2020 Mid Year Review (Friday Foto Fun #136)
Today's the last day to link up with Yvonne of Quilting Jet Girl's Mid Year Check-In. I really appreciate her hosting this linkup as it gives me time to reflect on where I stand with my goals of 2020. This has been the year of many pivots. Not only because I am now living in my 3rd state in 3 years but also with COVID and trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with my quilting business.
There are many readers who have found me through some of the events I've participated in recently, so I figured I'd give a short history of how I got here. I started out as a hobby quilter who wanted to make my own designs, so I started designing my own quilt patterns. I worked with Island Batik as an ambassador and continue that relationship today as a Signature Designer. I have also partnered with Aurifil Threads as an Aurifil Artisan and Odif as a brand ambassador. However, my goals for 2020 were already the start of a minor pivot. I started to lose my joy of sewing and was determined to get that back. Moving twice in such a short amount of time caused me to get pretty bad anxiety about the amount of fabric I have amassed over the last few years and greatly influenced my goals.
2020 goals were short and sweet:
- Sew more fabric than I buy. I actually think I would have been doing really really well on this if not for all the custom fabric groups that I have purchased from. However, I still think I'm making a dent with all the bags I've been making and the Simply Series Quilts.
- Stream on Twitch. This has been going pretty well, and I feel like it's definitely forcing me to use my stash in creative ways. If you don't know what Twitch is, it's a streaming platform where you can watch creators live and chat with them. I typically stream on Saturdays with an occasional Sunday thrown in there. It's fun to meet some internet friends and chat while sewing.
- Health and Wellness as #1 Priority. This one, I'll admit, has fallen apart after COVID and never leaving the house. I miss my hot yoga and I just can't get myself to practice at home by myself.
So when we talk about pivots for 2020, my ultimate goal for this business has always been to quit my day job and pursue this as a fulltime gig. I started a Patreon page to help with this goal with some really awesome rewards. My patrons are the people I hold dearest to my hearts. I want to build content and provide rewards that are tangible to show my appreciation for them. I've already finished designing a block of the month for all patrons in 2021 (surprise!).
Another pivot that's happened this year, I started longarming for customers. I provide edge to edge services and I really want to be someone who partners with customers to finish off quilts they've worked very hard to complete. Remember how I love my Patrons? One of the rewards is discounted longarming services for the duration of their patronage. Check out all the rewards here.
As I think about the last 5 months of 2020, I am still reevaluating exactly what's needed for my life and my quilting business. There may be a few more pivots in my future, but in the end, it's all about finding joy in what I do.
Linking up with #2020MidYearCheckIn
What are your plans for the weekend?
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2020 is all about pivots, isn’t it? I’m glad to hear that you are putting in the work to find joy and I hope that you can navigate forward and find the best and most joyful path.
I like the idea of goal setting and then making a truthful evaluation of your progress. You kinda laid it all out Sherry! Pandemic, moving, new job are all stressful events. So glad you took the path of finding some joy. For myself, I really enjoy Saturday Twitch time with you, especially the Simply series. Thanks for helping me (us) get through this together.