I’ve been thinking alot about 2011 and my goals for this new year both for me personally and for my business. I planned to write this out last night, but I went antiquing with my mom all day yesterday and I was just too exhausted to think through a whole year and write about it in a coherant manner. So here we go.

2011 was a very big year for me and it was full of ups and downs. It was a wonderful year in many ways, but I would also have to say it was probably the hardest as well.

-I began the year with my new business. I had just started Olivia Jane Handcrafted one month prior, and I was still trying to find my feet and found myself bouncing between nervousness and excitement, but most of the time I was feeling equal amounts of both.

-Layla started walking in January at 10 months old making her already proud parents even more excited. Of course, we learned that was only the beginning of a whole new adventure. Independence, and lots of it.  

-We found ourselves celebrating Layla’s first birthday in March. I was so excited, but very sad at the same time. Where did my baby go? When had the last year decided to come and go so quickly?

-I tried something I had said I wanted to do when I had nothing but time and patience. I handquilted an entire quilt, and I did it at only 21, not 80 like I had initially planned.

-I learned I loved handquilting, that it built within me patience. I realized just how much loved flows into a handquilted piece.

-I made two quilt patterns. I drew up a hundred more, but those have yet to be joined with a set of directions.

-I designed three collections of bags.

-I finally made a new cover for my ironing board.

-I bought more fabric than I ever thought I could. I didn’t waste any of it. I also revamped my studio space to incorporate more of that fabric!

-I learned to love my husband more. I learned that love is more than a feeling, its a purposeful action that you must do each and every day.

-We found out we were expecting our second child. I was filled with excitement and Layla was feeling my belly for the baby all the time. We rejoiced.

-Just two and a half months later, we went to the doctor. She searched and searched for a heartbeat. There wasn’t one. I cried. Then I cried more. I thanked God above for the child I do have. I came home and hugged her and cried some more.

-Those were some hard times. We decided the baby was girl since we hadn’t gotten the chance to find out. I named her Adelaide and I miss her very much. I don’t understand why, but I do know she’s up in Heaven with the Lord and I’ll get to kiss her sweet face one day. Though I still cry, I can find joy in that.

-We all grew closer.

-I learned to treasure every day.

I don’t know what 2012 holds, but I have made many goals. I’ll share just a few of them with you.

First, I would really like to take Olivia Jane Handcrafted from fun hobby, to a business. It must become that. I have many steps I will be taking to endeavor to bring about the success of this business that I love. Second, I plan on keeping a tighter blogging schedule. I would really like to be consistently blogging atleast four times every week. Another blog related goal of mine is to be real. I want this blog to be information rich, and for you to know me better. I think I’ve made a good start on that today, being inspired to open myself up through another person who I deeply admire. Those are the things I appreciate most in a blog, and it only makes sense for me to expect that from myself. You will be seeing many more tutorials on here, I hope you are able to draw more from here than you did in 2011. Fourth, all quilts I make this year will be handquilted, unless I am requested to do otherwise. As I said before, handquilting is something I have come to love and have spent much of this year sharpening my skills in that area. I feel this is also a wonderful way to distinguish myself from a host of other quilters.

I hope this new year brings much joy and fulfillment. I hope that I grow even closer to the ones I love most. I want to never forget that it is in God that I am made complete. I plan to learn many new things, including how to knit. I hope this year brings you much of the same, although you could probably go without the knitting and still manage to have a good year!

-Meredith

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