May Wrap Up

It's the end of another month. They just keep zooming by. I almost made it out of the month unscathed but that didn't happen. Just when you think things will be okay, you get knocked upside the head with a Sippy Cup full of ice cubes. Yeah. What did go right? Let's see.

• 6 books read- awesome
• 4 business quilts longarmed
• 1 quilt done for me
• 2 day trips- both to art/craft shows
• 1 Mary's Mavens lunch 
• 1 talk to a life coach
• 7 Netflix viewings
• 1 quilting workshop
• 1 project started- Blythe clothes, a big challenge
• backed up my photos on my laptop
• was head volunteer over 37 volunteers and 2 husbands for my quilt guild's bi-annual show
• worked on Halloween things 6 times
• 5 Wendy B Quilts blog posts
• 15 World of Wendy Lu blog posts

I started back on my challenge for Blythe. Day 11 and I will start another challenge tomorrow for the month of June. It's a 29 Faces challenge. It usually happens in February and we can do any face we want. The June challenge is strictly for the male face. And I need a lot of practice on the male face. So we'll see.

I did take two days off over the weekend. I did absolutely nothing. I read, lots. I watched series on Netflix. Poirot, Chowder, Keeping up Appearances. I straightened the apartment, tossed some things, and rearranged shelves for new projects. Because Halloween is just around the corner.

Really!

Okay, not quite back yet. On my way to the auto mechanics today, my car wouldn't start. Three phone calls to a foreign country and I finally got it to where it was going in the morning. Four hours later, I have a rebuilt alternator. Yeah. So that blew today. I will be working on things tonight so I can get some pics in.

Breathe in, breathe out.

I'm Back

This past weekend was my quilt guild's bi-annual quilt show. I was the lead volunteer for most of the volunteers for the show. It was a good show and you can see quilts over on my other blog. wendybquilts.blogspot.com

And for the past three days I've been trying to recuperate, do laundry, get some food in the apartment, and catch up with longarming (the job), and get back to my challenge. I'm way behind on that but I will do the full 30 days. So stay tuned.

No Pic Post

My challenge has been put on hold for the next three days. My quilt guild's bi-annual quilt show is this weekend and I'm heading up the volunteer ladies. So I will be MIA.

Day 8

Technically it's not but I'm still working on this challenge. Sunday, I just needed a day off. Monday, I hit a speed bump and had to work on the goofy thoughts returning to my head. No one said change was easy. I just take one day at a time. So I got some nicer sketches done for Blythe.

And I got back to my ornaments and other creepies. Step 3 in the process. Here they are hanging up to dry. Once dry, I will go back and cover with air dry clay.

Not a very good pic below. I just had to get it done and post.

Day 6 and Day 7

I almost started to kick myself for not having done anything on Day 6. Once I reviewed the day, I realized that I had done something. I looked at Blythe photos on Pinterest. It doesn't matter how big or small what you do as long as it gets your further along with your goal. Score!

Day 7. I got some good sketches done and they are ready to be painted.

Oh My!

We only have one Friday the 13th this year! I've got to do something special. Are there any monster drinks out there? I've got to look some up. My mom was born on the 13th of a month. I love it when her birthday falls on a Friday. I give her funny and/or creepy birthday cards because that's how I roll. Yes. I don't have much time to think up something weird or unusual to make for Friday.

My 30 Day Challenge has been challenging. the past couple of days I waited until the last minute to do something. That little voice (Bad Wendy) was telling me to go to bed. "It's okay, she said. "I can double up tomorrow." But the challenge voice (Good Wendy) said to just sketch one thing. Because it didn't matter how big or small what I did was, as long as I did something. That is the key. Especially for big goals or projects. Just do a little something everyday. It will get you closer to the finish line.

I got up this morning and started six head ornaments from the sketches I did last night. Doesn't have anything to do with the challenge but it has everything to do with Halloween which isn't that far away. I tell myself that doing a little bit at a time helps. Not to worry about the final destination but to enjoy the trip. The beat down of other negative voices continues. It's kind of fun, going after the negative Nellie's in my head.

Now that I've got the 'creative train' going again, I thought about my writing which I haven't done in a week and a half. I almost teared up. Almost. Because I stopped. Again. I was on such a roll. Today I found the rough draft of a NANOWRIMO success. I told the story to a friend and even though it isn't her favorite genre, it interested her enough that she wants to read the final version. And I value her opinion  and that she thinks highly of me and my writing. I blew the dust off  and was quite impressed by the stack of papers I had. I'll have to read the whole thing to see what I wrote and then break it down for the rewrite.

52,000 plus words in that stack of papers.

