My niece and nephew-in-law are in New Zealand on their honeymoon, and that was the bumper sticker on their rented car. Lots of wisdom in bumper stickers.

When Emily shared with us the wit on her rented wheels, the tagline buzzed around my brain for several days. I loved the thought. It speaks of a positive outlook and gratitude for the past.

I decided to make it my 2020 slogan.

The glass is half-full,
Because 2020 is “the year of vision or clarity,” we started planning for 2020 in November! We have so many plans for new patterns, books, programs, and shows. Lora and I became Michael Miller Brand Ambassadors for 2020 too. They sent an AccuQuilt machine and dies, plus GOBS of colorful fabric. We’ll be starting a Block of the Month Quilt Along with Michael Miller in January. More info on that soon. I can’t wait for 2020 to get started. It will be a fun year for Material Girlfriends.

To look back at 2019, I pulled out a quilt from one of our patterns called Deep Reflections. Appropriate for thinking. I want to say 2019 was all roses and not a single struggle, not a frustrated tear, not even a sour note. But of course, that wouldn’t be truthful. There were many days of hard work and little to show for it. Without encouragement and support from our spouses, Lora and I probably would have faltered or sunk to the carpet more often than we did! But I choose to reflect on the past year with an attitude of gratitude – what a great year.

Lora and I grew as a team. We are so strong together. And funny. And creative. We love working with each other.

Material Girlfriends Patterns company grew. We broke all our records and surpassed our 2019 goals. I used up all my fingers and toes, trying to count all the new patterns we made this year. We’ll say over 20 so Lora doesn’t have to take her shoes off. We are THIS close to finishing our book, “Circle is the New Square.” Our first fabric line was manufactured (2nd line scheduled for July 2020). We had a booth at Houston’s Quilt Market and Festival for the first time. And we met more quilters in this one year than ever before. The quilters are what make this half delicious. Lora and I are so relational that if we didn’t have the interaction with all the wonderful quilters out there, creating quilts would be a bit flat. Quilters indeed make my life delicious.

Is it too early for a pre-dinner glass of wine? I’m ready to fill it to the top, wrap up in Deep Reflections and smile over the wonderful year I had with you all.

In 2020, may your glass always be half full, and the other half delicious.

Absewlutely,

Lisa Norton