Transitions

I haven't been able to settle to any serious work in the studio.  The problem is within me, and I'm not sure why.  There are pieces lined up, waiting attention, and I have to get down to some serious planning for the  sale in July. But my hands are less and less capable of the hand finishing, and I'm being forced to realize that I am facing the end of my ability to complete any more hand finishing.  Once before, about 20 years ago, I was forced to give up hand quilting.  At that point machine quilting was just becoming acceptable, and with a lot of practice, I was able to make a transition, but the hand finishing has always been essential for exhibition or judged work.  But now even the beading is no longer possible, certainly not to the extent that it's been used in the past.  Even the smallest amount requires adapted methods and equipment.

 I think that I had realized this to a level, in my sub-conscious, and only in the last day or so, have I been able to acknowledge it to myself, and actually speak of it.  I've been a little "teary" lately, and wonder if this is what was behind it.

So now I must give myself time to re-evaluate what I'm doing, and engage in some task analysis.  This means developing different criteria for what needs to be done.  Then I must develop different methods of doing the essentials, such a stitching on bindings.  I will also need to re-evaluate my value system, and either figure out which of my personal standards are really valid in today's fibre world, and which are important only to me, and therefore subject to change.  But I worry that all the task analysis and work simplification I 'm capable of won't tell me how to sew on 1000 seed beads by hand.