No Pic Post -- Winding Down

Or winding up. Depends on how I decide to look at 2016, which pretty much sucked by-the-way. I did pull myself out of the hole of doom at the last minute and almost slide back in. This year is almost over. One thing I will work on for next year is to just let most things go. Some things I just can't change and I really don't want to lose sleep over it. I've been cleaning up the place and working on finishing projects before the new year so I can start on new things.

There's been a flip of things. I will still do longarming on quilts but now I'm getting back into dolls and other artwork. I'm working on doll clothes and will show pics next week, the first full week of the New Year. I will be adding more to my black and a splash of red series of drawings. I really want to make some new dolls and join an art group here in town. I'm already planning a better menu to feel better and start losing some weight. And then there are my short stories I want to get done and sent off for possible publication in online magazines.

I want to fill 2017 up with art; color, textures, variety.

I am the Creative Storm.

Yeah, we'll see how that works out. Until next time, have a good one.

November

Well what do you know? It's another month. My, my, my. I'm a little shocked. A little saddened because this year has gone by so fast. A little relieved that it's getting a little better since the crash and burn a month ago. Do I get a little hopeful? Or do I stay in skeptical mode? Or do I say, whatever and work towards something new? The adventure is still on. I've hit a couple of bumps but nothing catastrophic. So I will take a deep breath and move forward.

I have a nice list for November and I'm a bit of a coward and probably won't show it. I won't say it's massive but there's a lot on it. If I stay focused and enjoy the process, I should get most of it done. I am not going to wait for the New Year to continue to make changes in my life. I will keep doing it starting today. I mean, why wait to make a change? Do it now. The thing I want to get back to is enjoying the process of creating. Yes, I want to make things to offer for sale but I want to have fun doing it. I will continue to work on being kind to me. Give myself time to grow, to learn something new. To finish off some old projects and to look forward to the future. Not dwell on the future. Live in the moment, think more about today. Take time to do one thing I like to do each day. It can be for five minutes or thirty. I deserve that.

Now that the weather is cooling down, I want to walk more. Wanting is good, doing is better. I went for a walk with my friend Kate. I got tanned. Really? It was beautiful. Blue skies, some puffy white clouds, a slight breeze, and the leaves are finally starting to change color. I want to walk more.

I will continue to do monthly challenges. I've done and pretty much completed four this year. Not bad. The challenge this month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWrimo). I haven't made my goal of 50,000 words in the past two years but this time around, I will succeed. I'm working on an adult fantasy but have other stories in the wings in case I get stuck. The point of this challenge is to get a rough draft done. I met with my region's writers last night. At least some of them. They seem like a nice bunch and we will encourage each other to finish. There are a couple of write-ins scheduled too and I will try to go to most of them.

Last month I won a nice Jack 'o Lantern guy from an online giveaway. I was quite shocked. I normally don't win anything. He's cute and he lights up. He's made by wonderful Halloween artist Pat J. Gill.

I also got two preemie quilts longarmed. They might be my last two for awhile because I may have to give up my machine. I hope not and I'm working to keep it.

And I'm still working on my Cosmic Smashbook journal which is part of my adventure.

It's a brand new month. And today is a new day. I've got things to do and I will enjoy. I wish you all a wonderful day too.

Challenge Complete!

I finished my faces for 29 Faces - September 2016. Yay me!

And I longarmed another quilt.

Short Post

This will be short. I'm working on a huge t-shirt quilt on the longarm. 88 inches by 114 inches. I did the part-time gig and I can't keep my eyes open. I did manage two faces. Writing is going well, the prepping for NaNo in November is on track.

New Stuff

I colored in my adult coloring book the other day because it does soothe me and helps me to relax. I need to do it more often. A friend sent this to me one Christmas and like I said, it helps to calm me down. I have to remember I have it. This book is Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford.

 I also finished off two of my latest preemie quilts by stitching down the binding and putting on quilt labels. These are 36 inches by 36 inches.

Shifting Gears

Sometimes you just have to shift gears and keep going. I still writing and trying to make time to type up some short stories for editing. And I'm trying to think of something to write for this year's NANOWRIMO. National Write A Novel in a Month. It's in November. For 30 days you write a 50,000 word novel. First draft. It's to help you get the words on paper. Then you go back and fix it. I've got loads of stuff I haven't fixed yet. Working on remedying that.

Still working on those sketchbooks. Got the pants painted on my Halloween ornaments and started working on the tombstones. Right now I'm just working on one thing at a time. When I get to a point where I need to stop, I move onto something else.

Mushrooms. Background and grass is watercolor and mushrooms are Ink Tense paints.

Getting tombstones ready for wrapping.

I also was able to cut the batting for my next batch of mug rugs. And I longarmed two preemie quilts today.

Losing Count

I'm losing count of my challenge days. Oh well, I will continue.

I longarmed one of my mom's quilts. She made the blocks, I did the sashing and borders. I also made the binding and attached it to the quilt. Tomorrow I'll stitch the binding down.

I also got binding on the last 9 mug rugs. Will have these done this week.

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.

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.

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.

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.

