Tea & coffee, for example. I truly don't think it would have ever occurred to me to look at a coffee bush & think, "hmm, what if I heated those beans, ground them up, then poured hot water over them?" Or tea? Dry the leaves, again with the hot water. Nope. Dots I definitely would NOT have connected. We would all still be drinking water if it had been up to me to discover two of the most basic, universal & pleasurable beverages of Humankind.
Or Retreats? Going off with a group of friends with whom you share a passion, spending a few days away from one's daily routine & partaking of that passion. Again, nope. I would not have come up with that either. But I'm so very, very glad that someone did!
I'm recently back from HMQG's 3rd retreat. While the pace of my life has slowed to a more manageable one, the Daily Grind still gets pretty grind-y sometimes & getting away from it for a bit was just The Thing I needed.
Old friends, new friends, lots of sewing & a little wine! My main goals, quilt-y wise, were to take advantage of the large design walls at the retreat center & finish 2 tops that had outgrown my design door -- one done, one nearly done (I didn't bring enough of my background fabric). Then I just puttered & played with some of the many bagged-and-ready-to-go projects: plus blocks made with my parents' shirts that will be gifts for my brother & 2 nieces, a block for an HMQG charity quilt, wonky stars with a stash creature.
