A weekend of Selfishness?

I get a whole weekend to myself this coming up weekend. Peg is going to visit friends in New Hampshire and I get to stay at home with the cat. Yay, me!

Every once in a while, I think I just need to take time off and cloister myself away. This seems to recharge my creative batteries... as long as I ignore that "should be working on" list (which, also for me, is very, VERY long.)

My should list includes: Images/Lowell Quilt Festival. I love going to the show and seeing other people's work. I love shopping. I even have a list of things I should get for the class I'm taking at A Quilter's Gathering in November (never too early to start prep!) Am I going? Probably not, because the times that I can hang out by myself in my apartment (with just Ed, who sleeps a lot) are rare and precious.

I should be marking and quilting three quilt tops: The mini Amish that my mother pieced (above), "Don't Worry, Be Scrappy" (to the right), and "Omiyage" (to be photographed.) Will I get them marked and/or started? Probably not.

I should cut out fabric to replace my pink Tencel jumper. I bought a sage green tencel at the same time, intending to have two dresses. (I wore the pink one as sleeveless dres, but I never got the green cut out, so now I can use the fabric to replace the pink one which got to be too worn and stained to be worn in public.

Of course, there's the ongoing struggle to update my jewelry web site and etsy store... maybe the less said about that the better!

...And the Chelmsford Quilter's Guild page....

I have a ton of research to be done for a variety of project, one of which is a Quest to find an ophthalmologist or even just a place which will sell me a new pair of glasses and takes my insurance. (Insurance supposedly pays for a free pair every two years, but the problem has been finding someone who takes it. My soon-to-be-former guy takes the insurance but not my particular policy. *sigh*)

What I will end up doing? If I want to be rested and refreshed after this weekend I'll probably go out for "supplies" (Diet Barq's, Uno's Potato Skins, KFC, Wheaties), and hunker down to watch Nero Wolfe episodes or "Pride and Prejudice" (with Colin Firth!) with breaks to do a bit of weeding outdoors, and maybe peek at email and Facebook (hoping not to get sucked in). If I get to any of the other projects, maybe I'll count that as a plus.

But I really should find a place to get a new pair of glasses...

Reboot

Hi, I'm back. I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but I thought I'd try it again.

I've been doing less jewelry these days and more quilting and other textiles, but I'm looking at trying to combine the two (like the spool earrings to the left, which will be up on Etsy as soon as I can get my act together to finish photographing them and writing ad copy!)

I also have a very interesting project "on the docket" involving vintage textiles and resin jewelry. Keep your fingers crossed, it could turn out very cool! (...or not at all...)

Last week I went to the Vermont Quilt Festival (not as a vendor OR an exhibitor) and took some classes. One was awesome, one was great, and one "did not float my boat." However, I learn

ed a few interesting things, one of which will enable me to incorporate my Kumihimo braids into my quilts.

So, I've decided to restart this blog with not only jewelry info, Peggy's status, and my quilting obsession (which seems to take over everything), but with pretty much anything that goes on around here.

So I'll just leave this current note with a picture of the awesome Libby Lehman's quilt (or at least a part of it since I couldn't photograph the whole thing since someone else was standing in front of it drooling, too.)

No Resolution

I know better than to make New Year's Resolutions.

I seldom remember them after a couple of months, and those that I do remember, and keep, end up better than I SHOULDN'T have kept them.

For instance, several years ago, I listed all my unfinished quilting projects and told myself that if I didn't finish any of the projects on the list, I couldn't start a new one...so I ended up spending the entire year NOT quilting.

This year, however, I'm trying a new strategy. I do have a list of unfinished projects (not just quilting, but other needlework, and knitting.) I took the list and whittled it down to five ACTIVE projects.

These current projects are things that are "no brainers" to work on. I've left them out and put everything else away, so if I'm sitting by the TV with my hands idle, I can pick up the blue sock I'm finishing, or work on the beaded braid on the marudai. No pressure. No deadline.

I'll work on them until I'm done (or I'm bored with them), a little at a time, and either finish them or put them away and "replace" them with something else from the list.