End of the Month

Here we are again. The end of another month. This year is going by way too fast. But there's nothing I can do about that. Except that I've decided to try and have more fun. I did rally this last week to get some projects done and new ones started. I feel very good about that. So, here we go for April:

• one book read
• 11 writing days
• 4 business quilts longarmed
• 2 applique projects started
• 3 day trips/entertainment (Hoots Flea Market, Walnut Cove Craft Fair, Keep It Local art fair in Oak Ridge)
• 3 Wendy B Quilts blog posts
• 12 World of Wendy Lu blog posts
• 2 Netflix movies
• one project done (mug rugs)
• 3 workshops/talks (applique workshop, White Collar Crime writing seminar, Mary's Mavens meeting)

I went to the two art/craft fairs today. The first one was at the Chateau La Fontaine Inn in Walnut Cove.

The second show was the Keep it Local Art Fair in Oak Ridge. On a farm and they had donkeys. A mom and her six month old son. The owners got them to keep the coyotes away from the chickens. I didn't know donkeys did that. There was also a llama, but I guess he didn't like the crowds.

It was a pretty good adventure and the GPS worked.

I started my own applique design. I took a pic of a magnolia when I first moved down here. Then I had it enlarged to the size I wanted.

Next I traced the photo on the light box using tracing paper, went over the design with marker, put it back on the box and traced it again.

Then I numbered all the parts of the flower and leaves.

I've got some fabric choices already pulled and next I will make the pattern pieces from that fabric. I also sketched some ornaments and started three.

My messy worktable.

My three little ornaments.

Monday

A new day of a new week of a new month. That's a mouthful. Today was a good day. I was able to longarm two preemie quilts, made binding and attached it to one of them, started a list for a huge project, organized and tallied receipts from last month (will be doing that once a month for end of year taxes, yes, I'm thinking of making next year's taxes as easy as possible), wrote a rough draft for a short story, attached Raggedy Ann's limbs (she was supposed to be done last year for her 100th anniversary), and stuffed arms for two Halloween dolls.

She's got big feet but that's okay. The thing is is to get her done. Paint job will be this week.

Made It

I survived another month. March is now in the record books. It wasn't a great month. Fell off the turnip truck yet again but I've picked myself up, dusted myself off, and I'm looking for another truck to hop on. So here's what happened:

• 2 books read
• 12 days of writing
• 4 business quilts
• 2 preemie quilt tops together, 1 longarmed
• 12 World of Wendy Lu blog posts 
• 6 Wendy B Quilts blog posts
• worked on 3 Halloween projects
• worked on 2 regular dolls
• a lot of bear sketches
• 4 alcohol ink paintings
• 2 art workshops attended
• 1 writing workshop attended

Now that I look at the list, it wasn't a bad month. I will focus on what I did do and not the things I didn't do. I'm okay with that.

Quilting

Yesterday I longarmed a preemie quilt and started a client's quilt. I made Frank a body, found my doll ears I've been looking for for about six months (I did a good job on those ears and really liked them), worked on a paranormal short story which seems to be turning into a novel, and sketched some bears.

Today, I finished the quilt, worked on the paranormal story, and prepped the next quilt which is on the frame right now.

I still have a few hours left until I give up for the day. I didn't do anything on Sunday, it being the holiday and all. But I've kind of made up for it the past two days. Tomorrow is Wednesday. I thought today was Wednesday but it isn't. Hopefully I can rectify my flip flop days. A new month is almost here. I'm only thinking about the rest of the evening.

Moving Right Along

I've been crazy busy the past couple of days after a huge anxiety attack. The sun was out, it was nice and all I could think about was that I was stuck in my apartment. When I was younger, I would gas up my truck and hit the road, go to a park, whatever. Now, I don't really like going places by myself. Then the downward spiral began and well... it wasn't pretty. I told myself to stop it. Put my big girl britches on and do something. Anything to make the mental funk go away. I made up messy mix to cover a couple of dolls I'm working on. Remember Verity? Well, I got over not doing the next step. Deanna Hogan came up with this combination of modeling paste and gel medium to hide the stitches from needle sculpting the features. I've put on two layers. I sand in between and I will put on a couple more. I repainted the alien feet. The little green guys lying down. And put Creative Paperclay on my two Halloween dolls. When you don't work on things you've always done, you forget what you did. So I'm covering up some stitches on their heads so I can paint them. I typed up two short stories I had written. I wrote out the character list for my mystery story. I didn't have time to feel low. That was Sunday.

Monday I worked on a top secret project. A new client dropped off a quilt top to be longarmed. I outlined my mystery story. Continued working on dolls and sketched a page of bears. I did 29 Faces last month and the plan was to do bears this month for another project. Of course, I'm a little behind.

Today I longarmed a quilt. That took all day.

I'm home now and have eaten dinner. It was filling but not great.  I'm tired but it's a good tired. I will sketch some bears and work on one of my stories. Never give up.

