Frustrations

I acomplished very little yesterday, despite managing to find two hours to spend in the studio. I find that the more housework I do, the more I see that needs doing. Some of it is dependent on me finding money--such as painting the kitchen and getting the rugs cleaned--but the kitchen looks dirty just by virtue of needing painting. I spilt coffee on the floor today, and now feel that I should be washing it. The other thing is that, even when I can find time to be in the studio, I have trouble focussing for more than a few minutes, because it's been so long since I was able to focus for more than a few minutes. I have to re-train myself to work for longer periods of time-if I ever organize longer periods of time.

I signed up for a workshop tomorrow. Just a silly little thing, but I'm hoping it will jump start my creativity. The instructor is a member of FAN, and I want to talk to her --if we can find a minute--about the possibility of organizing a FAN retreat here in Manitoba. It would be fantastic to be able to actually have one here without having the expense of flying across the country. there are two of us interested, but we both feel that we would need a third person to help withthe organizing.

Preview

Here is a preview of "Baby Hoard Dragon-or-We All Have to Start Somewhere". She started out as part of the Fast Friday Internet Challenge, and has grown from there. She is based on the New York Beauty block. I had thought to add motion with the value changes, but it didn't really work. I plan to add a small hoard/stash with beads and jewels, but so far all I've done is the piecing and fusing. The background is a piece of cotton I put in an indigo dye bath, when it was almost depleted, so ended up with a delicate periwinkle blue instead of the deep indigo. It worked so very well here, when I was trying to stick with an analogous colour scheme.

No studio time

Yesterday was spent grocery shopping. By evening I was too tired to do much. I got wings and legs on my "Baby Hoard Dragon", but that was all. At the store yesterday I picked up a huge bag of bananas on clearance. That means that I get to spend today making banana bread for the freezer. It's a chore but sure pays off in the long run. Now I will have something quick and easy for any company or pot lucks etc. I'm busy searching out recipes for my slow cooker, and yesterday, picked up another cook book. I would very much like to be able to set something up and then spend the afternoon in the studio without worrying about supper. I've now tried two recipes, and both were disasters. So many of the recipes call for wierd ingredients--I just want basic comfort food. But I will persevere.

Where is my head at?

The Ice Worm cocktail was very, very different for me. But yesterday, I created a snake/baby dragon. She's cute, but so very "off the wall" when compared to what I usually do. Where is this stuff coming from? To a certain extent it's back to the basics, using a few contemporary techniques. Baby Dragon is going to have a hoard, and that will be beading and jewels--I may even use a couple of shi-sha mirrors (dragon eyes??) Baby Dragon may actually be part of my crap quota, but I think I'm going to persevere and finish her. She started out as a piece in response to the Fast Friday Challenge.
Hopefully today I'll get my picture for the Urban Decay challenge.

Quiet times

The down side of having melted that plastic on the iron is that I ended up with it all over the ironing board cover. So, fnally, after procrastinating for almost 18 months I changed the cover. This is a major operation. My ironing board is old and a little wider than newer ones. I've had it since I was first married (43 years). The mechanism to raise and lower it has broken, and it remains up all the time. But I wouldn't part with it for any price. So I have to lift it up onto the work table --with the legs up. Then I cut off the old cover, position the new one in place and sew that on. The whole operation takes about an hour, and my biggest fear is that I'm going to smash one of the ceiling tiles when I'm moving the thing. It must be sewn on, because it is wider than usual, and the store bought covers don't fit

There has been little of interest on tv lately, so I've been re-playing the Quilting Arts TV videos that I bought. When you see several of them at a time, you come away with impressions more than outright ideas. The impression I have is of small quilted pieces, with few redeeming features ( to my mind-others might think they're marvelous) Many of them have one focal piece of fabric, with other fabrics arranged around the focus without any obvious plan. Then some words are stamped on. This is not to say that all the examples in the shows are like this. I've also seen some fantastic pieces, but I think they might be in the minority. So my question is this. If this is what is being shown through a high profile, highly respected source, does that mean that this is the sort of thing that is selling? Since my work is so different, am I right off the wall with my work? Or does this represent the run of the mill work being done, and is the "different" stuff the more desirable?

More totes?!

