Houston prep and some good news!

I got good news yesterday: my classes at Houston filled so well that I was invited to teach next year, my seventh year! Yippee!

I’ve been preparing for Houston and that makes for a dull Jenny. I do lists, lots of lists. And I practically empty my closet to put together comfortable teaching outfits. I create an Excel spreadsheet of each day’s choices because if I don’t, I forget what I slated to go with what. It seems silly but it makes getting dressed effortless.

I haven’t put together all my outfits yet, that takes much of a day. I like to get one or two new pieces to freshen it up. Not that anyone really cares, but I’ve been wearing some of my basic pieces for a decade. They still work, so I keep wearing them. I have to show this one cute new addition:

It’s Kate Spade. Of course. I love Kate Spade and I can afford her bracelets; they are costume jewelry! So stinkin’ cute.

I have a list for everything and a folder for everything. And I’m not even in full gear yet. The funny thing is that I look (and am) uber-organized, yet every year I’ve made some huge and stupid error that caused me a lot of stress. One year I did not prepare for the correct number of students….and I kitted the class! One year I got the room numbers mixed up. I could go on.

I read somewhere that this could be a sign of being somewhere on the ADD spectrum.  Naw, couldn’t be! Another sign is that they can be very organized…until they’re not. That would be me. It would be an incredible gift if I just did not incur any self-inflicted wounds this year.

I screwed my hotel and plane schedule up too, but this time it worked to my advantage. Last year I made my hotel reservations as soon as I could for this year and I added a buffer day at the beginning of the trip. Well, I forgot that I did that until yesterday when I was reviewing my schedule and discovered the error.

Normally changing the date on a hotel reservation would not be a big deal, but this is The Big Houston Show. The Hilton gives super special rates to the teacher’s block and does not allow any changes after a certain date, one which had passed. I had to beg to get them to accept the change, talk with a supervisor, beg and they finally allowed it. Then I headed over to Southwest to change my flight; now I will be squeezed into the center seat somewhere. But I got an extra day home and one less expensive day in Houston – it’s a win!

I have been playing with the idea of a next quilt:

I’m thinking about a strippy, scrappy quilt with trapunto and this is where I am right now. I am experimenting with different fills, sketching layouts and considering strip width, placement, size of final piece, etc. I just love trapunto! Since my 9 month effort on my blue silk quilt was a bust, I am moving on. I don’t think I will ever finish that quilt, there is just too much to overcome; I would rather start over. I am loving those bubbles and the strips. I have LOTS of silk and most of the fabric in there is silk.

We’ve been having bits and pieces of fall beauty, NorCal style:

Next week I hope I will have photos up of PIQF and even more hopeful that I will have prepared ahead for Oct 10th. I’m going to PIQF today and when I get back from Houston I will have LOTS of quilty goodness to share.

I’ll post to Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday and I hope you will check out the link party.