Productiveness

Hello! I've been wanting to post for a while now but just haven't made time, frankly. I'm home today doing some much needed house cleaning and waiting for the HVAC repair guy to return. Yep - it's hot out and the A/C has broken, but that's another story.

I have been visiting some of my favorite blogs late at night while trying to unwind before going to bed. My work days at Gail's lovely shop are long and I don't get home till at least 7:30. By the time I take care of all the animals and fix something to eat, it's pretty late. It's always so inspiring (and a little depressing) to see all the accomplishments you achieve. Sometimes I feel a little bad not having lovely pictures of things to post about. It isn't that I'm not productive, because I am. I just try to do too many things and don't get as many projects completed as I'd like to. And it's tough when you live by yourself to get everything done that needs to, let alone things you WANT to do.

The last time I was unemployed I set several goals, both major and minor, and actually completed all of them. This time is very different and I'm not nearly as focused but have decided to work on completing several of my projects before starting another new one. Now I know I'm not alone when I tell you how much fun it is to start something new. I love the excitement of getting all my stuff together and working on it only to put it down when it is so close to being finished.

While I was off work Tuesday I decided to complete my arbor and paint it. I was going to wait till fall but the Jasmine I planted is already growing up the sides so I couldn't wait. It's been really hot this week but I worked outside till 9 p.m. The arbor is now complete and I can scratch that one off my to-do list :) It isn't perfect, but I'm pleased enough with it.


Last fall I started a new flower bed across the driveway (in deer territory). I decided to make it a "hot" bed using orange, red and yellow plants - colors I don't usually use. After I finished painting my arbor, I started hauling a load of mulch that my neighbor got for me a while back (free from the town). Of course, my wheelbarrow has a flat tire so I had to shovel the mulch into a garden wagon and pull it several yards before applying it to the new bed. With several recent showers, the crabgrass had taken over the bed so I had to do a lot of weeding before I could spread the mulch. It still needs work, and one of my favorite plants died over the winter, but it will shape up by this fall. See the big field I get to mow every couple of weeks - what a job!

I haven't touched my wall hanging that is so close to being finished. I will get some work done on it this evening - I've promised myself that!

While cleaning it occured to me that I've never posted about some art quilts I have. This is the one and only I purchased a few years ago and I just love it. I've used it as inspiration and made two dragonfly art quilts as gifts. This one is about five feet long and made by a very talented artist in Durham.

This is a small wall hanging I made using the reverse applique method. I saw one in a shop for $75 and went home and made one for myself out of scraps. It was easy and fun to do and looks almost identical to the one in the shop.

This is a mini art quilt I made using some delicious fabrics I bought several years ago. There's no rhyme or reason to it - I just loved the colors.

And last but not least, this is another reverse applique mini I made a few years back - still unframed. I love trees, especially birch trees.

The inspiration for the birch tree piece is this lithograph I bought in Maryland years ago.


I sure hope those A/C guys make it back here today; it's really warming up inside now :( While waiting, I'm doing more house cleaning. I always feel better when things appear to be in order around me. Of course, that means I need to keep the door closed to this room - it's a mess from keeping the baby quail inside. Oh, I got them moved outside Tuesday as well - another chore to scratch off my list. :)

TTFN!
Phyllis