Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year!

It's that time when we ring out the old and ring in the new year! It has been a whirlwind of a year for me and I sort of hate to see 2013 go, but I know exciting things are coming for 2014 so I will go with the flow!

As I think about my goals for next year, I have pondered on my goals for this past year and all that I got accomplished. The year was filled with teaching and vending...two things I have not done for quite a while, nor had I done in the quilting industry. I have learned that I do enjoy these activities very much as I get to share the fun things I love about quilting, stitching and punching! These activities have taken me to Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and in between a few places. I plan on spreading my wings a bit more this year to build my little business. It is such fun to spread the Joy of Quilting to others! Once again, I thank all of you who inspire me to continue with this journey!

Winter 2013 brought a change in our lives as we moved our oldest DD and SIL far away from home to Augusta, GA. We had a great week together painting and decorating their new home so they would feel right at home quickly! It involved a modern touch, which was new for me to help with, but I really enjoyed making their new quilt in that style for them.

 

Winter also brought lots of work designing small sized projects for my pattern business. I tend to love working on large quilts and the plan to make small quilts was a nice challenge. They were made of Cottons and Wools, along with a few Punchneedle Mini Quilts! I made patterns for a total of 15 smaller projects in 2013! There are a few of them pictured below. You can see all of my patterns on my website at TraditionalPrimitives.com.

 

Spring 2013 brought work on Josie's Petals, a design for Blackberry Primitives Wool Company. Cindi and Tanja took her to Market in Portland to hang in their booth. It will be in a French Magazine this coming year!

Spring also brought work on the English Paper Piecing Workshops and Pincushions. It was exciting to get these ready so that I could begin teaching and sharing about English Paper Piecing in my unique method as well as the traditional method.

The weekend in Nebraska with The Quilted Crow Girls was in the Spring as well...Leonie, Deardre, Julie (Me and My Stitches), Lynn ( More Sew For You) and I shared many giggles and fun along with learning the Crow Girls way of doing wool appliqué.

Summer 2013 brought work on Pennies In My Garden wool appliqué quilt. It was so fun to find out how quickly this quilt goes when sewing it. Even though it is made by hand, the buttonhole stitching on the circles in 12" blocks went super fast!

 

Summer also brought the interview with Pat Sloan Radio! It was a great experience to be part of! You can listen to it if you wish...just find my name in June's listings on her radio website.

Much of my spare time was spent helping hand quilt the DMAQG Show Quilt!

Summer was the time that I decided to change my company name from Hallbrook Designs to Traditional Primitives and when I got the new website and blog switched over and running. (Take notice, my old email will be going away in a few days! Be sure to save my new contact info if you have not done so already! I look forward to making the new blog just as informative as the old blog. You can still access any old posts by the way...just click on the right sidebar for the link.)

Fall 2014 brought teaching and road trips for Vending and Trunk Shows in a few stores:

Eastern Iowa at Inspirations, a great little quilt store in Hills, IA; The Rabbit's Lair, a great store in Rogers, AR; Pierre, SD for teaching at a wonderful weekend retreat; Lees Summit, MO for a great quilt show and more. I hope to add more pinpoints to this map in 2014! It will begin in only a few days with my trip to Oklahoma City to vend in the Winter Quilt Show...let the adventure Begin!

Winter 2013 brought some catch up time and basic sewing I needed to complete. I have been working on my own Josie's Petals since Blackberry Primitives owns the original.

And I've also begun work on the next big quilt I plan on making! It has been a challenge so far...can't wait to show you more!

My sewing room is just about in order...the wall of little quilts is up, the new quilting machine is up and running well and my sewing space is slowly coming together. It sure has taken me a while to get things in order, but I am working on it when I can. Only a few more days and I can show you... I know it's taking forever! Perhaps the organization of my sewing room will be the last sewing related thing I complete in 2013!

It was a great year of blogging fun and pattern designing fun for me. I certainly hope your 2013 was as much fun as my year. Cheers to a wonderful 2014!!! Let's make it great!

Take Care,

Missie

 

12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful year you have had Missie! Here is wishing you double the fun in 2014! Happy New Year!
    Lola

    ReplyDelete
  2. A fun and busy year! Love all of your patterns and look forward to the coming year!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It was fun to look back on the year with you. I hope 2014 is a very productive, successful year for you. And I hope someday you get to Utah!! : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was a great year!!! I'm sure 2014 will be even better.....Happy New Year

    ReplyDelete
  5. I look forward to seeing what new things you create this year and I hope you and your family are blessed each and every day.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy New Year Missie! Wishing you continued success with Traditional Primitives! Hope you will have time in 2014 for another Saturday Iowa Road Trip!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope your new year adventures will bring you to Oregon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow you certainly have had a 'jam packed' year of changes and adventures. Happy New Year and all the best for 2014!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. what an exciting year you had. I look forward to seeing all the new things going on this. Blessings to you in 2014.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a great year you had! Your stall looks amazing, as do all your quilts! Have a marvellous 2014!

    P.S. I hope this isn't a duplicate comment - I clicked 'close' before my comment had 'taken'!

    ReplyDelete
  11. “I have pondered on my goals for this past year and all that I got accomplished.” – I agree, 2013 was a great year for you. It’s amazing that you accomplished all of your goals in just a year. How did you do it? With this success, there’s no doubt that you’ll be able to do the same for this year, even in your business plan. It’s difficult to start a business but having the right marketing strategy and tools, you’ll be able to do it for sure. Good luck!

    Marta @ Canyon Marketing

    ReplyDelete