Motivation by Avoidance

My friend, Becky, and I went to a social quilting day today.  Jonanco Hobby Workshop puts on "Jonanco Quilting Days" two to three times per year.  These events include a whole weekend of quilting, though I was only able to attend one of the four days. I was too busy sewing so I wasn't my usual camera-happy self, but Diane, one of the Jonanco organizers, managed to snap a picture of me at my machine.

I worked on a quilt for my niece. A nice easy square-in-a-square pattern that would come together quickly was just what I needed.  I managed to get the 12 blocks I needed pieced, though I was sort of hoping for a finished quilt top.  She's slightly obsessed with Frozen, so I grudgingly use Frozen fabric for her quilt.  It's a good thing I'm working on hers first, since I'm very much looking forward to Nolan's Star Wars quilt of the same pattern.  Olaf is pretty cute, though. 

I needed a bit of a break from my art quilt that I'm making for my dear friend of an artist, Colin Spencer. (He doesn't have a website and I don't have permission to post any of his work right at the moment, but here's a link to a print maker's website that has a couple of his pieces posted.) I was excited for the challenge. And it has proven to be quite the challenge.  The process is basic enough, but getting the stripes just right managed to frustrate me.  I got that part done but hadn't been motivated to go back and keep going, especially since there was another striped part I would have to work on - with even skinnier stripes! Here is what I've got so far...

You can see the coloured pieces on the left and might even be able to see where they will fit in on the right side there.  You can also see the template of the striped piece I needed to do next. Well, having a break with something simple seemed to be enough motivation to get going again this evening. I managed to get half the strips sewn together before I ran out of white thread....

Motivation for the win! Maybe I can actually get all my quilts done on time. Colin's art quilt by April 17, the kids quilts by April 23, beach quilt by May 15(ish) and maybe even catch up on the myster quilt that I'm a couple installments behind on.

All Work and No Play...

When I first started writing this blog, it was going to be a rant.  I was having a bad day and was ready to throw in the towel on my goals in life.  Mostly because I have no real goals.

It started because, at work, there are a couple jobs that just make me feel like I'm useless... simple... like I haven't amounted to anything.  These include (but are not limited to) refilling stock from the overstock and vacuuming. I don't even mind vacuuming! But being told to as if I haven't noticed the crap all over the carpet is demeaning to me.

I start feeling like "I'm better than this! I was a straight A student! I owned my own business!" And I get frustrated.  

So why don't I have any goals to get me ahead in life? The simple answer is money.  The more accurate answer is fear.  I have spent the last five years with little to no extra spending money and every time I/we save up a little safety net of cash, something comes up and we lose it. And all of this to end up on the verge of bankruptcy. Part of this is the result of previous loans. Student loans make up about half of our financial struggle.  

And so the fear comes in to play.  I would love to go back to college and study botany or environmental science.  But the thought of getting student loans again is hard for me.  I don't want to end up in this same situation again. So I sit in limbo at my minimum wage job that promotes consumerism, which I rather despise especially since I realize I succumb to it.  Gotta be better, stronger, faster! But you'll only achieve this if you have the newest __________!

Anyway, I have come up with two goals: 

1 - Focus my career goal from botany/environmental science to a more specific job title.  

2 - Get involved somehow to help decrease the cost of education for everyone. 

I love the idea of charities (preferably small ones because the larger ones tend to make way more money than they put into the actual purpose of the charity. 

But first, I must make my life work around my goals.  I plan to take a book keeping course and hopefully work from home, making a school schedule much more viable.