Best of 2020 – Planning for 2021

It is that time of year again, where we are reviewing the old one – with all its ups and downs. 2020 for sure was a roller coaster ride. I guess all years have a fair mixture of positive or sad, fear and hope. This year the circumstances made me feel more anxious than ever and nonetheless there were the good things in between. I love how we moved together in different ways. In spring we went on way more walks with friends than ever, now in the dark times we have switched to zoom or phone calls – more frequent and longer than usual. So I can’t say I feel lonely. But it was for sure a different year :)

Instagram

Best Nine

But first a bit about Social Media aka Instagram …

As usual I did not like the generated collage. And it was not possible to simply archive the duplicates to regenerate until you find your perfect version. So I used it as a jumping point for my own version. I went through my IG feed manually and looked for additional pictures with many likes. It might not be totally accurate but I love that it shows most of my important projects.

27.2k likes on 152 posts

And I would not manage this many projects without all your support and encouragement. I really appreciate every like and kind comment! Thanks for all your IG love

2020

Review

How did I do with my sewing goals for 2019?
My first sewing goal was to continue the #30minssewingdaily challenge. And until recently I did continue to count the daily sewing. Or to be more precise: It was simply my personal way of counting the amount of pictures I managed to post on IG.

I planned for 15 in a month, aka every other day. February & August were the months were I accomplished that goal. Followed by two-third finishes in April, September & October. Let’s not talk about the other months…

I will stop counting my sewing this way. I was originally a tool to get me to start sewing even for small sessions. Then it morphed into a tool for more regular IG posting. Those are two very different things and it did not help much for either. So I think I’d better start a #30minssewingdaily habit tracker and really start planning my IG postings if I wanted to accomplish them ;)

Here are three highlights from my finished quilts:

If you want to see all my finishes hop over to the gallery.
 

My second sewing goal was to reduce the number of WIPs. I started with 12 projects on my FAL List for Q1. Unfortunately although I will most likely finish nine quilts in 2020, which I think is pretty awesome number, I still did not get that list shorter. Apparently I am adding too many projects. *shrug*

Six of the projects on my FAL List for Q1/2021 or from before this year. They have been on there for at least 12 months. The oldest WIP is from 2017…

I still hope that one day I will get this unwilling WIP list down to 3-6 projects in total. But for 2021 I plan to tackle all those old WIPs. Wish me luck!

How did I do with my more crazy goals for 2020?
I did not accomplish many of my extra goals but the one about pattern writing. First I published a two-part tutorial called “Charm Scrappy”.

Then I published my first pattern All the Diagonals in April. And I am very grateful that it was a success.

I also started on my next idea “Modern Tiles”. The design is finished but I did not get around to sewing or writing. That is planned for the first half of 2021.

Finished is a bee block design I created for a blog hop. It morphed into a full pattern called “Wonky Chevrons” and will release January, 15th. *Teaser*

How did I do with my personal growth goals for 2020?
I started very well in the first two months. I was my lightest and fittest in a while when I went to QuiltCon. But afterwards covid-19 happened and all the craziness threw me off the tracks. And I found it very hard to get back on. And just when I managed, I had an operation and all the good plans were derailed by comfort food again. Well, there is always 2021, right?

Six of my quilting highlights and five of those with blog posts for the “Best of 2020” :)

Austin

QuiltCon 2020

But this would not be a blog post about my highlights of 2020 if I did not mentioned QuiltCon. I looooooved visiting QuiltCon 2020 in Austin in February. It was a very lucky thing with covid-19 growing in speed only days after and then stopping all travel.

I wrote two blog posts about it: One about the Workshops & Lectures and another about the Exhibition.

2021

Goal Setting

I wrote about most of these in my review and the rest should be self-explanatory. The bold ones are primary goals, the other ones secondary.

My sewing goals for 2021

• Tackle all those old WIPs from before 2021.
• Get the unwilling WIP list down to 3-6 projects
• Start a habit tracker for daily sewing
• Start Instagram post planning

The pattern goals for 2021

• Publish “Wonky Chevrons” (planned for Januar, 15th)
• Publish “Modern Tiles” (planned for first half of 2021)
• Re-Publish “Charm Scrappy” as a pdf pattern
• Publish another pattern in the second half

The more crazy goals for 2021

• Finally figure out how to write a regular newsletter.
• Learn designing repeat patterns to draw a fabric collection – just for fun.

The personal growth goals for 2020
Let’s make it just one big one this year:

• Finally get back to a normal weight and get into a fitter state.

Excited to see what 2021 brings. Hope you all have a wonderful New Year! If you want to be a motivational buddy, please leave the hint in the comments :)

Best wishes
xo Melanie

Linking up at
Best of 2020 @ Meadow Mist Designs
2021 Planning Party @ Quilting Jetgirl