It's a New Year

Yes, it's a new year and I'm going to try and sew more this year, and blog as well. I haven't blogged since 2010 which is pretty bad, and I have to say that I haven't done a great deal of sewing since then either. But the thing is that I still think about quilting, I read quilting magazines and books, read the occasional blog, look at fabric and fabric sites online; all of which makes me feel like I've been quilting. Then when I'm forced to confront the reality ie no blog entry since Oct 2010 and no actual quilt progress, I'm always a little surprised.



Some things have happened in 14 months, not least of which was having to have my gorgeous old beagle Simon put to sleep. I have had him for over 14 years and he was always a gentle soft dog, so it was sad to see him deteriorate and I adjusted my life to look after him for as long as I could, but in the end he needed medical care that his body couldn't take. Now it's just me and Chloe, and we're doing fine. She's quite independent and seems happy being an only dog - this is a recent photo of her. She somehow seems to be looking at me in a slightly disapproving way as if to say, well, now what? Is it dinner time, walk time, sleep time, bone time? Let's get on with it!



I recently bought some fabric for the border of the double pink 4 patch that has been waiting a few years to be finished, and I've also had a little buy up at a local shop that was having a closing down sale. I normally don't go there as it is a store that does a lot of country style stitcheries and pretty quilts, but I had 15 mins to wait before a dentist appt so thought I'd calm myself by touching some fabric. It turned out that they were closing that day, and everything was heavily discounted, making the fabric still more expensive than it can be bought for on the Internet, but not too bad. The thing that drew me in was the red reproduction fabric which I had decided to buy online only the day before, so I bought what they had left which was on two bolts. I also found some Kaffes and spots, and a lovely book on the history of Dutch Quilts that was half price.



Otherwise the cloud of my ever worsening eyesight has been hanging over my head this last year or two. It seems that it is quite normal for "someone of my age", but I can't seem to get with the programme and accept it. I had new glasses again in October, but I can't handsew with them, so I have to go back and get some stronger ones again. I have always had excellent eyesight, so I'm feeling a bit shocked at how quickly they've deteriorated. I can't even read the labels in the supermarket anymore, let alone the tiny writing on ampoules at work! It's like I'm working through the stages of grief, but I really have to get over it.

If I pop up on anyone's radar I look forward to rejoining blogland and catching up with you again.