Overcommitted?

 It has happened a number of times that people have told me how much they admire how I manage 'to do all these things'. It might be the legacy of a philosopher father who did a lot of thinking and writing about achievement/accomplishment/performance, who knows. I do know that I do achieve many things. Yet there is always this nagging feeling that there are so many other things I wanted to do or have done as well, and that did not get finished. 

And I know that I have a tendency to plan too many things. When I started nursing I had not really planned to cut back on the amount of time I spend quilting, I had only quit the fabric dyeing business. When I realized I would not be able to maintain the same amount of quilting production as before I had a hard time getting myself to adjust my quilting plans. And I still have not mananged to take a realistic approach with regard to what I want to do in terms of quilting. For example, I signed up for the expensive SAQA online conference which just happened. And have not listened to a single of the lectures. I wanted to make two quilts to enter in Wide Horizons and one to enter in EPM's "Ocean" contest, and I managed to make only one for WH (which I also doubled as an entry for Brno Patchwork Meeting), and then decided to enter the Ocean piece in WH as well. The plan for the second piece for WH is still there, but right now I don't know when I can begin on that one.

I wanted to enter a piece for the German Guild's challenge using the misprinted pins for last year's Patchworktage, and I had a great idea. And it would have been a small quilt only as the measurements are really manageable 15x30 cm, I believe. 

The left pin is the misprint, the right one has the correct orientation of the logo.

 

I had almost a whole year to complete the quilt. The pins are still on my wall and the quilt will never be made as the deadline for entry has passed by now.

But I have finally started to work on my contribution for the EQA challenge 'Imagine a Bird', and that may actually get finished. (Of course, I am the lucky one who collects all the contributions before they are being taken to the first exhibition venue, so I can put in the last finishing touches the night before I leave, and nobody would know...)

Life is very complicated right now and will continue to be so for a while, yet I made certain today that I got at least a few minutes of creative time in today. I do want to complete that bird!

Of course, taking a four day trip to Brno, Czech Republic, last weekend, to hang, steward and return a 20 Perspectives show at the Brno Patchwork Meeting didn't help to make spare time for stitching. But on the other hand it was a bit of a reprieve from all the things going on in real family life these days. We presented two of the collections, Nature and Monochrome.

Outside wall and entrance to the 20 Perspectives gallery

Ildiko performed a bit of open heart surgery before
the opening of the show to remove a couple of hanging threads

With my two pieces in these two collections, and my entry to the Zero Waste challenge and my piece in the German Guild's Tradition bis Moderne I had a total of four quilts in the show.

Entangled in Yellow, 24 x 32"

I'll follow the Sun, 24 x 24"

Mellowed Yellow, 150 x 160 cm

Seeing Red, 90 x 130 cm

When I arrived I was greeted with the question whether I had brought my quilt for the competition with me as it had not yet arrived... Imagine my surprise, as I had shipped the parcel in the middle of March. Fortunately they found it, but perhaps it was really only put up at that point, because I thought it was not hanging rather advantageously. But I was glad I got to take it home when I returned! Now waiting to hear whether it got into Wide Horizons or not.