>23"

At least.

I mean, I could say there are most definitely twenty-three inches (or fewer) before I can sew together G5. But, when I shut off the lights and moved upstairs to spackle and sand some walls, I am fairly certain 23 was the 'magic number'.

Gotta laugh, though, cuz as sure as I'm sittin' here - once there's decent morning light - I will most likely be fiddling with some of the stuff I put together today. Still, with less than one-quarter to go on this block, I am a happy, happy camper.

Not a perfectly sunlit day

In fact, it's dreary.  Managed to put together fifty pieces for G5, but the ambient outdoor light is inadequate to keep going, so I am done for the day.

Sad but true.

What are you working on?

Perfect sunlit day

Yes, perfect - and I will have to be wasting some of it away from G5. Boo!  Ah, well, it's a worthy cause (I suppose) so there isn't as much regret as there could be.

G5 will progress, just not as quickly as I would have liked.

What are you working on?

The eyes have it

And yes, I meant "eyes."

When I had to stop working on this a few days back, it was missing seventeen pieces.  This morning I managed to locate eight of them before frustration set in (and a desire to have breakfast).  As you can see, I am currently dumbfounded by a measly seven remaining inches.

Why is it that the fewer I need, the more I feel like drinking?

Hint:
Try not looking at this too closely.  Leave it small, and move back from the screen - say...five or six feet.

G4

This is what it looks like with just 17" to go.

Please forgive the late afternoon daylight - it's pre-snowstorm - but I really wanted to get an update 'out there' in case anyone is watching.

What are you working on?

G4 is nearly half there

[squeals of delight]

Perfectionism - what is it good for?

Lights out last night happened around nine o'clock with eight missing inches, but I was resolved to get an early start this morning.

Happy to announce I did just that, a-n-d have cut the gap down to just two missing inches....after having replaced three other pieces I was not overly fond of (there's that nagging perfectionism).

[sigh]

So, if you will excuse me, I am heading back to the lair to finish this block while I can take advantage of this gorgeous morning light.  There are others things I must get to today, and these two inches are a tiny - but most important - hurdle I must tackle before moving on.

What are you working on?

Ah, those subtle little nuances

Can you see it?

Likely as not, most people wouldn't see it or discredit the overall image (once it's finally completed) for the use of one light, sort of smudgy-tan-over-pale-greyish-blue versus any of the rest of the choices, but I still had to make a tough decision.

This is what I went with.

Let's see how well you can identify it in the whole piece one row from now.

A little old, a little new. From funky brown to palest blue.

Since there's nothing new to report, I offer a random sampling of the color changes I'm experiencing of late.

This was (is) an in-process snap of G1 and G2.  I'm glad to be so far away from yellow.

200 little pieces of happiness right here, and roughly another nine-thousand, five-hundred to go.

At the very least

I have a part time job at a local market.  A job which happily began with me in the role of the outdoor floral person.  That position was to last until mid-August, but because of idiotic reasoning (read: poor management decisions), it ended way too early, and I was transferred indoors to a register/clerk position.

Let's just skip past a lot and I will tell you I was transferred to Produce and Floral, where I had a fair amount of hours.  Not enough, but at least it was work.

Well, let's skip a little further ahead.
This week is a full forty hours - because the dept mgr in floral is on vacation, so I am splitting the hours with another floral clerk.  The thought of absolutely no quilting or VGS - or anything creative - is twisting my brain in knots.  And not those sweet little French knots, or Picots, or Bullion knots, either.  But...at least I am allowed to work with the lovely flowers, from which I derive an immense amount of happiness and creative inspiration for my silk work.

Have a good day, everyone.  And for Heaven's sake, tell me what you're working on, please.

Yesterday

Over twenty-nine years ago my life changed forever.  The first of my babies was born, and we became a unit of two.  Mother and child.  A beautiful piece of creation.

It happened for me just one more time when I gave birth to his younger brother.  Ah, true love.

It's taken twenty-nine years for the separation process to finally become a thing.  I didn't have to kick him out of the nest, but truthfully, there were times when it felt as though a stick of dynamite may have been in order.

Last night I went to bed relieved, and strangely not the least bit weepy or melancholy.  I turned the locks on the front door and shut off the living room lights with the full knowledge that there would be no 3AM entrance and interruption to my sleep.  Not a shred of motherly angst was given to thoughts of the lateness of his arrival or safety on the roads.

It wasn't until just a couple of hours ago I had comprehension.  The reality of a lifetime of work has come to fruition.

When Hobbes began her deaf-kitty chatter early on this morning, I didn't beg her to quiet down.  There was no useless shushing or urgency to stifle her loud pleas for breakfast.  There was no Brian to worry we'd awaken after too-little sleep.   There was no Brian.

Karl....heh.  He can sleep through pretty much anything.

Today will be a series of phone calls for necessary things; a trip to the bank, a stop at the recycling dropbox, and a trip to the market.  Cleaning and laundry are a portion of the agenda, and a visit from the liberated boy.  Most likely there will be many visits from Brian - he will be slowly gathering and removing items for some time to come (since I couldn't get him to do any of the sorting, packing, or tossing business before yesterday's grand exodus).  Plus, some of that laundry I mentioned is his.

All of those mundane activities will be interrupted by fits of quilting activities, because that's the way I roll.  I wasn't able to 'play' at all yesterday, too much life-altering stuff to do.  But today is a completely different story.

What was your yesterday like, and what's on your agenda today?

I'm comin' for ya, G3

Finally managed to get G2 together, but when I turned out the lights in the sewing corner to head over to the machine - gasp.  It was Just. So. Dark.

Nothing more will be done (can be done) on VS tonight, sorry...and I'm afraid I'll have to give you an I.O.U. for a photo of the row up to this point, too.  Thanks for being so understanding.

You're going to love the not-so-subtle bit of color change.  I promise.

For now, I'm rolling up my sleeves.  Tomorrow: G3

Too bleary-eyed to see straight

Besides the fact that it's nearly midnight (plus one hour), I am heading to bed knowing I only have four inches to locate for G2.  Hot dang!  That oughta lead to some excellent dreams, oui?

What did you work on today?

Sixteen away from sewing

Feels good to be moving along on RowG; block two is almost completely laid out.
[stifles hysterical gleeful giggling]