Time To Stop Procrastinating

I'm actually quite productive when I'm procrastinating. I get everything done except the thing I really should be working on. This week I need to work really hard on my second offering for Quilt University. This one, Screen Printing, isn't quite as easy to translate into an on-line class.

So instead of working on that necessary thing last week I doodled some more.

4" x 6" matted at 5" x 7"

$25.00 each

And read some blogs. And made my way through another couple anatomy lessons from "The Structure of Man."

Doodles Again

I think I'll keep doing these every time the TV is on.


Or while talking on the phone.

4" x 6" matted at 5" x 7"

$25.00 each

A few of my favorite things

A little collection of things I love... frogs and toads. There are a number of them out in the gardens too but these little guys are right where I can see them as I sew. Each one has a wonderful memory. The glass green guy in the front from an open market in Florence. The Netsuke I picked up in Houston at the International Quilt Festival. He's a sumo toad... I think sometimes he talks to me while I'm sewing. He needs a name. Any ideas? A few glass frogs from local artists. The chirping frog was a gift from our Korean exchange student. Every frog has a story. Do you have a collection with a story?

Procrastinating

What do you do when you are procrastinating a deadline? When you don't want to do what you know you really need to get on with doing!?

My website links to my blog by saying something about only posting "when I have time... which is only when I'm avoiding a deadline." Like today. I need to make a couple of quilts for a show and I just want to do something else.

So I made another sketchbook cover.


And here is another doodle. From a few weeks ago. All the doodles I've made recently turned out ugly. That's fine. Doodles aren't meant to be your masterpiece... they're just doodles.

4" x 6" matted at 5" x 7"

$25.00 each

Now I really need to get into the studio and force myself to work. I'm having discipline problems.

Really, I'd love to hear what your favorite thing to do is when you are "procrastinating."

More Doodles

It's so much fun to make a few marks then see where my imagination takes me. I've never doodled with ink before and find the medium very pleasurable with it's dark, permanent line. Something about not having an eraser frees me from worry. No hope of changing it so I go with whatever happens.

4" x 6" matted at 5" x 7"

$25.00 each

Play With Your Food

What happens when you play with your food? This!

A printed and painted sketchbook cover. 4" x 6"

I've just completed and sent off a new course for Quilt University titled "Play With Paint." Of course I looked at my course samples from the live class I've been teaching for several years and didn't think any of them were punchy enough for the web so I had to spend several days making and photographing new samples.

Can you guess what food I used to print these roses?

In the process I did what I always seem to do and got a bit carried away with food prints. Yes... actual food. It's amazing what you can print with if you slice it and let it sit face down on a paper towel long enough to absorb excess moisture. Food printing also gets in the way of feeding the family. I'll be in the middle of slicing up a salad and take a look at the mushroom in my hand and suddenly dinner is half an hour later than expected. Just gotta go make some prints!

It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I've entered a quilt show. I took a couple of years off to have my last kidlet and get him up on his feet. I've recently pulled out my show entry book and gotten it up do date. It's amazing what you can do sitting at a child's practice/lesson/concert.

I do have to figure out what I want to do now. It's so tempting when you've been rewarded in the past to go the quilt show route again. The accolades are wonderful. You don't get a "good job" ribbon very often in the world of motherhood.

Before my "sabbatical" I was spending a lot of time filling out entry forms and shipping quilts around the country. It was fun and my goal was to break even which I did. It costs on average $60.00 per show to enter when you include a jury fee and shipping too and from the venue. I won just enough awards and made just enough sales to keep my work in circulation. I'm not sure that's enough for me any more. It would be nice to make a profit.

I think that is why I'm going to back off from entering quilt shows for the time being. I'll concentrate on getting more local showings where I can hang more of my work in one place and not have to ship it. Hopefully sales will happen. One of my small pieces, my favorite Daisy sold last week from Cindy's House Cafe. Didn't cost a thing to hang that show.



All the same, it was nice when I was getting ribbons. They look so pretty lining the walls. I'd love to hear any experiences you all have had with local art venues. What price point sells the most? What have been your best experiences? What have been your most successful venues?