The 2026 Adventure...

 

Happy New Year dear friends! 

I pray 2026 is a year that grows us in the best of ways, and that by year's end we can look back and be satisfied with how far we have come in our walk with Jesus, and our God-gifted roles within home and family. 

I pray also for our sensibility to keep what is important, enjoyed or needful, whilst having the wisdom to remove what is not. My personal plan through 2026 is to take a spiritual broom, and a physical one, in order to spring clean my life from the inside out, carrying forth only those things that have purpose, delight, and glorify the Lord. 

The 2026 Adventure:

At the top of this post you will have seen a new button for 2026, one which I'll add to Adventure 2026 blog posts throughout the year. In previous years I have shared my dislike for NY's resolutions, and that has not changed. One thing of which I am sure, is that life rarely stays the same, and the older I get the more changes occur with each passing year.

This 2026 Adventure challenge is something productive for us to have fun with, and can be easily altered to suit changing circumstances should they occur as the months go by. I hope you'll join in?

Using what we already have on hand has been a huge decision at the back of my mind since 2019 when the Lord laid those very words on my heart and engraved them well so I'd not forget. 

Choosing the next project, whether that be with regards to sewing, organising the home, cleaning out the pantry, planting a garden, or reading a book, we can first of all look at what we already have. 

In essence, to "use what we already have" means spending nothing (or very little) to achieve a desired outcome, and that's high on my agenda in 2026. As I am now able to sew again (update is further down), I made the decision to have a year long sewing adventure that will not cost me anything but my creative time.

Between Christmas and New Year I went through my sewing room and gathered all my UFO projects together, then all the kits which had been purchased over the past decade and never opened, plus a lovely wool felt kit I won back in 2008 and never made. It would be easy to become quite overwhelmed when all of these things are stacked on the cutting table, but I got quite excited. Being mindful of not burdening myself unnecessarily, I chose eight unfinished projects or unopened kits, and packed them into the bag below.

I am still to choose another four, but that won't be difficult. I should acknowledge that having been dedicated to designing for seventeen years, I don't have an enormous stash of projects and kits yet to make or complete, but I certainly have enough to work on much longer than a year.

Having finally retired from designing last year, there was a great peace in my heart about no longer having to create new embroideries or projects and I actually lay down my embroidery needle for many, many months. After my knee injury in mid-July I rekindled a love for knitting, but then the nerve problem with my arm and hand left me unable to craft anything at all for the last three months. But let's just run forward a bit...

HEALTH UPDATE - I have full health in my arm and hand now! After all the different diagnoses and tests and medications, the actual culprit was a medication I take every year from spring through to early autumn (from September to April here in Australia) as a migraine preventative. The last two years I noticed it gave me a slight tingling in the little finger of my right hand, but that's all. It genuinely helped enormously with stemming the amount of baromtetric migraines during the hot and humid wet season here in the tropics so I was fine with that tingling finger. 

But this past September I had a very different issue, with severe nerve pain in my left arm and hand - which I never even associated with the migraine preventative drug. My doctor was great through this, trying everything he could think of to avoid surgery in my arm, and following up on every possible cause or condition, yet all didn't seem right...and then one day in mid December I wondered about that drug, and how this all began when I started taking it as usual in mid September. It's a strong medication (amitriptyline), and I only ever take a low dose as I am highly sensitive to all prescription meds, so to test the theory I weaned off it over two weeks, the same way I always do at the end of each migraine season. The less I took, the more feeling came back in my hand and the less nerve pain in my arm. Within two days of taking that final tiny dose after Christmas, I had full pain-free use of my arm and hand again. Those pills were thrown down the sink and I will never be able to take them again. And I am rejoicing over that!! So thank you for all your prayers - they indeed were heard by the Lord, and He led me to healing. 

Back to the Adventure Challenge...

Here's what I thought you may enjoy doing with me through 2026 -

*   Place all your UFO projects together

*   Place all your unmade/unopened kits together

*   Choose 12 kits or UFO projects that excite you, ones you'd enjoy making or completing

*   Donate or sell any kits or UFO projects you no longer like or want

For myself, as well as those of you who would like to join in, there's one major stipulation for this Adventure to work as it should. 

We must ENJOY it. 

It must never become a rigid programme we feel obligated to stay on when life is calling us elsewhere, when illness holds us back, or when we lose the joy. By choosing your twelve UFO projects or kits, you have made a choice to complete what you started, or use what you purchased, and even if you only achieve six finishes in 2026, that's success and I hope you'll feel a rush of personal satisfaction by year's end. Buy using up what we already have, we who love to create can complete projects that will cost us nothing but time. As I have the projects and kits on hand to use, I will not be straining our tight budget by buying anything, and can simply enjoy time given to sewing.

Each month I will show you the project or kit I intend to work on, and some progress pics along the way. Some of you may have a very large UFO or kit, one that requires more than a month to complete, and I actually have a quilt kit that will need time, but what I intend doing is working on that when my allocated monthly project is done. This way I can probably get a good deal of it done across 2026, but I am not bothered if that particular project runs into next year as well. 

Let me know in the comments if you're joining in, and also what UFO projects or kits you're excited to finish or make. 

Now I should show you what I have chosen for January...

One is a UFO hand embroidery finish from early last year and only has a small corner to be completed, which is why I have chosen it first, and I'll explain more in a minute...

I think this can be finished in a few days, and that brings me JOY! Then at last it can be framed and hung in the living room. 

Now the reason I chose that Japanese hand embroidery for January was because as a quick finish, it will allow me time to cut all the fabrics from the large quilt kit that I will work on all year when smaller monthly projects give me a week or two to spare. 

The quilt is called "Dutch Darning Sampler Coverlet" by Judy Newman, and I loved it the first time I lay eyes on it. For many months I ummed and aaahed about buying the kit, and eventually purchased it in 2024. The fabrics in the kit are gorgeous, and that centre block is actually done in cross stitch. Just the thought of starting on this project brings me JOY. 

For those in Australia who may want to know, I bought the kit HERE and I think it's still the same price I paid back in 2024. 

The ABIGAIL Bible Study

So, now we have the Adventure explained, I wanted to let you know that I have set up a special page on the blog for the Abigail Bible Study, and it is HERE.

I've written the intro there, and will begin the actual study next week. All the notes will be there as I write them during the duration of the study, which will take a few months, so if you miss any sections you only have to go to the Abigail page and scroll down, as everything will be there in order. 

There's a button in the blog sidebar as well, if you lose the link. I'm very humbled to learn with you as we dig deep and glean from the life of this remarkable woman. 

God bless each and every one of you, and no matter what work the Lord puts your hands to this year, may it glorify Him and bring you joy. I have many plans for homemaking in 2026, but am open to the Lord changing them if it be His will. 

Really, all we need follow is His will, then we can be assured of not straying from the right path. 

"and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Until next week,