I admit it: I ordered a whack of typography-themed fabric (yes, such a thing exists, and it's actually not uncommon) off of eQuilter yesterday. Because the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a Vigenère cipher-themed quilt. (And I will have to scour my own stash; I'm quite sure I have a few more examples of fabric-with-words. I don't know that I will have enough to do all 26 different fabrics using typographic themes, but most of them will be able to, and I could probably fill in with a solid or a marbled color, to give the eye a place to "rest.")
I also spent some time hunting through back issues of magazines and books. I found a pattern I really want to do with the new Aneela Hoey prints I bought a "jelly roll" of - I just need to get 3 1/2 or so yards of plain white fabric (I have plain white, but it's already planned for other things. One of these days I should just buy a whole bolt of Kona cotton in the solid white and be done with it....)
And I want to get back to the "Om nom nom" quilt - I counted up the blocks I had done; I have 25 and I'm thinking 100 (a set of 10 by 10, which if I estimate right and if my seam allowances aren't too far off, will give a 90 x 90 quilt - a bit wide for my double bed, but then again, wide quilts are a nice thing, especially in the winter). I did acquire two more print fabrics for it recently, and what I really should do is figure out how many blocks' worth I have cut, and how many more I need to do - at one point I had figured up that 2 blocks from each fabric would give the required number of blocks, but I may be over that now, because I keep finding cute candy or cake themed fabric.
I'm also handquilting more on the quilt in the frame. I can see a time when this one is done, and that always makes me excited for the NEXT quilt to go in. Making progress is gratifying.
I also have the "Post and Beam" quilt back from the quilt shop and want to make time to put the binding on. I didn't know how I wanted it quilted; I chose the color of thread and told the quilter to use her judgement. She picked something good for it, so I'm happy with how it came out, the quilting design works well with the top design.
I'm also wanting to finish the Mixtape quilt. I already know how I want this one quilted - the big, stylized rose pattern that I had done on the "Flower Show" quilt I made. I think that will be about perfect for the top. I think that will be the next top I take in to have done.
***
Something I talked about a few weeks back - I referred to it cryptically as one of the unpleasant changes possibly going to happen - may not come to pass. I *think* I can reveal it now: my piano teacher had decided to give up the studio space she had and had been talking about no longer offering lessons. Partly because she had lost a few students (I guess kids learning instruments can be fickle, and also, I can see if a family is feeling a financial pinch, that would be one of the first things to have to go) and because of pay cuts at her primary job. So she's changing careers and thought it meant she'd have to stop teaching.
Surprisingly, when she told me that (during my lesson one week) I didn't start tearing up; a few years ago I probably would have. (I did shed a few tears once I got home, though). I asked her if she'd consider coming to people's houses for lessons (she floated that idea once before when she was concerned the studio space was too expensive). She said she was considering it, but the way she said that, it didn't sound terribly likely.
She did tell me, "Oh, at the level you're at, you could go work with of the piano professors on campus; they would take you on as a student" but I admit I'd be apprehensive starting with a new teacher, especially someone whose focus is mainly on training people who want careers in performance. Would they want a student who really had no interest in performing publicly? (Then again: maybe it would be a relief to them to have one student whose main interest was in the fun and the personal enrichment of it.)
(That apprehension could be entirely a result of a past bad experience I had back when I played clarinet: I had a teacher once who asked me what my ambition was in re: playing and I told him I wanted to be able to play as a hobby, and maybe, if a group of friends got up a band or an ensemble, to play with them, but that I didn't want to think about playing "formally," as in working toward going out for an orchestra. (And I really don't think I was good enough at the clarinet; part of it was my sinuses, part of it was that my embouchure was never really very good - and I was going through orthodontia at the time). He didn't exactly fire me on the spot but he did say that I was wasting my time and his if I wasn't planning on working to get good enough to perform publicly. Which seems a very wrong headed attitude to me - I mean, I wanted to learn, he was getting paid - so what difference did it make if I ever went out for an orchestra or not?)
But then yesterday she told me she had leads on two new studio spaces and it sounds like she's really loath to give up teaching piano. (And she shouldn't. She's a really good teacher - one thing she does is do music theory side-by-side with the technique, and I like learning that way, I like kind of having the curtain pulled back a little and seeing how music "works" in addition to learning how to play it). Depending on her work status in her "main" job this coming fall, she will most likely (it sounds like) be teaching. (She is taking the summer off but that's okay; I can set "assignments" for myself to keep up with practicing over the summer.)
I grew up in a tradition that says you mostly don't pray for small things or selfish things, but when I got in my car after the lesson, I quietly said, "Please let it be so (meaning: that she would be able to teach this fall). I don't ask for a lot but I'm asking for this."
I guess you could say it's not an entirely selfish request; if things work out as they should my teacher will get to keep doing something she is good at and enjoys.
(I also think the burst of enthusiasm about quilt planning comes related to the fact that she had me do a tiny bit of composing for my last lesson - and she said that what I wrote was "good"! And she wants me to keep going, to write a section B for it. I admit, I fantasize sometimes about having this totally undiscovered talent for something (though I suspect that with things like composing, practice and learning about it are as important, if not more, than raw "talent") and that I find some new way to "make an impression on the world" midlife. (Yes, I know: as Charles said (and I thank him for it), I probably have a bigger influence than I see, but....there's still that desire there to be able to stand up in front of a group that's experienced something I "made" and get a little applause for it.)
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