Now What?

After setting out on a contract, they hired my replacement after I'd worked there for 6.5 days. Just lucky, I guess. Anyway, I'm back at home, waiting for the offers to come pouring in again. My resume is out there, but it's a holiday weekend.

My Bernina is idle for the moment. I spent time working on Bud's quilt, I've set William's quilt aside for a while, and Ashley's tote bag is finished. I'm not in the mood to trace off the pattern for Josh's pajamas. My current list of projects does not include things for me. I did throw a small snit and embroidered a set of 6 napkins for the house. Not specifically for me, but nobody else in the house seems to take notice of things like that.

I've been creating order in my studio, since I don't feel like creating things. Eventually, I'll feel like creating things again. I'm not off on a quest to track down my muse. My muse isn't hiding, lost, or fled. I suppose she's on holiday weekend, too.

Paper Piecing

I'm using a technique where you sew your fabric to a piece of paper with the pattern printed on it. You don't need to cut the pieces of fabric accurately, you trim off extra fabric after you sew each piece in place. In fact, you don't want to cut your pieces accurately, as it makes it harder to deal with an already fussy task. A little room for error is a good thing.

However, I'm wasting a heck of a lot of fabric. Not only am I cutting pieces with a 1/4" seam allowance, I'm also cutting them with at least a 3/8" extra allowance on top of that. Sigh. The frugal heart of me is offended. The technique calls for some fabric waste. I understand that. But I can't get comfortable with the amount of fabric I'm going through completing this pattern according to the directions. At least I'm getting this figured out on a set of pieces that are small. The actual amount of fabric that I'm wasting is not that great. By the time I get to the larger sections, I'll have figured out a better way to cut my fabric before I sew.

In addition, there is a slight chance that I should ignore the exact line on the paper and sew to one side or the other of it. See, fabric doesn't fold knife sharp. The bulge of fabric that rolls around the seam can cause the precision of my sewing to be just enough off that it will show up when I least want it to.

There is also a potential problem that the fabric won't be perfectly flat when I'm sewing it to the paper. When I remove the paper, I'll have created something that will be too large and won't match up with the other pieces that I've created. I don't think William is going to care. All he really wants is a quilt that he can sleep under that is large enough that his feet don't stick out. He won't care that it isn't perfect. Really, he won't.

Bud, my mechanic spouse, doesn't understand why I dance around a project, looking at this and that, poking at it, measuring pieces, testing things, and not leaping to get started right away. I'm not dealing with an industry that has exacting requirements based on crash test reports, recall notices, and government safety standards. I'm dealing with folks who majored in Home Ec in college. If they even went that hard core technical. If not Home Ec, then they are Art majors. Engineering, beta testing, and quality control? Not so much.

Explorations

The software that must be used to run the Cricut Explore can not be installed on Windows 8.1 and Firefox. At first, the software was only available if you had purchased the machine. A few days ago, it became available via a download on the Cricut website. I can't 'try before I buy' because I can't install it!

As a money saving ploy, this is working well. I guess I have just saved myself on the order of $300+ just by not installing this software. Perhaps I should look for some other things I can decide not to buy? 

A Reason to be Happy

My stepson's old girlfriend is pregnant. He is NOT the father. I pity the actual father, I pity the grandparents. I pity the poor, innocent baby. But I'm celebrating.

Epson Printer!!!

I ordered a new Epson printer at Photoshop World and it arrived yesterday. I now have time to get it set up. I think I'll put it within actual USB cable reach of where I usually have my computer, so I can connect to it. I have to connect to my old Epson printer via sneaker-net. That's when you are wearing out sneakers walking back and forth carrying thumb drives or flash cards with pictures on them from the computer to the printer.

Tennessee Birdwalk

For some reason, we were discussing migration, and the onset of Spring and this song popped into my head. It's called the Tennessee Birdwalk. These are the lyrics. Occasionally, a background or harmony singer would interject "Chirp, chirp!"

