New Years Resolve…

Posted on January 2, 2013 by divadiversion

It’s that time of year again where we take stock, look back on our accomplishments, and look forward to our dreams.

One of the trends I’ve noticed in my craft areas is that I have been acquiring a lot of supplies and products and not accomplishing the things I have set out to do.  This does not mean that I’ve not completed anything, but that I’ve probably got more “stash” and projects than I can finish any time soon.

The biggest hurdle is that I don’t stick to just one thing, one project, one craft.  There is a myriad of things I thoroughly enjoy doing, and if I do it once, I usually want to do it again, especially so if the project was successful.

I have photos that need to go into scrapbooks, and cards to make with rubber stamps.  There are hundreds of yards of fabric just begging to be cut up and sewn back together into quilts, tablerunners, pillows, and wearables.  The kitchen is calling with recipes and the garden beckons with weeds run rampant.  There are needlepoint and cross stitch pictures waiting to be stitched and ornaments that need that final touch to be added to the family collection.

My beloved is very supportive and together we enjoy travel and wine and food, and, well, all the blessings of marriage.  He has been incredibly helpful in the kitchen, and never tires of “do you think it looks better this way or like that?”

So this year, I’m thinking I need a more disciplined approach to what I’m going to do.  How am I going to use my resources (supplies, money and more importantly time), and how I’m going to achieve the balance that is I yearn for (creative time, work and the gym)?

Pondering pondering pondering….

Posted in Balance, Crafting, Lists, Papercrafts, Quilting, Resolve, scrapbooking, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The challenging thing

Posted on December 26, 2012 by divadiversion

I like a good challenge.  Especially a creative one.

Not too long ago we had a program in our guild where a quilter came and showed us her work.  Her trunk show consisted of multiple challenges from companies, manufacturers and contests.  Some of these challenges offered prizes.  She indicated that she didn’t win any prizes for her work.  However, the observer could see where her work improved and how she stretched and grew as an artist through these contests.

Each year I offer a challenge to our little guild, last year it was the lunch sack challenge.  Simple enough really, you just put four fat quarters into a lunch sack and trade them with another member.  In the alloted amount of time you create a beautiful piece of work with their donations.  I went one step further and also created a piece using the duplicates of the fabrics I donated.  It was fun.

The fabrics I received in my sack were a challenge indeed.  Normally I would never have used them together in a quilt or wall hanging.  Although it took a while, and I was finishing at the last minute, I did come up with a stunning piece.  My husband loves it.  This tablerunner is fun.

The fabrics that I donated were really not challenging at all, and perhaps that is food for thought.  They coordinated well and I’m certain for any quilter that’s been around, it was not much of a challenge at all.

This next challenge is merely a two fabric challenge.  You would not believe the questions and confusion over this.  Kind of funny actually, some folks make it harder than it is.

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Seldom an original thought…

Posted on April 14, 2012 by divadiversion

So many of my inspirations, thoughts and ideas come from those I love.  This is no exception as my sister Teresa has begun her Blog and it has become a tool to motivate her to press forward in her quilting.  She has always been one to get things accomplished.  She strives to do more, get more done, do better.  Her having to report weekly on her progress has made her keep track, of what she is getting done.

A couple of weeks back I volunteered to be a part of the 100 hour gang.  The goal of each of us is to quilt for 100 hours during a 4 week period.  Well that is all well and good, except, I’ve not kept very exacting records.  I wanna do over.  But not right now.  If I was to do it over, I’d plan better.  When I did the math, of course it averages 25 hours a week.  If I were to quilt for 6 hours on Saturday and Sunday not quite half of my weekly time would be done.  There is evenings, but with dinner over at 7 and bedtime at 10 it doesn’t leave a lot of time for other essentials like, laundry, groceries, cooking, the gym and well, companionship.  Although I have failed miserably at this particular challenge, I do see where I fine tune it to my needs and pick it up again, when I’m not working and commuting.  One of the values I saw in this particular challenge was the ability to practice and improve my skills as a quilter, and to finish, yes actually finish some of the creative ventures I have begun.

One of the women I looked up to as a young adult had a mantra, “prior planning prevents poor performance”.  Another of my quilting, domestic diva mentors observed that any challenging job she had to tackle whether it is in the creativity realm or the drudgery realm was accomplished only by breaking the job down into smaller tasks.  She had a plan.  Perhaps these wonderful ladies are onto something.

 

 

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Hello world!

Posted on January 9, 2012 by divadiversion

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

  1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
  2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
  3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can always preview any post or edit it before you share it to the world.
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