Going through my stash I found supplies for two totes all cut up ready to sew, including the webbing for handles, so I spent yesterday making them up. I used to make these for craft sales, with a hand embroidered panel on the front. When I look back, I was a fool. I would spend six to eight hours embroidering each one and then make it up. I was trying to sell them for $12 about 20 years ago, and not being too successful--which is why I stopped doing it. These may not sell either, but I only spent about an hour making couched flower collages on the front of both. I just couldn't make myself throw the whole bag out. They both turned out rather well, but when I was doing the final ironing on one I accidently touched the webbing--and it melted. I don't know if anyone other than I would notice it. the second one is very nice. I need new batteries for my camera--the charger just isn't working right--but that won't happen until , at least Wednesday, so no pictures right now.

The weather is bitter cold right now. High wind chills with many, many warnings on radio and tv. So yesterday I phoned DD to talk about dinner tonight. She was concerned as well, so DH and I are driving out there tonight instead of them coming in. We are taking food, and the little ones get to stay in their own home, and maybe be able to stick with whatever bed time routine they have. DD actually said that she had been going to call and ask, so maybe she is starting to think aobut making things easier for everyone too. I have ameeting out of town this afternoon, so it isn't putting us out to any extent either.

There are still lots of phone calls to make. I should have done it yesterday, but I'll try to make some this mornign. I have a couple of contracts to get in the mail. I'll get them ready and drop them off tomorrow. These lists sure help me get organized.

Lizards done!

The machine embroidery is all done and the whole piece worked into a tote bag. Once I had the embroidery done, I knew that the piece just wasn't good enough to justify framing. But-once it was finished and I took a good look at it I realized that there was one thing I could have done differently. I made up the bag with the lizards as the front, but set out in a horizontal array. this resulted in a wide, but sometwhat short bag. I should have set them out vertically. It just never crossed my mind,and now it's just too late. It's a good bag done in deep reds.

Today I'm going to try to do a little Seminole patchwork. I need to do some quick piecing and cross cutting for re-piecing, and this would be the perfect technique. When I was searching for red fabric etc for the lizards, I found two red totes already cut out ready to sew, including webbing for handles. This is a different style of tote--one I used to make for sale years ago. I used to hand embroider a decorative panel for the front. I'm going to make them up using the Seminole patchwork for the decorative panel, and then offer them for sale at the sale in April. This will get rid of a little more of the junk, I won't have to buy anything to make them, and maybe I can get a buck or two.

Just a note

to say that nothing has changed since yesterday. We met DD and the grands at Michael's about 5:30 yesterday. They were all cranky. I guess the little ones had just come from the sitter and were hungry. Looking at them, I think of myself and my little ones at that age. Too much stress, too little sleep etc. Life isn't fair. Moms should have time and leisure to enjoy little ones while they are little. But then you end up stuck in the house with no money and very little adult interaction. I'm trying to figure out what I can do to help. Not much without major lifestyle change on both our parts. I think I need to talk to her about it, in any case. Her response may be that I should take the children more often so that she can get away and get things done, but I think they need more relaxed time with their Mom. If I could take care of more of the household things like meals, and shopping etc. but that then becomes intrusive into their life. Can't win.

Got my lists mostly done, and as usual, once I get everything written down, the whole thing becomes more manageable. Lots of paper work to do, and lots of phone calls to make. Poker Stars is now shutting down for three hours every afternoon. Drives DH crazy,and he is playing more in the mornings, and late at night. But it means that I can use the computer in the afternoons, rather than having to get up early or stay up late.

Re-purposing

The machine embroidery on my piece "Heat" is finally finished. This was somewhat of an experiment in free motion embroidry using a straight stitch and rayon thread. While I've been working on it, one of my internet groups actually started a thread on the exact topic. And here I thought I was inventing something new! Just as my Aunt Margaret used to say " there is nothing new under the sun". In any case, it isn't as specatular as I had hoped. Despite great dialogue with the colour wheel, the colour indicated wasn't available, so I used yellow--in four different shades--with "slime green", electric blue, and purple accents. I also found out that a single layer of stabilizer isn't enough to prevent ripples, when the sewing is so intense. So rather than putting out money to frame something that isn't worth framing, I think I'm going to turn it into the front of a tote bag. I can still use it as a sample for my 2010 class.

This morning I'm going to a breakfast meeting with my small dyers group. I really don't have a lot to take, but I think I'm going to take along the dyeing kits I bought for use with wool and silk. This group is really into cotton, but I just haven't been doing that lately. Speaking of that, I noticed the bottles of diluted fabric paint sitting on the bar. These have to be used within the next month or so, or they will be beyond. I think six months is the outside limit for viable paint, and I'm up to three months now.

