Link Love: Welcome to 2017!

I’m so excited to be kicking off 2017! I’ve spent the last month quietly working on things behind-the-scenes and making much needed changes and tweaks. It’s been really invigorating to be working on things and making plans. It’s only taken me six months but I finally feel like I’m no longer trying to squeeze everything in, instead I’ve made the mental shift to accepting that this is my life now – I’m self employed. I felt the shift occur in December and it was really powerful.

For the past couple of years I’ve felt the pressure of having to make my passion fit to my other commitments. I’ve been trying to grow my business, learn the skills I need and do everything in amongst working for someone else. It got that way that when I was spending time with my family I was feeling anxious and guilty about the fact that I had a huge to-do list waiting for me. I couldn’t just enjoy the time as I was constantly watching the clock and thinking about all the other things I could be doing. But something happened in December and it dawned on me that I don’t need to be thinking like that any more. This is my job. I can now spend time with my family guilt and anxiety free because I don’t have to get to the “day job”. I’m still working all the time, but now I’m getting to enjoy the time I’m not working. I’ve actually started sewing because I want to, not because I have to. It’s thrilling. I feel lighter, like a weight has been lifted. (Shame it hasn’t translated into lost kilos!)

We had a really quiet Christmas and New Year – apart from missing our families who live in other States it was just what I needed. To have the boys home, no pressure of looming travel and no real plans, it was great. I’d love to say that we were really productive and got all the big ticket items done around the house, but I’d be lying. We just enjoyed our time together and didn’t do much past building Lego. With the exception of the heat, it was a perfect

I’m using 1 January as my kick off point for a few things and I hope you like the changes. If you’re a newsletter subscriber you’ll be seeing some of those changes already creeping into today’s issue of the newsletter. (If you’re not a subscriber you can subscribe by clicking here.) One of my goals for 2017 is to share more with you all and get back to the things that I loved most about creating this community. As well as changes to the newsletter I’ve got some other big announcements coming that I hope you’ll like. But for now I’m just going to give you a little hint… click here.

For now though, I’m heading back to the sewing machine to get on with making. I hope you have a most fabulous day!

Minki Kim is hosting a pincushion sew-along in 2017 and it looks like so much fun. I’m so tempted to give it a go and make myself some new bling for my sewing room. Get all the details by clicking here.

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Did you see this post by Sherri of A Quilting Life about 5 tips for setting quilting and sewing goals? The last one might be a bit of a sticking point for my success… Read more by clicking here.

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I was lucky enough to see some of Heidi’s (of Fabric Mutt) phones at Quilt Market and I’m so excited that she’s released a sampler pattern that includes this pattern. Get all the details by clicking here.

Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous has collated a collection of free printable calendars from all around the internet. Get all the details by clicking here.

Have you got an event, a charity drive, a pattern release, a class schedule or something else that you think my community would be interested in hearing about? Why not drop me a line and let me know – I’d love to share it with my readers. Click here to email me.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a very small commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link, in fact in some cases I can offer you a better price via an affiliate link. I will not recommend something that I do not use myself. These commissions help me keep being able to provide you with great content for free. Thank you, in advance for your support!