Finding My Joy

I thought we would talk about finding our joy today.  There are so many ways people find joy, I thought I’d talk about mine.

One place I find joy is with my sewing friends.  There are 12 of us.  We have an inside joke that we are sewing friends and our other friends are our “real” friends.  Truth be told I’m not sure where any of us would be without these sewing friends.  The support and friendship that we have is the best.  I’ve been part of this group for over 25 years.  When my kids were young and so busy I wasn’t able to spend time with these friends.  After my divorce we reconnected and without them I would be in a dark hole.  They support me still through the loss of my son and the daily sadness that that can bring.  They just get it and meet me where I am and don’t judge…EVER.  My favorite thing to do with these friends is our retreats.  We tend to stick to retreats with just our group and they are usually a week long.  I cannot tell you what these weeks do for the soul.  Sewing, eating and laughing, oh the laughing for a whole week is second to none.  The joy this group brings me is perfect.

Family is another way I find joy.  My family consists of my daughter and her husband, my aging mother and two brothers and their families.  I told you in my last blog that I would explain about my son.  He passed away in April of 2023.  He suffered from undiagnosed Marfan Syndrome.  This is a disease that effects connective tissue.  At the age of 24 by fluke they found an 8cm aortic aneurysm.  This is huge.  The doctors flew him to The Cleveland Clinic where he underwent open heart surgery to repair the aorta.  He came through the surgery with flying colors.  After a week we came home and the second day home he went into cardiac arrest from a blood clot and never regained consciousness.  I had to perform CPR on him and I live with the fact that I could not save him.  The joy Michael and my daughter Jessi have brought me over the years is as close to heaven as I can get while still walking this earth.  They are my world.  The laughter, the jokes and the always picking on me is priceless.  I get only half of that now, but the memories are still priceless.

I live alone now and love it.  It’s me and my dog Charlie.  I got him not long before Michael passed away and I think it was God’s way of helping me through the hard days.  He’s a mini golden doodle and such a goof and such a joy.

Last but not least are my crafts.  Making quilts is so joyful.  I’ve learned that it’s the process I enjoy.  I still have a hard time giving them away especially if I don’t start them with that intent. If you know you know about that.  We all go through phases with our quilting.  I try to take photos of all my quilts and put them in a book with details about the quilt.  It’s almost comical to go through that book and see the stages of my quilting.  This is most evident in the colors.  I started in the country blue and rose stage.  I know you remember that one.  I then moved on to dark colors like hunter green and maroon and many civil war reproduction quilts.  Then it was and still is to a certain degree bright colors.  I’m happy to call this phase my happy phase.  It started with Tula Pink fabric.  You could call me a groupy of hers.  There is just something about the colors that she puts together that just make you smile and have you seen her new studio that she just finished building…Goals.  Then there is Lori Holt. At one point I said I was not going to jump on that band wagon and now here I am loving all the Lori Holt fabrics and pattern.  Again, the happy fabric she designs is so easy to look at.  The other phase that I’m going through is the Tilda phase.  I wouldn’t call these brights but oh they are such a soft and calming pallet.  I will most likely stay in this bright and soft phase for a while.  I highly recommend these designers and their fabric.  The best part about them is each line that they put out goes with every other line they have done.  The scrap quilts that can be made from these collections are awesome. 

I’ve also gotten into wood turning on a lathe recently.  You can see the home-made seam rippers that I have made under my “shop” tab.  Check them out, I love these seam rippers.  I’m also attempting some bowls.  Learning something new is always so exciting to me.  I’m really glad you can watch YouTube free.  I’ve spent so many hours on YouTube learning the lathe.

How do you find your joy?  Sometimes you have to look for it and that’s ok.  Never stop looking.  There is always something to be thankful and joyful for.  I’ve included some of the photos below of the things that bring me joy.

Till next time, find your joy!