This Brain…

This is what teaching looks like now. I check my email on my phone. All my accounts go to one place. I see an email from a student, asking me to review something he’s written, an assignment, to make sure it’s specific enough (I say “Be Specific” so much, I can’t even tell you. I’m thrilled that one of them heard me.). I open it in Google Docs, read it on my phone, see that it’s awesome, and email him back about that. Done. Now yes, I did that on my personal time. But I didn’t have to. Another kid opened a Google Hangout with me (somewhat disturbing) for a similar question. I hung out and answered him. Do I get paid for that time? No. Do I do it anyway? Yes. Could I have done it on my prep? Well, normally, I wouldn’t be as booked on my prep period as I have been, but it’s been a mess lately. If I were busy, I wouldn’t do either of those things, but it was OK. I made that choice. Then later at night, I see a kid repeatedly asking for access to another student’s document, presumably because he doesn’t know how to do the assignment? And then his sister asks for access. I send an email telling him how to access his own document. Yeah, sure, the other kid could have given him permission as well, but I suspect I’ll be able to tell when I see it.

This is teaching in the age of the internet. Saturday night I graded analysis questions on my iPad. I suspect I will need a new one (just a mini…I don’t want a big one really) soon, because there is a storage problem and it’s getting slower with the new updates. It’s not a new mini. I use it all the time for work though. My phone as well. School gave us a tablet to use, but it doesn’t work well. I don’t like using it. I haven’t used it at all this year. Sad really.

So yeah, I spent some time on school stuff this weekend, but I also quilted. For hours. Really. Yesterday was over 5 hours. I think my butt grew roots into the chair. The plus is that I am so much closer to done, so that’s a relief.

Saturday morning, when I realized I was still in the outlining, I kind of panicked. I don’t have a lot going on at night this week, but I also know the binding will take a while. So before I even left the house to run errands, I finished the outlining. It only took about 30 minutes. Then I went and delivered a quilt, a box to UPS for the girlchild (need to do one for the boy next), stopped by Trader Joes for stuff (hate that parking lot…would go there a million times more if that parking lot was better designed), and to the quilt store for binding fabric.

I had this discussion with the staff about a gray shortage, and they said they had more grays now than they ever had. Say what? They were all light gray or conversation/holiday grays. Not a lot of standard middle range gray that could be used for binding. I checked the whole damn store twice (Rosies has a ton of fabric). Almost considered going to another store, but I found one that would work. They didn’t ask to see my quilt this time. Guess they’ve learned their lesson. Not sure I would have shown this one. It’s not that it’s weird…OK, maybe it is. I don’t know…it’s one thing to show your art to people who are expecting art. In a quilt store, that’s not always the case.

Sunday, I did a lot of sewing obviously. I started quilting in the background Saturday afternoon, and then that’s all I did yesterday. Fought it. The quilting in the middle means half the quilt is shoved under the arm…this is a 60″ square quilt. Sure I’ve done bigger and wrestled more, but this was work…because it was 105 degrees here yesterday. I didn’t know that until afterwards. But yes, I had that quilt on my lap and the damn hot lights were on and I quilted with no A/C in that heat. Ugh.

The result is that last night, when I finally quit, I had about 20 hours of quilting in (whoops…that’s how long I thought it would take total) and I’ve gotten around more than 3/4 of the quilt. I need to go back and do more on the one side, but I will figure that out tonight. Really, I hope to be done quilting tonight. Maybe I’ll even trim it…but I suspect that will be Tuesday. Then bind it. And probably ink it. All before it has to be delivered to the photographer on Sunday or Monday. Damn. Sometimes I even amaze myself. Now I barely talked to anyone for two days. I blew off two art openings and another event. I only talked to a few people in that time frame. I woke up this morning with no clue as to what day it was. But otherwise? I did do what I needed to do.

Of course, my brain is already trying to plan the next big quilt, trying to decide what to do next, looking at deadlines and thinking way too hard. There are two shows I want to enter. I’d like to make new work for both of them. That might be crazy.

