Hard to believe it’s been a month since I walked out the schoolhouse doors for the final time. I definitely haven’t been bored!

I have truly enjoyed having the luxury of time to simply exhale and attend to life’s surprises without the stress of having to figure out how to coordinate house/car repairs with work schedules.

I’m still trying to find my retirement rhythm. Hubby’s a couple of months ahead of me on that front and has developed a schedule that works for him. This doesn’t necessarily work for me, so there’s been a lot of comprise to get to a workable schedule that suits both of us. It’s funny how some things haven’t changed. I still spend Sunday mornings doing my planning for the coming week (currently questioning if I need to move down to a smaller planner) and Friday night is still “date night” at our favorite restaurant.

Lingering COVID concerns, inflation, gas prices, weather, equipment availability and business closures have definitely impacted some of the activities we thought we’d be enjoying right now. As mentioned previously, we’re still going ahead with travel that was already planned. Fortunately, the flights on my trip last week to Oklahoma weren’t canceled. The biggest issue seems to be a lack of staffing versus a lot of pent up demand for travel services. My best advice: be patient, go early to events/restaurants if you can and lower your expectations when it comes to hotels. COVID has definitely changed things.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned the past month is that regardless of what the stock market does and when my paychecks finally stop, we will be okay. Money is like a river – it flows in and out of your life. Sometimes the flow is strong and sometimes it trickles. We are at a point where the flow has lessened and we will see greater outflows than inflows for a period of time. That’s okay. We planned for this. This is part of the leap of faith that I mentioned in earlier retirement posts that I had to learn how to make. Still a work in progress when it comes to this. Wish me luck!

Yes, it will be right in my own backyard!

QuiltCon 2023 information is now available online. There are some interesting class offerings. Sessions are priced at $120 for a 3 hour class and $240 for a 6 hour class. Note that class kits require an additional fee.

I really enjoyed the events in Savannah and Nashville that I attended pre-COVID.

I’ve thought about volunteering for this one, but given the event location and the high crime rates in Atlanta, I’m not so sure anymore. I rarely venture ITP (inside the Perimeter/I-285 freeway that circles the city) these days. I may even decide to pass on this one as an attendee, too. I definitely don’t understand the decision making process that led the committee to choose the Mart as a venue. Besides crime, you also have to deal with downtown parking and the notorious ATL traffic. There are plenty of other event venues in Atlanta that could’ve easily handled the event, provided easy access to the airport and a higher degree of safety. But they didn’t ask for my opinion! 🙂

If you do come to QuiltCon, stay at the partner hotel, which is the Peachtree Plaza hotel. You’ll be safer and you can easily walk to the Mart.

The old saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without” is certainly applicable whether you are trying to be more mindful of how you spend your quilty dollars or if you are simply trying to live a greener lifestyle.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

(1) Old t-shirts
(a) Use as packing material
(b) Use as cleaning cloths
(c) Save the good parts for t-shirt pillows, t-shirt quilts or remake into baby/toddler clothes
(d) Donate whole tees or scraps to an organization that makes pet beds for animal rescue groups. Old
t-shirts are often used as stuffing material.

(2) Jeans
(a) Repair old jeans using the visible mending techniques that are so popular right now
(b) Save the good parts of worn out jeans (legs, rear pockets) to be turned into any of the wonderful
projects by designer Ira Rott. Below is a placemat made from old jeans and a Hawaiian shirt:

3) Kitchen items
(a) Old plastic food containers can be used to corral small bits in your sewing room, or to pack a travel
sewing/EPP or other handwork kit.
(b) Snack food bags (Oreos, Lay’s potato chips, etc.) can be turned into usable zipper pouches with the
addition of some iron on vinyl.

(4) Fabric scraps
(a) Cut leftover pieces into usable sizes to make your own precuts. Look for videos by Lori Holt,
Bonnie Hunter and Pat Sloan for inspiration on how to organize and manage your fabric scraps.
(Target and Hobby Lobby are a great resource for super-cute storage bins).
(b) Use your leftover jelly roll strips as in place of ribbon when wrapping presents
(c) Use your scraps to sew up fabric bags or gift card holders to use in lieu of wrapping paper.