Wow, is it July already?
Well, Quilting Jetgirl is having a Mid-Year Review linkup in company with last year’s Planning Party.
So I wanted to track my submissions, which I have not done, but I also didn’t submit many places.
However, I can add two new ribbons to my collection, Honorable Mentions from the South Texas State Fair in the Small Quilt category for “Canterbury Lane” and “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.”
I took my sewing machine in for service, finally. It had been purring away like a champion, but I figure after a decade it was probably time.
I can say that populating my SAQA group and my Houston Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers group with excellent peer education and discussion has gone really well.
I worked with my Accountability Partner on time management and task tracking, which has been really great. It’s not a perfect setup, but when will it ever be? We are doing ok anyway.
I started a Sketch Social at a local art cafe, a great venue with excellent lighting and delicious desserts.
I attended a science fiction writing workshop in January.
And, most exciting development for the future, I took on some teaching jobs with Creativity Shell here in Houston. My students in Creativity Shell sewing classes have ranged in age from 8-year-olds to adults, and they have all been really extraordinary. Teaching sewing has been eye-opening, rewarding, and exciting. It’s a real inspiration as well as a great confidence boost.
I have made progress on the Grandmothers Project, and started a lot more work involving hand embroidery. Plus I am halfway through making an 8′ x 8′ design wall for me studio.
I have attended several art exhibitions and openings, plus I have spent a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms. (Everybody is ok. Treatments and recoveries are in progress.)
What does the second half of the year hold?
More teaching, I hope. Maybe some explorations of other venues to teach, closer to home. Collaboration with my crafty friends.
I’ll be doing at least some piecing for a guild swap, and a lot more painting and embroidery. I have a list of calls that I want to create for, including a proposal that I’m very excited about.
Using LEDs in my quilts. Teaching the high school group involved programming lights for fashion, and I was so inspired that now I want to light up all my quilts, whether the venue showing them can turn them on or not.
More 3D quilts, including more in the tentacle eye series.
I hope I’ll finalize some original paper piecing well enough to release a proper pattern.
Still need to figure out the accounting.
And I may have to bite the bullet and find a day job, too. Maybe after I take a workshop on grant applications.
One thought on “Mid-Year Review”
Creativity Shell sounds (and looks) like a really rewarding and fun experience. I hope you continue to find teaching opportunities, and using LEDs in your quilts sounds like a really fun avenue to explore. May the rest of your year be wonderful!