This time of year is always busy. I wonder if we try to deal with the weather by saying "up your--you're not going to stop me"and get involved in a frenzy of activity. I have all sorts of deadlines coming at me, and I'm not really getting anything done in the studio. So that means it's time for more lists. If nothing else they help me sort things out in my mind. And somehow, I have to get back into some sort of work routine.

Life gets weird

Yesterday I went to an artists' brunch. I had no idea wht to expect. By the end of three hours there were about 20 of us there. It turns out that there were three traveling artists. They were film makers and had had a formal film presentation the night before. It is their custom to host a brunch following their presentations. This is supposed to be almost a "show'n'tell" event with other local artists bringing their work to display and discuss. Each participant is expected to comment and discuss the work presented, and then to write more private opinions down to give to the presenting artist to read and consider later. There was quite a variety of art forms represented in the group. The first presented had a delightful short ( 2-3 minutes) film, but the second artist described herself as being "into burlesque" and discussed how she makes her costumes, mainly by hand. She brought her sewing box and showed us her sequins etc. Others were film makers and print makers, and even a lady doing hand embroidery. The discussions were marvellous.

This is one of the reasons I had originally joined this group--to have the oportunity to dialogue and learn from other artists. They pointed out to me that while I use a lot of symbolism in my work to convey a message, my work doesn't provide the viewer any opportunity to respond, nor does it necessaruily evoke any thought processes inthe viewer--there is no capacity for dialogue. Part of this is that my work is so very obvious and "out there". It doesn't appear to have any layers, or hidden parts. This came out during a discussion around why there is so much in the way of degraded or ambiguous imagery, and/or layering, in current art. Food for thought, but I'm not sure how this may or may not influence what I do.
Part of this might be a need to produce saleable art. The darker stuff needs to be kept, and/or used for other purposes. I don't produce a lot of dark stuff

Ice Worm Cocktail

Here, finally, is my Ice Worm Cocktail. (We've finally decided that the problem with the camera may be a faulty battery charger.) Everything except the blue dotted fabric , comes from my hand dyed fabric. The pieced background is FMQ'd, and the border is quilted with parallel lines about 5/16" apart, and all running vertically. This piece was pure fun. I have no idea what I may do with it.

Here is a close-up. There are five different values of grey in the pieced background, two more in the border and an 8th in the binding.

No pictures. I have the battery charger plugged in and hope to have one later today. My "Ice Wrom Cocktail" got mixed reviews tthe meeting. One friend looked at it and just said "No bling!", and walked away. Others liked the colours. There was discussion about adding eyes. I see it as somewhat austere and elegant, and really don't think red buttons would add to the image, but Iwonder what would happen if I added red "jewels".

Yesterday was my DD's 35th birthday. Now both of my children are officially "middle aged". What does that make me? I know that shortly before I left work they were referring to the elderly, the old, and the old old. Dh has to prepare for a colonoscopy tomorrow. ( Purely precautionary--no worries) I bet by the end of the day both of us feel like the "old old".

This afternoon I'm thinking of going to a "Show'n'Tell Brunch". I've invited a friend, but if she can't make it, I may just go on my own. I have no idea what this is all about, but it should be an experience.

Naming Work

It's always a hassle for me to come up with a title for the many finished pieces I have. A design came to me out of the blue this week, and it's just about finished. I should have a picture later today. Anyway, looking at it all I could think of was worms--not a great title for a piece. Given how cold it's been ( I can't believe that I said to DH this morning "it's only 24 below") I also thought of Ice worms. Then I remembered that this is the title of a Robert Service poem. So I hauled out my book of Robert Service poems and looked it up. His worms were even blue, just like mine. The piece is now called "Ice Worm Cocktail". I resisted the urge to sew on red buttons to represent the eyes.

My Dad was very fond of Robert Service, but not the better-known poems. I can remember Dad laughing over "Bessie's Boil". I also know that the first stanza of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" has come to represent every emotion usually associated with the North. I've tried to memorize it over the years, and just never could. A friend actually used words from it in a piece of embroidery that she did. I wonder if there might not be inspiration for other art pieces in his work- but maybe not in "Bessie's Boil".

Have to get ready for a Quilters' Guild meeting tonight. Again I have two full boxes to take with me. When will I learn?!

Cold

The front page of the paper says that it's colder here than at either the North or South Pole. I believe it. For the first time in years, we closed the bedroom window. Usually we leave it open just a tiny crack through the winter. I don't have to go out again until tomorrow evening, and then, not until Monday morning. But I think I know why people go crazy and kill.