This brain…it wants to make all the time. I guess I should be glad of that…

One Post-It-Note List at a Time

You know when it’s time to go to sleep? When your eyelids are drooping while you sew. It’s certainly time to stop sewing, that’s for sure. Three hours! I got three hours in, plus grading and getting a quilt ready for a show and packing a box for the girlchild and cooking dinner. Not bad. I need to quilt like crazy today though. I really wanted to finish the outlining last night, and I got close, but no cigar.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to do the math to pay for the next month of college bills. There’s money coming from multiple places, both parents, the kids have multiple accounts. It makes my head spin. And every month about now, I add up what I still owe and my heart stops in my chest and I take a deep breath and freak out for the next 24 hours. Which is now. Because I just can’t see how I’m going to pull it off and that’s frightening. Terrifying. Stomach dropping fuck me I can’t even do this. I do the math on the calculator and it just stares at me and I shake my head at it and go, no. I can’t.

So I have to figure that out. And not cry while I’m doing that. This month is taken care of. Next month is a month away. Next month I won’t have a hellish credit card bill…except I need to fly the kids back for Winter Break and I haven’t booked those yet.

I have 17 places I need to be today, and some of them are optional and I can’t do it. I just can’t. I’m buried and I can tell it’s having a stress effect on me because the eyelid is twitching. So I’m dropping anything that’s not necessary. I’m making a list on a post-it (sometimes it just has to be a physical piece of paper that I can see) and then I’m throwing out this lame pen that doesn’t work that I’ve had for 10+ years and getting a better one, and then I’m going to deal with the things on that list only. If you’re expecting me somewhere to do something, please just realize that I can’t handle it today. Or probably any time in the next week. Love you. See you in a bit.

It’s a good thing my parents already canceled Sunday dinner, because I would have had to.

I did finish both arms and the entire torso and the bird and got up into the face. There’s just a lot of tiny details on this thing and so then I have to go slow.

Which takes forever…you know, cuz it’s slow. And I’m usually kinda tired and afraid I’m going to sew through my finger.

And then my sewing machine doesn’t even warn me that the bobbin is running out. It’s supposed to, but half the time it’s like…fuck! I forgot to tell you! Sorry! I have a machine that can’t multi-task. It’s so busy sewing, it can’t do all the other jobs it’s supposed to do.

Fucker. Because then I can’t plan for where to end, and it’ll be some teensy weensy spot where restarting is a pain in my ass, and I’ll have to do it because Machine Sucked. Damn bird is done. It’s not upside down in real life.

So I still have the head and the hair, and then miles of background quilting, but I need to run errands first. So I’m going to do that. Yup. Shower and food maybe too. Mornings aren’t good for me. I mean, I guess I was sewing until really late, so that should count for something, but it just feels like I can’t get my act together. Sigh. I wrote the list out, though, and it looks doable. Like I think I can handle it. Plus about 5 hours of quilting? Maybe? We’ll see.

Meditative breathing. Taking on the world, one post-it-note list at a time.

Not Far Enough…

This is my life right now. I got at least 6 major things handled yesterday. So far this morning, not really awake, I’ve handled one (it took 20 minutes. I fed the dog while I was dealing on the phone. Multitasking.). There were four things on my calendar yesterday that I re-calendared for today while I was sitting in a meeting at school. In fact, one just popped up, so I’m going to do that real quick…because it’s another thing I need for school. OK. Done. Trying to be efficient as well. But the quilting is suffering. I was really tired last night. I was so tired, I went to bed early, before midnight. Did it help? Fuck no. I’m still tired this morning. And really, I need to NOT spend all morning sleeping tomorrow, because I’m nowhere near as far in my quilting as I wanted to be by now. Dammit.

I hit 9 hours in last night, but only got about an hour and a half done total. I wanted at least two, closer to three. Not near enough. Will have to make up for that tonight.

Last night was lots of tiny fussy bits, which means all I really got done with the pubic area, the torso between there and the very bottom of the breasts, and part of the hand. Oh. And the lioness.

You can see the tiny stuff in the grass on her breast…I guess I made it onto the breasts…so slightly further up…but neither arm is done. One is barely started.

