Weekly Update, Sept 30

~ Jen Strauser

Another week has gone by, and I’m a little shocked to be honest. Here’s my weekly update for the week ending Sept 30.

Mobius Radial

Sunday I spent the day enjoying a virtual class with Audrey Esarey of Cotton and Bourbon. OMG. She was so good. Class was packed with info on paper piecing, partial seams (on curves!) and inset circles. I enjoyed every minute of the challenge, and can’t wait to make some time next month to finish off the piece I started. The fabric I used in the stripes is an ombre wideback in dark greens. It’s going to be a throw quilt for my husband, in his favorite football team colors.

I started the week off with some very exciting conversations about a long term project. Of course, I can’t share yet, but this would be a big bucket list item. Now I just have to be patient and wait to hear back from people. Not my strong suit.

Hurricane Ian

I spent a lot of time this week anxiously watching the news about the storm in southwest Florida. Ever since living there I get a little jolt of anxiety about storms. I lived in Central Florida for 14 years, so I have been through many, many hurricanes. This time I just own an empty condo, so there was little risk to me, but I was still worried. My new property, in Babcock Ranch, and my neighborhood made it through the storm in great condition. We are a little bit inland, and also all brand new construction. However, the surrounding areas are trashed.

Messenger Bag

Most of my week was occupied by making my butterfly messenger bag. I’m glad I gave myself a whole week for it, because it was a slow project. There are so many steps involved in making a project like that, and it was nice not to be in a rush. The post can be found here, and I even shot quick videos, because it is hard to show a bag off in photos.

Non-quilting

Tuesday was especially lovely, particularly the hour I spent at the dentist. Always a favorite activity.

I’ve been working along in my popular literature class. The professor keeps giving me 100’s, but saying I need to put in more effort. I don’t think he understands how grading feedback works. I don’t want to explain it to him, either. Until those grades start going down, he is getting zero more effort. I’m on to reading Gone Girl, which I didn’t like the first time I read it, and I didn’t like the movie. Want my deep evaluation? One crazy person plus one lazy person is a bad idea. It’s better if you do it like Jeremy and I, where I am both the crazy and the lazy person.

Coming up

Sunday I’ll be at Rebecca’s Reel Quilt Guild to do my trunk show again! I have to go through my quilts and put them back in order, then fluff my notes up a bit. It will be a fun afternoon.

Next week will be packed. I get to judge a quilt show! The Berks Quilter’s Guild reached out to me this spring, and I said I would be delighted to help with their show. And now it’s upon me. I’m a little nervous, but also thrilled.

When I get back from judging, it will be time to drive back down to Florida. We were always planning to spend a couple of weeks there in October. On Wednesday, we will see how the situation is down there and decide if we are actually going. We don’t want to be a further drain on an area recovering from storm damage, and our usual activities probably won’t be available. It would be nice to be able to lend a hand if any of my neighbors still need help, though.

Leveraging My Art

I spent very little time on Leverage this week. I did listen to some lessons, then print out the Module 3 workbook and thumb through it. This is portfolio week, which has always thrown me off. I need to get on the group and ask Stacie how she would handle a portfolio of quilts. This is something I’ll be thinking of this week. Maybe just a reorganization of my gallery, sorting into different styles will help. Since I’m not working on licensing art so much as teaching and publishing right now.

I still haven’t figured out how to schedule my social media feed, although I’m pretty happy with my blog scheduling. I’m falling into a routine that feels sustainable. I do want to start putting up more content that is informational and useful. So, more tutorials coming in the future!

Upcoming classes – come play with me!

One thought on “Weekly Update, Sept 30”

  1. Scheduling posts: I use the Meta Business Suite (formerly Creator Studio). I have my Facebook page, Facebook group, and Instagram accounts connected and can schedule posts for them all in one place at one time. It’s really convenient. Give it a look. I’m so glad that your condo made it through Ian okay. There is going to be a long rebuilding effort needed around Ft. Myers and the extending areas for sure. I’m thankful our close friends from our years of living in central Florida are all okay as well.

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