The Artist's Way

I fell into bed last night, totally exhausted. After the heavy upper body workout with Brooke in the morning, working with the embroidery machine and the giant quilt, plus a walk to the dollar store and the grocery store, I was done! But that's OK -- it was a productive day! Plus, I finished listening to a book, which I have to share the details with you. 

Let's start with the giant quilt! It is 109 by 109 inches. It is done, almost trimmed, and ready to be dropped off later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I am leery of larger quilts because they can go on the machine wonky (my doing), or the borders are wavy or whatever. Lots of things can go haywire with a large quilt. I'm happy to report that I got it loaded straight through to the end, and the piecing was bang on. I had no issues with quilting it, other than it took a long time! And now it's done!

Then I decided, why have one automated machine working, when I can have two!! And there is no longer any procrastination in my house. Make a decision and get it done! I sent the Zodiac constellations design to the EPIC 3, and it happily stitched for a good part of the day. 

Ready to stitch the constellation designs

What was even more helpful was that the design looked like it was made especially for that large hoop—260 by 465 mm. I mean, the design literally filled it. Otherwise, I would have had to hoop the fabric several times. Oh my—I planned that perfectly! OK — I got lucky: I designed based on the size of fabric I needed and was not restricted by the hoop size. It was my lucky day, as they were essentially the same size!

I considered using white thread, which would have looked amazing, but I was thinking of the gold thread on the border print, and I didn't like the two together. So gold thread it was. My machine wasn't particularly happy with the gold thread. It didn't break - the needle just kept coming unthreaded more often than I would have liked. I'm not sure why that happened, but it didn't matter - I was downstairs anyway, so I just kept rethreading the machine when it needed that to be done. YES -- I slowed the machine way down, and other than the needle coming unthreaded, it stitched out beautifully. Patience is a virtue -- no need to get frustrated - just slow and steady, and it all came together. 

The completed design

I forgot to take a close-up, so I'll do that later today, but I love it! I trimmed all the threads and removed the stabilizer last night while I waited for the giant quilt to finish. All I need to do is give it a good press and cut it to the correct size. I didn't trust myself last night to do that task. Perhaps this morning. 

And here are some half-square triangles that I trimmed the other day. All up-to-date on those. Just lots more of them to sew!

Trimming half-square triangles

I had some time to spare (GASP), so I dug out the scraps of solid black I had discovered while finishing that table runner. It's hard to believe, but all of these are sold as BLACK!!!! I'm going to make the pieced backing for my Abreviated Dear Jen quilt. I don't care if the blacks don't match—I just want this fabric used up!! I cut the first pass and will potentially sew the rows together this morning. 

The many colors of black

This is my next machine embroidery project, and it's much smaller than the Zodiac, but it's going to be fiddly, I think! The first step is done. YES --- those rings are all machine embroidered - the last step is to assemble them, also on the embroidery machine! 

The next machine embroidery project

I'm taking KU to a quilt shop that is some distance away, so the afternoon will be a lost cause for getting work done, which I'm OK with. It's good to take a break. However, the Pony Express will be active this afternoon, as I have two drop-offs near our destination! But I have the morning to get some stuff done, although I should be focusing on some paperwork. I'll see how I feel after walking the girls. 

Speaking of the girls, we now know who the culprit is who thinks that walking on the pond is a good thing. 

MOM - I'm ice fishing!!

And it's not enough for her to walk on it, I spotted her in the afternoon like this. 

MOM - nothing to see here!

Yep -- why just walk on the pond when you can have a ly-down on it! That dog is nuts about the pond and water. It's supposed to be warm today, so hopefully she knows enough (she does) to stay off the ice! 

I got a chuckle from her in the morning because she "accidentally" tossed one of her balls under the desk beside me. And she tried desperately to get it. She must have found this position comfortable because she stayed there for a while. What a silly girl!!!!

MOM - just hanging out!

And then while we were having dinner, Lexi rescued me again from Murphy begging to play ball. They had a good tussle, and everyone was entertained and happy. 

MOM - I'll keep Murphy away from you!!
MOM - HELP!! Lexi won't let me play ball!

Wait -- Murpy "broke" her ear!!!! Well, Lexi probably did this to her, but it was so cute. Every once in a while, that happens, and I managed to get a picture! 

MOM -- Look at my ear - Lexi broke my ear!!!

KU and I walked to the dollar store in the afternoon—it was a glorious day. She may regret living with us because I walk everywhere. No going by car to do errands! Anyway, we were looking for these felt portfolios. Which we found, thanks to KU. We at last found the right department, and I didn't see any, but KU moved a book and VOILA -- there was ONE left. 

The felt laptop bag

Hmmm—I think I need better friends, or more explicit friends. Whenever someone finds something at the dollar store that others in our group might be interested in, we NEVER get the right department. "OH - I think it was in the office supplies" section. So I went and couldn't find it there. Turns out it was in the ELECTRONICS section because it's a tablet case. Sigh......

So the bottom line is that if you find something you think someone else will like, PLEASE take a picture of it on the shelf or note where you picked it up. People then say, well, they could be in a different department. NO --- when you see the folks at the dollar store unpacking boxes, they have a MAP of the store in their hands, and each product in each store goes in the same department. It might be slightly different, but the employees do NOT make those decisions. 