There’s a ton of outlining left and a significant chunk of background quilting. This is the view of what’s coming out the back of the machine…the part Midnight really wishes I would leave out so she could sleep on it and deposit large amounts of black fur.

Not happening, you little psycho. Plus you’re the queen of vomit, and I don’t need that right now.

Anyway. Sigh. So a lot of quilting is left. And I’m buried in grading of assignments. Progress reports are coming. And I had to plan/rewrite the zombie lesson in the last two days (but it’s done!). Plus I had a ton of meetings this week. I’m sure if I’d blown them all off, I’d be further along in the quilting, but all that alone time would be fucking with my head (like it will next week). When do I think I can finish all the quilting? I was hoping Sunday. I’m not sure that’s realistic…I’ll know better after tonight. If I rock it tonight, that will help. But I have stuff I have to do tonight as well…stuff I’ve put off all week. Plus a couple of things tomorrow.

This is reality. I set goals. I want to be able to do more than I can. I’m really tired of cooking for myself. I’m tired of having to cook at all. I can’t afford to eat out all the time though. I need something I can just grab quickly in between working, heat it up, and eat it. Yes I know that sounds like frozen dinners. I hate those. So I could make my own (takes time). I get tired of eating the same thing too though. I am going to figure this shit out. And everyone asks how it feels to have the kids gone. It’s shitty. Silly question. At the end of sewing for a long time, I stand up, I stretch. My brain says, “Who can I talk to?” The dog groans and rolls over. A cat meows. There you are. Furry things. A friend told me it took 6 months for her to get used to being alone, and now she doesn’t want to give it up. The kids are back in less than 6 months. I guess that’s a good thing? But I feel so disconnected from them. I know that’s normal too. Girlchild still answers texts. The boy? More sporadically. Nothing new there.

Whatever. Transitioning again. Maybe I’ll make dessert for dinner tonight. That’s real mature.

Overworked and Underpaid…

So the best-laid plans, right? I’m at 7 hours and 38 minutes into probably 20 hours of quilting. I have all of one figure done and I’m up to the pubic hair of the next one. She’s got some major detail above that, so it’s not a short amount of time left just in outlining her, and then I’m going to have to decide how to handle the background…which will probably take a significant chunk of time…the stitching part, not the contemplating part.

The legs in a bunch…

So I was at school trying to figure next week out. When you decide to rewrite lessons, it requires more work. More work equals more time. More time? Well I have to dig deep to find that (dig deep was my classroom motto yesterday. I made them read science content. I know. I’m mean. Horrible.). We’re trying to tie up the zombie unit and there are too many choices. And some of them I just don’t like. One thing we (OK, my co-teacher) actually paid for has typos and bad grammar and a concept that is just a little confusing, but it’s a PDF file and I don’t have a really good converter (aka I use the free stuff online), but I couldn’t let it be. I never can. I can never shortcut it, even when it’s in my best interest. So instead of starting to quilt before book club, I wrangled with this PDF file from hell and made up the stuff for next week, but I think I need a homework assignment as well. We’re meeting today to pull it all together…but I did spend a good 2 hours last night. And then went to book club. And came home and ate mashed potatoes because they were in the fridge and didn’t require much thought.

I did enjoy book club…but next month is Dracula and I really don’t want to read it again. Maybe I will just watch the movie, like I did in high school to get out of reading the story of King Arthur. I’m surprised my English teacher never figured that out.

But I only got an hour of quilting done last night. So that was a fail. Except not…just less than I planned. Tonight I have quilt class, but the thought of lugging all my equipment over and basically making a shitload of noise so no one can talk for two hours just doesn’t make sense. So I think I’ll take something else (maybe even grading) and pick up dinner on the way home and then quilt for three hours after. That will make up for last night anyway. And maybe I’ll have the second figure done by the end of that three hours. Except I might have to lesson plan tonight as well, dammit.

