Busy week

Thursday, Jul. 14, 2005
5:07 PM

I've had a fairly productive week, which feels unusual but good. I made a long list of items I wanted to get done, and I've crossed off a good number of them. I've still got two days off next week so I expect I will continue to make headway.

My main project this week is a new fighting tabard for Kevin. He doesn't have a really good one with his current device on it, so I'm making a new one. So far so good, only one goof that an extra yard of fabric managed to remedy. I agreed to do the applique only because Kevin had the good sense to put a geometric charge on his device. I cannibalized the sleeve caps from a very old tabard (with his old device) so I wouldn't have to do applique on Spike.

I've got a few more small things to do for Kevin before Pennsic plus some very simple things for me. I'm actually having fun making the tabard, which surprised me a little bit. I haven't felt like sewing much lately (well actually, I haven't felt like doing *anything* lately) but I could see working on something more interesting sometime soon. I know I'm going to need a few more things once my belly starts expanding, and I'll need something warmer than Roman when the weather gets cooler. I was thinking of some kind of Elizabethan loose gown sort of deal, but we'll see how that works out. I know a houpelande would be a good choice but that doesn't inspire me and I'm not crazy about them anyway.

We're heading down to visit my parents for the weekend tomorrow. Please send good weather vibes so that Kevin can go on his bike ride. He has been looking forward to it for a long time.

On a more somber note, my friend Robin passed away last weekend. I wrote about her struggle with stomach cancer in my last post. Well, she went home from the hospital on Saturday, spent a beautiful day sitting in her garden with her family and friends, and then passed early Sunday morning. Her funeral was today, and if it weren't on the other side of the country, I would be there. I'm still having a hard time believing she's gone. She was a great person and her loss is a heavy blow to the mosaic art world. Please go to her website and check out her art. It is a very different style from what I do, but she did it well and made it her own. She loved using china and pottery from California manufacturers (she lived in CA), and collected old and sometimes rare china to use in her work. I will miss her.