The First Week

There's one more day, today, left in my week. I start my new week on Sunday. For the first week of the new year, I didn't too to bad. I want to at least write five days out of the week and I did just that. I got my first business quilt, I got the binding attached to two preemie quilts (I'll stitch those down today), I finished my last Sashiko piece and I'm ready for the next step of that project. I cut out and sewed two new dolls for Halloween and I discovered something else about me. I guess kind of an epiphany. Nothing will ever be perfect enough. My apartment, my work area, nothing. For so long I've been putting off doing creative things because of numerous things. Excuses really. Not enough room, I want a separate spot to make dolls or do paper clay or polymer clay. I don't have enough shelving unit space. The list went on and on. The clock continued to tick on and on and I would end up berating myself because nothing got done. I'd see others online who had a table in the corner of their living room, or were using the kitchen table in between meals. How were they able to get things done and not me? Everyone would like to have that cool studio space with all the supplies needed to do whatever at the ready. That's a great dream. But when do I actually make something?

I have a friend who is also in the same predicament. We talked this week and I saw myself in her. She said, I've got to get this section cleared out. I've got to arrange things for the 13th time. Things aren't quite right. I got it. But I didn't like it when I saw me. I was getting older and not producing anything. And that's when I told myself that it's okay not to have that extra table to work on or have that extra shelf to put more stuff on. I looked around my apartment and I have everything that I need to at least get started with something. I decided that I wasn't going to have those excuses anymore. The fear is real and it will always be there. I've dealt with it before. Now it's time to wrangle it again.

Be open to new things. A mantra for the year. You just never know what will come around. There are new tenants in the building where my quilt studio is. I can't do wet things there because of the carpet on the floor. That was one of my excuses for not doing anything in my apartment which has hardwood floors. Yeah. These two new tenants create apps for kids. They introduced themselves (it was very nice to have a man stand up to do so) and we got to talking. They had seen my longarm machine in my spot and I told them I was getting back into making Halloween things and writing. They told me what they did. And for a brief instant, a light bulb turned on over each of our heads. It was fun to see the wheels turning and we all smiled. They asked me about what I wrote and if I had any ideas that could be adapted to an app. I may have an opportunity to write and illustrate a game app for kids. They invited me to their office and I was able to see them tweak their newest app that should be out soon. How cool is that? I'll keep you informed of any developments.

So writing my new life script is starting to work. No more waiting for the perfect time to write or create. Do it now. No more beating myself up. Telling myself what an interesting and creative person I am and that I can do what I set my mind to do. To break big projects up into smaller pieces and work on those. One brick at a time makes a house. Or a castle.

Am I still scared? A little but I'm going to work with the fear instead of against it.

Onward!

Wrapping It Up

Yes, the end of December. I am astounded how fast it went.

• Longarmed 8 quilts
• One commissioned quilt done
• One Sashiko piece done
• One preemie quilt top done
• 2 Books read
• Wrote 9 times - journal or stories
• Day excursion to Krankies Craft Fair
• 8 World of Wendy Lu blog posts
• 6 Wendy B Quilt blog posts
• Watched Netflix 6 different times
• Stuffed a doll's head and body that has been sitting around for a year

I do hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve. See ya next year.

Wow!

Yes, wow! When I talk to friends these days and we discuss what we want to do next year, next year is in like, less than three weeks. Three weeks! And we'll have another year to deal with. I still have this month to deal with and right now, today, I'm feeling pretty good. I will be back in the studio today to longarm a small quilt, someone will pick up their quilt and then I have my quilt guild holiday meeting tonight.

I won something in an online giveaway. I rarely win anything and I love this artist's work. Her name is Diana Rader Shrome. I got a wonderful little doll in a peppermint dress and bow and she through in some Halloween guys because she knows I love Halloween.

And another friend sends me ornaments she paints every year. I'm going to need a bigger tree. The table top one is filling up. She also send me a fountain pen (which I've wanted for a long time), and miniature items. A truck and pen set for my miniature roombox that I'm working on.

Nice, early gifts. I'm still debating if I will get myself something for Christmas. I don't know if I want to be in the crowds. Maybe if I go when the store opens, I'll be okay.

Fall Again

After two weeks of rain and weird temps, we've had late summer show up once again. Very weird. Yesterday was I think 72 degrees and today in the 50s. It was very pretty out and temps are supposed to dip the next couple of days. I really like fall, autumn. Sometimes it's a very long period of time and sometimes we get a week and then it's winter. I want fall just a little while longer. My new neighbors tried out their fireplace last Saturday and I love the smell of a wood burning fire. That's part of fall for me.

I took this pic this morning. I thought it was pretty. It prepared me for the day that was coming. Boy, did I ever need this pretty picture. Because people were crazy out today. I don't know if it was because it was pretty out, warm, both. Or because the holidays are coming up and they are upping losing their minds. Some were tailgating, not stopping at stop signs, driving 20 in a 35 at the busiest time during the day Go to a park or something. Then there was the young female who hit a mail truck. Really? Not paying attention. I mean, those things are kind of big, white, have flashing lights and she plowed right into it. And the leaf guys. Shutting down roads and not having a clue as to where to direct traffic. Yeah, I love fall.

But I made it. Got another t-shirt quilt on the frame, Ran lots of errands which included the grocery store. I'm grateful I had money to go to the grocery store. But what I needed I can't eat. You know, cleaning supplies. Gah! It's all good.

And fall is coming back.