Midnight this morning…apparently it’s cold enough to curl up in the box…

and not splay out on the desk. It won’t stay that way for long…another baby heat wave is on its way through Southern California. So tired of excessive heat. This morning, it’s cloudy and cool and nice. I need more of that. I need to stop looking around the house and studio and wishing I had more time to clean. I need to stop looking at the to-do list that is taking over my brain. I need to stop trying to rewrite everything I teach. The new standards will do that to me next year. I need to stop taking on more than I can handle (ha! But some of it pays money and I NEED more of that.). Yeah well. This is how I roll. Overworked and underpaid.

You Probably Sleep More Than I Do

I’m a little braindead this morning. Apparently the Golden Retriever wanted to play at 3 AM. Or something. It’s like having a baby in the house. She’s making noise and waking me up, but I don’t know why. She didn’t want water. She didn’t want to pee (or maybe she did…it was raining. I know this because I was standing in it trying to make her go outside, but she wouldn’t. She made that mopey-eyed dog face that means you’re getting it completely wrong.). She brought me a toy.

I’m feeling a bit groggy right now. That’s an issue. I’m making kids work on the computer today…they actually have to READ stuff, like instructions and content. It’ll be a slog. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Yesterday, I had them typing answers to analysis questions. It’s so funny, standing there, total silence from the kids EXCEPT for typing keyclacks. And the few kids typing with only two fingers. Teaching has changed so much since I started.

I meant to start quilting relatively early, but got sidetracked by a pile of things that were have-to’s. Finally heard from the boychild, who is alive! A miracle. OK, I knew he’d text me when he needed something. I just didn’t know it would be the family military history. Which I have to admit to being fairly ignorant about (possibly on purpose). I was starting to worry/get irritated, though, so it was a plus.

I didn’t start quilting until 9:30 or so…again. Maybe I should just admit that quilting time doesn’t start until then? But I wanted to be doing 2.5 hours a day and I’m only doing 2. That doesn’t seem like much of a difference until you realize it might take me 10 days to finish the quilting instead of 7, and then I run into issues next week. I think I should make myself go buy the binding this weekend. Remind me, willya? I’ll get my head down and forget.

I still had one arm and the head…and I think one breast…to do on the smaller figure, so I was hoping to finish those last night. As I was quilting, I realized I did not do the best job pinning this beast. I blame the heat. I don’t really care, because it won’t be apparent to anyone but me…but it’s annoying that I couldn’t do a better job of it.

Midnight apparently hasn’t moved from the night before…wait, I think she flipped over.

Kitten is back on the chair. Must be cold. We were listening to the sounds of raindrops falling…that was nice. I think a branch fell in the night, but I haven’t gone out yet to look.

Finished her face and ALL those tiny damn windows. Love this head though.

And then moved back over to the other figure. I didn’t get far on her…just up one leg to the crotch. The other leg is about a quarter done.

Thistles and ivy. Tonight I have book club, but I’ll get my two hours in, at least…maybe more if I can find energy before the meeting. Although I should take the dog for a walk.

Someone said something yesterday about my having talent and energy, which was not a bad thing to say…I do have talent, but that counted years ago, when I was young. I spent 20+ years turning that talent into good work because I worked my butt off. It’s not magic. Using the word ‘talent’ makes it sound like magic, like I was just born with it. I didn’t stop making art all this time. It’s taken years of learning how I work and pushing myself to get here. I don’t have any more energy than you do…I just use it as wisely as I can. Teachers are always talking about balance, because we have to take work home and sometimes we take it home in our heads (OK, not sometimes), because we’re dealing with kids and their issues as well as the workload. You probably have more of a social life than I do. You probably sleep more than I do. Your house is probably cleaner. I live alone (except for the demanding beasts…oh and the kids on break). All those things contribute to my being able to find two hours a day to work on art that you don’t or can’t find. It’s not always a good thing or a healthy thing. Honestly it’s more than a bit obsessive and maybe even crazy at times. Certainly anti-social.

I have drive. I’m persistent. I don’t give up. I have an artistic voice that screams at me on a regular basis. But it does that because I learned to listen to it early on and I feed it with regular attention. Almost every single day. Anyone can do that. You just have to pay attention to it.

