Today is the last day of my 2 week self-imposed trial period of concentrated studio effort. (see this post) Tomorrow I have to let the world back in again, but the new goal will be to not let it take over, to strike a better balance between the daily responsibilities and distractions and the creative time.
Yesterday was not my best day in the office. Still feeling rebellious, still not wanting to work on the two pieces which I wanted to complete during this time period, making myself do it anyway. No joy in the quilting I did, ending the session ripping out more stitches it seemed than I put in because I wasn't happy with the thread colors I kept trying. But I pushed through until all the quilting was done on the TIFC tree trunks piece. The quilting wasn't difficult. In fact, it was much like what I did on the Chinese Poem piece - following the outlines of the leaves printed on the background fabric. So why did it bug me so? I decided it might be because quilting around the leaves was predictable, possibly even trite - two words on my list of things to avoid. I didn't have the energy, or perhaps the love for this piece to think of anything different or interesting.
So yesterday I felt very deprived, especially since it was so nice outside, and I didn't get to spend a great deal of quality time in it. Today I rectified that. I rediscovered my back deck, cool and shady and secluded in the morning. Still in my jammies, I headed out there with my second cup of coffee and my azalea mosaic applique. This felt like a treat, not work at all. Yeah!!! When I finally came in 2-1/2 hours later, I was mentally ready to face squaring up and binding my Chinese Poem quilt. It now awaits hand sewing that binding on the back. For good measure, I made the sleeve for it too.
This has definitely been a productive 2 weeks, even though my original plans about what I would be working on and complete changed a bit. I spent more time on the azalia project than I anaticipated, and only got one of the two applique versions started, but I feel good about that time and excited about getting a new series off the ground. I hadn't planned to work on the tie project, but again, I'm glad I did and it worked as a reward and a needed break after the less pleasant work had been faced. As for those two pieces that had me intimidated, they are much farther along than they would have been I'm sure, and I've re-established the resolve and work habits necessary to see them through to completion, sooner rather than later.
Yesterday was not my best day in the office. Still feeling rebellious, still not wanting to work on the two pieces which I wanted to complete during this time period, making myself do it anyway. No joy in the quilting I did, ending the session ripping out more stitches it seemed than I put in because I wasn't happy with the thread colors I kept trying. But I pushed through until all the quilting was done on the TIFC tree trunks piece. The quilting wasn't difficult. In fact, it was much like what I did on the Chinese Poem piece - following the outlines of the leaves printed on the background fabric. So why did it bug me so? I decided it might be because quilting around the leaves was predictable, possibly even trite - two words on my list of things to avoid. I didn't have the energy, or perhaps the love for this piece to think of anything different or interesting.
So yesterday I felt very deprived, especially since it was so nice outside, and I didn't get to spend a great deal of quality time in it. Today I rectified that. I rediscovered my back deck, cool and shady and secluded in the morning. Still in my jammies, I headed out there with my second cup of coffee and my azalea mosaic applique. This felt like a treat, not work at all. Yeah!!! When I finally came in 2-1/2 hours later, I was mentally ready to face squaring up and binding my Chinese Poem quilt. It now awaits hand sewing that binding on the back. For good measure, I made the sleeve for it too.This has definitely been a productive 2 weeks, even though my original plans about what I would be working on and complete changed a bit. I spent more time on the azalia project than I anaticipated, and only got one of the two applique versions started, but I feel good about that time and excited about getting a new series off the ground. I hadn't planned to work on the tie project, but again, I'm glad I did and it worked as a reward and a needed break after the less pleasant work had been faced. As for those two pieces that had me intimidated, they are much farther along than they would have been I'm sure, and I've re-established the resolve and work habits necessary to see them through to completion, sooner rather than later.
No comments:
Post a Comment