Shopping with Martha Pullen

I spent some time talking with a wonderful person in Alabama today. We spent time shopping while flipping through my Martha Pullen catalog and cruising her website to gather the items for Oliver's christening gown.



Last night I plowed through boxes to find my box of patterns. Finally I found it after about 10 boxes -- ln a box at the bottom of a large stack labeled "downstairs, red box, miscellaneous." Who knew?

Anyway, after checking that I had all the appropriate pattern pieces, I made a mental list of what I needed: Swiss Nelona Batiste, French Val lace, swiss embroidered entredeax, mettler thread, schmetz needles, and a pair of lace point scissors. Instead of worrying about finding things in that mountain of boxes I ordered almost everything I need at one time -- it should all be here the beginning of next week. I think I must have ordered a hundred yards of lace!! All I have to find now is a spool of Sulky embroidery thread.

As I wait for delivery I will make my pattern with the adjustments that need to be made. I will say that it is simple, elegant, and long. I even have Merle's approval on it's design! I will give you a sneak peek at one of the laces ... the rest will have to wait until it is finished (c:

Creative Summer

I have finally finished classes for this semester and am really looking forward to trying to jump start my creativity again. Looking back at one of my previous posts on this same subject, I realize that it had some good advice! So as I clean up, unpack and restructure my downstairs space I am going to carve out my creative "studio" space. I have a lot planned for summer projects -- fall will be hopelessly busy with classes four days a week so I want to have the house unpacked and my creative self in a routine!

Here are my plans. First I have a christening gown to make for Oliver Matthew Grim. The Bernina has been taken to the shop for a tune-up. The electronics guys who checked everything after the fire said it was in working order, but I still want it serviced so it will hum along as I work on the gown. I have narrowed the design down to two. Fabric and lace have been chosen and will be ordered when I make my final design choice. The christening date will be sometime late July or early August. My hope is to break my usual routine and have it done early.

Jenny gave me a wonderful "roll up" piano for Christmas last year. I asked my musical friend Caryn what book would be good to use as an adult for self teaching piano. I really have a basic understanding of music -- due to the really good music teachers I had in high school. I can read notes and scale, understand timing and know the difference between a sharp and a flat. With this book I hope to be able to play a simplified version of Fur Elise by Beethoven by the end of the summer.

One thing I have always wanted to do is draw/paint. Jenny has given me pencils and books to get me started, plus I have some of her 'left over' art supplies (c: I am going to unpack those and start sketching even if I am terrible. Practice makes perfect...right? So, I thought I would start with one of my favorite things...Dragons! It will probably be way out of my realm of talent, but I am going to try them and maybe even Fairies.



If I want to be able to keep up my creative endeavors though my fall semester I am going to have to be proficient in math. So proficient that I don't have to worry about what we are covering in Math 106, 'Quantitative Reasoning.' So I will have to be spending time with this book too!

Then there are cookbooks, SciFi/Fantasy, philosophy, classics and a myriad of other books that are calling my name. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy some of them too.

Awake

How long have I been asleep? Six months for sure…maybe as long as a year …or more? I have been jolted awake and am staring at myself in amazement. How could I have let this happen? I have been walking through life numb and disheartened.

They say you never know how sick you are until you feel better. Well I didn’t know how depressed I was until – the happiness of Teresa's coming visit jerked me awake. Now I find myself vacillating between trying to figure out how to catch up and chastising myself for being so insane. But, I have this sense of energy and clarity that has been seriously missing for a long time.

Here are two of the things that I must immediately correct:

Academics: I have totally screwed up this semester. I currently have a C in Greek Art and Architecture – my professor is not exactly thrilled with me. She knows I can do better. I am barely making a B in Design of Cities: Roman Urbanism. This is crazy!! I have not read and scarcely studied for these classes. I have 2 exams and 2 papers due in the next 3 weeks that could make or break me.

Christening Gown: I have a christening gown to make for a friend…all the fabric and lace are in disarray waiting to be put together. The date for the ceremony is November 8th in Pennsylvania. That gives me a week! Procrastination has always been my middle name – and I usually justify this by saying I work better under pressure. This time is different though. My insecurities with my own faith (or lack of) have made a creative outlet that I used to find joy in become a task. I need to focus on the joy of my friend and her beautiful baby boy whose birth is truly a miracle!

There are so many other things that are clear now that I need to address and not let overwhelm me. Age, health, work, attitude, loss of my parents, missing Jenny, Teresa and Charleston, house fire, future – things I don’t need to worry about, but acknowledge and move on. I will figure out how deal with each of them in a positive way. I need to live in today – Awake!