Excluding the head cold that has been plaguing me all weekend, and the misery that was Friday night's commute home, this year was a resounding success.
I taught workshops in Chicken Scratch Embroidery, which seemed to go down VERY well with the students; Beginning Blackwork, which I need to expand to include both styles next time; and, most challenging, a lecture on Easy and Accurate Medieval Garb. That also went very well (I ran out of handouts; I only printed 25, so I just now e-mailed copies to the seven people who put their addresses down), but while Wonderful Husband had templated the Powerpoint presentation last Tuesday night and I spend a couple evenings filling it in, when we tested the laptop on Saturday night, it would not display on our monitors! Luckily, Sunday afternoon it worked just fine on the college's projector.
I took workshops on Boutis Provencal (basically, cording), Loomed Ribbon Flowers (I finished three in class), Tie-Dye (a scarf, a t-shirt, and a hoodie done and waiting their turns to go through the washing machine), and how to properly manipulate and hand-sew soutache. Which was the one class that I left going "NOPE." Because that is waywayway too much work for too little result. I'll use my vintage sewing machine with its vintage attachments and not care that the soutache is standing up a bit on edge.
I also attended an enlightening lecture on binding corsets either by hand or machine. I caught bits of other classes - costuming the plus-sized figure, patch pockets, etc - but not too many. I was caught up in my four student workshops and three teacher classes! And also hydrating and feeding myself.
I was sufficiently worn down that on Saturday I caught a 20-minute catnap on one of the sofas. I did not wear any costumes this year, though I saw many that made me salivate. Next year... next year for sure! :) I also didn't attend any of the additional activities, as I needed to get home ASAP each day. I did drop a huge whock of stuff into the Bargain Basement sale, and came back with far less than I donated. (And at least half of what I bought is ending up on the freebies table at my quilt guild. But for a total of $10 for two garbage bags full, it rubbed me the wrong way to not grab the quilting fabrics.)
Next year, as I will probably be living out of state by then, I will have a hotel room (which I already discussed and planned for with a roommate). I want to have some costumes to wear. When I teach the Blackwork class again, I want to expand it. That said, the announcement for next year's teaching theme hasn't been announced yet, so who knows what I'll teach. Beyond that... it's all good. I enjoyed myself and learned some new skills.
ETA: Huh. Reading the Squeals newsletter from June, apparently my blackwork class was the tenth most-requested limited class.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Overwhelmed
I'm trying not to curse, and trying not to cry.
You may've noticed I haven't posted here in a few weeks. That's because we had the shattering tile in our house taken back down to the hardwood underneath and refinished. (Except for the kitchen, which was retiled in a nicer, non-broken tile.) Which necessitated us completely vacating the house for a week. Which, when the contractor found half the underlying hardwood missing and replaced with plywood, ballooned to two weeks and two and a half times his project estimate. And now we're having to repaint all the baseboards and the sections of crown moulding that we never got to the first time, and we can't move things back in until we do that, and and and...
And this week is Costume College. I have three classes to teach, and I've just discovered that the slideshow I thought I had for the third is actually a seven-page handout.
And it's a heatwave.
And I can't ask my mother to take the boys for a day to let me create a slideshow because she's out of town until Friday.
And we still have a deadline of trying to get this house cleaned up, a yard sale held, and the house listed for sale by the middle of next month.
My ability to cope is gone.
You may've noticed I haven't posted here in a few weeks. That's because we had the shattering tile in our house taken back down to the hardwood underneath and refinished. (Except for the kitchen, which was retiled in a nicer, non-broken tile.) Which necessitated us completely vacating the house for a week. Which, when the contractor found half the underlying hardwood missing and replaced with plywood, ballooned to two weeks and two and a half times his project estimate. And now we're having to repaint all the baseboards and the sections of crown moulding that we never got to the first time, and we can't move things back in until we do that, and and and...
And this week is Costume College. I have three classes to teach, and I've just discovered that the slideshow I thought I had for the third is actually a seven-page handout.
And it's a heatwave.
And I can't ask my mother to take the boys for a day to let me create a slideshow because she's out of town until Friday.
And we still have a deadline of trying to get this house cleaned up, a yard sale held, and the house listed for sale by the middle of next month.
My ability to cope is gone.
Friday, July 6, 2018
I Sewed!!!
I haven't had much ability to sew recently. Today that changed!
