Dilemma

With rather a lot of time on my hands in between visitors to my studio for NEOS, I kept thinking about Hamlet, Prince of Denmark questioning his place in the Universe. In the dull moments I debated with myself about the pressure of a small business having to make money versus the desire to simply indulge my creativity.  The silk Copper Capercaillie Norse wholecloth was overlooked by the judges at the Scottish Quilt Championships and if it was not for the much needed confidence boost from the forthcoming Houston award, I would be seriously considering selling everything in my studio. 

I am wrestling with the decision on whether to apply for a permanent part time teaching job or even a temporary full time teaching job. Obviously the part time one sounds better on paper but it is "forever" and I may not be able to persuade the Boss to let me go on the odd quilt trip. I would also have to share the classroom and children with another teacher. The temporary full time one would give me my own teaching space and a chance to see if I can balance a teaching job with quilting. The financial pressure would be eased but studio time would be limited. However, I definitely produce better work under pressure and I certainly could not become bored or distracted. Perhaps that is the only way to ever get "The Book" done!

I found North East Open Studios quieter this year but I convinced myself that I could not concentrate on serious projects or writing because visitors would turn up at odd times throughout the day. Maybe they all called in on the 2 days out of 9 that I had to close because I was in school? My family called in on a golf holiday to Scotland on the busiest day of all but it was great to spend some time with them in between tours of my studio. 

I worked on an easy project to keep me occupied so I finally put together 25 little house blocks. I do not plan to purchase any more fabric for this so I am adding various strips out of my stash. I wonder whether I should make each one into a cushion instead of a quilt that someone is unlikely to buy? Mind you, that means quilting, piping, adding zips, backs and buying cushion pads. Perhaps I will consult Mo, the Cushion Guru...

I finished Fenella's Christmas apple core quilt so that visitors could see me quilting "live". So many people admired its curved edges that I talked myself into keeping them instead of slicing them off after quilting. I have now made about 20 yards of bias binding so I will pluck up the courage to have a go at that next week when I have my studio cleared and back to "normal".