I'm also doing quite well on some of my UFPs. Unfinished Projects. I'm afraid to show the list. It's kind of scary. I have quite a few projects that are very close to being done it's ridiculous. Stay tuned.

Day 5

It took me two hours to get to this point with the hat. I went through a lot of paper, made the first mock up which didn't fit her head, the second one did and then there was the brim. I was so happy it worked.

Day 4

I was busy at the studio with two quilts. I attached binding onto my Around the World quilt and longarmed a baby quilt. So by the time I got home I was beat. Most of yesterday was spent at the studio and then I had a quilt guild meeting, got home and sketched. My brain is wondering what the heck is going on. I was determined to do something toward my 30 Day Challenge goal, so I sketched. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of hat I want to make for a dress that's almost done. I'll keep working on it. I also sketched some Halloween stuff. Because they were screaming to get out of my head.

Day 3 of 30 Day Challenge

I am beat. It was a long and productive day. I really wanted to go to bed but I hadn't done anything with my project. So I drew basic bodies to create costumes on. I also learned how to do a watermark. Yay me.

30 Day Challenge

I've started going to a Life Transformation group to make my life amazing. So far so good. It's led by life transformation coach Megan North Shuford. We did exercises, writing on index cards what we want, what we want to be, do and all thinking about how it will make us feel once we get those things. She challenged us to do one thing for 30 days that will lead to the big goal. No matter how big or small that thing is, do something each day. It doesn't matter if you get the goal at the end of the 30 days, it may come in 30 months but the thing is to get moving towards a goal. I've taken on that challenge.

I've wanted to make doll clothes. I've always loved dolls and having a background in costuming, why not? So my goal is to attend Blythe Con in Tokyo and sell out of my doll clothes. The fun and excitement is getting there. Day 1: I wrote down things I would need to do. That was Saturday. Day 2: I sketched some heads and hats for one dress I've already made. I'm not going to take into account the clothes I already started. I will show them when they are done. Or maybe I'll just show what I've done. I'm not very good on challenges but I will give this my all.

The two outfits below are made out of muslin. To see if the pattern works, how it fits. I did make adjustments to the hat. It took me almost two days to get a pattern that worked for this little outfit which is based on an early 1900s bathing suit.

It took a whole day to get the dress pattern to work. I can lengthen or shorten or keep it this length.

Creepy Space Spuds

Here are my creepies. They look like space spuds, waiting to take root and take over the planet. Then again, they may change their mind and find another planet.

I'm A Work In Progress

Still.

I found this quote on the webs...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us”.
-Marianne Williamson 


I had a chance to talk to a life coach this week. It was quite interesting. She told me something that I already knew, which was that I was stuck, but there were other things I found out. She had me write several prompts. One was a list of things that have not gone well in the past couple of years, one listing good things that have happened, what good things did I garnish from the bad list and things I got from the good things list. Then I had to come up with insights from the first two lists. Well, I discovered that things weren't as bad as I had thought they were. Actually, I was neck-in-neck with good happenings and bad happenings. I did discover that there were some things that were kind of repeated and I just need to find a way to let them go because they aren't serving me well at all. Things like: being told I can't do something because of age, gender, color, education, place I lived and the continuous negative loop I played in my head on a regular basis. That will have to stop. I realized that it's okay for me to like me. To take care of me. To take a break when I need it. It's not being a narcissist, I'm not harming anyone in this process. But in order for me to progress, I need to be kinder to me. The coach said that I'm having a hard time taking that next step because of the loop and suggested a book to read that should help me get to the next step. I'll check the library.

I do feel better right now. Just from those prompts and seeing what was going on in my head. Sometimes you just need to have another brain that has nothing to gain from you to help you out. Then I read the above quote and it's dead on. I'm not afraid of failure. I've done lots of that and kept going. Success... that light of success is a scary thing. My light wants to shine and I continue to throw a blanket over it. I will work on that too. 

So Far, So Good

I am working to work it this month. I got more creepy ornaments started, worked on my appliqued cat wall hanging, got the binding made for it, prepped a quilt to put on the frame, got my pattern pieces for my magnolia quilt traced onto freezer paper, and I stuffed some new ornaments today.

Oops! I forgot to take pics of the latest group of creepies. I did do them!!!!!

May - Day 2, Not Bad

Yep, they keep ending faster and faster. Last month wasn't that bad. Each month gets better than the previous one, so I'm grateful for that. I'm really going to push the envelope for May. There is this saying hanging up in the break room where my studio is. I'm going to read it a lot.

It was a good day today. I got all April receipts together and tallied up, loaded an appliqued wall hanging onto the longarm for some custom work, made a doll dress, made a pattern for a cloth ornament, and started nine mug rugs. Not a bad start for the first day of a new month. More pics are coming.