January Meeting

I wish Cindy and I could have been at the meeting but we were snowed in at our house. I will tell you that we were ready for the crayon challenge and had lots of stuff for the Glitz and Glam play time. We will bring it to next month’s meeting.

I have been very busy with sewing this month. With my challenges finished I was able to finish my block a week challenge I gave myself last year. I make blocks using machine sewing and mates that were done with hand sewing. Some ended up with both and I am very happy with this project. I have already started with this challenge again this year. I find that it makes me go into the sewing room every day.

I also finished a piece I started in 2017. It contains hand embroidered fish on a machine stitched background. I was going to do some embroidery on the background but chose to hand bead it instead. I am very glad that I finished that one and will bring it for show and tell for the March meeting.

I am looking forward to our meetings this year as it is always a treat to see what all of you have done. We need to think up some challenges for the coming year. I thought we could do an animal mash-up where you take 2 different animals and combine them into one. Any ideas?

Welcoming a New Year

2019. A new year, a new set of challenges. I have to admit that the 2 color crayon challenge due this month has been a challenge to me. I had an idea and executed it but it didn’t turn out quite like I thought it would. So I had to rethink and adapt and in the end I still liked what I did.

I finished my year end by completing my block a week self imposed challenge. I really enjoyed doing this and have already started the challenge again for 2019. I keep thinking of things to do this year to make my sewing journey more challenging.

I read a post from Linda Mathews called “One Word Can Change Your Life”. in it she talks about how a ” word carries no expectations like a resolution does. There is room for mistakes and then get back on track; without a sense of guilt or failure.”

Every year for the last 10 years she has done 3 steps to pick her word for the year. They are:

1. Get clear about you vision. How do you envision the coming year. Do you need to discard old habits and create new ones? What is it that you want to be, do or have? How do you feel? Take time to make a list.
2. Define your vision. Once you know what you want in the year ahead, define the changes or things that will impact you. It’s not enough to make a list of all the things you want without understanding why you want them.
3. Choose your word. Choose a word that captures the essence of how you envision the new year. Make a list of words and then choose one word that feels good to you.

She has used words like Breathe, Focus, Imagine, Create, Possibility, Grow, Acceptance, Soar, Transformation and Expansion as a motivator for the year.

She creates a small quilt that represents her meaning of the word and hangs it in her sewing room. Throughout the year she has a reminder of what she is trying to achieve for the year in her sewing and her life.

I have been trying to think of my word and de-clutter keeps coming up  as I have so many bags of scrap sitting around me. I did use some in my block a week challenge but they seem to be like bunnies and multiply each night. I am going to try this word game and see if it helps me. What about you?