Because of Love

February. It's a month that is very difficult for me. What is glorious about February is that it is SHORT. It is the month in which we long more than in any other month for spring. We know that spring is not so far off as it once was. I guess that is the reason there are so many celebrations: Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, President's Day, and this year Mardi Gras and Chinese New Year. Well....for me as a Montessori educator, we look at all of these cultural celebrations. 

I have been struggling with my Creative New Year's Resolution for February. My resolution for this month was to learn more about embroidery. 

Deacon Don and yours truely

 I was asked by a dear friend (see above photo) who is going to take his vows as a Catholic priest in June, to make his Maniturgium. When you feel great love for someone, especially someone you know has been on an arduous journey toward something of great good, you want to serve them as best you can. Of course I was greatly honored by his request.

A Maniturgium is really just a simple linen. I wanted to make it something extra special by embroidering it. Thus, the Creative Resolution for February. I have been working on learning the stem stitch and stitching on the linen.

To be honest, I'm not enjoying this endeavor much. I think some of the problem is that I feel so busy with my teaching (at school full time and then also at church) and with the days being short and dark and cold, that I just don't have the energy to put into a creative endeavor.

Vinegar Creek Constituency

On the other hand I have had the opportunity to hear some amazing music in our fair city. I generally take my cameral wherever I go. I think it is a way for me to compensate for my introvertedness (I think I just invented this word). I feel safe behind my camera. I find I am much more interested in photography and music than I am in sewing these days. 

The problem is that I am much more proficient at sewing and quilting than I am at photography and music making!

So...I'm dedicated to continuing my embroidery resolution for February but I'm looking forward to freeing myself from this resolution and changing it for March. Stay tuned....

First Goal

Today is the baby shower for my co-worker. As you can see from the above photo, I was able to finish the quilt in time. I actually had it finished last weekend but only photographed it this morning. January is half over and I've completed half of my January goal. I have one more quilt to complete before February. I have most of the fabric already purchased for the next quilt. In fact, I'm using curtains I found at a thrift store for the main section of the quilt. I will keep this next one simple as well so I can get it completed in time. I hope to cut the fabric today when I get home from the shower. 

My goal for this week is to work a little bit every day on something creative. I find that I have a hard time motivating myself after I come home from school and get supper on the table. It is so cold and dark that I just want to crawl into bed! I work so much better in the morning. The good news is that the days are getting longer now. We also got our heat fixed so it no longer feels like a refrigerator in my sewing room. That should help. I have the day off school on Monday so I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished this weekend.

Happy Saturday, everyone.

Studio 360 Creative New Year's Resolution(s)

I really enjoy listening to the radio program Studio 360. I guess I discovered it when our local public radio station went from being primarily a Classical music station to a news oriented station. I listen to the Studio 360 podcasts on my iPod when I'm at the gym and also in the middle of the night when I have trouble sleeping.

Studio 360 has highlighted some of their listeners' creative New Year's Resolutions over the last two years and I've really enjoyed hearing the types of creative endeavors people have been working on. It has always made me think about making my own creative resolution but I could never really think of one thing I'd like to focus on. 

I was sifting through all the creative things I'd like to be better at: quilting, sewing, photography, cooking, baking, singing, playing guitar and piano, drawing, painting, printmaking, etc., etc. It then hit me that it might work better for me to pick one thing to work on each month. I'm sort of AD/HD in that way!

So here is my 2015 Creative Resolution: To focus on one creative endeavor each month of 2015 and to blog about my progress here. 

For the month of January I am focusing on quilting as there are two quilts I need to finish this month (I need to start them, too!). Since my hope is to learn something more about each endeavor, I'm going to focus on learning to properly finish the binding on these two quilts.

In other months I'm planning to learn to embroider, to better learn the music of the Carter Family and maybe even do a little recording with my very talented hubby. I'm also thinking I may spend a month learning more about my computer and how to be more savvy with my blog (html and graphic design). Who knows? I'm thinking about fabric printing and designing my own clothes, making cards from my photography and doing some baking and cooking projects with my sons. I guess we'll all have to stay tuned to find out the focus for each month of 2015.

If you'd like to join me in this year of creative resolutions, let me know! I'd love to follow your progress as well. Feel free to comment with your creative resolution. We can all inspire each other.