideas. More to come on Friday!
- Specifically, participation in the Modern Design Lab has been a great source of inspiration and new projects for me.
2020 Big Picture Goals
- Remember my overarching life goal of seeking mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual balance. – 2020 sure has been challenging, but I’m doing my best to keep this in mind.
- Continue to embrace the “seek rejection” philosophy. – I definitely am still embracing this. Some opportunities work out, some don’t.
- Be gentle with myself. – I do expect a lot from myself. This is a good reminder.
On Being Online
The elephant in the room for me is the amount of time I have spent online. I have always been a big advocate, cheerleader, and I hope a leader of the online quilting community. Last November, it started to become obvious to me that being an administrator for the Facebook Quilt Pattern Designers group was something that I needed to step away from. It was a critical time in the group, however, as the group was struggling. Long story made very short, new admins have just gone through the hand-off, and I’m hoping I can take a deep breath and get more offline time.
Technical Editing
My technical editing work has been growing, and the more engaged I get as an editor, the more I love the work. While the work does fluctuate, I am starting to consistently work for 2-4 hours a day. This is approaching the maximum amount of time I want to spend doing technical editing work while still being able to find time for my own creative pursuits, so I will need to pay close attention to maintaining this level and not taking on more work than I can handle.
Recap
- Overall, I have to admit that I was surprised to see how many of my 2020 goals I have already met.
- I will be doing a lot of video production learning in the second half of this year in order to create quality workshops for QuiltCon Together (registration for members opens today!), and I am looking forward to that.
- I will continue to monitor the time I spend online as right now I am feeling overextended there.
- My next focus in pattern writing will be figuring out what the next Quilt Along will be (note: my patrons will have input).
Linking up with the #2020MidYearCheckIn.
Spending time on social media can be time consuming, I’ve personally cut way back with no ill effects.
It is really hard to limit online time even if you just read and read. You are at least doing productive work online! But it certainly takes away from your creative time and tires the mind. I have actually gone to the extent of setting the oven timer to limit my online time. Otherwise, I’d still be online 3 hours later, still reading my blogs and accomplishing nothing but expanding my mind!
Appreciated reading your review. Social media is an issue for me too; tho during this time of isolation and remote working, it has definitely been a welcome connection.
Congrats on meeting so many of your goals and I hope the new changes in the QPG group mean less time in front of a computer for you. I need to take a look at my goals for 2020.
Kudos for meeting a lot of your goals.
You have done really well in an odd year. We all have spent more time online one way or another this year. I think COVID-19 has been quite the adjustment. Maybe your time away last year prepared you in some ways for this, so it allowed you to be more productive than some of us have. Congrats on getting done what you have, refocusing and finding new directions/opportunities in the second half of the you.
You’ve done really well with this year’s goals. The year certainly hasn’t gone as expected for many of us. Good luck with reaching the rest of your goals for 2020.
Very impressed with all that you’ve managed to accomplish in a somewhat weird and pretty challenging time! I had a lot of fun with the Push-Pull QAL and I’m really looking forward to your next one. Oh and I have Tire Tracks on my To Make list too. 🙂
Congratulations on your accomplishments! Thanks for the reminder to check and see how we are doing on our goals.
You have had a very productive year!!! Thank you for hosting this mid-year check in…so we can really celebrate our progress and the many wonderful silver linings we’ve discovered along the way!! Good luck with your QuiltCon preparations!!
Congratulations on your progress! And thank you for the reminder to look back and celebrate the good things that have happened in this weird year.