I opened my email this morning to reminders from several different organizations to participate in Giving Tuesday. Given the recent barrage of “buy, buy, buy” messages, I found this somewhat amusing. Did this tradition start to atone for the excess of shopping that transpires from Black Friday through Cyber Monday?

While monetary donations are important, I think the most valuable asset an individual offers is their time.

The benefit is multiplied when the volunteer’s expertise matches the organization’s greatest need.

Case in point: the children’s librarian at the public library is thrilled I’m able to come shelf-read a couple of hours a week. Shelf-reading means going through the stacks, book by book, to make sure the books are in the correct order. It’s a necessary task for library maintenance, but one library staff never seem to have time to do. Hey, shelf-reading was a rarity when I ran my own school library. So, if you were able to find your fairy tale and planet books easily this week – you’re welcome. I’ll be doing animals (the 599’s) next week.

As a quilter and/or sewist, you have so many worthwhile opportunities/ways to donate your time and talents:

(1) Make items (quilts, placemats, pillowcases, medical comfort items, burial dresses, memory bears) requested by organizations you and/or your quilt guild support.**

(2) Attend designated charity sew days. Be prepared to cut, press or sew as needed.

(2) Teach others how to sew – teach a kid, teach a class, host a group, write a blog post.

(3) Mentor during summer youth camps.

(4) Help out with your local guild – one time event, host a bee group or assume a leadership role.

(5) Mending/sewing for local scouting groups, choral groups, dance groups or theatrical productions.

(6) Mend a hem or sew on a button so the 3 year old next door can continue wearing her favorite bunny dress.

**You can use your own fabric stash or fabrics provided by your guild. Yes, donate excess stash to your guild’s community service group. Your contributions will be combined with others and repackaged into coordinated bundles. Members then take these bundles and sew designated items using the fabric bundle. Finished items are returned and distributed to organizations the guild supports. Believe me, if you let it be known that you can sew and are willing to help, but lack supplies – quilters will figure out a way to get you whatever you need. That’s how we roll.

As a recent retiree, charitable giving looks a little different this year. I certainly don’t have the income available that I did when I as still working full-time (nor the employer match). Yet, I realized I have something much more valuable to offer – my time. Be generous and intentional with your volunteer hours, my friends. Both you and your chosen organization will reap the benefits.

Last night, I wrapped up my sewing session by completing the Santa hat quilt block in the Scrappiness is Happiness QAL. I thought it was quite fitting as today is Black Friday – the unofficial start to the Christmas season. Did you join the hordes of shoppers today? Years ago, I would have been decked out in my Christmas sweatshirt at 6 a.m. waiting in line for Joann’s to open. Not today. There wasn’t anything I needed.

Instead, I was in the mood to bake. I have a loaf of scratch-made banana bread in the oven. It’s been a while since I’ve made cookies, muffins or biscuits from scratch. Normally, baking involves a boxed brownie mix or refrigerated cookie dough that hubby likes. Let’s just say it’s definitely much easier than baking from scratch. I’ll enjoy my banana bread, though!

I’m trying to keep my hands busy with sewing, baking, organizing and cleaning. Why? So I don’t stress eat. I already find the whole Christmas season challenging enough to navigate. Add to this hubby’s check-up appointment at MD Anderson is next week. This appointment’s going to be much more involved than his previous ones because two tiny spots were detected on his April scans. I’m thankful he’s had volunteer stints with Team Rubicon to keep him occupied the past few weeks.

Today’s mail delivery brought happy mail – a straight stitch needle plate for the computerized machine I brought home from school. It’s been sitting in the closet since late May waiting for a former coworker to fetch it. I’m thankful she never did. The realization that this machine has an available straight stitch needle plate was a game changer. I now have a larger companion to my 3/4 size Elna STAR! It’s a 10-12 year old Janome DC3050. Sews a beautiful 820 spm (compared to the Elna’s 650 spm) and , is less likely to bounce on a plastic folding table since it weights 18.2 pounds. The perfect choice to take to retreats where I can drive and need a machine that can do a wee bit more than the Elna STAR. Problem solved at a minimal cost! The Baby Lock Jubilant is a fantastic machine, but it currently does not have an available straight stitch plate. The foot holder screw also has a tendency to work loose when sewing, which is highly annoying.

Just for fun, I perused the offerings of the specialty quilt tour companies today. I was literally salivating as I read through the outside the USA tour descriptions – France, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Morocco – yes, please! These are definitely once in a lifetime trips (for me at least). The cost of a single trip, plus airfare and incidentals could easily reach $8-$10k.

A girl can always dream.

In reality, it looks like the majority of my quilty travels will be close to home in 2023. My hunch is I will be attending several BYOP events within a 2-3 hour drive. Why? (1) many instructors have chosen to remain virtual (YouTube) (2) projects advertised at some venues simply do not appeal to me and (3) airfare costs. The retreat/class fees may be perfectly reasonable, yet some destinations mean I have to tack on another $1000 for airfare. Ouch! Then, there’s the unknown with winter weather. I’d rather keep things local (or to the south) in January & February. Sadly, Shipshewanna Quilt Festival recently announced that 2022 was its final show. This event had been highly recommended by several attendees at Mountain QuiltFest. I was so looking forward to the road trip and visiting friends along the way.

Not to worry, there are other events… I just haven’t found the right quilty road-trip for 2023 yet!