Taking Inventory

I love the start of a new year--a time to look back and reflect on the previous year and to look forward, make new plans, maybe realign my goals and priorities. This past year has been challenging but I'm excited about what's coming up in my life. Some highlights:

1) Attending Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis in May. My first book, Country Comforts--Quilts for Casual Living, will be released at that time. I'm planning to fly down early so that I can enjoy a little road trip, scouting out cool quilt and antique shops in Minnesota and Wisconsin. If anyone has any "not to be missed" places to visit in these states, please let me know!

2) Attending the Buggy Barn annual quilt show in August. I've been in contact with Pam and Janet and this year will be part of their wonderful show. Check out their website at http://www.buggybarnquilts.com/.

3) Along with some friends, hosting the second annual "Quilts in Tanglebank Gardens" show on September 11 (http://www.tanglebank.com/). We've already started to plan!

Of course, the start of a new year brings the practical stuff that has to get done, like the actual inventory taking, so downstairs I go to my studio. Here's the mural I painted on the wall (the center house looks like mine):
Enter the door to the left of the mural and you're in my studio. The tables are piled with fabric I've selected for the new quilt I'm designing.
Shelves are overflowing with wool I've been dying and samples I've made into patterns.
Looking the other way, you can see part of the new pattern on my design wall, my Ikea baskets with all my fabric scraps, and cupboards with bolts of fabric to be inventoried.
As I reflect, I realize that now, in my fifties, I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing with my life. It's taken my awhile to get here, to figure out what gives me joy, what needs to be done each day and what is not as important. I feel so very blessed to be where I am.