Gee. Really?!

It doesn't seem likely that a whole month slipped by and I published nary a word or photo in the ol' blog...but here we are.  May was 'one of those months', I suppose.

I can admit to acquiring a part time job in an outdoor garden center for the summer, and it began (sort of) on the second of May, but the actual work didn't begin until later.  Long, stupid story (they - the employer - are not so together and on the ball in many areas), but once they stuck me on the schedule, my hours went from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye.

I have had the majority of long shifts in the worst parts of the hottest and wettest days, so by the time I manage to scrape myself out of the car and lumber into, and out of, the shower, I am a piece of drained goo.  Grateful for the work, goodness knows; loving the work with the plants and most of the customers (remember, it's still the same little stuck-up town of 'Thurston Howells' for the most part) and being outdoors with fewer restrictions in space and bawdiness...  I have managed to endear myself with the clientele, and have had many folks positively comment to the online machine or management staff - and it's found its way to my ears.  That makes me feel good - especially to know I haven't lost my touch and work ethic.

Still, all things being equal (what a stupid phrase), I would much rather be working in Change Management or Administrative.  The prospect of m a y b e becoming a regular PT cashier after the garden center closes mid-August is abhorrently depressing.

ALL of that simply means, once I am home, and cleaned up, and fed, and ready to have my moments of quiet with a needle and thread...I can't keep my eyes open long enough to take a stitch these days!  Although, I have managed to fill in some gaps here and there on "Peacock".  So, if you've managed to stay with me and read this far, here's an old peek at a little filler.

What are you working on?

P.S. - You will find this entry also at MadAsAHatter.blogspot.com.
Remember, this will be the new spot for my CQ work. 

Happy accidents

 
This little pixie...er, excuse me, this fairy was supposed to be the top of a chain/vine of flowers down a long seam, but no one thought my reticulated petals and upward-facing center portion looked right.  So, I began to see the petals as a skirt, and stitched a body among the leaves-now-turned-wings, and the flower now-turned-tutu.

My only regret is not having 2mm silk ribbon to wrap the threads for smoother arms and legs.  But the two-toned ribbon I used for the hair and face worked out rather well.

P.S. - Don't forget, this post can also be found at MadAsAHatter.blogspot.com
Very soon, the crazy quilt work will only be featured there.  Thanks for looking in!

A brief update

I mentioned a little while back that I intended to move my CQ work to a different blog, since I had a few questions come at me asking if I could separate my CQ work from my traditional block work.

Huh.

Well, I subscribe to (and read) a number of blogs where the bloggers (quilters, artists, whathaveyou) post about all manner of quilty subjects in that one space, and I don't have an issue with the change in gears (so to speak).  So when I was broached with the query ("could [I] separate [my] subject matter?") I honestly felt like saying "no"...but I didn't.

Instead, I have created another blog page, but have only managed to post to it two times.  Yup, you guessed it; I still post the majority of my brilliant prose and interesting photos here.  But, I may begin to add more of the strictly CQ work to www.bethsmadasahatter as the year progresses, and less of the CQ work here.  In any event, I'll let you know when I do, and I'll make it easy to get to.

Thanks for looking in : )

Not leaps and bounds

The progress on VGS is non-existent, and the forward momentum on "Peacock" comes - at best - in fits and starts.  Goodness knows I would like to MOVE on both projects and see great advances made, but it isn't practical.

A l t h o u g h, with the lack of decent jobs to find and apply to currently, perhaps my time would be better spent in a deep dark hole, needles and thread at the ready, and a good lamp beaming over my shoulder. The results achieved on the quilts would be astronomical - and it would never show as anything different in the job outcome.  [sigh]  I suppose I am simply feeling defeated and useless.  Hard to shake that cloud.

Anyhow, the image provided today shows the first joined quarter panels making up one of four 'Dresden-style' blocks.  There are seams to finish, seams to start and finish, seams that need touching up (now that the assembling has happened), and on and on, but it made me feel a little less lackluster to have made this dent in "Peacock".  More another time.

What are you up to?

Huh

For some reason, I find myself thinking I should have gone with only the green of the vine and one shade of blue all over.  
Oh well, the cost of silk ribbon is too dear to take it all out to chase my wild hair at this point.


Or. . .is it "wild hare"?

Fear and loathing

I know, I know.  What a strange title for a blog article about quilting.

Eh.

I am loathing my fear over moving forward;
over simply making a decision and sticking with it;
over the fear of committing to what I have already stitched and leaving it.