Take away the trees and the birds
All have to sit upon the ground, uum
Take away their wings and
The birds will have to walk to get around
And take away the bird baths
And dirty birds will soon be ev'rywhere
Take away their feathers and
The birds will walk around in underwear
Take away their chirp and the
Birds will have to whisper when they sing
And take away their common sense and
They'll be headed southward in the spring

Oh remember my darling
When spring is in the air
And the bald headed birds
Are whisp'ring ev'rywhere
You can see them walking
Southward in their dirty underwear
That's Tennessee Bird walk

How about some trees so the birds
Won't have to sit upon the ground, uum
How about some wings so the
Birds won't have to walk to get around
And how about a bird bath or two
so the birds will all be clean
How about some feathers so their
Underwear no longer can be seen
How about a chirp so the birds
Won't have to whisper when they sing
And how about some common sense so they
Won't be blocking traffic in the spring

Oh remember my darling
When spring is in the air
And the bald headed birds
Are whisp'ring ev'rywhere
You can see them walking
Southward in their dirty underwear
That's Tennessee Bird walk

Spelling Always Counts

Sneak. As in sneaking around, it is a subterfuge, a ploy, something hidden, not to be seen or noticed by everyone. Peek. As in take a peek, peek though the lens, peek a boo. Peek, as in looking at something briefly. Peak is the highest point of a mountain, the apex, the tallest part. Take a peek at Everest. Can you see the peak?

It is "sneak peek" and not "sneak peak."

Thank you, I don't care to tippy-toe my way to the top. I'd much rather get a glimpse that isn't for everyone.

Ummm.... Who?

My MIL gave me a stuffed Eeyore that has a little lantern in his mouth. When you give Eeyore a hug, the lantern lights up. He's freaking adorable. I'm toddling around the house, holding my Eeyore and every so often hugging him to make him light up and I declare that I've got "Eeyore as Diogenes." I think it's perfect, but everyone else in the house looked at me like I was speaking Swedish and had forgotten the vowels. There are times when one of 'those' educations is not helpful.

Insanity!

Insanity can be defined as performing the same action again and again, and expecting different results.

I've been creating my own graphics for the background of this blog. The center strip was too narrow for the text and the background was too small on a 17" monitor at high resolution. It wouldn't fill the browser space. Since my first attempt, I've created several more backgrounds, all with the same problems.

Why was I repeatedly creating backgrounds that were not right? That thumping sound you hear is me banging my head on my keyboard.

For a background that will work on a 17" monitor, I need to create a graphic that is 1920 pixels wide and 1200 pixels tall. A lot of the screen real estate is taken up by tool bars, scroll bars and so on, but the quick and dirty numbers are the same as the screen resolution.

I Need A Pin

I need it to pop the overinflated balloon that is my head. I did a second fantasy layout of a friend of the family sitting on a mushroom. In the photo I took, he had been sitting on a park bench. I sent a copy to Wonderful Hubby who gushed over it and sent it to the friend. More gushing ensued.

Honestly? I didn't think I'd done enough work to have the layout qualify for that amount of praise. While everyone else sees an incredible layout, I see the things that I still need to learn. I wasn't pleased with the shadows that weren't there. I wasn't pleased with the different qualities of light. I've got a long mental list of the things that I'd like to get better at and do differently. I am a beginner in this style and my layouts show it.

But one thing hubby said made me crack up. "Jean can put you in a fantasy world sitting on a mushroom, and they can't come up with Air Force One in a picture of New York City without actually flying through the city and scaring everyone half to death."

Trash and Productivity

I've noticed recently that if I spend a lot of time scrapping, I have to empty the trashcan in my studio on a daily basis. I don't think I toss a lot of paper scraps, but I must toss a lot of something, because the trashcan sure gets full! I save grocery bags to line that trashcan and I put bags from craft shopping into my bag basket as well. I'm one of those neat freaks and a messy scrapping space will clog up my ability to create. I cannot work in a mess.

Recently the bag basket is getting low. Demand is outpacing supply. For a couple of days, I didn't believe it, then I started thinking.

There are only two of us and I go shopping once a week, getting about three bags of groceries. Yes, I can feed two people for a week on three bags of groceries. But I can't always save all three of those bags. They are wet with meat juices, or they tear. Three bags incoming does not equal daily trash bag outgoing. The only reason I haven't run out of bags earlier is that I go shopping for craft things and save those bags.

If I can't empty the trash, my work area is messy and I cannot create in a mess. Therefore, because my bag basket is getting empty, I must go shopping to re-stock my supply.

If you believe that, I've got a bridge listed on e-bay that you might be interested in...

I Knew That

When gluing paper to bookboard, apply the glue to the bookboard, not the paper. Every so often I forget that and I regret forgetting each and every time that I do. Fortunately, I have more paper. And more bookboard.