And I don't have to commit a heavy dose of time to any one. For the Hexagon Stars quilt, I set up one day's worth of quilting (about 15 minutes of actual work time) in advance. I sew 12 half-hexagons to 12 small triangles for for 12 larger triangles. I take 4 od these triangles and sew them in pairs to form units, and finally, I sew a third triangle onto the triangle pairs to finish a half hexagon star. Then, I press them, set them up for the next day, and cut new half-hexagons and small triangles to pile up for the next day. Then move on to something else

I plan to have three active quilting projects, one knitting project (until it's done), and one jewelry project (probably two when then knitting is done.)

I'm also working on the "bit by bit" strategy for my reading. I have found that I've been reading several books and once and not finishing them. I have a TON on books on my wall that I've started, but not finished. Now I have a box of books that I plan to read and then decide to keep or give away, and I'm reading them ONE AT A TIME.

It's not a resolution, but we'll see how long I can keep it up.

Shiny, Quilty Jewelry

As you may have noticed from the blog, I've been working on quilting much more than I've been working on jewelry.

Part of this is due to the fact that I've been participating in my local quilt guild as web manager, but also part of it is due to the feeling that I am actually moving forward on many of my projects.

Have no fear, however! No matter how many projects I finish, I find I seem to start almost as many, so the project list doesn't get any shorter (although it does have different projects.)

This quilt is one of my "new-ish" quilting projects. It came from our box block exchange project last year. My only criteria for fabric choice was "no blue", because, silly-ly enough, I wanted a challenge in putting it together. Finally I decided on this chevron sashing, but is it too much? Does it distract from the blocks, or does it unify the whole thing? Anyone who has an opinion on it, please let me know!

I got a bit of a shock last week went one of my most consistent customers said "of course, I'll be up to look at the new jewelry at Thanksgiving."

And, of course, while there's some, there's not as much as I'd like, so I've been working on some new stuff (although probably not for her! Luckily, she didn't get to see the new Spring stuff when we did our fundraiser, so even though we've been slow at creating new pieces over the summer, there are pieces I'm sure she'll like.)

However, May 2010, my quilt guild is having a show, and they're allowing members to sell stuff on consignment. Well, I could never make my living out of quilting (I'm waaaaay too slow!) but I thought I'd develop some quilty jewelry. These will be pendants when they grow up, and they'll be put on kumihimo necklaces. I have some other ideas for earrings that will be so cute, I think I'll save them until after New Years.

I'm hoping with a couple of good nights sleep and some productive days, I should be able to start the photography for the web site and for the etsy shop both of which have suffered from my pre-occupation with quilting.

So sayonara for now!

Women's Work is Never Done

I had meant to write last week when the excellent talk by Gerald Roy called "Women's Work is Never Done" was presented at the monthly Quilt Guild meeting.

I thought the title of the talk was appropriate since the majority of the pieces discussed were quilt tops (as opposed to finished, quilted..er..quilts.) It was fascinating, and I wish I could include here some of what was shown at the meeting, but I think that wouldn't be kosher (if you're a member of the Chelmsford Quilt Guild, and you've joined the private Yahoo! Group, Jeff uploaded the shots he took at the meeting. If you're not, you'll just have to go to one of Gerald Roy's talks in person and see.)

One of the most interesting things that came up during the talk were a couple of REASONS for quilt tops not being completed. One was that the maker deliberately kept the top undone to preserve it. Another was that she (the maker) felt she would be criticized for being too daring with the color, or design, and so put it away when she finished piecing.

I figure both of these are great excuses to use when I'm asked about the (now) 20 unfinished quilts I have going. And I was just starting to feel guilty about those, too.

Speaking of unfinished quilting projects, I have another new one. I like making the block of the month for my quilt guild, but sometimes I don't even put my name in so there's no way I will have a chance at having another UFO. Well, eagle-eyed Opal wouldn't let me get away with that this month, and, as luck would have it, I won 12 of them (the one pictured is the one I made...I didn't get it back.)

They came out darn cute, but soooo not me. I guess I'll have to let them sit in a box for a bit until either they become more "me-ish" or until I need a quilt for someone who is not me.

As for the jewelry end...

I haven't done much in the creation side. I've rather been taken over with the Guild's web site. However, I have now fixed Piece by Piece's web site so it no longer redirects to the Chelmsford Quilt Guild. Now all I have to do is start photographing the recent pieces and start listing again on etsy.

Bit by Bit

I am overwhelmed.

