1st Quarter 2019

January gave us beautiful colors throughout the low country.

I started out with 45 unfinished projects from previous years. I'm now down to 41. However, as is my usual method, I've added 17 more (6 of those are already finished). So at this moment, I have 52 projects 'in progress'. That's actually pretty good considering how far along all of the new additions are. 

I've been quilting up a lot of quilt sets for local charities. So far this year, I've done 35. (2018 had 12) 

During these first 3 months, I've put on 1,454,971 stitches on my HQ Fusion longarm machine. That's more than the entire year of 2018. 

7 quilts have been sent off to their new homes. Some of these were given to charity groups and some went to individuals. With the most recent one to a Grandma waiting for the first girl in 38 years to be born into the family. 

The bookshelf has been buzzing around here. My most recent reads include; Big Magic, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, I've Been Thinking, Turnabout Patchwork, and The Artist's Way. Obviously I am not a one genre lady! 

I've taken an Accordian HST Workshop in Columbia, SC that was sponsored by Devine Quilters and Palmetto Modern Quilt Guild. It was a fun weekend with 3 of my quilting friends. 

Another fun time was the Beach Retreat with the Cobblestone Quilt Guild. That's where 10 of those new projects were started, lol. 

George and I have enjoyed visits to several places. Some of the more notable ones included Magnolia Gardens, Folly Beach, Botany Bay on Edisto Island, Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island, and Egg's Up Grill, where they always ask if I want my coffee 'shifted'. They've come to know that I have been following Barb and Charlie McDermott and The Shift Formula method of changing my eating patterns. Both of us have gained many health benefits not to mention the smaller size of clothing that we now can wear comfortably. 

I've been making lots of progress on finishing projects ever since abandoning video games on January 3rd. I'd watched a Leah Day podcast on YouTube where she mentioned how much time can be wasted on 'things' that don't give us any joy or benefit. I had listed video games as being my January 'fast' item back in November, and by the time December 31st rolled around I had already adjusted it to a 'not until after 6pm' item. Her casual comment about her own life just really got me to think about the why behind it. My 'why' was that I used it to relax and zone out. I did a little thinking about my thinking, and I walked away from them! It's been 87 days today and I will continue to track my NOT playing them until I have the confidence in my resolution to continue. 

This might have been more about me than you care to know, but I'm trying to be honest and open. I've had so many people ask me how I get so much done, where do I get my energy, etc etc etc. It's a combination of healthy food choices, self care, and self reflection with a complete reliance on the Holy Spirit to prompt or push me as needed. 

This is about it for my 1st quarter recap. Now if I can get blogger to talk to my photo album there will be a picture of my red camellia from January 1 !