Genetics Followed by a Bit of Quilting

I managed to get in two hours of quilting last night after going to listen to a science guy talk about genetic engineering. It always sounds so good when you talk about curing diseases or conditions, but scary when you think about modifying food, or the consequences of messing with the other stuff. For all we know, without my diabetes genes, I’d be someone totally different. I’m thinking of the study they did on the foxes in Russia, where they linked fur color to tameness (along with a lot of other crazy things, like floppy ears). So there’s a risk in fucking with DNA…no cancer, but everyone is a ginger? Probably not a bad thing. Or we all have floppy ears. Somewhat goofier looking.

This week is crazy for meetings out of the house…wish I could spread them out a bit more during the month instead of having three in a week, but it doesn’t work out that way. I haven’t finished my book club selection, but I read it when it first came out in 2003 or so…Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. Read the whole Maddaddam series (more about fucking with genetics! A trend!). Definitely good stuff. Atwood has always been one of my favorite writers. I don’t remember what professor made me read (and then watch) The Handmaid’s Tale, but I thank them mightily. I’ve read everything she’s ever written since then.

It’s still warm here in San Diego…we were promised rain, but it’s been reduced to a tenth of an inch sometime today…much less than the half inch plus they said we’d get starting yesterday. It’s cool enough though that the animals are back in the office with me fulltime (it is one of the warmer rooms in the house). There’s a bit of competition for space, jockeying for position, although Calli is never on the desk or chair or table, so that’s a plus. Midnight likes to lie behind the machine though, even while I’m quilting.

You can see how close she is…you can even see when my machine was last serviced. I was looking for that label. Usually they put it on the inside so I can see it. Good to know I have some time before I need to take it in. Yup, I take it in once a year. I use this beast more than most people.

Calli inhabits the floor. If I’m lucky, she doesn’t lie right behind my chair, like she is right now. She was completely zonked out yesterday.

Too much excitement? Probably not from me.

I didn’t start quilting until 9:30, because I didn’t get home until 8:30 or so and then I had to eat.

Around an hour into it (while I was stitching down those tiny powerlines and electrical towers), I was yawning, tired, wanted to go to sleep. Nope. I need another hour. How about another half hour? See, my body does tell me to sleep. I just ignore it. And if I really had gone to bed then, odds are I would have been lying in bed for an hour, unable to fall asleep. That happened Sunday night and it was later when I went to bed. My brain really doesn’t get it.

Apparently bullying through makes you wake up (or the caffeine finally kicked in, hard to say), because I managed a second hour. While I’m sewing, I set goals…I’m going to get this part done…all of the left breast and the arm…

I did actually do that, but by then I was awake and it was more a matter of looking at the clock and reminding myself what mornings feel like with not enough sleep, and the fact that I teach 7th graders, which are more than a bit demanding of my energies…well, then I set a different kind of goal, like you are going to bed when you finish that left breast.

I just happened to sew a riveted heart and a bunch of nuclear plant towers as well.

I listen to myself about as well as my students do.

There’s a pin in the heart because I didn’t sew that keyhole down…missed it. So I’ll do it after I finish outline quilting probably. Sometimes I end up doing them at the end, assuming there’s more than one. I was going fast, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more than one.

So the first figure is barely started, the bottom border is completely done, and the second kneeling figure is done except for her (very complicated) head, right arm, and right breast. I need to do some writing tonight as well, but should be able to get her done and start on the other figure…because this is just the outlining. It’s quilting the background that’s gonna kick my ass. Dark blue thread on dark blue fabric, sewing mostly at night. Yeah! That’s how we roll.

Alone and Quiet…

Funny title for a post that starts out with an art opening where I was anything but. So yes, the opening was Saturday night and I think it went well…the piece is still hanging, so that’s a plus.

This is Empty Nest, 31″ wide x 200″ long.

At some point, one of my friends was trying to find my work (it was in the way way back, in the Education building) and someone else described it as the sexless Cyclops. I didn’t ask if the responder was male or female, but in case you didn’t know, we don’t need a uterus to have sex. And if you mean genderless, well there are ovaries and breasts, which implies at least a DNA-rendered gender. But whatever.