Been busy with house work the last couple of days. DH is going through one of his "I won't do anything I don't want to" periods, which means that I get the privilege of doing everything, except watching Turner Classic Movies and playing internet poker. I did get some time in the studio Monday evening and yesteday afternoon. I puttered around playing with my stash and before I realized it, I had the beginnning of a small piece, using my hand dyed fabric. It is together now, but I have to do some more machine sewing on it. Part of it is quilted, and all of the applique is fused. I plan to sew down the applique with buttonhole stitch, finish the quilting, and then figure out how to bind it. I sort of hope I can get it finished for the Quilters Guild meeting Friday night.

I've been talking to a couple of friends ( what else can you do when it -40) Everyone is feeling "bushed"/cabin fever, whatever you call it when you are stuck inside and are slowly going crazy. I think this is the longest cold spell we've been through since moving back to Winnipeg in 1975. I remember another long cold spell when we were in Edmonton. I think it was 40 days when the temperature didn't get above -20C. I remember them selling T-shirts that said something like "I survived the big chill". I was working at the time and had a small child--not great!

I have to go out for a meeting at the Museum this morning. Thank Goodness this cold means that there isn't much snow to clear off the car. I had to go over to a friend's house yesterday to pick up a ruler I was borrowing ( Ever used a wavy edge ruler--sort of an oxymoron, isn't it?) and we stopped at Canadian Tire to buy new scrapers--the others are just about worn out. Only in Canada, eh?

Sunday turned oout to be more of a "putter-y" day. I played around with a design trying to get it onto paper and out of my head. Once I had actually drawn it out, I realized that it looked like a piece of contrived crap. I still think the concept works, so I'll play with it a little more today. I'm going to try painting fusible web with metallic paint and then fuse it onto a background to work some applique over. I've done this with silk paper to good effect, and I'm hoping that with something thin and fused, I can needle felt part of the design.

I made one more low water immersion (LWI) dyed piece. Most of my pieces are very dark in value, and I'm trying to find some way of achieving the crystalline pattern of the LWI, but in a lighter value, more suitable for use as a background. It's not happening. But now, between the class, and my play, I've used all of the fabric I had scoured, so have to do some more today, if I can. It's interested that I've always questioned why other dyers I've heard of, spend so much time dyeing , but don't ever seem to use any of their fabric in producing finished product. Well, I seem to be in the same boat now. I'm producing fabric, but no actual pieces as a result of all that effort.

The class!!

Went really well. Everyone seemed to gain something from it. There were even a couple of ladies who had not been in the previous classes in the series ( And we are set up to accommodate this sort of "drop in"). I spoke to each of them privately and was assured that they were well satisfied. I also found out that there are more of you out there reading this than I had thought. Welcome!
I now have six pieces of dyed fabric that I can start to design pieces around. Since my 2010 class is about designing around painted pieces, I can use these for practise. A friend, who was working in the shop while the class was on, showed us a marvelous piece she has done. She had taken a piece of mottled green/brown fabric and used it behind a detailed embroidery of the final scattering of dandelion seeds off the seed head. Really inspiring! The five pages of notes I had prepared on ways to use colour in designing, went by quite quickly. I can see using them in my 2010 class, but I can also see how I'm going to have to enhance them with examples. I think I'll have to prepare very similar packages on all of the other principles of design. Just preparing the presentation would be a fantastic learning experience for me.

This class has invigorated me. This is a good thing, because I have been concerned about my lack of energy and initiative lately. Friday evening I sat in front of the tv and barely moved for almost four hours. This is really not like me. I'll sit, but my hands are usually very busy. Mind you, one of those hours was Celebrity Rehab. I watch that closely, and don't usually stitch. ( I know, I know--I should be ashamed of myself) Anyway, I was starting to wonder if the great grey monster of depression was attacking me. It's that time of year, and I know other members of the family tend toward SAD. In the past, when I've started to feel this way, and recognized it, I've managed to pull myself out. So yesterday I started some of my strategies--like wearing red instead of black. Hey! Whatever works! Right? Today, even with having to put together a great meal for DD and her little ones, I hope to get some designs out of my head, and onto paper. I have two that are just itching to get out, and one that is slowly forming in the back ground. As part of the class yesterday, I had the students trouble shoot my lizard piece, by using the colour wheel to suggest what colour the lizards should be embroidered. So now I have to work on their suggestions. Sounds like a busy day!