Late last month (and early this one), I made a list of all the things I must (actually should) do ASAP. You know, projects I've started that I want to finish, web sites that I'm supposed to maintain that have not been touched in years...that sort of thing.

I feel like I have no energy, no space and no time to do what needs to be done.

Every time I contemplate that list, I feel like taking a nap and not waking up until the next day.

So, I have developed a strategy for dealing with the (at least half dozen) projects which need attention: work on them bit by bit, break them down into manageable pieces.

For instance, I haven't updated my "home" web site since 2005! Up until that point, I had been trying to put everything I was into and all my favorite links, etc on that site. 

It had the oldest version of the Piece by Piece site as my jewelry page, with pieces long since sold or taken apart and remade. It had my flying page, when I haven't been able to afford to fly in over 8 years. It had links to projects from classes I took over 5 years ago.  

Needless to day, it needed to be cleaned up!

What prompted my contemplation of my sites is that I'm looking for a place to post the new quilt block directions which I have decided to write once a month.

My first thought was to post them on my Dear Jane site, but I have been planning on reorganizing and recoding that site longer than my home site and it's in much worse shape (although probably a better place for handling alot of web traffic.)

Then, there's the Rafael Sabatini site, updated every January to a greater or lesser extent.

Then, there's the several dozen quilt projects, jewelry projects, chores, etc that need to get done.

The only way I can do them, I have found is to schedule myself to work on 5 Rafael Sabatini pages per day, 3 Dear Jane pages per day, 5 quilt blocks per day, 3 chores per day, etc. If I get MORE than that done, great, but that's the minimum.

It seems to be working for now, though the results are mixed.  My home site is mostly cleaned up (except for my resume.) And I have come up with new templates for Dear Jane and the parts of Sabatini that were not redesigned last year.

I finished my sister's half of the DNA project except for one final border and the embroidery.

I have time to work on my kumihimo (although not as much as before, since I'm scheduling time to work on these other projects as well) and my jewelry, which is good since we're looking at scheduling a jewelry sale/fund raiser for Peg in the spring.

And I can now actually think of things like SCHEDULING and ORGANIZING the jewelry fundraiser (and, oh joy, gathering and updating things for my taxes) without also looking longingly for the bottle of No-Doz.

No More Whining

OK, so we're done with the holidays and it's a new year. I've decided to make up a list of things I want to accomplish this year. I'm not calling them "New Years Resolutions" because that, to me, is the kiss of death. None of my New Years Resolutions seem to last past January (except the ones that come back to haunt me in unpleasant ways in the future.)

After an orgy of complaining, venting,"pointing out" and, yes, whining, I have decided to whine no more. I will not whine about the fact that every time maintenance came in to fix something, they forgot to fix ALL the things listed in the maintenance request.

Or, the fact that there seems to be a new definition for shovelling out the front steps of the building which means that more than 24 hours after the end of the snow storm (you know, the deadline they give you for cleaning off your car or it will towed), there's still snow all over the steps. (No whining about the new decision by the building's corporate management about using sand instead of salt, either.) Peggy must go out: I must shovel. Complaining doesn't seem to help. End of discussion.

On a more positive note: projects for next year include writing directions for at least one quilting block each month, like the mouse block I did in December (I'm not yet sure where I will post them). The blocks will probably be in the public domain (i.e. traditional) so I can concentrate on writing directions instead of tracking down the copyright holders (a neat trick since the copyrights of quilt blocks are really hard to pin down.)

I will, eventually, update the code and information on all my web sites, starting with The Life and Work of Rafael Sabatini. As you know, if you've been reading my blog, my partner in this enterprise (upon whose research the site is based) died in December. I only got through about half the design update last year before things got in the way, so this year, I will definitely finish it and fix all the links which were accidentally left broken.

Other pages include my home page (which hasn't been touched in, probably, 3 years, other than to update my resume) and a complete revamping of the photography on the Piece by Piece Jewelry site. I will probably move my Dear Jane journal site to my home page during it's badly needed recoding update.

Whew. And that's just the online list. I have other projects which include learning how to make t0fu that tastes good and doesn't have the consistency of slime....but maybe that's a topic for another day.