I have lots of pictures from the show, but not much time this morning (someone pulled a last-minute meeting AND I have a lab to prep for, which I already spent an hour at school for yesterday, but then left, because the alarm was going to go off and I thought I would have the 20 minutes I needed this morning. Never assume).

It was fun watching people experience the piece, since mine are usually on the wall. They stared, they walked around, they put their head in the hole…

Seeing it hanging and the forces upon it tells me that it should have been quilted, but I didn’t have the time or sanity left for that I think. OK, maybe the time. Definitely not the sanity.

Anyway, she’s up at Space4Art through October 10, so you should check her out if you like. This place is more about the openings then the rest of the month though. There were performances and there was music. And one piece had a little too much stress on it and might have fallen. But it was cool while it lasted. And a lot of people I knew showed up and that was also cool.

Saturday morning, I managed to pinbaste the new big quilt, which has to be done by the 28th at this point, because the photographer’s agreed to get it done in time. I found two fabrics that totally don’t go together for the backing…but they were the same weight and texture, so I don’t care. I wasn’t going to waste a good background fabric on the back of this one.

I laid the backing out and taped it to the entryway floor (after mopping it because the dog sleeps on it)…and then Kitten came and had her way with it.

I should have spent more time on the second taping down, but it was hot and I was tired, so I did it fast, possibly too fast.

I got everything laid out…

And spent an hour and a bit pinning it all down…it’s being fussy in the middle of course…

So that will be fun to quilt. And I’m fairly sure the backing wasn’t totally flat.

Oh well. I don’t deal with the quilt police. The quilting will make it lie flat.

And then I went to the opening and did life for a while…until Sunday.

And after 10 hours of work- and home-related stuff, I finally started quilting at 9 PM. Because Sundays are not mine. They are a planning nightmare. Too much to do, not enough time in which to do it.

This is slow quilting and quite meditative, which was good, because I think I’d spend too many hours alone and quiet at that point.

And though it seems that this is still alone and quiet, it’s actually art brain and it works fairly well until I finish and realize how alone and quiet I am. Sigh. The human brain is a pain in the ass.

I quilted for about 2 1/2 hours last night. If I could pull that off every night (and this week is a bitch for that…something almost every night), then I’d be done by Sunday. I don’t know if that’s really possible, but I guess I could toss it up there as a goal…

And then see if I meet it.

Meanwhile, meeting set for an hour from now and I still have to finish getting ready for the damn lab. So I’m outta here.

“go” bonkers

The plus with keeping data on how long it takes to perform each quiltmaking-related task is that when I am coming up against a really tight deadline, I know pretty well how much time it might take. This is also the CON with keeping that data. I think sometimes the realization of how many hours I need to put in before this or that date causes more stress than I need. On the other hand, not knowing also causes stress. Really, I’m just making stress. But that’s what gets the work done, so I’m going with it, and I don’t think it was a bad thing to overextend myself on these two projects, and when I was offered a copyediting job in the middle of it, I very realistically told them I couldn’t start until the end of September. I even emailed my photographer so I wouldn’t be freaking out at the end, so hopefully my dates work for him and I have all the time I can spare. Which isn’t much, let me tell you.

With that in mind, I was determined (but not positive I could do it) to finish stitching down the big quilt last night. You’d think I would come home and start sewing then, wouldn’t you? But part of being a teacher is grading papers, and I had given my students an assignment Thursday and Friday that was supposed to give me grading time, but they’re working like molasses, so it was more like babysit me on my computer day because if it’s not Snapchat, I can’t possibly figure it out without the teacher helping me (I really love technology…I do…except when I have to monitor 150 7th-graders on it). So I got no grading done, and this is just going to snowball on me if I don’t try to keep up. So I came home, popped my Game of Thrones DVD in (because who doesn’t grade to rampant death and rape and crazy shit…I watched PBS after that as a cleanser), and I graded for three hours before I couldn’t stand it any more. Seriously bad shit going on there…on the papers…sighs. Big sighs.

Then I ate. Because I have to eat. Then I came in here and realized the art show I was supposed to enter tonight had an 8 PM Eastern time deadline. Fuck. Well then. That ain’t happening. Whatever.