Not a great day

Today is my class, and while I was lying awake last night, I realized that I had made a mistake in the instructions. So computer time this morning will involve some heavy correcting and re-printing. I'll have to let you know how the class goes later tonight

Wool

Visited the wool lady today. She has a big building, and obviously does most of her own dyeing etc. Her dyes are supposedly eco friendly, and come from Australia. She had them put up in sample packs for duffers like me. Each package contains 6-10gm packages of dye powder. So I now have 18 different colours to play with. BUT-she couldn't sell me any roving--she was completely sold out! So I'll use what little roving I have, and then work with the uncombed wool I have. BONUS! The same dye and method will also dye silk. I just happen to have a bag of Bombyx silk roving and will be trying to dye that as well.

But tonight we ended up babysitting our youngest DGD for a couple of hours while her parents went out for supper. She is a joy, especially one on one. When her parents returned she had to tell them all about the time with us. At least I assume that's what she was saying--who knows!
But it was so very conversational I would have sworn she was talking to them. DD says that she talks to the dog and cat all the time. I guess we usually see her with her older sister, and the little one's talk gets lost in the shuffle.

Darn Computer!

Yesterday, I went into polish up the hand outs I had prepared for my class Saturday. No where to be found! I had to start all over again. It took about 6 hours but I think I have them pretty well done, and am much more confident they are saved. Then I was notified that I now have 7 students rather than 6. I had thought that registration had been cut off at Christmas, but I guess the shop has to make a profit too. This means that I have to get the supplies for one more kit. When I got the stuff for the first 6 kits, I bought out the store for the Synthrapol, and now it's too late to order from Toronto. But I made a few phone calls and finally found a local source. It means a couple of hours of driving through this horrible snow and cold, but that's okay.

My friend and I have now arranged to visit the local wool shop tomorrow. I'm hoping to pick up a couple of things. I very much want to learn a bit about dyeing wool. I've acquired some uncarded, but clean wool, and want to dye it for use in my needle felting. This may make producing landscapes a little easier. I'm determined to find some sort of product that will have the potential to make the needle felting somewhat profitable. Not sure where that will end up but even if all I gain is enough knowledge to enable me to teach, I'll be happy. The other thing I want to take a look at is wool she might be selling that is already dyed. Another friend showed me a huge bundle of dyed roving that she had bought from a local wool dyer. It changed colour frequently, and was the nicest subdued, toned down colours--perfect for needle felting.

This brings up the whole issue of supporting shops. I found out yesterday that another local wool/yarn shop may be closing. I had also heard a rumour that it was being sold, but that was awhile ago, so maybe the deal fell through--or was just gossip. In this city of almost 700,000 people there are now only two wool/yarn shops, and one of those is very, very small. We have a couple of wool producers within driving distance of the city, but they sell the wool ready for spinning--not ready for any other process. While I'm not a knitter, I love the feel and usefulness of wool and wool blends ( especially wool/silk). Spun yarns are so great in my collages. But I have to confess that I've bought cheap crap from Dollarama, and I'll continue to do so. It is a couple of blocks away and the price is right. So convenience and $$ will continue to dictate my purchasing, especially if I have to drive out of town to get the better, but pricier goods.

Down to work

Got the first part of the typing done for my class yesterday, and I hope to finish the job today. Heard from the Seminar2010 committee and they think they can use the pictures I submitted, as part of my class proposal, for their publication. This will save a tremendous amount of time and money. Otherwise I would have had to devise some other presentation, prepare it and ship it off to Regina for photography. This way it can be done by e-mail. Now this is a bigger deal than you might think, because I-me!-myself!-took those picture, with my little digital camera! I can't believe it--after all the problems I've had with pictures! Regardless, I still spent most of last evening working out the colours for one of my samples. I've scheduled the next three months to prepare samples for the class, as I expect they are going to want the real thing for publicity in Kingston this May.

Another funeral!

This one is more of a duty type of event, not a relative. A very well-known lady with the Crafts Guild of Manitoba. Another Crafts Musem Board member and I are going to attend to represent the Museum. We had agreed to do it thinking that it was very close to a wool studio we had wanted to visit. As it turned out the studio is closed today. Still a miserable day--cold and colder. But at least it's stopped snowing. The little ones were here for supper yesterday. The littlest one was tired and cranky--did nothing but cry. We tried everything to get her to sleep or to calm down, but nothing worked, so finally her Mom took her home. Not a pleasant visit, but the other girl was a delight. She ate supper something she doesn't always do, and didn't interfere with our efforts to comfort her sister. By the time they left both DH and I were exhausted, so again an early night. By 5:30 this morning I was slept out, and up doing the typing for my class next Saturday.