We knew today was going to be very hot. 113 degrees Fahrenheit hot. (45 Celcius for those who measure via a more scientifically rigorous scale than the USA.) And last night was not a good night - Jazzy kept me up for two and a half hours in the middle of it. I woke up this morning with a headache that felt like an ice pick being stabbed into my skull. Hydration did nothing to alleviate it. Painkillers did nothing to alleviate it. Added to which one of the boys' summer classes started today. Around ten I made the executive decision that I could not handle the class. I dumped some ice cubes in the fish tank (none of them died while we were gone today, which I was honestly worried about), chivvied the cat inside, dumped some more ice cubes in his water bowl, turned the fans on higher, and decamped with the boys to my parents' place. Where it still topped a hundred, but in a less murderous way.
(Yes, mother nature is reminding me of one of the reasons why staying in SoCal is not going to work for us.)
I have a couple sewing projects that I hope to work on while we're staying at my parents' next week. I grabbed one on the way out the door - the bed-sized bright tumblers. The block are sewn into rows; I just need to sew the rows together and then press the seams.
After lunch, my father siesta'd. My mother's Singer 201 is in their bedroom. But her Singer 127 treadle is in the guest room....
I've never had much luck with her treadle. Today, though, I was bloody-minded and determined. And I mastered it! While my mother minded the boys, I sewed. Of the 29 seams needed to sew the 30 rows together, I got 11 done. And I really want a treadle of my own again. At some point. After the move, and in a couple years. Because my reason for NOT having a treadle right now was also validated: Jazzy has inquisitive fingers that tried to poke at the workings of the mechanism as I was treadling. Naughty baby!
We knew today was going to be very hot. 113 degrees Fahrenheit hot. (45 Celcius for those who measure via a more scientifically rigorous scale than the USA.) And last night was not a good night - Jazzy kept me up for two and a half hours in the middle of it. I woke up this morning with a headache that felt like an ice pick being stabbed into my skull. Hydration did nothing to alleviate it. Painkillers did nothing to alleviate it. Added to which one of the boys' summer classes started today. Around ten I made the executive decision that I could not handle the class. I dumped some ice cubes in the fish tank (none of them died while we were gone today, which I was honestly worried about), chivvied the cat inside, dumped some more ice cubes in his water bowl, turned the fans on higher, and decamped with the boys to my parents' place. Where it still topped a hundred, but in a less murderous way.
(Yes, mother nature is reminding me of one of the reasons why staying in SoCal is not going to work for us.)
I have a couple sewing projects that I hope to work on while we're staying at my parents' next week. I grabbed one on the way out the door - the bed-sized bright tumblers. The block are sewn into rows; I just need to sew the rows together and then press the seams.
After lunch, my father siesta'd. My mother's Singer 201 is in their bedroom. But her Singer 127 treadle is in the guest room....
I've never had much luck with her treadle. Today, though, I was bloody-minded and determined. And I mastered it! While my mother minded the boys, I sewed. Of the 29 seams needed to sew the 30 rows together, I got 11 done. And I really want a treadle of my own again. At some point. After the move, and in a couple years. Because my reason for NOT having a treadle right now was also validated: Jazzy has inquisitive fingers that tried to poke at the workings of the mechanism as I was treadling. Naughty baby!
Monday, July 2, 2018
Packing Panic
My sewing shelves are all packed up. Most of my sewing stuff is in storage, and the shelves have been moved out to the garage and we're using them to hold stuff we're divesting, with an eye toward holding a yard sale soon.
We're also getting our tile floors taken back down to hardwood next week. So EVERYTHING needs to go off them. (Except for the office, bedrooms, and bathroom.) The most apt descriptive phrase seems to be "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" We've spent the day moving some of the smaller pieces of furniture and packing up the bottom half of the china cabinet. To add joy to this pleasure, there's a heat wave (projected high temperatures of 106!) moving in come Friday. So we want to get all this moving of heavy things done before then.
I've made reservations for the cat to be boarded, and for the six-day duration of the floor refinishing, we'll be staying with my parents. Which... is going to be interesting. I'm debating which couple of projects to try and take with me to work on. I'll be coming back up here almost daily to check on the work, pick up mail, water the garden, take the boys to classes etc., but I won't be able to access anything we've forgotten.
Wish me luck!
We're also getting our tile floors taken back down to hardwood next week. So EVERYTHING needs to go off them. (Except for the office, bedrooms, and bathroom.) The most apt descriptive phrase seems to be "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" We've spent the day moving some of the smaller pieces of furniture and packing up the bottom half of the china cabinet. To add joy to this pleasure, there's a heat wave (projected high temperatures of 106!) moving in come Friday. So we want to get all this moving of heavy things done before then.
I've made reservations for the cat to be boarded, and for the six-day duration of the floor refinishing, we'll be staying with my parents. Which... is going to be interesting. I'm debating which couple of projects to try and take with me to work on. I'll be coming back up here almost daily to check on the work, pick up mail, water the garden, take the boys to classes etc., but I won't be able to access anything we've forgotten.
Wish me luck!
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