All change?

Well it has been a while since my last post, but there has been plenty going on around here.

On the work front our shop had it's first birthday in August which we celebrated with cake, events and the ending of our charity project (which was drawn on last Saturday raising an incredible £850 for Cambridgeshire & Huntingdon Deaf Children's Society (CHDCs) and the Papworth Trust).

On the personal front, I had my 40th birthday last week and a big black tie bash on Saturday night which was fabulous. To add to the glamour was the fact that my quilt design was published this week in British Patchwork & Quilting and a couple of subscribers got an early copy which made an appearance at my party. So my first published piece came out on my 40th! How cool is that!!?! I still haven't come down off the ceiling! More about that in a minute!

First, here are Sarah Hammond and some of the little guys from CHDCs with one of the Bee Crafty Community Quilts at the prize draw last Saturday.

They made us very welcome and the money will be received. It was a brilliant project to be involved with and it makes me feel all worm when I think of what this will mean to these kids!

So now to being 40! Zero birthdays have never been an issue for me, and though some of my friends dreaded the changing of this particular decade, I had no such qualms. I started out on my 30s full of positivity and hope, but 6 months in my husband was killed in a car accident and that pretty much stuffed up the first half of the decade. But with the help of some very special people, I exit the decade feeling stronger than ever. I own half of a growing business that is my pride and joy and that introduces me to creative fun people every day. It has also encouraged me to stretch my own creative wings, even giving me confidence to submit some of my work to magazines. The result of this new found confidence has led to my first published article that came out this week in British Patchwork & Quilting.

I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but to me they represent something quite astonishing. When I look back 10 years, and see where I was, and what was to come, I really can't believe how far I have come. The ending of that decade was goodbye to the old, and all of this is hello to the new. No longer a cautionary tale of how fast things can change for the worst - this new decade is a chance to be someone new! Quilter, designer, shop impresario - anything I fancy. So I raise a glass and say 40 at last!