My Ravenesque group is supposed to be here tonight, but I've had a lot of regrets, so I'm not sure what the day holds.

Emotions

The funeral turned out to be a very emotional experience for me. I was caught by surprize by how the church, and the situation affected me. The music, in particular, brought out unexpected feelings, thoughts, and memories. I came home and read for a little while and then was overcome with fatigue, and slept for almost two hours.

The city is a mess with snow and more snow. Traffic was a horror with falling snow, slippery roads, and snow removal equipment everywhere. But on the way home we shopped. I picked up most of the stuff I needed for the kits for my class next weekend. I had wanted those little paper face masks for the students to wear while mixing dye. (they'll only be mixing once and it only takes a minute, but I need to make the point that the dry powder can present a potential respiratory danger) Well, it seems that they aren't sold anymore ( maybe they don't work?) We finally found a minimum safety level disposable face mask in the third store we visited, and I had to buy one for each student, as well as disposable gloves. We found those in WalMart--one box on clearance. Now we're finally home, I plan to stay here for awhile.

Quiet day--again!

At least I got out to the fabric store. I think we could have had a quilters' guild meeting in the line around the cutting table, and again at the till. I bought thread and batting, and even that came to more than I had actually wanted to spend. The rest of the day was spent trying to put together hand outs for the class I'm teaching next Saturday. I knew what I wanted to talk about, but I needed to find a way of presenting it that would be new and fresh to the students. The topic is colour, and I'm sure they've had the colour wheel up the ying yang. I found a book that was obviously written in the a "Flower child" era. All peace and love and do your own thing. Very good information, and a phenomenal section on the history of colour theory, but the language was so obviously dated. A second book was aimed at quilters, and the class is mainly embroiderers, but I think the format of this book will be what I base my class on. An interesting way of looking at what we do with colour rather than just the theory of how we analyze it. The class is actually on low water immersion fabric dyeing, but I need to talk about something while we wait for the dye to work. It's going to be a lengthy hand out, as I'll have to give instructions for the dyeing as well an info on colour. I have a couple of exercises planned, as well, to help fill the time.

Today is the funeral. My sisters (also both God Daughters)are probably not going to be able to make it--one because of distance and the other because of the weather--but our son is planning on being there. He is friends with one of her grandchildren, and had been friends for about 3 years before they became aware of any connection. It will be a good chance to re-connect with friends and relatives. But so very sad that it takes a funeral for that to happen.

Early morning again.

It's getting to be quite a habit to spend the first few minutes of my day here. DH had a good day yesterday. His birthday wish was to spend the day with his family, and he did. The meal went well, but I won't cook veggies that way again. I think I was the only one who enjoyed them. It was quite a challenge to put together a meal in such a way as to keep clutter and dirty pots to a minimum, so that we could use the kitchen to eat. The only pots I have to worry about today ( because I just couldn't face washing them last night) are my two slow cookers. Lots of errands to run today, and a big fabric sale to attend.

One of my internet groups has been spending a lot of time talking about setting goals for the year, as opposed to making resolutions. Two distinctly different processes. The trouble with goals is that, unless you know where you are going, you can't make concrete plans for getting there. I've spent more than a couple of years trying to figure out where I want to go with my art, and I don't think I'm any closer to an answer. I did find out that CD burners are not as expensive as I had thought, so one step on the journey for the year may be to actually learn how to produce my own CD's for entering shows.

Scraps are done!

I had set a deadline 0f Dec 31, and I made it. I haven't done all of the sewing on the small purses--7 more out of dark scraps--and I haven't matted the two dark collages, although I have ordered the matts. Quite an exercise! Once I had finished tidying the basement and studio, I spent yesterday playing with the needlefelter. One of the video's I bought ( the best of the bunch)was on needlefelting, and I tried a couple of the techniques she had demonstrated. Unfortunately I broke three needles--all at the same time. So I'll have to get out and buy some. Maybe on Saturday, when we're out to the funeral, as it is on the other side of town, and the quilt store on the way.

But the reason for the deadline was that I now have to settle down and work on the class I proposed for Seminar 2010. I need to have samples ready for photography by March, although I haven't yet received my contract. This is going to be a struggle for me, as I now have ideas in mind that are screaming to get out. I have to control them and work on the samples. I knew that this would happen, when I applied for the job, and knew that it would be a struggle.

But nothing for today as we have a meal to produce for the whole family. and DH was just in to comment on how very, very quiet the usually very busy street is. At 8:30 am on New Year's Day are we surprised?