Beading

I've been eking out a little time here and there to add a few beads to the angel quilt. Oh, my...I'd forgotten how addictive beading can be, and that there is no such thing as adding "just a few" beads to a project. All it took was getting out my bead stash to find these sparkly ones for the sky and water, and suddenly I was reminded of other wonderful beads in my collection. I'm contemplating beading along the top binding, beading along the angel's tunic, beading along the seam between the border & arbor (where I'd thought about using metallic thread and then didn't). It is slow contemplative work that sweeps me away.

I had a busy weekend, starting with another symphony concert Friday night, a quilt show on Saturday and a long chat with a friend on Sunday. Thus the "eking" out of time for the beading. It's part of my current approach to getting more done, putting in more studio time. I've made it a point to do something, no matter how small, at least 5 days a week. No waiting for a big chunk of time, no making excuses about how other responsibilities are using up the time I should have spent in the studio. Whether it's been 15 minutes or an hour that might be free, I've fought the urge to say it's not enough time to get anything done. And often as not, the 15 minutes stretches into 30, the hour into two. Amazing what we can convince ourselves of, both good and bad.

Speaking of convincing, I'd convinced myself that I would ignore the vendors at the quilt show. But old habits die hard, and I succumbed to this nifty tote bag pattern (designed by Sheryl Mycroft of Random Threadz) and a fat quarter of marbled fabric (by Suzi Soderlund of Marbled Arts).