No More Excuses

One of our guild members, Darla Hall, was our speaker at this month's quilt guild meeting. Darla has been quilting for about five years, and her trunk show was amazing. She works full time, and commutes 120 miles one way. In addition to her own quilt pieces, she has a long-arm machine, and machine quilts as a side business. She's gotten more done in those five years than I've done in ten! As I drove home Thursday night, I had a good talk with myself. I need to do more. I really spend way too much time vegetating in front of the TV. I need to get more done. With that in mind, I signed up for our guild's Quilters College in June. I knew I wanted to do something, but wasn't sure what. Well, I'll be teaching kumihimo, a Japanese style braiding. It's something I want to add to a quilt I'm working on, so teaching it in June will be perfect. I now need to get my instructions and demonstration materials together. I'm also attempting to meet a few other deadlines.

I signed up for the 2011 Beading For A Cure ("BFAC"). Each participant signs up and sends a specified amount to the secretary for the bead kit. You're required to use at least one of each type of bead in the kit on your project. You also get to add one type/size/color of bead to the mix. Everyone gets the same bead kit, but the results are so very different. The projects must be received by BFAC before August 2. They'll be auctioned on eBay next year, and the proceeds are donated to the National Colorectal Cancer Research Association. This year's auction is in progress now. I received my beads a couple weeks ago, and absolutely love them! The color palette is one of my favorites! I have the design of the base of my piece done, and now need to design the actual beadwork. I think I've decided on the additional beads as well, but it could change as the beading is designed.

I'm also working on my piece for this year's Hoffman Challenge. I have the fabric, and know how I'm going to use it. Last week I created the pattern for the piece. Now, I need to start putting it together.

I'm also thinking about entering a piece in Bead Dreams at the Bead and Button Show. The entry deadline is April 5, so I don't know if I'll get this one done. I do have my fabric and the pattern for my base. I have my beadwork designed. I now have exactly three weeks to finish it! (Actually, I only have a little over two weeks. I have a final this week, so I won't be doing a lot of artwork until after Thursday.) I should be able to get it done. We'll see.

On my commute home the past week, I've been working on another competition submission. This one is for Red Heart Yarn and JoAnn's Fabric and Craft Store. It's called "Save the Planet", and the requirements are to use one of three types of eco-conscious yarns made by Red Heart and purchased at JoAnn's. I've been crocheting on the bus, which is fun and easy. I've got the major piece done. Today, I'll start on the smaller piece, then I just need to put it all together. This one has to be postmarked by March 31, so again, we'll see if I can get this piece done on time.

Those are the pieces I'm currently working on. I have no photos to share at this point. Some entry calls I've noticed require that the piece not have been shown anywhere prior to the competition/exhibit, even on a blog. I'll need to double-check the entries for the above challenges, before I start showing photos. I don't want to be disqualified. I have a couple other pieces, that may or may not see the light of day any time soon. A couple of them were started for deadlines that have already passed. For the moment, they are in my UFO file. They will get finished at some point; I'm determined that they will. The question now is simply, "Which one gets done first?"

Until next time, take care.

Michele