The gray skies and cold temps we have had this week put me in a slump. I tend to suffer a little bit from Seasonal Mood Disorder. Gray rainy weather tends to slow me down. When I lived in Washington state, I baked all of the time. We replaced the light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and the lights were on all of the time and I still struggled with depression. Here in Georgia, I don't tend to have that problem as much. Even when I leave for work in the dark and return home in the dark, its not that bad. But this week, it was cold, it was rainy and it was miserable. Even the bright lights of my studio didn't seem to work.
On top of all that, I have learned that when the weather turns cold, my asthma acts up. When I am in an asthma flare, I get exhausted just doing everyday things. I was in bed by 8:00pm most of nights this week. The flares also make me very sensitive to my triggers, many of which are at my work place. And I worked Saturday this week so I lost a whole day in my studio. This has been a dead week for quilting and working on the studio. That has me a little bit down as well.
Today, I tried to break that slump. I finally unpacked my Big Board Ironing Board. I think I have had it about a year. I attached the hinge and put the cover on. Then I got my batik strip quilt down. I really like the Big Board. Not having the taper at one end is great. I can't wait to press some yardage on it. I think it will be a lot easier.
As for the batik strip quilt I did get 5 rows attached with some difficulty. The longer I worked on it the more the fabric seemed to slip. I am now putting in extra pins and trying to keep seam allowances going in the right direction. It is not being as relaxing as I wanted it to be. Oh well, I will just have to slow down and take a break. In the meantime, I need to come up with a better name for it. I am thinking Island Fields.
It is taking a great deal of self control to not just start another quilt. One where I just sew squares together. Simple patch work is a great stress reliever but another UFO is not. So I am going to get some of these UFOs over the finish line before starting another project.
On another note, I have developed a new appreciation for applique scissors. I don't really do applique so I hadn't really used the 3 sets that I have been given. I almost threw them out when I was decluttering. But they were gifts and so I kept them. Besides my daughter loves them for trimming the baby's nails. Today I found out that they are really great for trimming threads that come through to the right side of the quilt. The curved edge makes it easy to get close to the surface without risking cutting the fabric. I really found them useful.
How does weather affect you and your sewing?
How is your UFO pile coming along?
What is you favorite project to work on when you are stressed?
What tool did you find was more useful than you thought it would be?
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