Fiber Friday

Last week I didn't post because first I didn't have anything ready, and second it was one of those stressful days with errand after errand. By the time I finally got a moment to write, the day was over. I wasn't very productive last week so I didn't have much to show anyway.

This week I've tried hard to put forth real effort. I did clean in the studio. And outside, too. I emptied the trailer and had the boys move it across the yard. I feel so much better now that I can walk straight to the door, instead of veering around a utility trailer. I also got my hands on a box, so my ceramic Christmas tree is in the attic. AND! I may be getting a wall. Or at least starting on one. My friend works for a box and pallet factory. She is going to get scrap wood for me. Progress!

Over the weekend I worked on the plastic canvas hexagons, which I finished Monday. I can add the gear stars now. Since the project was pretty much done, I emptied the project bag. I found a Ziploc bag of star charms. I don't remember what I was going to do with them, but they might look nice on the hexagons. These were going in my bedroom, but I've decided to put them in the studio instead.

My top priority is this block that I am making for SAQA. I know I will finish in time but it still has to ship, then travel. The deadline is June 1.

Tuesday is Amazon day and I listed a bag I made years ago but never sold.

I have tried to use a site for artists called Ello. My first post didn't load. I thought maybe things needed to be posted from a desktop, but the site freezes when I use my computer. I can't navigate Ello very well. If I can't get it to work after this weekend I'm going to stop using it. So far very little art has held my attention. I don't think it will be much of a loss.

Update: after typing this I got onto the site via my tablet. I can post now. I can see my posts. I was able to look at other's work. Ello is sort of like Pinterest, but all art. My desktop still freezes up. But things are working from my tablet so I'm good.

I partly solved some of my storage problem. Once these shelves are painted, I will store finished quilts waiting to ship. I may store finished product, ready to sell as well. As my inventory of sellable items grows larger this won't work so well. I would like to have everything in boxes ready to go. But anyway, I have a place to put things now.

Wednesday everything went wrong. Boys wouldn't get ready for school, toddler was cranky, and I wasted an hour trying to get wood when nobody would answer their phone. I tried to sew to make myself feel better.

Except this project hasn't gone right yet. This is my second attempt. It still doesn't look right. I decided this wasn't what I wanted to make. Instead of trying to correct the problems I just stopped. I switched to making cubes.

Wednesday is gift day. I realized it is okay to give myself a gift. This cube is for me. I want to express my feelings. At times that is a necessity.

I made rapid progress on this. In fact, I was on the second side when my husband came home. He told me his sister opened oldest son's mail, then started calling family members to tell his business. I decided to write down how I feel about every one and put those feelings in the cube. I'm calling it "Proud and Bitter."

Thursday morning I woke up drenched in sweat from a low sugar. Since I really didn't feel like doing anything, and since I was still fed up with my in-laws from the day before, sitting on the couch sewing seemed like the ideal solution.

All the sides are made, now the cube has to be put together. And I still have to write how I feel.

This is as far as I got Thursday night. The cube is mostly sewn together. All of my cubes need something inside them to support and maintain structure. I decided to use a rubber ball.

This was my first choice. I thought the color was a good representation of bitterness. But it is small. I would need to wrap lots of fabric around the ball before it would be anywhere close to the right size. The more I wrap, the heavier the cube becomes.

I traded the green ball to my daughter for this pink ball because it's twice as big. I may still need a bit of wrapping, but not much. I then wrote how I felt on a strip of paper. I tried not to make it too negative. I listed the complaint, like ignoring problems, then I wrote a wish, like having the courage to deal with issues. I showed the list to my husband. I didn't want to hide anything from him. He thinks this is a really bad idea. He believes the message will never be hidden, eventually someone will see it, get offended, and then more drama will erupt. I don't think that will happen. The message will be inside the cube. In order for anyone to read it, they would need to destroy the cube. At that point, we have an entirely different problem.