I’m leaving again on Saturday, to drive to Amherst MA for the Felter’s Fling, a conference of felters, and fortunately I’m only teaching the first half of the conference.  Meanwhile, 14  loads of laundry, and $300. worth of groceries, and new brakes on my car, and 5 sets of contracts, one article for the American Sewing Guild chapter newsletter, and airline tickets for yet another teaching venue in the fall, I’ve gotten to the most urgent of things on the top of the pile, and I think I can exhale and go to sleep tonight.

I went to South Carolina last week with my husband, leaving my 19 year old son in charge of the house.  I had a lot of family and friends who were taking bets on the carnage I’d find when I returned home, and I am so thankful that my son, even though he did have a couple parties, which I knew about, and he did have a couple of his friends move in, which I also knew about, left my house picked up and reasonably clean and presentable, though there wasn’t much in the way of food left in the refrigerator or cabinets.  So I’ve restocked the fridge, and wiped out a couple of toilets that were really needing it, and since I’m not planning any house guests this week, that will have to be good enough.  The yard needs some tender loving care, the weeds are messy, and the perennials need trimming, annuals are spindly and dry, but I can’t deal with that now.

I noticed that the widget on the side bar for upcoming events has nothing in it.  I need to refill the widget?  There are a lot of wonderful teaching opportunities coming up, and 2010 is starting to look a little overwhelming, but I just have to focus on the next 24 hours.  I’m trying to hold onto the zen feeling I got while on vacation…  (Isn’t it amazing how quickly that feeling can dissipate?)

I did however, watch the marathon debut of Project Runway season 6 tonight, and the all star two hour lead in, with past Project Runway favorites.  Sorry, I thought Korto’s look was so much more polished, and I would have voted her the winner.  But they didn’t ask me…  And I like the new stable of designers for season 6, they are an interesting bunch, and I’m anxious to read the post show reports from one of my favorite blogs, Tom and Lorenzo, since they always show much better close up photos of the designer’s looks than you can see zipping down the runway.  And I really value their opinions.

Stay tuned…

I got my dress, Frosted Florals shipped to Kansas City today, for the Surface Design Association Conference Fashion Show later this month, and I filled a book order.  I got to dust my very dirty house, and started the general tidying up, always a task, but I felt some order take shape in my life…

So over morning tea, I checked in with my favorite bloggers, I’ve mentioned Tom and Lorenzo, my all time favorite fashion bloggers, followed by Susan Hinckley, who does “Small Works in Wool“, little treasures from recycled wool sweaters.  Her blog is fantastic.  Earlier in the week, she celebrated her 100th blog, and being her birthday month (mine too), she had a give-away, one of her lovely drawings (on the left).  If you wanted to win, you had to leave a comment.  So I did.

This morning, I logged on and found that Susan had posted another blog, so I tuned in…  Well, who would have thunk it, I won!  You have to check out the post to see how much fun it was to wait for the drum roll and have Guy Smiley announce the winner!

So that set the tone for the day, never mind I feel like crap.   I got my tax refund today as well.  Should have bought a lottery ticket while I was at the grocery store, refilling the larder!

But today I felt a little better.  I have daylight fluorescents all over the studio along with a number of OTT lites.  I put all of them on which brightened the atmosphere considerably,  and I didn’t feel the gloom as acutely.  So, after my morning routine, I decided to finish up the dress, and got the lining cut and sewn, inserted it into the dress, and now all I have is the handwork.  I’ll take it to the meeting tomorrow night to finish it.

I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.  It is so pretty, especially from the back, and it fits well, at least for the moment.  I have a feeling the dress will continue to grow, but I can take in the seams more, if I need to, there are worse things in life! 

The colors really look like a summer splash, and I’m glad I have something to remember the whole Challenge project, that I can wear, because the original ensemble will travel with the HGA until 2010, when the next group of designers will present their work, and Loretta and I will get our ensemble back.  I told Loretta she could have the coat, most of her contribution was on the coat, the beading, collar, and felt godet in the back,  I’ll get the long teal tencel dress, since it was mostly my work, but I’ll have this dress to remind me of the Design Challenge for Tampa Bay!

When I started this blog, way back in December, I had outlined six projects I wanted to work on over the next few months.  With the completion of this dress, I have finished four.  I still have to formally photograph the Arctic Sky Jacket, and this Splash Dress, but here is a recap of the last few months of work.

All this and a new website, and a blog, and a website for my sister, I’m realizing how well I used the time I’ve been out of work.

I spent some time getting the contracts together for my guild for our workshops for next year, lots of follow up there, but the board meeting is tomorrow night, and I want to be ready.

Meanwhile, good things are coming up!

First, The Fashion Show, a Bravo TV fill-in for Project Runway, (which was sold to Lifetime Network, and won’t air until late summer 2009), starts on Thursday, May 7th for it’s first season.  It is a complete Knock-off of Project Runway, except instead of Tim and Heidi, Isaac Mizrahi will be the host.  The reviews are great, and hey, it is a design competition, just like Project Runway, and what’s not to like?  So, I won’t be blogging on Thursday nights 10pm/9c, while I watch the latest episode.

And my favorite bloggers, Tom and Lorenzo, formerly of Project RunGay, have launced a new blog, combining a couple of their blogs, which feature fashion, and reality TV, have the absolutely best up to the minute photos of what’s happening in the fashion world and on the runway.  I tune in daily, there is always something fabulous to see.  And the comments are a terrific part of the blog.  This is fashion at its best and worst, and if you play around on the site, you will find the actual final runway shows of the top three designers of Season Six of Project Runway, no designer names of course, but I had my little taste of PR today, enough to keep me going until August when the actual season airs.

Late last night I decided to weave another placemat for the exchange, which is due next month.

Score:  Mom 5, Bri 4…