Close to Home in 2014
It’s amazing to me how life works. A choice I made last year, affects things in a much bigger way than I could have imagined. All of a sudden I stand back and say “now I see, I was supposed to be here”. I decided in September that I would stay closer to home in 2014. The next quilt market is in Pittsburgh in May, and for the first time in my career I’ve decided to sit one out. This was not an easy decision for me, but at the time my reasoning was it was too far to travel, I needed a break, and I didn’t want the stress that market can bring.
I’ll have new patterns coming out around market time, but my next block of them month won’t be released until October. It’s a block of the month quilt that’s going to more time to design than the others, and I want to make sure I have enough time to work on it so that you’ll fall in love with it. It’s been in my head for 6 months now, with only a few sketches and drawings taking shape. I’m excited to start working on this quilt.
Now, because I decided to stay close to home, I will be here to take care of my family who desperately needs me, and still have time to work on my block of the month quilt. I had no idea at the time, that I would need to be here, but someone up there was trying to tell me something.
2014 May also be the year that I search for another friend for Chelsea. She and I are missing Bitsy more than ever, and I think it may be time to start looking for another perfect companion.
I want a dog just like the one Charlotte Lyons found. She’s been going through the grieving process of loosing a dog and look at the one she finally found!
Chelsea and I need a small gentle soul, who also loves cats. Something tells me we’ll know her when we see her. I’ll take Chelsea along to any rescue I visit because she has great taste.
Several months back my husband called me outside to look at what the jet stream over our house. It was amazing to look up and see such a beautiful thing. 2014 should be a year we all try to see the beauty around us. 2014 will be the year I take more photos. I want to capture those moments of awe, when the simple things touch me.
2014 will bring us a new, updated website. I’ve been talking about it for months, but now I’m actually in the process of loading product to it and making the final changes. It will look very much the same, but it’s definitely more sophisticated. I’m going to try a few PDF patterns for some of our smaller patterns. We’ll see how it works! Coming soon, I hope!
2014 will be the year when I go out of my way to buy things that have the breast cancer logo on them. A small portion of the proceeds goes to breast cancer research and you just never know when the next dollar might be the one that funds the cure.
To all of you who wrote to me with such compassion, thank you. Your comments meant so much to me. Our family has a battle ahead, and the next surgery scheduled, is to remove the lymph nodes under the arm to stage the cancer. That will be sometime in the next few weeks. Buy pink whenever you can! If each of us do it, 2014 will bring new drugs, new treatments and maybe even a cure.
Be sure and look for our newsletter tomorrow in your email. It has the code for our January 25% off sale! Take today to look at the site and decide what you’d like. The sale is for 3 days only, and happens every January!
Hugs to each and every one you!
Anne
25 Comments
Jamie O.
Much love to your family as your loved one goes through treatments. I was 26 and 29 when I was diagnosed with my breast cancers. It’s been 7 years and things are great. It is a trying time, but just taking it a step at a time makes it bearable. Hugs to all. :)
Judi
Since you are searching for a new friend for your pup, please consider adoption. In one of the NYC newspapers last week the story was about how many chihuahuas are abandoned in a year. There were over 1000! One was found in Battery park in her pink tutu dress. No one claimed her. It seems that these puppies are given as gift accessories and then either abandoned or left at shelters. I am sure that any shelter near you or a chihuahua rescue group can find the perfect baby for you and a forever home for some lucky pooch.
BTW, for anyone else, there are breed specific rescue groups for almost every breed. They have everything form puppies to adult dogs and all have been checked by vets and tested for temperament.
Sue
Dear Anne,
Oh how you made me smile when I read – someone up there was trying to tell me something. I know FOR SURE I am guided, protected and will ALWAYS be deeply loved from many above, one being my father. He died when I was 9. We were SO close and it seemed as if he knew our time would be limited. Being so young, it confused me why he was trying so hard to teach, show me everything he could, to prepare me for the best life possible. In retrospect, I understand now what he was doing! I believe we are all guided from above but for any number of reasons, we don’t recognize it until after the fact, if at all. We are so busy with what is going on in our lives, we rebuff our STRONG gut feeling of what/which decision we should make. “Gut” feelings usually being the strongest “signs” we receive.
I was SO happy to read about your plans – to continue to do what you love, your passion and our gift – EACH and EVERY one of your awe-inspiring designs, but slowing your pace some – to stop, admire and capture the beauty and wonder that surrounds us every day!
I was saddened though to hear the health issue your family member is going through. I will certainly keep them in my thoughts and prayers and know, surrounded by those they love, through and by faith, prayer, hope and determination, they WILL overcome it, and their health will be fully restored!
I recently saw 2 items on the web that apply to what we need to be focusing on to improve the quality of our body, mind and soul, instead of the stress, worry, and “what if’s” our minds normally go to! The first, a gentle reminder in this “hurry up” world, stressing that we need to take time to cherish and embrace all experiences in our lives, it reads – “Sometimes you never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” This is so true! There are no “do overs” in life so while beautiful and wonderful things are happening, it is so important to recognize them! The second was stapled to few telephone poles around town which read – “For one minute, please stand here in silence, look at the sky and contemplate how awesome life is!” It is so important to remind ourselves, give thanks, take a few moments each and every day in profound gratitude for the abundant blessings we all have in our lives.
Just a quick thought please, if you can, when you are ready to find a friend for you and Chelsea, would you please consider taking a peek on FB/Twitter? Every night a whole group of us tweet and also share on FB, cats/kittens/puppies/dogs that are to be put down the next day. You can find any “type” of dog you may be looking for, from pure breeds to mutts! They give a lot of information/history about the animal from age, health, prior exposure to cats/dogs. The rescue/shelters are more than happy to answer any questions you may have not listed under the animal’s picture and history.
In closing, may each dawn bring miracles of boundless joy, with an abundance of health, happiness, prosperity, peace & love!
Huggggs! :)
Sue