One post a month?

It must be summer!

Okay, quick recap since June~  "Midsummer" was a terrific success. Couldn't be prouder of Jacie in her first 'big' Shakespeare role! The costumes were as close to my vision as I ever could get and stay in budget. Very happy! Waiting for pictures to share.

"Rent" was much more frustrating to costume than it should have been. The theater suffers from a serious lack of communication between responsible parties; leaving me locked out of the costume storage to see what was already available and without funds to purchase what was needed. Despite knowing I was doing the show for a year and having my color scheme/look planned months ahead, most of the costumes were done in the two weeks before opening. That should NEVER happen. And guess what? I'm waiting for promised pictures.

The fall opener, "9-5",  has been cast and work has begun. The most delightful news from this show-- I have been cast in it! After a five year dry spell I'm finally getting to be on both sides of the curtain again!. What it means in the long run is even less time for quilting but I'm okay with that. it's not procrastination if there's other priorities, right?

I squeezed in some sew-for-me time yesterday and finished all the blocks I need for the Scrap Vomit quilt and started putting the rows together. I hope to finish the top this weekend.

In the meantime; I plan to enter this quilt I made for a friend in Quilting Gallery's Quilts for Little Ones contest. I'll probably post about that after it's official~ :)

Crummy week.

  Yeah. Just a couple of horrible costuming days. I'm working two shows- "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Rent". Just frustrating when some things don't need to be. But I'll look to the happy~ celebrating my Dad, an amazing and loving man who taught me what a real dad is and what to look for in a father for my children; and my husband of 28 years. Wonderful fathers, wonderful men. I am blessed.

At least one post in May~

  Just one, probably, because I'm busy as the bees and blogging while busy is not a priority. There's been mostly theatre work but I squeaked in a bit of piecework. I had the pleasure of testing another pattern for Cindy of Quilt Doodle Doodles. On the first warm afternoon here in SE Virginny I found myself childless for the day. Some may consider that a great time to do housework but that's silly.  I cleaned up pollen from the front porch and made myself cozy with a pitcher of iced tea and news radio and stitched away on the embroidery. The piecing had to wait because of Mom's illness (more on that later) but I finished up these two sweet blocks this week.

Cindy's patterns are available on  Patternspot  - they are adorable and so easy to put together. And no--- I am NOT a paid spokesman! lol! I just really get a giggle from her cute characters!

 Since my last post in March (!) I have:
~Opened and closed 'Scapin". It was a good show, no drama, pretty easy costuming. The director and I disagreed on a couple of pieces but we compromised. No pictures yet. I rarely get any from the college shows.

~Avenue Q opens tomorrow. Very easy to costume; just time consuming in the running around and gathering. Very little sewing. I was behind, though, because of:

~Planned a 4-day trip with all 4 of my children together for the first time in years to see my parents in Boston but, right before we left, my mom was hospitalized. I went up by myself instead and stayed for about a week and a half to help care for her. I traveled the day after the Marathon bombing so it was a crazy week of watching endless news coverage with a smattering of Red Sox games on Mom's hospital room TV. Fortunately, she is much better and comfortable at home.

~Began work on summer Shakespeare~ I can't believe it's Grove time again. It's my sixth and second go-'round with "Midsummer Night's Dream".  A new director who's looking for traditional Greek with Lord of the Rings-meets-Hellboy for the fairies. Jacie has been cast as the 'changeling boy'. This one will be cool.

~Beginning work on LTVB's summer musical, "Rent". A little more sewing than "...Q" but again it's mostly thrift store shopping and gathering.

 ~Planning a drama for a new week of camp. This is different from the week I usually do. This one is called Expressions of Worship and it teaches kids to use performing arts to glorify God. It's a new camp experience for me and I'm excited, but a bit apprehensive, about it.  I have not been contacted about the "usual" week I work so I am assuming that the person taking over that week doesn't need me. One less week to plan, I guess.

  I have signed on for four shows this next season. September brings "9-5", November has both "Parade" and "Proof" (and I'll be the assitant director for that) and "Next to Normal" in the spring. Plus whatever the college has in store... another happy, busy season!

Not dead; just not quilting

I'm not posting; it must be showtime! In fact, I'm booked up for the spring/summer season.

Scapin (opens 21 March)
Avenue Q (opens May 17)
Shakespeare in the Grove ( June 19?)
Rent (opens July 12)

Usually there's a week of camp (Solid Foundations) in there but I'm not sure about that this year. The dean of that week is gone and there has been talk of replacing it with something new. I've been asked to do an additional week called Expressions of Worship but the details are still hazy. I know I'd be teaching theater. So, in a nutshell, I'm crazy busy!

The downside is, of course, I want to sew my quilts and some spring clothes. I have all these wonderful "Taking Names" triangles calling my name. Scrap Vomit is SO close to being fully pieced.
There's a sweet new baby arriving soon and I still need to finish a quilt for Colton, who arrived last year. I want to suprise B with last year's "Bottled Rainbows" (currently sandwiched) quilted by me for his birthday at the end of the month. *sigh*

Daylight savings does nothing when it comes to needing more hours in a day.

The End.

...of DaGMT 2013, anyway.

The results:

~One UFO finished and delivered
~A basket full of packs for a scrap vomit quilt emptied for 15 total blocks complete
~a doll quilt made and mailed
~a few random blocks for swaps
~lots of fun, triangular shaped blocks called "Taking Names
~one "Star Wars" pillowcase son #2 has been begging for for three months since we bought the fabric
~One housework-free day spent at a quilt show
Oh, how much more could I have done if I wasn't spending hours in thrift stores working on costuming for "Scapin" or deathly afraid of free motion quilting!

Oh well... (in her best Scarlett O'Hara, which isn't very good) Today is another month to quilt in!

Happy March!

Continuing on...

The Month of DaGMT continues~

I learned today that a kind, wonderful man I have worked with in community theater lost his wife this week to ovarian cancer. They have two small children (4 & 1) and this news is just so devastating. If you're the praying sort, please lift this family up.

   I have sewn every day except Sundays and last Saturday when I spent the day at the annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show. I enjoy that day so much- my dear friend Diane and I have made it our tradition to go together and I love her company so much. I bought a few treats this year (we were unemployed last year so I didn't buy much) : a wool candle mat kit, some pre-cut squares, a few fat quarters, a redwork pattern and the one thing I really wanted but didn't know it--- a ruler that makes joining the ends of binding a snap to put together. I'm not sure what's wrong with my brain but when I sew on a binding I struggle to get that nice bias seam on the last connection. I watched a demo of this tool and knew I had to have it!

  Progress has been made on the Scrap Vomit blocks (no pictures) and the blocks for the 'Taking Names' test/swap. I also made the doll quilt for this months Doll Quilter's Monthly exchange. Incedently, it will be my last as I have withdrawn from the group.
 

                                                                      swap blocks

doll quilt

 

 

A UFO done~

DaGMT Progress
                                            Tuesday, Wednesday/ Feb. 12 & 13

                             Presenting "Bear Tracks", my first machine-quilted, flannel top,
                            pattern test subject quilt (for Cindy at Quilt Doodle Doodles ).
                             Begun in the spring of 2012, finished in February 2013, and
                            given to Number 1 Chef-Son in honor of his moving out to his first home.
                                                                  ( 'sniff/tear/sniff' )

 

(Machine quilting by Mary at Quilt Hollow )