Decisions, decisions

Now I know. . . .
Last night Wes and I met with our housebuilder to discuss adding a large multi-purpose room to one side of our front yard. It would be attached to the office/library section of our house and open to the backyard. It would balance with the garage on the left side of the house and be the side wall for a front yard courtyard that I would like to have. And, it would be my studio space.
Well, in my dreams . . . . .
At roughly $150,000 I would have to pony up to the winner's circle a whole lot more than I am currently winning. While Blue Ribbons are pretty, they don't pay much! The Sewing Academy is fizzling daily. Apparently people have other priorities than learning to sew. So, it would involve a big withdrawal from the savings account to accomplish that goal.
The alternative, which I could have by the end of the summer, would be to convert our walkup attic into a studio space. We would have to add 2-3 dormer windows, rearrange some framework and finish out the space. It's the area where I currently have my mini store of supplies; where it took my crew a week to schlep all that stuff up the stairs and get it set up. Everything would have to come down to the garage, I guess, during the construction.
Or, I can limp along like I have been for years making the best use of the available space--but that was before the mid-arm and 6 thread embroidery machine arrived. They are both space hogs.
Part of me wants to just say, "Oh, forget it!" I just don't have the energy or really the desire to schlep all that stuff back down. I'm just too lazy for that kind of project. And, I don't really want to withdraw even the lesser amount of money out of the saving account. Maybe I feel that spending something around $30,000 will make me really obligated to sew and quilt--like that is an issue (but you know how the mind works).
I just don't know. I really wanted the room in the front of the house with the view of what's going on in the neighborhood. I don't want to look at my neighbor's roof out of dormer windows. But I don't want to miss the window of opportunity with our builder. He's a busy and in demand man & I know construction prices are not getting any lower each year. I envision another good 10-15 years of quilting before I pack it all up and donate it to Goodwill.
and then, maybe that's what I should do now--get out and exercise more, play some golf, tone down the intensity of what I do with quilts and read some more books. . . .
It's all frustrating & it's all sitting on my shoulders---the choice is mine to make. The money's there but is the desire really there for a new studio?

Handquilting is Slow!

I'm into the long stretch of handquilting. If I were taking it leisurely, it would probably be more fun but with a deadline looming, I am reminding myself that I need to stay glued to the chair. My mini ritual is to segment off the quilt and decide that I will have xx amount done by such time. It's slow work and I usually meet my deadline but it takes perseverance. Luckily, the weather is pleasant and I can stitch on the back porch. I am reminded that last year I was doing the same thing with my Hoffman Challenge piece. It still looms in front of me with a end of July deadline.

Some days I feel like I will miss both deadlines--and what if I do? nothing would really happen-the world will go on spinning & I will have a lovely piece to hang in my living room. I am feeling ambivalent and a bit as though the Tropical Tree of Life is unworthy of a competition. A few of the technical errors bother me--the embroidery is so dense in some areas that the piece buckles a bit--maybe blocking will flatter it out-maybe not. I will have to give that a try so add it to the list of To Dos before I can say I am finished. It's becoming a chore. The fun of planning and designing is over and the long process of execution seems longer every day.

The birds beckon. I am headed to the backyard to stitch. Have a creative day, y'all!

(The Atlanta trip was fun. One of Wes's West Point classmates's daughter [his goddaughter] graduated from high school. We had a little time in Atlanta-visited the Coca Cola Museum and the Aquarium-then out to Roswell for the weekend festivities. When you are at the mercy of other event planners, you do what they suggest. But, it was a nice break and reminded me how much I like to be home. [I guess I'll never grow up to be the social gal like Rian! *wink*])

Atlanta Trip comes and goes

The Mini Vacation to Atlanta is over. . . . A Good Time Was Had by All!

Now it's back to handquilting. . . .

Handquilting Begins

I hope the jurors realize these are "decorative" handquilting stitches! In the old days they would have been referred to as toenail hangers. LOL! After 2 bent needles, I resorted to the help of my trusty needlenose pliers for pulling the DMC through all the layers (remember the background fabric is stabilized with interfacing for the machine embroidery).

We leave early Thursday morning for 4 days in Atlanta so I am scurrying to get as much done as humanly possible so I can enjoy the visit without worrying about a deadline. I feel like I accomplished a lot yesterday and I love the effect. Wes knew immediately that it looked cloudlike. Do you think so?

Machine Quilting Done

Machine Quilting on Tropical Tree of Life is done. . . .

which means, technically, that anything else I add is just gravy. We all know that I will have much more that I want to add but the whole thought that I could add the binding and be done is a bit liberating! Now I am not feeling that sick lump in my stomach like I was yesterday morning.

Most of what I want to add are long running stitches to represent sky or grass or sand or water. Looking at it now, I think I could make some real progress on it this week. I could probably spend the rest of my life working on this piece--there were birds I didn't add, I couldn't find a good spot for the tree frog, the other flying macaw had to be nixed--but I had to draw the line somewhere. There will be other pieces I can make as variations on the theme--especially since I worked many of the kinks out on this one.

OK, off to stitch! Thanks for stopping by!

Handwork Ahead

The machine embroidery is done on Tropical Tree of Life! I've also finished adding the 3D silk ferns and leaves--now it is time to get serious about the handquilting and embroidery. Half of me is giddy with anticipation and the other half of me is ready to panic. The IQF deadline is just 1 month away and I still have to reserve photography time. It's going to be tight--don't expect much blog action from me.

I was also able to fuse the peacocks to my Hoffman Challenge piece yesterday so I can begin the laborious hand embellishing on it during the evening hours.

When it rains, it pours.

Crappy pictures--forgive me! *wink*

Impatiens Appliques

I have the 2 sections of Tropical Tree of Life sewn together. Holey Macaroni! Is that thing big or what? I am going to have to bust my buns to get it done by June 12th (actually it needs to be done about the 5th to allow for pictures)--handwork still looms ahead.



Yesterday I was having all kinds of fits. The piece has gotten so big that I can't get it under my embroidery machine any longer--especially in the very middle. So, I made the forest floor foliage on organza and will cut them out today and sew them on with satin stitching. I hope it is a solution that works. While under the needle, I also stitched out some butterflies to add on some flowers.






While the Big Bertha stitched, I had the Janome stitching out paisleys on a linen shirt I picked up recently. I love how it woke the shirt right up!

Alright --back to the sweatshop, umm Design Studio. . . .