The Art of Procrastination

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." ~ Don Marquis

I am so glad to hear the procrastination is an art form. That is one that I know all about and excel at daily. I bet you were beginning to wonder about me, or maybe you have forgotten about me completely. Whatever the case, I have to say that being unplugged for even a few days is not a happy site. (But the time unplugged in South Haven, MI and then in Galena, IL were HEAVENLY! More on a later date!)

Those few precious days that I actually came home between laundry loads (no, seriously, our new, one year old washing machine suddenly stopped working about 3 weeks ago. After $285 plus an extra week because they ordered the wrong part, and a trip to the laundromat for 5 loads later, we had mountains of laundry to wash. Have you ever had it so bad that you had to go out and buy new underwear?) were spent just catching up on the essentials. I have the one big show that I do in about 2 weeks and I am not even 1/2 of the way to where I feel I need to be. There is a nearby gallery that is hosting an exhibition of the Gallery Q artists so I have had to drop everything to get that ready for next week's delivery. I have missed all but one quarter of one football game for my son, and to make up for all my absences I am having a mother-daughter day on Saturday. I am working on displays and packaging for this show and just trying to tread water over here. And now some changes at my job have made me even more resolved to find a way to survive on my own. So intermittent blog silences are to be expected while I work on making my to-do list a to-done.

But you didn't come here to hear my wah-wahing did you?

You came here to see pretty things. Like this quilt...

"Housetop"--twelve-block "Half-Logcabin" variation, ca. 1965

Cotton, Wool Corduroy, 77"x 65"

Lillie Mae Pettway, 1927-1990

Gee Bend's Quilter

 This month we were to be inspired by the amazing folk art quilts of the Gee's Bend, Alabama quilters. This group of African-American women were ingenious in their iconic designs, playful in their use of color and pattern and resourceful in their sourcing of materials. They didn't let the mere fact that they didn't have bolts of fancy fabric deter them from creating some masterpieces in textile art. The one that we were challenged with is by Lillie Mae Pettway. The bold use of color and the rectilinear pattern are the strong suit of this quilt.

My eye kept being drawn to the rather rustic stripes of tan with what appears to be writing on them. Maybe they were old feed sacks or some other readily available textile. I just liked the fact that there could be a hidden message in there.

As part of my Art of Procrastination series (maybe that would make a good art show?), I am putting the finishing touches on the Art Bead Scene monthly blog tour that I host (I wish that I could put this together ahead of time, but there are other artful procrastinators out there like me who squeak in at the last minute!). I have a goal this year of doing every single one of the challenges. That is really how I got my start, so I wanted to get back to it. Plus I think that as an editor it is part of the fun to share in the challenge with everyone else. And after seeing all the inventive designs submitted for this month, especially the one by Miss Molly Alexander who is a true gem of a designer, I decided around 9:30 pm that I needed to jump in the fray as well. So I set a goal of midnight to be complete. And I am proud to say that at 11:54 pm I was done!

Here are the fruits of my labor. I created a quilt block 'simple truth' with this message:

gaze in awe at the rich tapestry of your life

I dug around and found some antique boot buttons that I have had for years in shades that blend right in. The tangled wire bead was a gift from my friend Sandi Miller from the Inspired by retreat. Green is a predominant color in this quilt and I happened to have these really funky nut beads in a rich sage green. To bring in some of the other colors, I found some fire cracked matte agate rounds and some cobalt blue recycled glass faceted cubes. I used a great vintage cellulite button for the clasp with steel washer spacers on black leather cord. Of course, I don't measure and I started once and then had to cut it apart (because I am pretty sure that procrastinators are not planners), so I just about ran out of the leather at the end with nary enough cord to make a button loop. That would make for a lopsided necklace and that just won't do. So I decided to lash on a Vintaj hook which solved that problem nicely.

{rich tapestry of your life}

Oh, and those rustic tan ceramic beads? Those are my favorite part. I recently purchase a strand of these for no other reason then I liked their color and texture. They are quite heavy so I stuck with three to hopefully balance the necklace. They came in handy. Maybe there is a secret planning to my procrastination after all!

So, there you have it. There really is an Art to Procrastination.

Or maybe just a Procrastination to my Art. ;-)

Be sure to check out the Art Bead Scene on Friday, September 30 for the blog tour to see all the great entries this month!

Your turn....
Are you a planner or a procrastinator? 
Did it drive you crazy hearing about how I created this at the last second, or are you nodding your head and chuckling in agreement?
If you are a planner, do you think that you could rise to the challenge of a last minute deadline?
If you are a procrastinator, do you think there is any hope to turn me into a planner?