Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Well, my poor oldest was home for a week with walking (well, perhaps "crawling" is more accurate) pneumonia, and now my youngest is working on a week home sick, too, with an as-yet-unidentified malady. Back to the doctor's in the morning, poor thing!

I've also been working on an inventory of all my business property so the county can tax me on stuff I already paid tax on. Oi! That's what I get for dotting my "i"s and crossing my "t"s.

I think these necessary time constraints have lit a fire under me in a way having expansive days with loads of time sometimes fails to do. I really appreciate the time I do have this month and I've been putting it to good use. I also really appreciate that I am in a position to be home with the kids when they need me to be without getting in trouble with my boss.

I've been working on the color study for Sharon's commission:

At this point I've ripped out nearly as much thread as is still in it, but I'm nearly done and pretty happy with the results. This is simply an attractive way to audition the various fabrics and threads I'll be using in her larger work. She'll get to keep this study, which is why I haven't simply done a running stitch and a chain stitch with each color. I've also been practicing my bullion stitch (see all those leaves around the pink flowers?) and a variety of fillers and accents so I'll be ready when I start the larger piece.

Just so you know where I'm going, here's the original conceptual study, more representative of the style of the final piece:

I finally sketched, chose fabric, and am experimenting on muslin for an 18" x 18" piece for the Surface Design Assoc. members' exhibit called Surface Matters. It is due, at its destination, by Mar. 1, so I'm cutting things a little close (pun definitely intended :-) ) but my heart is pounding, my thoughts racing, and my fingers itching to work on it every moment I can steal.

Quilting sketch and felting study

Muslin mock-up

Started quilting the mock-up today. If it works as I hope it will, perhaps I'll have a quilt to play with. I've been wanting to give painting/dyeing after I quilt a try, so I could be killing two birds with one stone!

Also, just found out the article I wrote last year on two ways to audition quilting designs on paper will be in the July 2009 issue of American Quilter--woo-hoo! There's been a little confusion about the photographs and I've committed to making a small quilt for the article in less than a month, but it's all for the best in the end. I chose the fabrics for it yesterday.

These actually are some of the first fabrics I ever bought as a quilter but I've so seldom worked with true solids that I had plenty in my stash. For every fabric there is a season.

And again my friend Timna of Q Tailored Quilts will quilt it up at high speed since I'm on deadline, have a visit from my Mom coming up, and she quilted the undyed muslim version of the same quilt last year. Oh, what a relief it is!

In short, life is a tad hectic and the unexpected happens with mildly alarming frequency. In short, it's business as usual.