I'm In!!
Yesterday I wrote about two other blogs that had caught my eye - the TAST - and the Bead Journal Project. I contacted both of the list masters and was accepted.
You will see the link to the TAST ring on the sidebar of this blog - and a BIG thank-you to Debra for wading through the techie stuff for me and putting that link in. I sure have a lot to learn about blogs, links, rings, etc.....but if you learn a little each day it amounts to an awful lot by the end of the week, the month and the year!!
I also got accepted into the Bead Journal Project - I didn't realize that there was a cut off date of May 30 - so I slid in under the wire. I have posted my intentions on that blog but will also keep track of my progress and work here on my own blog. In reading some of the intro blogs I can see that I'm in with some pretty amazing people - here's hoping I can live up to the standard!!
Basically I will be experimenting with beads and embroidery stitches and creating a beaded journal page about it once a month....now I just have to figure out how to get my camera to take better close up pix than it does so that I can post some of the WIP (Work In Progress). The pix above is of some of my previous crazy patchwork but the photo doesn't do the work justice.....
Here we are again with that two steps forward, one step back....

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back




Ever feel like you're a hamster on a wheel that just goes around and around but you never seem to arrive anywhere?!? I'm feeling a bit like that these days....


The physio that I have been taking to rehabilitate my back has been wonderful - but it turns out that the bruising in my back may not be what slows my recovery - a strained rotator cuff - that's a muscle in the shoulder - may be my downfall. Seems when I flew back my arm/shoulder also whipped back, straining the muscle and like any muscle that hurts - you don't know that you are using it until it hurts.....but I am dutifully doing all of my exercises as I can't afford the downtime.....


What does any of this have to do with quilting? Lots - it makes you very aware of just how lucky you are not be be suffering with any of the many ailments that are associated with aging or overusing joints. Ask anyone who uses their hands what it's like to deal with carpel tunnel syndrome, arthritis, strains, MS, fibromyalgia - the list goes on. This little injury has been a wake up call to make me realize how lucky I am to be able to enjoy quilting as I have for the last 20+ years - relatively pain free.



On to other thoughts..... I am using this more sedentary time to catch up on my reading and stitching handwork. In following some blog links I came across a group that is doing a TAST - Take A Stitch Tuesdays - an embroidery stitch is listed and the members of the group learn that stitch and then they try and come up with new variations of it. Too cool!! Then there is the group that are going to do a year long Bead Journal like the Quilt Journal. I have been playing with using beads to replace embroidery in crazy quilting - I call it Crazy Beaded Patchwork - and I am playing with the idea of joining both groups - the TAST to get the basic embroidery stitches but then 'play' with the variations while journalling in the Bead Journal. I find that I need deadlines to make me get the ideas that I have in my head into the fabric/fibre I see....and the journal sounds a lot better than the sampler book idea that I had come up with to try out the stitches in..... I'll contact each of the moderators, get their permission and let you know how it goes......

So Much for Resolutions....



I looked back at my last blog and realized that my last posting was not just a few weeks ago - but almost a full 6 months ago.....some of my resolutions remain - others went quickly by the wayside.....



In my quilting life I have been busy but not as busy as I would have liked. It seems that I caught a Catch-22 type spiral. I had hoped to have a bit more time for personal stretching and growing in my quilting, but when a big proposal was rejected and a number of classes cancelled due to lack of sign-up I went into a funk. I should have just picked up my socks at that point and said - there, the fates have given me the time to play!! But I didn't do that.... I futzed and putzed and can't even begin to tell you what I did with that precious time....but time - once spent - is gone - never to be returned or replaced.....



Now it's serious sock pulling time!! Some deadlines have passed and still others are looming. And are coming quickly! I did manage to get my work together and shipped to the International Quilt Festival in Waterloo - the opening is this next week, May 22, 2007. My Crazy Beaded Vest and Clutch Purse will be there - I won't. I did also get my article written, directions and samples done for an upcoming issue of A Needle Pulling Thread. So I haven't been all bad - just not as productive as I could have been......





I also had a bit of a wake up call these past few weeks. While leading a bus trip to Intercourse, PA , I suffered an injury on the bus that left me with bad bruising in my back and very painful muscle spasms. A word to the wise - when you see the sign that says 'No Standing On The Bus' - there is a good reason for the sign. I finished up leading the tour - we didn't miss anything except the Framers Market in downtown Lancaster - and promptly went to my family GP upon arriving home. The injury was 10 days ago and I already feel a lot better - but still have a way to go.





What does this have to do with wake up calls - since I have been home I can't use my left arm/shoulder fully and that is affecting my ability to rotary cut and use my sewing machine. Something that I hadn't expected - so now I have to re-arrange some of my classes and work that needs to be done. If I had used that time that was 'given' to me in the winter - I would be in far better shape.....so there is my wake-up call - use your time wisely - and if the fates appear to conspiring against you - well, maybe they are just reminding you that you should adhere to the premise of making the most of each day...





Carpe diem........