Case in point:
I am totally thinking about removing the decorative lighter blue center line on the lowest blue flower - too futzy.  And, I am truly pacing the floor over the size of the 'white', slightly left-facing flower to the lower left.  Yes, really.  The last two flowers, well...I-i-i-i--i--i---i guess I'm ok with.

I guess.

See, initially all of the flowers were going to be petite, simple little petal flowers.  Maybe a small seed bead in the center. Somehow I managed to become enamoured with the idea of a little more dimensionality to the flowers, and it exploded from there.  So, yes.  I think it may be totally worth pulling the flowers off - and the extra stitch detail on the one blue flower - and just going back to the original thought.

Please, somebody weigh in with a suggestion or comment.  Thanks.

Quilt yoga

Lessons learned from making a quilt.  As a respected and seriously talented (and prize-winning quilter has said), "We learn something from every quilt we make"...(I say) even if it is something we may have to learn over and over again.

This made me begin to wonder what I have learned over the decades and taken for granted.

Mostly I have learned to relax and enjoy the process (or processes - since there are many to every aspect and step in creating a quilt).

- I have learned to stand up and move away for a few moments (or hours) when tired or bored with a repetitious portion.
- I have acquired the ability to look at - and love - the thing I am creating with less critical eyes.  Knowing that nobody else will ever view it in as harsh a light as I will cast when disappointed with some little piece of the magnificent whole.
- I have learned to expect the unexpected; to cherish learning something new from somebody else; and to set expectations at a more achievable and less lofty realm.  It's always much more fun to surpass a goal than to never attain it.

Currently I am re-learning to stretch my abilities, test boundaries, and to trust my intuitions and my mind's creative eye.  This was a part of my current 'quilt yoga' experience

.

Okay, I fixed it

Not entirely certain how yesterday's entry became so fouled up.  Sentence fragments floating all over the place, mucking up the content.  I had a hard time understanding me, and I wrote it!

[smacking forehead]

Anyhow, the fix is in and "Changed my mind" reads intelligently now.  Sorry about the brain twister.

Oh, and I did rework that first petal (three times, but I am now content!), and it looks pretty good, too.  Not only that, but I added another three full petals, and am currently weaving a fifth.  That will be complete tonight, and then tomorrow I hope to use the entire day to finish it off.

Thinking about having my head examined because I am toying with the notion of adding another layer behind it all.  Yup, another layer.  Before I begin, though, I will mull it over a bit and give myself a break from that task.  Thankfully, this quilt isn't Rome, and it doesn't need to be built in a day.

What are you up too?

Changed my mind

...but knot for the first time.

Get it?  "Knot" for the . . . heh.
I crack me up.

Yeah, I 'un-wove' this petal - and I'm itching to get back to 'reweaving' it using my second color choice, as I can't quickly set my hands on the palest of pale blue #5 Perle cotton.  And YES, I am refusing to use #8 as the alternative - even though I do possess a nearly full ball of DMC in the perfect color (in an eight).  Wah.

See, I have my heart (and brain) set on a thick weave for this flower.
Am I wrong?
Should I have gone with a size eight?

Oh, I don't know.

I trekked out yesterday with the intention of buying ONLY that darned light, light, lighter-than-light blue in a skein of #5, but of course - the local stores were a complete letdown.  Only guilt prevented me from driving another 27 miles (one way) and back to stop into a real LQS to obtain the perfect thing.

Rats!  Crap!  Darn it all!  I should know by now to always follow my heart - it is tied directly to my instincts.  Ah, well.

I do know, though, that the variegated was absolutely wrong for it, so it was the right thing to undo.

Frustration is . . .

Somewhere in this house is an overabundant supply of Caron Watercolours.

Where?
I do not know, and I spent entirely too much time yesterday looking for them.

Did I become distracted and begin other little tasks during the search?
You bet I did (who doesn't?) - I even managed to clean out a corner and sort through (and toss out) some papers I had saved to read for "another time," a small stack of quilting catalogs, and some old receipts.

Did that provide at least a sense of accomplishment?
No, oddly enough, that was not satisfying in the least.

I completed French-knotting the portion of a sunflower I want to create on my latest project, and I would like to move on to weaving the petals using one of my Caron Perle cottons.

However, it looks as though I am going to have to 'forgehdaboudit' and use something else instead.  Not an easy thought.  My heart and my brain were settled on a 'toothy' Perle cotton with which to make those petals, so an alternate must be found and decided upon.

Ugh.

You know...the sad/odd/unfortunate/strange/probably true part of this whole thing?  Most likely, I don't have a Watercolour in my stash of 'unfindables' that would fit the requirements, anyway.  But it would still be nice to find the silly things.

I know you know what I'm saying.