Frustrated with the flaws in the quilt I created this week, I decided to explore possible causes and solutions for all of the problems I had so that I don't repeat them. I'm such a cheap date, getting all excited when I found a quilting blog where the blogger provided a tip on stacking the transparent quilting rulers and throwing out any that didn't look like the lines were accurate. Whaaaat? The lines weren't all as they should be? They are manufactured with crooked lines or wrong measurements?!? I thought I was nuts in the past when I'd cut what I thought was a perfect square, only to find it wasn't square, and it was happening frequently using the same square measuring device. Woohoo! I can blame it on the ruler. Of course, I must now toss it and declare it to be flawed (and I did use it on this recent project) and buy a new one. If the new one makes for a crooked cut, I'm going to have a harder time blaming it on anything other than "user error." For now, my story is it was the RULER'S fault. That, and the stupid clunker of a move not to pay attention to the placement of the needle on the sewing machine. Whoops.
Last night I received word that the stroller and cradle I painted sold for $185 at auction. It isn't a huge sum, but given that these auctions are usually all about getting something for a bargain suggests I should consider a little swerve on the career path. Maybe I will repaint the chair that was intended for my friend's daughter (now 16 years old - another whoops) and offer that next year. Better yet, maybe I'll paint that and set up the etsy shop I keep honking and wheezing about, yet never manage to get done. For goodness sake, I helped my son's girlfriend set up a shop for her high school senior project, and she's still selling the bracelets I taught her how to make and for which I purchased the supplies. Something's not quite right here.
Time to make good on the promise to manage time and commitments to art. I think project #1 is to sit down and schedule the creativity time and stick to it like a dentist appointment. We'll see how long this lasts ;-)