Time to stitch down. Even though it’s so hot in here that sweat is literally dripping down my face, back, everywhere, even with the fan blowing directly on me. Ugh. It’s cooler here than it was earlier this week, but it’s still muggy and hot.

Stitching down…I predicted another three to four hours…

And I was right. I had to do all of the larger figure from the knees up, including the bird. I didn’t start until just after 9 PM, so yeah…it was 3 1/2 hours and I didn’t go to bed until after 1. Someone should tell my neighbors that, because one of them was doing garden/yard-type stuff way too early for my brain, which made me pull the pillow over my head. Luckily, I had no dog this morning (yes, I share custody of my daughter’s dog with her dad), so the only wakeup call was Kitten, and she seemed to be fully aware that it would be a mistake to wake me.

At around 11 PM, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I was tired. But somewhere I found the extra energy I needed and kept going. It took 8 hours and 17 minutes to stitch this down…I can’t remember what I predicted. Ten hours?

The scary thing is I’ve been using last-year’s big quilt to estimate on this one, and I figured about 40 hours left before I started stitching down, and this one took longer to stitch down. Huh. I think I did my math wrong? Anyway, looking at last year’s, I’m estimating about 2 hours to sandwich and pinbaste today (longer than the other one because I will have to piece the backing), then about 20 hours to quilt it (2 hours more than the other one), and 5 hours to bind it. Now it might take MORE than that…but at least I can sew binding in more places than my house, right? Because I have some stuff on my calendar for this week (might have to ditch some of it). My goal is to be quilting as of tomorrow…maybe even today, but I have an opening tonight and I’m moving slowly today. But let’s say 27 hours left and my photographer just OK’d my delivering it on the 27th or 28th and photographing it in time for the entry. That makes two weeks basically. If you don’t see me in those two weeks or I cancel something you thought I might show up to (because there’s a fine line between working my ass off and getting incredibly lonely because I don’t talk to humans for hours or days on end…students don’t count), well now you know why. Although I do build in time on the weekends and during the week to be a social animal, because otherwise I might go bonkers.

“go” bonkers. Yeah. I know.

OK. Off this and onto the floor with pins. I hear Sion yelling…why??? Why not just spray baste like you did the giant-ass woman? Yeah. I don’t know. For one thing, I don’t have any spray baste. For another, I still like the pinning better. Crazy, I know. But those snot cans were driving me bonkers. They were the best option for that quilt, but I don’t know if I want to do it again for something big. Certainly isn’t happening today.

Can Do…

I could have sworn I took more than one picture while I was sewing last night. Apparently not. I was incredibly tired. So tired, I quit early and went to bed and zonked out. Same as before, getting into the sewing when it’s hot…ugh. I just can’t do it. Plus I had to enter a show. I’ll probably get rejected from one today, so this is like a karmic balance. Rejection? Enter a new one. So that took some time. I have so much stuff out traveling right now or in shows that I don’t have much available to enter…well, until today, when a few will get rejected, right? Yeah.

So the Ventura California Fibers show is up at the Ventura government buildings, 800 S Victoria Ave, Ventura CA. The opening is tonight from 5:30-7. Being in the buildings means it’s only open during government hours, Mon-Fri 8-5, closed weekends and holidays. You can see my piece Earth Mother for Ventura there…named because it had to be no politics, no nudity, no violence. I won’t be there. Can’t possibly leave school at 3:45 and get to Ventura on a Friday afternoon in time.

Then tomorrow from 7-10 is the Response opening at Space4Art. If you do come to see the 17-foot-long woman, go through the main gallery into the back yard where the food and stage are. There’s a small building with a funky sculpture in front of it. My piece is in there. I will be there. Although I don’t know that I will always be in the building.

And in Utah, Celebrating Silver opens tomorrow as well and the St. George Museum of Art. Awakening the Crone will be there. I won’t. Obviously. Because I’ll be here.

