Happy New Year!!!!

 Happy New Year!!!!!

If the year is going to be anything like my first 30 minutes of being awake this morning, it's going to be a heck of a ride!

But first - did I stay up last night? I did NOT, however, I needed to use the washroom, and I checked my watch just for curiosity, and it was 11:58. So technically, I was up! But I wasn't celebrating, and thankfully, I went right back to sleep after the clock turned over!

We had great fun at the Virtual Retreat, and well, that's where my morning issue started! 

Last night, I was working on Farm Girl Vintage. The top was together, but four borders need to be added, and I was working on the flying geese a couple of days ago. It's time to put those borders on. It was funny when I cut the side borders; they were shorter than the book mentioned. Oh well, it could have been a mistake. No worries, and I added the first border on. 

Then I went to piece the flying geese units together and held it up to the side of the quilt, and hey, it's too long, too. Of course, if the first measurement was off, it makes sense that the second one would be off as well. I was tired by then, and it was time for bed. 

As I lay awake in bed this morning, contemplating the quilt, I thought, "I must have cut the sashing to the wrong size, and that's what caused my quilt to be shorter." 

When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I went downstairs and READ the pattern, something I don't seem to do often or well! OH!!! We have a problem! 

In October, I was laying out the blocks to sew them together, and I had THREE extra blocks. No big deal. 

But when I read the pattern this morning, I was supposed to MAKE three extra blocks and add one more row. I was supposed to make three more star blocks and put them in the corners. OOOPS!!!!!

I missed this point

Hmmm --- what to do? I could save those three blocks for something else, or I could bite the bullet and make three more blocks! 

So I'm going to bite the bullet and make three more blocks. I thought I took a picture this morning, but I guess I did not. I should have clued in when I had extra sashing and cornerstones left. DUH!!!!! Well, it's easy to fix - I have to remove the bottom or top border, and make three new blocks. Then add that row and extend the two side borders. 

Then I can continue as planned! But what a way to start the new year! It's going to be a doozy for sure! Or maybe that means that things will go smoothly since I handled this little SNAFU with grace. I didn't even say a single bad word, but I got quite the chuckle! 

And the year didn't end off so well either, as I had to scramble to log all my steps into The Conqueror Challenge. I'm walking every day, but I did a fair amount of traveling, and I was totally lax on the days I was away, unlike other years, where I got my butt out and walked regardless of where I was. 

I had set an aggressive, but doable goal for myself, but I knew I wasn't going to make it. I was good until we went to Africa, and then things fell apart! I have been logging my distances manually, so I didn't even know where I was until about 7 PM last night! Yes --- no one can accuse me of being obsessive about step counting! 

I had reduced my goal a month ago, but I should have figured out what I could in December and set that goal. I did not, so to ACHIEVE my goal, I had to enter all the distances for December, see how short I was, and then reset the annual goal. How is that for "cheating!" 

I still walked 3,665 KMs, so I don't really think I cheated! My original goal was 4,400, and that would have been doable if I had kept up my daily distances, but I did not. I'm still pleased with this, and it basically works out to 10 KM a day, which is pretty good in my opinion. Do I feel guilty? Not in the least --- life is way too short to worry about stuff like that. 

My completed walking goal for 2025

I have to set a new goal for 2026, and I think I like the number 3,650 because itis exactly 10 km a day, which is very doable for me. I also want to get out on my bicycle more, and the time spent walking was preventing me from riding. I think this will work very nicely!!!

I'm also going to go back to having the distances updated automatically. It's a hassle to do it manually. 

I need to get that set up today. Yep -- a techie task on New Year's Day—wish me luck! 

It was another crazy weather day - one minute, it's snowing and the next it's not. But the sidewalks were in excellent condition, even if they were a bit wet. It's hard for them to dry out when we keep getting snow and zero sun! But no ice - thanks to all the ice-melting stuff they put on them. It's probably not good for the environment, but great for walking. 

I noticed that they even plowed a path through the forest - someone was just trying out the new sidewalk equipement I suppose. Or they needed to get to a new street and cut through the forest. The forest path isn't maintained in winter, and with all the ice buildup, it's impossible to walk there when spring comes. 

