Valerean

Unlike the three previous months of my calendar project, during which I slogged right to the very end of the month to finish and assemble each tote, I'm having a lot of fun with April's edition. Adding crochet to this one definitely boosted my spirits. I crocheted and added the yarn elements all in one night. Here are the finished panels. I also crocheted the handles for the tote. I then decided to assemble it before I applied the embroidered carrots tag, just to see how it would look. It looks fine. I think I will line it, as the cutter quilt pieces are pretty thin and worn, so I need to look for some lining fabric. I'll probably use white or a neutral. Onward!

Now that I have the fabric elements for the tote I'm making this month for my calendar project, I actually need some yarn. I thought I'd raid my little stash of artsy yarns to see what I could pair with my cutter quilt pieces. I first selected these hanks as possibilities. The pink on the far left is fingering weight, which is too thin for my needs. The orange and brown hank and the white/darkblue/green/yellow skein don't pair well with the cutter quilt pieces. That left two possibilities. I do love this Juniper Moon yarn, and it would work well with the quilt pieces, but I have only one hank, which probably won't be enough for the project. In the end I went with the orange worsted wool, of which I have four hanks, which should be plenty to finish the crochet portion of the tote. I'm all set. I just have to review the pattern, cake the yarn and then I can get started.

Do I need more to do in 2026? Well, sometime over the next twelve months I have to seriously decide whether I should continue working or retire. This should be easy, right? Nope. I have already made some decisions, such as what I intend to do after I retire ( work as a volunteer transcribing hand-written documents for The National Archives ) and if I will ever self-publish for profit under my old bylines (absolutely not. When I stop working for money, I stop working .) These are non-negotiable decisions that I made for my general health, happiness and avoidance of all the unpleasantness associated with self-publishing as well as what I left behind when I stopped writing for the big NY publishers. While I am getting older by the day, so is my guy, who is twelve years older than me. He will soon be in his eighties and is starting to have some genuine issues with his cognitive and physical capabilities. Memory problems and falls are our two big problems at the moment (I'm...

If I've learned anything from the first three months of my 2026 calendar project, it's that I can surprise myself. Last month's tote seemed like it would never be finished, and then a change in my attitude helped me do that four days ahead of schedule. This month I really would like to take things a bit easier, and use some cutter quilt pieces I've been saving. I've never seen an orange wedding ring quilt. I'm also going to add a beautiful piece of art from my favorite Etsy Seller, 14carrot, who inspired last year's calendar project. She really outdid herself with this mini quilt, which is just gorgeous. Obviously orange is going to be the theme! Ha. As I'm writing this post it's March 28th, so I have a few days to figure out how I want to do this one. The shape and size of the cutter quilt pieces make me want to add a section on top of their long flat side, and I'll also need something for the handles, but the vintage crazy q...

Despite my best intentions the only quilting I did last month was my March tote for my calendar project, and there was barely any of that involved (basically some applique of the two fabric panels.) I want to say that I simply ran out of time and month, but honestly whenever I wanted to work on something I opted for crochet, as I'm better at that now. To get myself motivated I've made myself a mini-challenge: make something quilted every week in April. As a warmup for the challenge I decided to use was this flamingo novelty fabric I bought at the county quilt show last year to make a bowl mat for my nephew's dog. I sewed and quilted this mat almost entirely by machine, and it only took a couple hours. It's not perfect, but it turned out much better than I expected. I have to admit, part of my problem with quilting is that I resent having to do so much by machine now. I'm just not a machine quilter at heart. That said, it was a lot less painful th...

When my guy and I go out for a meal -- not very often these days -- I'm ordering the most diabetic-friendly items on the menu, like this chicken cranberry pecan salad I got when we stopped at Bob Evans on one of our day trips. The dressing has a lot of sugar in it, so I get that on the side and use it very sparingly (I only used about half of one of those cups.) My relationship with food is always going to be difficult, thanks to diabetes. In theory I can eat pretty much all the salad, meat, cheese and eggs I want, and limited amounts of rice and pasta now and then, but no bread, baked goods and especially potatoes, which are a trigger food for me. I drink coffee, herbal tea and sparkling mineral water, mostly the latter. I'm also trying to lose weight, so at this time I really can't eat all I want. It's very, very frustrating when I have to watch everyone else enjoy desserts and rolls (and french fries!) while I go without or nibble on a piece of celery. Pre...