Tag: time

Another Bag – The Rockport Tote

Between Inktober 2018, watercolors, tasks and errands, I have been working on another bag.  This one is in need of massive trimming of threads – so is the Boxy Tote – before it is done.  Then, it will be shipped off to a friend of 45 years “just because”!  It’s not perfect, but then nothing I ever do is, so that’s life, eh?

This bag is done with one piece of material and quilted every half inch on the body.  It’s called the “Rockport Tote” from Aunties Two.  The pattern is clearly written, and even better, there are videos to accompany it.  If you are interested, follow the preceding links and you will find them.  This project took me awhile to do – it spanned about 3 weeks, and in between a lot of stuff, I was champing at the bit to finish it.  I’m going to start another one next week – bags are in the works for Christmas presents.

The bag comes in three sizes – small, medium, large.  The small is tiny, perfect for little gifts and using up scraps of fabric.  I made the medium size.  The large is a bit bigger, but this one is a nice size to carry around.  Also, I was really happy to find this ceramic Celtic knot work button in my button box – it seems perfect for the bag.

 

One thing I am enjoying with my time off is the actual ability to have time.  If I was still working, I would be rushing and feeling pressed to finish this bag, and I think the whole project would have become a point of aggravation.  Slowing down requires having time, and in the time I have, I am finding I am enjoying working on things that would otherwise become frustrations.  My sewing skill is far from good, and my own rather casual approach to things doesn’t help.  Still, I do have time to do handwork (hand sewing) and picking apart seams or other bits that might not please me.  I have time to think about what I want to do, and time to set aside a project with the time to return to it.  All of a sudden the rush-rush-rush of my former daily life is gone.

And thus, another project completed.  I start a 5-week introduction to quilting class at Quilty Pleasures and another 2-day class to make another Rockport Tote.  Yes, you read that last right – I figure I would make one Rockport, and then make another, learning from my own experience, as well as that from Betsy, who taught the Boxy Tote class I took last month.  And, though I profess to dislike quilting, my thought is that learning how to cut and sew precisely, as needed for a good quilt, won’t hurt me or my sewing skills.  I can only improve.  And I know I will have a lot of fun in the process (and probably some frustrations, too.)

The Elusive Word

If you have been following this blog of late, you know I have been – and am – in a funk. Being discontented with one’s life can lead to getting lost amongst the lemmings, or choosing the proverbial other road. I don’t really need to do one or the other, in a way; what I need to do is to make the choice!

Crow

Last night I went out with a friend – one of those great friends where no holds are barred, and you can just ramble and expose your thoughts and feelings without being afraid. We both were into it, and I came home feeling really good – refreshed mentally. So did she. Working so late and so long has prevented my having much contact with people I like, and now try to do something like this on a weekly basis. I’m stealing back all the little pieces of my life that disappeared over the past year.

Sure, the argument can be made that I shouldn’t have let it happen, but the fact is, it did happen. There is only so much time in the day. And there is only so much energy, too. As an introvert, “me time” has to be there before I can deal with people and be a nice person. No “me time” and I have no idea who I am.

Somewhere in the dark recesses of sleep, probably as my subconscious was working through whatever it does in dreams, the elusive word – the one-word description for what I am trying to regain – came to me: Integrity.

Time

48 years ago today, I was in the gym, crawling around on the floor, playing kick volleyball with all the kids in my class.  It was cold and snowy outdoors in upstate New York, if I recall properly.  For some reason, the teacher, Miss Viviani, walked out and then in.  She said, “The President has been shot.”  Minutes later she did the same, and came back to announce, “The President is dead.”

The loss of President Kennedy was a terrible event, one which I believe marked a tragic downturn in American history and politics.

The world is so very different today, and so very much the same. I’m no longer a kid in elementary school. President Kennedy’s family is grown, some gone; there are grandchildren. People I know have died, had children, have grandchildren. Time continues, and our own little space – shared with billions – is just as important as national events and crises.

Cherish what you have, as it will be gone far too soon.

Too Much!

Some people learn things as they go along, living life on a daily basis and incorporating the new stuff without the disruption of everything else.  Not me.  When I am curious about something, I jump headlong with both feet.  This has its good points and bad points, the worst being it can become obsession – luckily, it never does.  The thing is, I am a collector.  I collect information.  I collect things.  And I don’t usually get rid of stuff, either in my mind (though I will as senility approaches), in my closet, under my bed, or in the garage.  Granted, when I return to that interest, costs are very insignificant!

Lately, in case you have not noticed, I have been doing a lot of photography, to the point I decided to set up a blog separate from Ink, Yarn & Beer.  Here, I really want to get back into more personal things, such as the painting and knitting design, as well as just discussions or whatever I fancy.  At that other blog I can focus on photography and what I am doing there, create my little encyclopedia of links, blither on about what I am doing.  I’ve gotten a few hits there, mostly spam, but that blog, like this one, is for my own pleasure.  And to create balance.

My artistic side finds photography rather frustrating, but I am beginning to see how it is tweaking me at the same time.  Thinking about how something is made – effects, colors, process – begin to move into other areas.  Looking at the petals of a rose make me wonder how I can capture them with a brush using ink or watercolor.  Looking at the light shadows in an image make me consider contrast and detail in a painting and why something in a painting works, or does not.  Realism does not need to be done, but the impact created by color, shadow, tone, shape gives an illusion of reality or its impression.

The fact is, any form of art is limited only by the person doing it.  This can because of a lack of tools or innovation, or because one is still in the process of becoming or doing.  I am limited by my interests in a lot of things – painting, knitting, reading, writing, photography, gardening, hiking, traveling – and it keeps me from doing anything well.  On Outlook I have different activities scheduled weekly – creative activities – and that doesn’t help either!  Regardless, the plan is to try to do a bit more of all of it, and be focused on it when I can.