2019- A Year in Review!

WOW. I cannot believe that today is the last day of 2019. Does anyone else get oddly emotional on New Year's Eve? That "Auld Lang Syne" song makes me BAWL like a baby! I try to avoid hearing it like its the plague. I just can't handle it! There's something about saying goodbye to the past and starting over that makes me sad, yet spilling with excitement, all at the same time. The two emotions are an odd mixture, but I'm trying to sort through it with ya'll! 

2019 has been a year of extreme growth and learning. There have been a lot of "firsts" for me, which has been really exciting. There have also been a lot of personal milestones/highlights (or lowlights) that I've included in this list as well. Lets look at a breakdown, month by month.

January

• Snow Cabin was featured in Amy Sinibaldi's Sonata collection for Art Gallery Fabrics. You can read my blog post for that, here. 
• Hosted an 8 week Quilt Along for Interwoven
• Had my first trunk show at a local quilt shop. 
• Peter's grandmothers funeral
• Traveled to Savannah, Georgia

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February

• Released Vintage Lace quilt pattern (largest pattern launch to date)
• Interwoven and Shades of Citrus quilts were featured in Figo Fabrics' Lookbook for Lucky Charms. 
• We traveled to QuiltCon in Nashville, TN. Three of my quilts were juried into the show. You can read about that here. 
• Vacationed in Highlands, NC...which is where my idea of the Lois Quilt Collection was born. 

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March

• My quilt pattern Deco Fans, was on the cover of issue 72 of Love Patchwork and Quilting Magazine! You can read about that here. 
• I released the first quilt in the Lois Quilt Collection, First Gift. This was an enormous, emotional milestone for me. 
• I wrote a tutorial on how to machine bind your quilt. You can find that here. 
• I wrote a tutorial on pin basting. You can find that here. 
• We took a weekend trip to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

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April

• I hosted (the first) Vintage Lace Quilt Along over the span of 6 weeks. 
• I had another trunk show at a local quilt shop.
• I wrote a tutorial on straight line quilting. You can find that here. 
• I got picked up by my first distributor! This was huge!
• Started drafting Church Window. This pattern took me WEEKS and weeks to figure out. I was so excited when I did!
• Vintage Lace was featured in Figo Fabrics' Spring LookBook for the Midsummer collection.

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May

• I was a part of SpoonFlower's launch of their new Petal Signature Cotton! You can read my blog post about it, here. 
• We took the trip of a lifetime to ALASKA to celebrate 5 years of marriage!
• We came home from said trip to more than half of our house flooded and ruined. Our water heater busted while we were away, which lead to probably the most stressful summer of my life. 
• We lived in a hotel for 2 weeks, then moved into temporary housing while our home was being repaired. 
• I was featured in the "Designer Profile" segment of Love Patchwork and Quilting Magazine in issue 74. This was the silver lining to a crazy month! You can find a peak of the article here. 

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June

• I participated in a Blog Hop for Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids. I specifically featured a quilt pattern by my friend Elizabeth from Quilters Candy. You can find the blog post for that quilt here. 
• I released Church Window quilt pattern. 
• I wrote a column for Love Patchwork and Quilting, issue 75, about modern traditionalism. You can see a peak of that here. 
• I taught some local classes.

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July

• I hosted a 5 week Church Window quilt along.
• Started brainstorming the next quilt in the Lois Quilt Collection
• Launched Lo & Behold Bundles! This was really exciting for me. 
• I wrote a column for Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine, issue 76.
• I taught some local classes.
• Mountain Horizon was a part the LookBook for Ruby Star Society's Add It Up by Alexia Marcelle Abegg.

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August

• We had a booth at the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo in Raleigh!
• We took a weekend trip to Asheville, NC...our favorite place.
• I wrote a column for Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine, issue 77.
• I wrote a tutorial on how to make a lanyard. You can find that here. 

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September

• Peter stepped down from his management position so free up time for Lo & Behold. 
• WE MOVED BACK HOME!
• I designed Homecoming (at the time, I called it Memory Lane), a quilt pattern that commemorated our summer. The pattern will launch early 2020.
• I taught at a quilt retreat hosted by Long Armed Mama in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. 
• I wrote a column for Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine, issue 78.
• My Church Window quilt was featured in the LookBook for Figo Fabrics' "After the Rain" Collection. You can see that quilt here. 
• I released two patterns: Triangle Fade and Model Farm.

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October

• We had a booth at the Fall Quilt Market in Houston! You can see a peek of our booth here. 
• While we were in Texas, we re-visited Waco (we went a few years ago, but they didn't have the bakery nor the coffee shop at the time.)
• We also got to visit NASA while we were in Texas. One of my quilting friends works there and she gave us a behind-the-scenes tour, which was awesome!

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November

• I released a Christmas quilt pattern called Retro Ornaments!
• We continued to get settled back into our house. We had to buy new furniture and replace some things. 

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December

• I worked with a new fabric company, Nerida Hansen Fabrics. You can read about that here. 
• I designed the mini quilt pattern for Quilters Candy members. It's called Knitted Star, and you can read about it here. The full pattern is in the works to release in 2020!
• I created a quilt for the Robert Kaufman 2020 Kona Color of the Year launch. I used my Church Window pattern and created a quilt that I LOVE. You can read about the Color of the Year and my quilt here. 
• I wrote a scrappy quilted coaster tutorial. I've been making these things for years...they're such a great way to use up your scraps! You can find the tutorial here. 
• I was on the American Patchwork and Quilting podcast, episode 449! You can listen here. 

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WOW. I really didn't realized just how BIG 2019 was until I wrote everything down! If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to do the same! It'll be fun to look back on this years from now and to see all that I accomplished.

I learned a lot in 2019, not just quilting related, but also in my personal life. After the summer that we had, I've learned that life is fleeting. We faced a trial that was relatively small in the grand scheme of things. However, I learned to focus and dwell on things that truly matter. I've always known this in my head, but I don't think I fully lived it out in my heart. In hindsight, one of the most stressful times in my life turned into one of the biggest blessings for us. We are so grateful for all that we learned.

Looking forward to 2020, I have a lot of big goals for Lo & Behold!

1. First of all, my biggest goal is to slow down and enjoy the ride.
2. Blog more. I think I want to aim for 3-4 blog posts per month. 
3. Bring more people into quilting. I'm not 100% sure how this will look, but I have some ideas!
4. Create the next 1-2 quilts in the Lois Quilt Collection.
5. Release 5-6 quilt patterns.
6. Attend QuiltCon.
7. Attend more "in person" events. We are already slated to travel to Atlanta and Paducah in March/ April.
8. More curated fabric bundles.
9. Host more Quilt Alongs. The first will be the 2nd Annual Vintage Lace QAL which starts Jan. 13th.
10. Teach Peter how to quilt!

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Bottom line: this year wouldn't have been possible without each of you. Thank you so much for encouraging me, cheering me on and just simply being a friend. I'm so thankful for this community and for all that it has become.

I can't wait to see how the next year (and decade!) will look for us!

Cheers to 2020!

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Brittany