I like how it came out

 

I finished the canvas.

 I gathered my possible threads. About a dozen struck me as possibilities. I narrowed it down to eight, and then played with where to place them. In the end, I just didn’t like the busyness. These two threads seemed to pull things together a bit. I’ll be curious to hear what the other stitchers think.

Now it’s on to designing for the Bach Fest piece, gathering items for kits, and gathering samples for class.

My application was accepted

 I will be starting on the piece for the Art of Music fundraiser very soon. As soon as I get my samples gathered for the next Slow Fiber class, and for the Shuttlebirds Tat Days, and as soon as I gather the kits requested for the workshop. I think for the Bach Festival, I may finish off the Fantasia pattern I started many, many moons ago.

I’m still struggling with the chest cold/bronchitis. I haven’t been this sick since college. I think I just tried to keep working after thinking I’d recovered from COVID. I don’t know….. I wouldn’t recommend this virus on even my worst enemy. I’ll be glad when I regain my energy.

In the meantime, I’m still working on this canvas project. The designer has encouraged diving into your stash for some different threads. I’ve a couple of ideas I’ll be exploring.

I look forward to a better April than I experienced in February and March. Reallly……

I've applied

 

Many of you have supported my efforts to combine my love of music and tatting. Thank you!!

In July, there will be a wonderful opportunity for me. I’ve applied to exhibit in the Art of Music Raffle during the Carmel Bach Festival. The pieces created are part of the fundraising for the Festival. It’s always fun to see what others have created.

I’ve been collecting ideas of pieces I can create the past 3 years while we were shut down because of COVID. Now to sift through them to select the one I think will sell the most tickets…….

History is repeating

 We have another storm moving in this morning. IF we keep power, I will be able to edit this post later to show what I’ve been up to. I’m not complaining. Our house is warm with no roof leaks. Our yard is stable with just the one tree down. We didn’t lose that much food during the 48 hours without power last week. We were able to help friends and neighbors who were not so lucky. Hopefully the storm will not create more damage. For now, I’m off to take care of details I need power to accomplish. Back soon…..I hope.

Well, a tree decided it couldn't withstand the wind. It didn't fall in our yard. The next block down the hill. It didn't damage any houses, perhaps a car. Within the afternoon, a crew came out and cleared everything away. Now the emergency vehicles can get up the hill on that street. A very good thing as that's a good way to get to the hospital. Back to my boring life tatting samples for the class Friday........

Anybody want to transition?

 After figuring out the corner for this edging, I set it aside for a while. It’s time to complete this challenge, so I picked it back up. Now, there was a transition described in the vintage directions. For the most part, I thought it would work. But, I just had to try out some options. This is what I decided on:

How long to work before taking a break?

 I hear this question a lot. The answer: It depends.

For me, it depends on my physical state that day. I generally like to get up and move around every 15 minutes. That makes rehearsal interesting. It makes long car rides reallllllllyyyyyy long. Needless to say, I don’t always break every 15 minutes.

How I know when I really MUST take a break? I don’t always. Sometimes I feel so good that I keep working and only figure out I shoulda took a break when I wake up the next morning. So…..

Be gentle on yourself. Know your body, listen to your body, keep a clock or timer around, and do NOT beat yourself up if you make mistakes. Build into your daily plan a reset time when you assess how your body is doing. Build into your busyness a break whether you think you need it or not.

Most of all, keep what’s important at the top of the to-do list.

I’ll be pausing again

 I’m continuing to tat on the edging, but life is getting in the way. We live on a hill. There’s basically an underground stream that comes down the hill. So far, it hasn’t decided to soak the ground under our house so much we have water in the basement. Other neighbors haven’t been so lucky. This year, with the atmospheric river weather, the ground under our oak trees has been soaked. Now, oak trees here do not like their roots getting damp. Those of you that are gardeners can probably name quite a few plants that like their roots to be dryer. One of our oak trees just fell over the other day. It missed the house, it missed the other trees, it even missed the stucco wall, so we’re thankful. But, that has caused a pause in my work schedule. So, I hope to post, but…… you understand?

Oh, the edging? It’s coming along well. I decided to tat the vintage pattern using the vintage directions for making a DS that I found in Beeton’s. It’s making it fun!