Dear Monkey Mind - Please quiet down!

Closing out another workweek and the second week of school for Wild Thing and Teen Wonder. For some reason I have been feeling a little down past couple of days...which usually makes me aware of obsessive and/or racing strings of thought.  Since I'm back early from a visit to a lovely collaborator at UCSF, I am taking a few minutes to breathe deeply at the computer and write a little...

As this blog is more about creative endeavors, I won't bore anyone with the details of my worklife. I really enjoy my job, and work with many talented and fun people. But you know, a job is still a job. Otherwise it wouldn't be called work, would it?  Anyway, I'm also refraining in this blog from sharing too much gory detail about my personal life (my ruminations of which could easily fill it's own blog) - that's what my notebook is for.

So...what crafty obsessions and worries do I have? I shouldn't be worrying about crafty things at all. duh.  But since I am working on and planning projects that are going to loved ones, I have some internal pressure and some external "due dates" (in the literal sense). And I think I am juggling too many...but as I write this I realize it's like everything else in my life. Just break it down into smaller pieces to stave off the paralysis that comes from overwhelming yourself, and get to work!

First - I've been obsessing that I never took a photo of my little flag/serger project to post. So, that's an easy one to check off:

You can see that it's nothing too fancy - next time I'll plan out some patchwork pieced  super cute theme or something like that.  But like I said, I now feel like I can use my new toy and look forward to spending more time with it!

Next on the list: A quilt for my dear stepsister Megan who is fighting (and likely winning) a battle against the C word. The thing I like about making something for someone is that it is a tangible way to meditate and pray on that person and your hopes or dreams for her or him with a physical output.  I guess that's why people call projects like this a labor of love, but it's more than that. I hope that she will feel wrapped in a prayer when she throws it on while lounging in her new LaZBoy and healing. Here are a couple WIP shots:

This isn't the entire top - just a part. I used the "Yellow Brick Road" quilt pattern by Atkinson Designs which is quite clever and easy and keeps large enough pieces of the fabric that you can really see the prints. These are pretty much all Heather Bailey. They are so charming!

The back is pieced from other fabrics I had stashed (in keeping with a fabric diet plan that has only been partially successful so far). I need to finish piecing it and figure out how I should quilt it.

I am not an experienced free-motion quilter, but would love to try it. This may be a little ambitious/large for a first try. I haven't decided.  Straight lines seem too angular for the feeling I want to have in the quilt. I'm thinking about circles. I saw a yellow brick road quilt on Flickr where the quilter (blogged on kittykittycrafts)used various size plates, bowls, etc. to trace circles all over the quilt and then stitch them - it was a really nice look.

When I finish the quilt, I'll post a full picture with better lighting.

Other obsessions: 2 baby quilts for couples at church, something to do with the Japanes fabric I bought for Teen Wonder, also Teen Wonder's T-shirt quilt, Wild Child is asking why don't I make him a quilt, the hoodie vest I'm knitting for Teen Wonder, and the sweater that I'll finish for my mom but haven't decided whether to frog it back and make the sizing better (she's getting skinny, it's too big in bust and too small in hips, etc.) I'm thinking frog.

and it's time to start holiday handmade projects...