Looking Forward to a Berry Good Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I've been enjoying everyone's musings on 2013 and many gorgeous mosaics and photo tours of just how productive a year it was for so many, and feeling inspired by all the 2014 goals being posted out there, so I'm going to throw my recap/resolution hat in the ring today, too.

My biggest goal for the past year was to start a business working from home which could easily be transported since we move so frequently for my husband's career. I had received a new sewing machine (thanks again, Mom and Dad!) and jumped back into quilting after a long hiatus, enjoying the creativity and flexibility of the hobby, so starting a craft blog and dipping my feet into the sewing and quilting business felt like a natural extension. I launched Berry Barn Designs in 2013, focusing on blogging, networking, and reading as much as I could to take fledgling steps down the path toward running a business. I'm proud to say I had my first customer, designed a few projects from scratch, and learned some new skills, but I'm still so green and have a variety of ideas that I haven't quite focused into a defined plan yet. Here's a glimpse of the year's completed projects from crafts to clothing to quilts:

In 2014, I'm hoping to see all of my brainstorming become more concrete steps in growing my business and my blog following. I've been voraciously reading books by Robert Steven Kaplan and Kari Chapin, plus soaking in all the great business tips I see posted on blogs like While She Naps. I'll be joining up with Sew Fresh Quilts' Let's Bee Social each week, participating in Stash Bee each month (yeah! so excited to do my first bee!), and continuing to link up with Quilty Habit's Sewing With Certainty series and Pile O'Fabrics' Weekly Stash Share. Additionally, I had so much fun hosting my first mini giveaway and later joining up with Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day last year, that I plan to make them regular events!

I also want to carve out time for more personal sewing (don't we all!), to try new techniques in small project/mini quilt form, and to stay ahead of the crunch of holiday creations that swamps me at the end of the year. I'm planning a 30/30 Challenge - thirty days of thirty minutes of sewing just for me! and to hold myself accountable, I'll be posting pictures daily once underway (soon! just waiting for my machine to return from it's annual tune up). I'm also excited to dive into the classes in my queue on Craftsy, including Designing Modern Quilts, Improvisational Piecing Modern Design, and Sewing Texture. And I don't have the details quite worked out yet, but I'm envisioning a Christmas in July linky party to kick off holiday sewing for anyone who needs a little gift inspiration or help warding off project procrastination (::cough:: ME!) Sound like fun? I hope so! (And I hope it'll mean Mrs. Santa isn't behind her sewing machine on yet another Christmas Eve hehe.) As a little disclaimer, though, it's always possible that all of these goals might get a tad sidetracked if we end up adopting (*fingers crossed* for this wonderful kind of getting sidetracked!), but at the moment, we're still a waiting family hopeful that this is the year we'll welcome our next child : )

Thanks to everyone who has been following me - I hope you enjoy what I have in store for the year ahead. And in an effort to tackle that growth goal of mine and invite newcomers to BBD, today I'm linking up with the Let's Bee Social kickoff, Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet, and Sarah Quilts & Play-Crafts Year in Review so welcome to anyone new joining me!

I'd love to hear how you follow or found me, and what your most exciting sew/quilt/craft goal is for 2014!