Tidings, Glad, Seasonal and Otherwise

Well, we had snow last night. I appreciate snow much more now because it's not ice. I had gone to the Chelmsford Quilt Guild's holiday party last night and heard all sorts of stories about the Chelmsfordians still without power due to the ice storm last Thursday night. (Luckily, we didn't lose power here, but the shopping center less than a mile away did.)

Still, when I woke up this morning, I was surprised (and happy I had left extra time so I could clean off the car and still get to the doctor's office on time.) I love snow, but not when it's between myself and a gazillion errands I have to run.

After the doctor's I had to go to Walmart for a prescription. We have dubbed Walmart, especially between Thanksgiving and New Years, "the eighth circle of Hell." (Although I don't mean that as a negative reflection on the staff of Walmart!) I swear people pull into that parking lot and just turn their brains off or something.

Anyway, it took about a half hour to get the prescription, and when I got back, I had to clear off my car again, although this time it was ice. I don't like ice, I'm thinking of staying inside until the Spring Thaw.

In other news: Peggy has definitely decided to get the WalkAide, so we're looking into fund raising to help her out.  The first bit of fundraising will take place in our etsy shop. The purchase price of pieces marked "PWWAF" will go entirely to Peggy's WalkAide.

We're also looking into holding a jewelry party in the Spring closer to Boston as a benefit for Peggy's WalkAide. I'll post the details as soon as I know where and when.

Until then, the only way to purchase Piece by Piece pieces is through our etsy site. I'm still revamping the main site, but shooting the photos is taking longer than I thought.

One down note. My friend, Jesse Knight, writer, raconteur, Sabatini scholar, and all-around nice guy...whom I never got to meet in person, died on Dec 6.  It was unexpected. I met Jesse when I was searching for inspiration to work on a historical fiction book that I had started a while before.

Before long, I discovered Jesse was a SERIOUS expert on Rafael Sabatini and was looking for a place to gather information he had posted at various places on the web. Thus the Rafael Sabatini web site was born. It was the online "presence" of the discussion group he had founded.

Eventually, about a dozen people on the discussion group founded the Rafael Sabatini Society. Jesse was the first President.  He was just stepping down so he could give more attention to his (many, many) other projects when he was taken away from us.  I hope that his wife, Dollie, can get his last big Sabatini project published: the definitive Sabatini Bibliography.  If she does, or if the RSS helps to self-publish the book, I'll, no doubt, post here and on the web site.

I have no pictures of Jesse, so here's a picture of Sabatini!

Another Catch-up Post

Well, it's been a while and I've been kumi-ing my little heart out (is that a word?)

I had been meaning to write, but I've been busy.  Well, I thought I was busy until I tried to remember exactly what I have been doing in the month and a half since I've worked on the blog and couldn't remember having done anything (well, grocery shopping, etc doesn't really count, does it?)

One project was to scan some slides a relative of my friend Claudy had left her. I gather they travelled extensively after WWII until they died because there were ALOT of slides from many different places like Spain, England, Mexico, Switzerland.

I put the slides on the scanner about 20 at a time and put my light table over them, light on, to scan them.  Then I cropped and saved them. I supposed I could have fiddled with Photoshop on some of them, but Claudy said not to bother, she'd go through them and  use the ones she wanted.

Another thing I've been doing more of is quilting.  

I joined the Chelmsford Quilt Guild in the Fall and have been trying to do their block of the month for exchange and another block exchange in boxes. Since we're supposed to been surprized at the results, I'm not going to post either of the blocks I've done for that so that if the ladies whose boxes I've done read this (however unlikely) they won't see their squares until the box exchange is done.

This past meeting (about a week ago) was the annual UFO Auction, where people bring their UnFinished Objects (or projects) and everyone else gets a crack at them.  Mostly, it was fabric. I brought in about 4 projects (small ones I knew I was never going to work on again), but came home with a bunch of fabric (and two books.)

I guess my resolution to not buy anyone else's project wavered...although, technically, I didn't. The fabrics I bought were lengths between 2-4 yards, which I hope to use for backing to finish some of the UFOs I kept (like the Feathered Star to the left...still unfinished.)

One bright spot in these past couple of weeks, my uncle "shared the wealth" a bit with everyone and send me a check telling me to splurge a little. I did. A very little.  Most of the money I used to pay off some of my debt, but I bought a beautiful maple Maru Dai from The Braider's Hand. I've only had it about a week, but I've done two braids on it, and it's very nice.