Beautiful quilt, C! I love your color choices, truly. I always have such difficulty in visualizing the effect of fabrics put together, especially if they didn't come in a bundle meant for quilting. Can't wait to see what you accomplish next!

Thank you for all of the great ideas!

Are you just stash-busting with baby-knits :-) ? lol! I really need to do this, if I'm honest. I'm a one-skein-at-a-time kind of shopper, so my stash builds up and the only way to tame it is by knitting baby stuff. Or hats, but that's not nearly as much fun :-)

Oh gosh your mention of town hall meeting *did* make me think of Gilmore Girls! Actually the whole scenario of having meetings and everyone warning each other about the invasion and then nothing happening reminded me of GG.
We missed the eclipse altogether. We were only supposed to be at 80% totality to begin with, but it ended up overcast and then raining! Erie, Pa is supposed to be in the path of totality for the 2024 eclipse, so we're thinking of "traveling" to that one since we camp up there anyway! lol!

I often find myself in the same pit when I start comparing myself to those around me, in real life and online. I let myself wallow for a bit, because sometimes I come out the other side with really great ideas on how to improve my own situation, but it doesn't do anyone any good to wallow long. Usually what snaps me out of it is giving myself a reality check. I live in a mid-century ranch home in western Pa. It does me no good to compare my life with yours, because what do I get out of spending my days wishing I lived by the ocean?
I won't lie, I wallowed a LONG time over the chalkboard wall in your last home. Every time I walked by the wall I wanted to paint with chalkboard paint, I'd get so upset over our plaster walls. Who ever thought textured walls were a good idea?! The wallowing made me reflect on the fact that even if I had smooth walls, it would cost me just as much to paint my wall versus buying a chalkboard, and hanging a chalkboard would be less work :-)
Same goes for so much in my life - I'd love to have a bigger house, but would I regret losing the closeness our family has? Would it do me any good mentally to have to fight against the stuff that would accumulate so much easier in more spacious surroundings?
In any case, it will pass. Sometimes it takes more time or more work, but you'll come through it.

Love everything going on here! Your kids are so blessed to have such a creative mama. F is growing up into such a striking boy; he always looks so thoughtful.

"wear to the beach this summer" I bet you love typing, thinking, hearing, and saying those words! W keeps asking to go to the beach, but I'm not sure where to take him since it's a haul no matter where we choose. Hope you settle in to your new home quickly and easily!

Funny, I'm working on a blog post with the same title! lol! It's amazing how stuff multiplies, isn't it? We aren't minimalists by any means, but we own a fraction of what our friends and neighbors do and we're still getting rid of so. much. stuff!
I wouldn't consider your craft supplies to be "unreasonable" at all, especially because you are (or seem to be anyway) a relatively prolific crafter. The space could do with a bit of pruning and a different organizational method if possible, so it doesn't feel so overwhelming. Would you consider photographing it all as an inventory and the putting it all into storage bins? I have no craft storage in our living area, so that's what I have to do. It's kind of nice being able to grab a binder to see if I have enough of X yarn for a project instead of digging through a pile of it (which was the alternative for many years! lol!)

I keep forgetting that I should be knitting baby things. Mine grow so slowly that it's not something I need to keep up with, but then I forget and the next thing I know my 5 month old has *finally* grown out of her newborn longies. lol! So many thanks for reminding me that I really need to knit her a new pair or two :-) I really love that blue yarn. When your Hackberry is finished it's going to look wonderful on you! Edited because apparently I'm REALLY excited and felt the need to end every sentence with an exclamation point. I think it's all the coffee.

I love reading blogs and I love me some Insta, but Instagram just cannot take the place of a well written blog. I know how you feel though (especially since my blog is like talking to myself, lol!) and I think those feelings are quite keen around this time of year. Almost all the blogs I read really slow down mid January- March. There's just not much going on for most of us, we're in the doldrums of winter, people are sick, etc. Don't beat yourself up too much about being out of your rhythm; once you find it again I'm certain we'll all be here waiting for you :-)