Off the craft table

January has been rushing by at record speed. I have been working on several quilt block, a lap quilt I am crocheting, and the Photo cube and cards are from the Jan. Scrapbooking class I hosted last weekend.

Weather.... omg, record highs here in Carlsbad for Jan. so far. Can you believe 80+ degrees here on the coast. And yet the East Coast is currently being blasted with vicious cold weather. What in the world is going on with our weather! The local beaches have been highly visited lately, and the summer clothes are in full swing, or at least during the day that is. Our evenings are still getting rather chilly, so it is shorts for day and sweats for night......

I started 2 Meetup Groups this past week. The first (Carlsbad Scrapbooking Meetup Group) is to organize and have a place for anyone interested in Scrapbooking or altered art to be a member of. The second ( Carlsbad Sewers Meetup Group) is for anyone interested in fiber arts: quilting, sewing, and crochet. There have been 14 people sign up for the scrapbooking group and 5 for the sewing group so far. I have events currently scheduled in both areas, although I am frantically searching for a venue for the sewing group. Hopefully some of the ladies signing on will help me in the venture.

Pouring over several quilting blogs lately I have been very motivated to turn on the sewing machine more and more. Although, I believe it is time for a "tune up" for my machine. The stitches aren't flowing as smoothly as they first did, and even skipping a stitch now and then. Guess it is time to visit the "sewing machine doctor"....

It is awesome to check out all the wonderful blogs out there for quilters. I found this website: http://quiltinggallery.com/quilting-bloggers/. I am even listed on the last page of bloggers from California ( due to my last name starting with a Y). You can search around the world by country even by state to located quilting stores, websites, and blogs. Great tool to add to you favorites list. Wouldn't it be fun on a road trip to map out various quilting stores and hit a few along the way!

I plan to start a little ending to each blog that is more my thoughts for the day.......

Scrambled in my thoughts:

Don't we all deserve a 2nd chance? Doesn't life throw us all curves at times, decisions that must be made (hard as they may be), or missed opportunities we didn't take when the moment was there?

Wouldn't it be great if we could in our little way of paying it forward, be able to somehow go back and right some of those moments? Words we wished we had said, deeds that went undone, lives we wish we would have reached out to.....

So if each day, I can somehow take moments, little seconds, to reach someone else. To say, "You are important to me, your words and thoughts are bold and meaningful.... and I cherish this time I have with you".

Our life is so fleeting, time so precious, and value is to be found in each person's path we cross. Reflection on what makes us smile, and what gives our life purpose and drive.... aren't those the most important moments of our day?

What is your most recent pay it forward moment? How have you made this world just a little better today as a result of your actions?