You've shamed me into it...

Here's the better picture I promised of my studio view.

Several of my friends find it hard to believe I haven't unpacked my studio yet. They are right if they think I am unduly dragging my feet about it. One of them who follows my blog recently observed that I seem to be more into photography than quilting right now. That's not exactly it. The pictures are serving two purposes at the moment. They are recording all these new sensory perceptions that I want to capture for possible reference in future projects. I never quite know where the influences of nature might work their way into my designs. Digital cameras make it so easy to snap away, it is available and my studio with all its supplies and tools is not. Then, since I DON'T have any quilting to talk about right now on the blog, my pictures of the area give me something to share.

I have to admit that I've been feeling guilty about that of late, wondering if you all are getting tired of pictures of leaves. Truly, I hope to be back to the "creative journey" before too long. Margaret picked up on my comment in the last post about being tempted to try some leaf printing, encouraging me to "seize the paints, seize the moment" Well, I haven't yet, but I did seize some leaves this morning, bagging them for what I hope will be some sooner than later play.

Now, finding the paints, brushes, etc should not be difficult - the "art cart" only filled three large boxes. Fabric however poses a different problem - there are many many boxes stacked in the studio that harbor "sewing material" as the movers labeled them. Which one might have some suitable for printing? I decided this afternoon it was time to start cracking open boxes for a look.

The first few boxes' labels had me puzzled, then amused. My apologies to the older gentleman who had to pack all this up. Couldn't figure out what 'shoes and boots' were doing in with my sewing room stuff, then realized he was referring to the shoeboxes I recycle to hold pre-cut squares and various projects. I bet he was mighty confused.

I made good progress, finding lamps, Ott bulbs, my sewing machine, thread, an iron and, yes, fabric! I tightened up the screws on the ping pong table and the sewing machine table legs. A lot of stuff got stacked on the ping pong table but a few things made it onto closet shelves. With every box unpacked, broken down and removed, there's more room to work, of course. After a while I realized how relaxed and happy I felt and a little excited too - yes this room has good vibes! And a great view! And of course I wonder why I put off coming in here to unpack for so long.

Still a ways to go until I can actually work in here - need to find cutting mats and rulers and clear space on the table - but at least I've broken through whatever was blocking me from taking the first step. In the meantime, I can liberate the art cart supplies, grab those leaves and try some leaf printing, which sounds like a whole lot more fun than raking and bagging them!