Can you believe it’s 2024?

January 3, 2024

Personally, I’m excited for what this year brings – summertime means I’ll be officially retired. The next couple of months will be spent jumping through hoops to apply for retirement benefits and keep our health insurance moving along the continuum until retirement officially begins. I’m very thankful for the teacher retirement system advisor who told me about the process to keep our insurance in place in case I needed to leave employment before my official retirement date. For us, this proved to be the catalyst for retiring two years sooner than planned. It has been SO worth it!

Normally, I select a word of the year and make several resolutions for the coming year. I’m not doing that this year. Health, travel and quilting are my priorities. I’ll continue the health and wellness journey I began last year. Travel plans are now being made for summer and fall. FMQ Academy with HollyAnne Knight starts tomorrow.

The first 18 months of retirement have been focused on improving my piecing and walking foot quilting skills. Now, I’m ready to move beyond a loopy meander and do more “custom” quilting on my throw/lap size and smaller projects. The occasional large quilt will still be quilted by checkbook as I have no desire to own a longarm machine. If I get my FMQ groove down, but still have issues with consistent stitches, I’ll consider buying a Bernina 770 or Janome 9480 (with a stitch regulator) as a retirement gift to myself.

Quilty goals: focused destashing, improving FMQ skills and donating more projects to charity.

  • 2024 has been designated as “low buy” year for fabric, patterns, books, and notions. I am intentionally limiting myself to stash based projects that are free or use an existing pattern/book in my library.
  • I have so many flimsies in the pile that need to be finished. I do not have the budget to send everything out to the longarm quilter. Hello FMQ. I can do a loopy meander just fine, but want to up my FMQ game. I’ll spend the next 3 months in FMQ Academy with HollyAnne Knight of String & Story. This is also a test to see if guided, focused practice over time means I can do without a stitch regulator.
  • Several of my flimsies used for FMQ practice will go to my guild’s community service. Any orphan blocks or blocks made while learning a new technique can easily be turned into placemats for Meals on Wheels if I have no plans to keep it for a personal project.

P.S. Sadie and I made 26 facility visits as a therapy dog team in 2023. We’ll definitely be upping that number in 2024!

Holiday Reflections

December 30, 2023

Mid-December was a whirlwind as we celebrated Christmas a little early with our extended families. Sadie & I managed to get in a couple of extra facility visits, too, which brought cheer to staff and guests. Kids were out of school by 12/19, so CraftLAB was in session for holiday crafting. Sadie was overjoyed to see her fan club!  We even added a new member to CraftLAB! Somewhere in all the festivities, hubs and I managed to catch the crud that’s been making the rounds. It made for a rather low-key Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Being sick also meant that my SUV sat idle for a couple of days. The intermittent dead battery saga continues; however, we now know the underlying issue is a lot more complicated than first thought. Apparently my driving the SUV daily recharged the battery just enough to mask any power drain. Preliminary tests by the local mechanic pointed to a computer control module somewhere in the vehicle causing a 1 amp parasitic battery draw. (This is enough to drain a battery in 24-36 hours.) This is a dealer issue, so my vehicle will be there next week. I’m grateful we caught this now instead of me being stranded somewhere.

I’ve really enjoyed the Christmas season this year (which is a big deal because I normally don’t enjoy the month of December) and look forward to ringing in the new year.  I’m ready for two online quilting events happening New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Will I see you in the livestream chat?

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

The Christmas Season

December 15, 2023

Even my sewing space has a Christmas tree this year! It’s been a while since I decorated the entire house. Christmas finally feels “normal” again. Our mailbox has Christmas cards. I wrapped several presents using actual wrapping paper instead of gift bags. Clark Howard’s Christmas Kids is in-person this year. Invites to holiday parties, luncheons and dinners have returned. Several homes in my area have really pulled out all the stops with their exterior holiday lights. Likewise, our local town has upped its game with new light displays and holiday event offerings. Big Girl enjoys our evening rides to look at Christmas lights. I’ve made sugar cookies, crafted with the kids, and re-discovered some favorite holiday movies.

Gifts this year are practical and/or handmade. I made a personalized READ pillow for each of my nieces and nephews. My inner librarian thoroughly enjoyed spending time at B&N selecting the just-right book and magazine for each kid.

Here’s to a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. I’ll be offline enjoying the season with family and friends. See you in 2024!

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com