2022 Plans and Goals

Happy New Year! This is going to be another wordy post, I’m afraid. I enjoy spending some time in these gray days at the beginning of the year planning what I want to accomplish in the coming months. (In Northern New Jersey, we are in a gray weather period. Most mornings are foggy, and the skies are usually gray). It keeps my focused on positive things, rather than missing the sunshine. Here is my big list of 2022 plans and goals.

Back to school!

First up – I’ll be going back to school this year. I took a college course on watercolor painting in 2021, and it reminded me of my unfinished bachelor’s degree. My first time around, things just didn’t work out, and I didn’t finish my education. It has always bugged me, and I’ve finally decided to get it done. I worked with an advisor at Southern New Hampshire University to come up with a plan, and I’ll be starting online classes in two days. I’m excited and a little nervous. My watercolor professor was not prepared for my intensity. I hope my next professor is ready.

I’ll be pursuing a degree in General Studies, with a concentration in Liberal Arts. Since the degree is just for me, not for a career, this is perfect. I can continue to not make up my mind on what I want to study, sipping from different topics like a hummingbird. My goal is to polish some of my skills – graphic design, writing, and marketing would all be helpful with my current career.

I’m a Blank Quilting Ambassador!

I applied and was accepted to become a 2022 brand ambassador for the Blank Quilting Corporation. Blank Quilting is a part of Jaftex, a much larger corporation led by Scott Fortunoff. They own several brands, so from time to time I may be working with a fabric collection from another Jaftex brand. I’m looking forward to this new partnership. I’ll be sharing 6 fabric lines per year, one every other month. I’ll be sharing my first collection soon.

I hesitated over applying – I don’t want to overwhelm myself. But, I think I will be able to work this into my current workload pretty easily. I’m kind of hoping I can convince Scott to give me a tour of the warehouse.

Accuquilt Go Getter

I’ll be continuing to work with Accuquilt, of course. In addition to blog posts, I have some design work this year, which means some of my patterns will be available on the Accuquilt website. Also, my quilts and projects will be showing up on Accuquilt product launches. I’m pleased with this relationship – it is fun and rewarding. I have some prototype dies in my studio right now, and that is so fun! You know I love being in on the secrets and understanding the process.

I have committed to doing at least 6 blog posts for them this year. I’ll also be doing at least one more livestream appearance. That was fun last year.

Virtual Classes

I’ll be offering more virtual classes this year, through Gotham Quilts. Sharing my knowledge and helping quilters is fun. I have one on-going class planned – Creative Hand Stitching Journey with Gotham Quilts. That is a year-long commitment for me, with live sessions on the second Wednesday of the month, and also a hefty amount of work setting up the journey on the Gotham Quilts Community. The embroidery projects I have been working on to prepare for the journey have been so much fun. I’m really enjoying trying something different.

I’ll also be offering at least one other class each month. In January I have an intro to Kawandi-style quilting set up. On-demand classes are on my to-do list, too. I think they are a such a great product, both for teachers and for students. If I can figure out how to do adequate video editing, they can be a nice residual income stream.

YouTube

My YouTube channel will be getting more attention this year. I have a plan to do a block of the month style quilt with Accuquilt Block On Board dies. I love working with BOBs, and I have quite a few. I know others are collectors, too, and I want to make sure we use those dies we have invested in! This should help me make my channel more of a resource for people. Of course, monetizing my YouTube channel is a goal, but I am a long, long way from having the numbers to make that happen. If you want to subscribe to my channel, I would love it. ‘

Blogging, Newsletter Goals

I want to blog twice each week this year. The blog is always the easiest thing to drop when I’m busy. I have a blog hop planned for February that I am running, and one for March that I’m participating in. I also want to have more useful content, not just a diary-style of what I’ve been up to, but actual tutorials and useful information.

The newsletter will become a more regular occurrence. I plan to write one at the beginning of each month. My newsletter list is pretty hefty, with 1,735 subscribers. If you subscribe, thank you! I will continue to use the newsletter to promote new product releases, and other updates.

Social Media

Social Media is a fun time waster for me. I would like to increase my followers on Instagram. I’m currently at 2,300 or so, and I would like to be at 5,000 by the end of the year. I am on Pinterest and Facebook, too, but I don’t really do much with them. I might try to set aside time later in the year to see if paying attention to them makes a difference in any other metrics.

I think this is more than enough to keep going with. If I accomplish even a few of my goals this year, I will be doing great. Luckily, I am happiest when I am absolutely swamped. I hope you all have a great year, and a long list of interests to keep you busy. Thanks for reading through my list of 2022 plans and goals.