I confess to always being a bit anxious on December 31st. For as long as I can remember in my adult years it has always meant fiscal year end deadlines and making sure all those journal entries and the final bank deposit for the year are done and posted before the GL does its thing and empties out all the net income to retained earnings. For all those non-accounting friends, welcome to the inside of my compartmentalized brain.
I've always been a better performer if there is a deadline looming. In fact, when I was doing my BCom degree, one of my team members told me I was a "just in time performer". Not entirely untrue. And today is no different. I'm just focusing on the absolutely necessary things today before relaxing (for once) and enjoying waving goodbye to 2023. It was a pretty good year as years went. We welcomed two teenage step granddaughters who moved here to Tennessee to live with their father, and a new granddaughter in October. My daughter went from being a single mom in 2021 to a wife and mother to four in 2022 and 2023. I started a new business, complete with a huge renovation to a basically unusable space that was the right configuration. I wrote a blog post about that HERE.
We have so much to be grateful for. While it's good to look in the rear view mirror, if that's the only place you look, then you won't be focused on the road ahead and that could be downright dangerous. So while I am waving goodbye to 2023, with its trials, growth and blessings, my eyes are set to the future of 2024 and what the Father has in store for me/us.
As far as my creative pursuits this last year, here is a quick photo gallery of those completions:
 |
| Baby Quilt finished for family member (Boxy Stars pattern by Bonnie Hunter, Quiltville) |
 |
| Classic Winnie the Pooh quilt for my new granddaughter (Pattern is Warm Wishes by Project Linus) |
 |
| Drunkard's Path - no pattern. I just used my GO cutter and die and played with color/value placement. |
 |
| Stars Quilt - also no pattern. I once again used my GO cutter and value die to make the stars and used the leftovers for a piano key border |
 |
| Time After Time - pattern by Sharon Blackmore of Love Shack Quilts |
a |
| My logo quilt for new business. Logo printed on cotton at Spoonflower and custom quilted on my APQS Millenium with Quiltpath |
 |
| Sew In Love - pattern by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. |
And I also released some new quilt patterns in 2023. They can be found on my ETSY shop www.etsy.com/shop/dayspringquilter and my website. www.dayspringquiltstudio.com and www.thestitcherytn.com. Print copies available in my shop in Cleveland, TN. There are three more just about ready for release. You can watch for those in early 2024. We are just working on the quilt tops.  I designed this quilt after I moved to Tennessee from the West Coast of Canada. The last year has been a big adjustment. Besides culture differences, I am realizing, that in my area of Tennessee at least, the backroads lead everywhere! It may look like a country lane but the GPS seems to know that it’s not a dead end. So this designs reflects the multi directional travel that I enjoy in my beautiful area of Tennessee. This quilt finishes at 64 1/2 x 75 1/2" |
Yesteryear
Yesteryear is my attempt at recreating an antique quilt that I found in an antique store here in Tennessee. This quilt finishes at 97" x 97"
And this free pattern:
Now back to the fiscal year end part now that the fun last post of the year is done.
Hope you have a blessed and prosperous 2024!
From beautiful Tennessee,
Mavis
