Monday morning things

* I don't mind if people refer to my quilts as "simple." Simplicity is often a good thing, and a lot of times what I am going for is a simpler pattern that highlights the fabric or the colors. And I find the simpler designs more restful to look at.

I briefly contemplated - and might still do - handquilting that newest top using perle cotton and the "utility quilting" style, where you use a larger needle and take bigger stitches and the quilting shows more, kind of like was done on some of the older "farmhouse" quilts.

* I did pull out the fabric for the next quilt - a mostly-pastels Jelly Roll in vaguely French-fabric/upholstery inspired designs (lots of florals, one or two pastoral scenes that don't look like much cut down into strips) and a big piece of plain pink for the background. I ironed off the pink and pulled out the couple of strips I *won't* use (it takes 36 of the 42, and there were a couple of solid strips in there that were easily disposed of).

* I was feeling really at loose ends and sad on Saturday, and it continued a little bit into Sunday. I think I figured out the cause: not being busy enough. Sunday afternoon, after finishing the top, I went out and spent about an hour cutting out brush and weeds in the backyard and I felt much better. I think part of it is I just need exercise (I had taken Friday as a rest day, and Saturday was so broken up I couldn't get a work out in. I did do the dvd workout on Sunday before working on the quilt...)

I don't deal well with being idle. That's one reason why I used to teach in summers in the past. I suspect when retirement rolls around I'll either have to find some other way to structure my days, or maybe actually see a counselor about strategies to cope with big blocks of idleness. (I am hoping that by the time my retirement rolls around, there will be more stuff in town - groups I can join, maybe some idea of a second career. That's also why, even though there's no space in the current configuration of my house, I am contemplating buying a longarm quilting machine and learning to use it - I could either quilt for people as a second career, or I could join up with some charity that distributes quilted things and work for them (I would do the charity work for free))

I suppose that's a problem some people who have worked hard "all" their life face....I was always an overachiever in school and I also wound up doing "enrichment" things in the summer or off-times because my parents pushed me to.

* I also want to pull out the various stalled projects and try to finish them. I am currently working on a pair of Weasley Homestead socks - the first sock is done and the leg of the second is not quite half-done. And I need to get Celestarium out and get back to work on it.

* Well, no phone messages or e-mail messages about grades, so I'm going to assume no one is upset. The one person who hinted about "will there be extra credit" earlier wound up earning a C on their own merits, and I assume they are satisfied with that.