A plowed path in the forest

Yesterday, my afternoon walk took me to Homesense as I needed a new lamp. The on/off switch on the one I have broke about ten days ago, and I tried to fix it, but then it broke again the next day. So, to use it, I had to unplug and plug it back in. The weather just wasn't conducive to walking home with a lamp. Yep - I could have taken the car, but where is the fun in that? 

So despite a wee bit of snow, I went to investigate lamps. OH MY -- Christmas was gone, and all the Valentine's Day stuff was out. There were hearts in every department! 

Hearts everywhere!

I found a lamp I liked, and I also looked at the puzzles—OH MY—they are only $14.99. But then reality hit in two ways. One: I do not need to purchase another jigsaw at this time. And I didn't want to carry that home in addition to the lamp, since I didn't have a bag with me. See—common sense—I have some from time to time. 

Here's the old and the new lamp, and I love the new one! The old one is pretty, but it's little, and well, it's old. So out with the old and in with the new - literally!

The new and old lamp

I finished my project yesterday, and that was a first. I started and finished a project in 24 hours! That doesn't happen often at my house! And then I got to put all the stuff away on the cutting table, so I could work on the Farm Girl Vintage. 

Everything got put away in its home

I have another project to work on today, and I MUST get that finished today, and then I'll take until Monday to work on "fun" things before I get myself back into work routine, which is really quiet at this time of year, but there are still things that need to be done! 

A few more half-square triangles were sewn and trimmed. I'm going to try hard this year to get on top of that and perhaps even start sewing some of them together! But it's not one of my goals, so who knows how serious I am about it. 

Half-square triangles

How often do you hear people say they are burning the candle at both ends? What if the candle has three wicks? Well, I'm burning my pie candle, which is constructed quite weirdly. Anyway, the bizarre thing about candles is that they only burn near the wick - well, that part isn't odd, but you would think the sides would drip in. They do NOT, so I've been helping the pie crust crumble into the burn area. 

My pie candle

And this is what it looked like last night as I snuffed it out before going to bed. A lot of the wax has burned away when compared to the Christmas pie! I think I might get one more day out of it, and then I can empty it and use it for my machine embroidery project! Yeah!!!!!

The old pie and the new pie

I have to say that I was impressed with a SMALL company that I purchased rolls of stabilizer from. I ordered the products on December 24, and the box arrived in my mailbox on December 31. Free shipping!!! And this is why I want to promote the heck out of buying from stores OTHER than my "favorite" online store. Do we really need to make Jeff richer than he already is? We do not! So when possible, I want to order from small businesses. 

The company I ordered from is Monfil.ca, based in Granby, Quebec. The order was filled the same day I placed it, and as mentioned, arrived in one week. You cannot beat that service!!!! Even better, the price was right!!! They sell embroidery thread, stabilizers, and probably other stuff as well. 

100 yards of water-soluble stabilizer

I had a private lesson to deliver yesterday, and it went very well. The student is excited and was told that if she didn't do the homework, I wouldn't continue! Because the topic was very focused, I even gave myself homework! Which I'm pretty excited about. 

Earlier this year, I purchased a quilt pattern that I didn't share with you. As I'm cleaning up the office, it's where it got stuck, so I'm sharing it with you. Sadly, this won't be on my radar for this year, or will it? 

My new quilt pattern

Did I make resolutions for 2026? No, I did not. But I picked a word to focus on. Have you ever tried to pick one word to direct your attention for an entire year? That was a challenge, but it wasn't. My word is GOALS. As I move through the days and need to make decisions, I can simply ask myself: Am I spending time working toward my goals? I will try to avoid time-wasters like endlessly scrolling Facebook and IG, which I don't do often, but every once in a while, I catch myself getting pulled in. But if I'm doing something I don't like, I need to ask myself whether it is helping me reach my goals. It's complicated, but I think you get the picture. 

I guess that's a wrap for today. I see it's cold outside, but not windy - well, there's a wind chill. The girls will be in their glory outside! 

On that note, I'm off to brave the cold and then tackle that project! 

Have a wonderful day, and I wish everyone the very best for 2026. It's going to be a good year!!!

Ciao!!!