I'm not sure if I should go shopping with KU, as she could cost me a lot of money! We were also looking for this - not to buy it, but just to check it out. This was in the crafts section. So if you want inexpensive markers for your blocks or rows, you could use this. And if the letters come off, get out your hot glue and glue the letters back on!

Letters and numbers on clothespins

When we were at the mall the other day and waiting for the movie theater to open, we had popped into one of my favorite clothing stores, and here is the pair of jeans I bought. KU found them. They are so not like a pair of jeans I would typically buy, and certainly a lot more money than my $6 thrift store find. HEY -- I LOVE my thrift store jeans, and they fit like a glove! 

OK -- I finished The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron this morning, and I can finally cross that book off my list. I never need to get it from the library again. 

It was a very interesting book, and I'm glad I finally had the chance to read it. To clarify, by using the term artist, she refers to anyone - whether you are a painter, a quilter, an office worker -- anyone. So don't think the book and its methods won't apply to you. Secondly, the book is based on many spiritual teachings, which is OK, and she addresses those who don't believe in a higher being at the beginning. She has MANY lists in the book—I mean, MANY. And she quotes a ton of people. So be warned. She also talks about the "recovering or blocked" artist and rarely mentions those who would like to become artists. But I guess those people are considered blocked because they can't make the first move. 

Anyway, despite some of the things mentioned above, which are NOT negative, but a lot of filler, perhaps the filler is necessary. Anyway, I highly recommend reading the book if you haven't. 

WAIT --- before you jump into your library app to find it, here are a couple of things. First, the book didn't really help me. WHAT????? Why am I recommending it? Because I've already done most of what she said to do. I am NOT a recovering or blocked artist. The ideas are flowing out of me faster than I can write them down. BUT I did learn a few tips from the book, but I mostly got 1000% affirmation that what I'm doing is the way to go! And sometimes we need that. 

Things to keep in mind before you start to read this book: 

1. If you are serious about unblocking yourself, get the WRITTEN copy of the book, and I think there is a workbook to do the exercises. 
2. It's a 12-step program—do each step over 1 week. I think it's harder to do the exercises in audio form, and you won't have time if you have the book on loan for three weeks.  
3. It will be a lot of work, but it's good work. It makes you think deeply about what you want to do in life, how to get out of a rut (art, love, travel, daily living, health, etc)
4. Try to find a group or a buddy who can help you. Someone who will support you, not cut down what you are trying to achieve.
5. Believe in yourself- you are creative - everyone is creative, if they let the creativity out. 

OMG -- I just created a list. But there are only five items on my list. Julai's lists have twenty items on them!!

What are some of the things that I already do that she mentions in the book? 

1. Make mistakes! They are good for you! 
2. Affirmation of who I am. Yep — I'm not afraid to call myself an artist with a studio and toot my own horn about how good I am. 
3. Find your passion. I was fortunate to have found my passion almost 30 years ago, and I have never looked back. 
4. Teach others—yep, I've been doing that for 25 years. You will learn from teaching, not just about the subject at hand, but about yourself. I've learned so much from teaching - it was the best thing I have ever done!
5. WRITE --- it doesn't have to be a novel, but even nonsense, as she talks about for the Morning Pages, is good. Get your brain working, get that crap out of your head that you are struggling with. Get rid of it by writing it down. Never to be read again! I've been writing the blog for almost 20 years! Some good days, some not so good!  
6. Don't be afraid to do what you want, even if it means doing it by yourself. Yep --- riding a bike across Canada (with a group), walking across Spain on the Camino, climbing Kilimanjaro, etc. Many more adventures await me, and I wait for no person. If I had to find someone with similar interests to do those adventures, I'd still be waiting. 
7. LOVE yourself and be selfish a little bit. You need time for yourself, you need to learn to live with yourself, and to entertain yourself. I am the most important person in my life, and I'm proud to say it out loud. 
8. Stop procrastinating. This one is fairly new to me, and it took a very long time for me to get to the point where I just make the decision and go with it. No regrets -- just decide and move on. Life is too short to let details get in the way. For me, it was my visual to-do list and the desire not to leave this creative mess for someone else to clear up. 
9. Find a support group. Can you believe that I have found that in my Monday Sewing group, which has been going for almost 25 years? There were issues -- MAJOR issues, and the group got ugly at points with back stabbing, a police complaint filed against me (YEP  - that is not a lie), and moving from in-person to going online. It doesn't matter; the backbone of the group has held together like glue. Can you believe there are still three people from the original group (including myself) who started in 2001 who are still participating? 
10. Don't be afraid! While you probably can't do everything you want to do, don't be afraid to try new things or do things alone if no one is around to go with you. I used to be the most shy person you could imagine, and I have gradually cracked that shell. Thank god for that! START SMALL on this. 

OOOPs -- another list!!! 

But you get my point—I didn't need to read the book because I'm already there. But WAIT --- you are never there --- life is a constant journey, not a destination!!! Learn to make the most of it - stop and smell the roses along the way, take what comes with a grain of salt -- why let someone else ruin your life because they make silly choices? Nope --- your life is all about YOU!!!! 

OK -- I have to run, but seriously, if you are in a rut and want to make changes, the book is good. BUT WAIT --- here's another thing to keep in mind. You HAVE TO WANT TO CHANGE. If you think the book is going to help you, it can only do that if YOU ARE WILLING to change. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!