So yeah, there’s a lot of stuff going on. I do still think I can finish stitching this big piece down tonight. I just have to be able to focus as soon as I get home, instead of sprawling on the couch for an hour with a book before I do anything. It was easier when the girlchild was here, because SHE would be sprawled on the couch (genetics?) and I couldn’t be in there because I’d get yelled at. Or there wasn’t room. Actually, Friday was often the only day I could be there, because we were both tired, but it would inevitably turn out that I said something totally horrible like “How was your day?” or “Why?” and then I’d be out. And then I’d head for my studio/office. I should just pretend she’s there on the couch and not even sit down. I’ve joked about having this 17-foot-woman hang out on the couch with me at night when I’m feeling alone.

So I did eventually sew, but it was after 10…

I finished the kneeling figure. So I’m probably halfway done. I feel like 3 or 4 hours tonight would do it. I’m a little less than 5 hours in so far. Then I could sandwich it tomorrow and start quilting on Sunday.

It’s been so hot here lately that the dog has been cooling herself off in the pool. She goes in up to her belly and then wants to come back in the house. She gets mad when I dry her off (I don’t dry her completely), but I do it anyway. Except she apparently went in this morning and I didn’t notice. And then she walked through the whole house. I just noticed that. Sigh. Now she’s laid out in the entryway, damp everywhere. Oh well. This is why my house is not a showcase, right? Yeah. That’s it. Hopefully today is the last day of the heat wave. It did rain yesterday, enough to cool things down slightly, but not enough to make it actually cool.

OK. Survive the day at school. Come home and stitch. Eat leftovers for dinner. I can do all that.

Attaching Things Twice

Those in Southern California know the heat wave continued yesterday. Even with cloud cover for most of the day, it was stifling, sweat dripping from every pore, nasty-ass hot. Now the humidity is up as well, which makes it even more cloying. But it is better…like 3 degrees cooler. Seriously, I can feel that. I guess the real key is that I actually slept last night, although a motion-sensor light in my yard was on and only big things make it go on. Like people-sized big things. Maybe dog-sized. Possibly raccoon-sized. But I had Calli last night and she barks her head off if she doesn’t recognize a sound (reasons to have a dog rather than an alarm system…they know the difference between danger and a possum…although some will bark their heads off at those too).

But the heat and the 2-hour-long union meeting sucked all the energies out of me and I sat reading stuff on the web for a good long time before I stirred. And I did deal with some paperwork/email stuff too. Because I can do that sitting in a chair, staring at a computer, which is all I was good for. I didn’t start sewing until after 10 PM. Kinda crazy, yes. What can I say?

I’m still stitching stuff down. I didn’t finish the other body, but moved over to the kneeling one.

She has all the electrical towers and lines, which were incredibly fussy of course.

I have to stitch it all down because the Wonder Under won’t hold it permanently without some help. Attaching things twice. But it doesn’t take too long. I think I’m 3 1/2 hours in. I don’t know how much longer it will take, but I feel like it will be less than 10 hours easily. Here’s where a bunch of people email me their favorite fusible technique. Except this one really is the easiest. For what I do.

I had Calli and the Kitten in there with me (there’s a fan on)…

And I stitched for two hours before realizing I should attempt sleep because I do have to work during the day.

And I don’t have some cushy desk job. I have to manage 12-year-olds…their bodies and their minds. I have to make them work. It’s going to be a challenge today I think because we have the stupid Williams Act people coming to confirm for the 8th-plus year in a row that we have a book for every subject and every child (passing previous years apparently does not exempt us EVER) and yesterday the school website wasn’t working, and that’s where the online textbook is, so I might be kinda screwed…because kids won’t be able to get the info they need. Which sucks bigtime. OR I can have every kid walk over to the counter and pick up the book that is assigned to them only…pain in the butt. Things that don’t happen normally. Some school practices just drive me nuts…even when I know why they were instituted.

Anyway, I’ll be home late again tonight, but hopefully it will be cooler so I can stand sewing earlier. I want to get this sandwiched on Sunday, if not Saturday. I don’t have much time left to quilt and bind it. If I look at the calendar and the decreasing number of possible work days, that motivates me in a very stressful kind of way.

I did talk to the girlchild last night. She’s being amazingly brave and awesome and I’m glad. Although the mom voice popped out when she described splitting her lip on some guy’s pecs during a soccer game. You know, like it does.