From Favorite Things to Finished Quilts: A January Recap

I thought January would be a slower-paced month with some built-in time for rest and relaxation… but here we are at the end of the month, and I’m not quite sure where all that relaxation I was expecting went! Somehow January flew by.

I did, however, make time for a few lovely breakfasts and lunches with close friends, which always feels like a gift in the middle of busy days.

One of my favorite January traditions is our church Ladies Group “Favorite Things” party. If you’ve never been to one, here’s how it works: each person buys two of the same favorite item (within a set price limit) and brings them unwrapped in two separate gift bags. Everyone shares why their item is a favorite, and then we exchange gifts with two others chosen at random. You go home with two fun—and truly favorite—things!

For extra fun, we also bring one wrapped item or white elephant gift to add to a jackpot. One lucky winner goes home with the whole pot of goodies. It’s always so much fun and full of laughter.

This month I also took a free mini workshop called “Print Your Thing” from Horacio Printing, all about publishing planners and books. Someday, I’d love to publish a children’s illustrated Bible ABCs and 123s, and maybe even a planner for creatives. Polly was a wealth of knowledge and truly has a gift for teaching.

At one of my recent craft fairs, a customer suggested making sensory lap mats for those with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or autism—something to help keep restless hands busy. I love this idea. It’s a meaningful way to use up scraps of fabric along with ribbons, beads, zippers, and buttons, and turn them into something comforting and useful.

And then, of course, there was the big ice storm. I always keep a well-stocked pantry, so food wasn’t an issue, but losing electricity would have been challenging. Since our water source is a well, we would’ve needed buckets for flushing and extra jugs for drinking water. Thankfully, my husband’s woodworking shop has a wood stove, so we could have stayed warm and even cooked if needed. We never lost power, but the solid ice kept us housebound for almost a week. I’ve never seen ice last that long, form such a hard crust, or pile up so deeply. In the end, it became a quiet time to reflect—and to enjoy being home together.

The very last accomplishment of January was finishing the quilting on the 250th Semiquincentennial America the Beautiful quilt. I used a variety of techniques, including four-corner embroidery with colorful designs, machine-embroidered edge-to-edge quilting, free-motion quilting, and ruler quilting. The center panel is “America the Beautiful” by Heatherlee Chan for Clothworks, and it felt especially meaningful to complete this piece.

I hope your January was restful and rejuvenating, and that your new year is off to a wonderful start.