Thursday, October 04, 2007

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

One of the highlights of my career has been the travel. And one of the aggravations of my career has been the travel. I have loved meeting the people and seeing the sights, and tasting the foods, and teaching fun and enthusiastic students. But there are problems associated with traveling.

You already have heard complaints about airports, and that's not what I meant to discuss. I mean the getting ready and then the returning unpacking and readjusting. There is a lot of that. A LOT.

Tomorrow I am taking my very last teaching trip. I am going to savor every minute of it.

But here's the thing. Since the move I have put off doing anything really creative (not counting assembling furniture, hanging curtains and blinds, and arranging furniture) until this last trip is over. I have just barely found my box of fused fabric and moved it from the garage into the studio.

What I mean to do is first GET ORGANIZED. Things have to be available, at my fingertips, unpacked and ready. So yesterday I went online and ordered this shelf from Lowes.



Six feet tall, 4 feet wide and 18" deep, it should hold four rubbermaid boxes per shelf. Plus my TV and radio. Four boxes of paint/pastels/colored pencils/paper/brushes. Four boxes of fabric, patterns, notions, threads. Four boxes of yarn, yarn, yarn and yarn. I will be set...If I can move in that tiny room with all that stuff. I have two tables, three rolling drawer sets and an easel. Something will have to go.

When you travel a lot like I did, you put off doing long term projects. Everything has to be done in one or two days. That includes quilts. In the early days before I left home so often, I would spend up to eleven days on one quilt. In fact that was the limit of my attention span. And it seemed to be just the right amount of time to devote to one piece. All my big winners took that amount or less. The last time I had that much concentrated work on a quilt was ages ago. I cannot even remember.

Staying put, in the studio will change what I make. I have had some recent inspiration that I wanted to show you.


This is the logo for Blumen Galerie, in St. Moritz. A flower shop that had this wonderful display.
Very Andy Goldsworthy, no? And of course I was crazy about their shelving and flowers too.



All that red, pink and orange, against the black shelves. Oooooohhhh. And I loved the whimsy of these animals draped with Spanish Moss...

There is a quilt in here, somewhere, or maybe a painting. Anyway, as is usually heard around here, "When I get back..."

PS: I LOVED Pushing Daisies. Here's a review that totally sums it up. What a refreshing and wonderful new show.

9 comments:

  1. I can't wait to see what you create!

    I have to agree on pushing up daisies, but then, I am in love with a number of this season's new shoes. Back to You, The Big Bang Theory and yes, Dirty Sexy Money!!!

    Enjoy your last trip!

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  2. Anonymous12:46 PM

    You'll love those shelves! I have 2 sets in my quilt room, and they are strong enough to be fully loaded with 4 plastic bins per shelf, and enough room on top for 6 more bins.

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  3. Pushing Daisies...thank you for the review, I forgot to watch it, but I won't forget next week!

    That drapy moss on the animal heads gives in an idea for one of my walls....again, thank you!

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  4. I have 3 of these shelves, lol. I fit 6 totes on each shelf, fabric sorted by colors and/or type. Heck, I moved 30 boxes of fabric, each 1.5 cubic box fit 2 totes! It did wonders for my sewing studio.

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  5. Anonymous7:39 AM

    I have several of those shelves, including two in my studio. They have a great combination of function and good looks. You'll love them. Connie

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  6. Ah, organization! Love it and hate it at the same time, but it sure makes finding everything alot easier!

    Congrats on being done with traveling... it will be so nice to stay HOME!

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  7. When I read that you were going to stop teaching at the end of 2007, I immediately found out where you were going to teach and booked myself in. So here I am in Monterey, all ready to go tomorrow morning. I feel so lucky!

    When I told my partner, Dave, that I was planning to take this trip to study with Melody Johnson, he said, "California? -- well I'm comin' too!" And then the dog, Jake, said "California? Well, you'd better count me in as well!" The upshot of the story is that we bought ourselves an RV so that Jake could come along. We left our home in Victoria, BC, Canada, a week ago, and have made our way here with lots of great experiences on the way.

    But for me, the real experience will begin tomorrow. I'm VERY excited, for I love love love your work. And what a thrill for me that I will be part of your last great hurrah as a teacher. Hurrah!!!
    Joan

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  8. Anonymous9:50 PM

    I just put that shelf unit together for MY sewing room last week! Very good choice. However- two things the instructions don't tell you: (1) the shelf lips must face DOWNWARD, and (2) have a ruler at hand when you put it together. I did everything wrong, had to take it down to components again & start from the ground up. Oh, and (3)- the caps on the bottom of the legs unscrew; get a package of 4 small rollers with upstickers and insert them into the resulting holes. Presto- movable storage.

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  9. Pam in Jax, please email me directly so I can find out what you mean by four small rollers with upstickers. Do they come with the shelves???

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Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com