Summer Opportunities

by CZeitler

Summer tends to lend itself to a wide variety of opportunities. To spend time outside, gardening, visiting the beach, and so much more. There are also a wide variety of learning opportunities available, some of which are free online. I am not affiliated with, nor do I endorse any of these courses. There are opportunities to ‘upgrade’ these courses for a fee, which I am not affiliated with, nor do I endorse.

From August 10th to the 18th there will be a Craft Discovery Summit, https://masteryroute.com/crafts/

September 21st-28th will be a Quilter’s Paradise Summit that you can register to be notified about: https://masteryroute.com/quilters-paradise-waitlist/

November 9-16 there will be a Needlework Paradise Summit that you can register to be notified about: https://masteryroute.com/needlework-waitlist/

HobbyScool also has a lineup of seminars and retreats, all digital, that you can find here: https://www.hobbyscool.com/

The upcoming classes are:

August 18-20 Back to Creativity Summit

September 15-17 Art of Handmade

October 15-17 Festive Fall Workshop Series

November 10-12 Elves’ Workshop Summit

December 15-17 Create and Reflect Retreat

Get Organized HQ does also tend to have a free fall event that I have found worth attending in the past.

If you are looking to ‘up’ your skills with paid courses there are too many for me to mention in this blog post. I will attempt to add some into future posts.

Learning opportunities can take many different forms, borrowing a book from your local library or guild, finding free online courses or youtube videos, attending a retreat or major conference, or taking time to talk with friends that share your passion. Not all learning has to be expensive if you are open to it! That being said, do not take those with experience for granted either. Attending a conference with world renowned artists is well worth the $3-5,000 it costs for room, board, other opportunities, and the chance to learn in person from an expert teacher is an opportunity not to be missed. In addition if you have the option to learn from an individual instructor then they should be compensated fairly. No matter your level, skill, and financial means you should be able to find learning opportunities for you!

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Mid Summer Catch Up

by CZeitler

Life has been really busy this summer, I am always surprised by how much time and attention Summer Reading Takes! It is amazing to see all of the excited people of all ages reading and getting their prizes, admiring their progress, and helping people have fun at the library. I adore my job.

All of this business at work, as well as a few fun projects with my Weaving Guild, has meant that I really have not had much time to myself. I will also confess that there was some background stress over dental work, the cost of dentistry even though I have a full-time job and insurance, catching up on bills because of the dentistry…needing some work to pass my car inspection….all of this has managed to suck up my physical and creative energy. I had yesterday off and I decided that a trip to the beach was in order, it is only about an hour away, however, this is only going to be my second trip in 2026. I arrived around 6 am, this is the full moon as the sun is beginning to rise. The colors are not great, however, the effect is still breathtaking.

The waves were quite strong and I had so much fun looking for pretty rocks, finding beach glass, and just enjoying the weather and water. On the way home I was being very careful about my driving, since I did not pass NYS inspection, and got pulled over for something I thought was resolved. Lol.

Despite this I have been making progress on a wide variety of projects over the past week. I gave up on ‘saving’ my entire warp for the ‘Bog Jacket’ project I am attempting. This allowed me to cut off the rest, section by section, straighten them out as best I could, and then chain them to be used later. I do not know the precise yardage on my loom at this time so I am not certain if I can completely weave the jacket out of this piece and then the sleeves out of another. Right now I plan on the split starting about 36″ into the weaving to create the back of the jacket, and letting the split continue for the rest of the weaving. I can then use some kind of fastener to keep the jacket shut or use it as an open jacket. I did adjust how I started the weaving, instead of doing 3 picks and then creating a hem stitch, I decided to use twining at the bottom of the weaving to separate the threads, I feel that this eliminated the need to use waste yarn at the beginning of the warp to preserve those few inches.

I have a couple of other projects I am working on, however, I have reached the end of today’s post. I will try to get on a better schedule of posting shortly. Until then, remember to live life A Little More Abstract.

Vacation Weaving

by CZeitler

I was lucky enough to attend the wedding of one of my (many) cousins. In doing so I also took a day to shop around at places that I would never be able to go to otherwise, including a couple of thrift stores I was disappointed in. I did get some amazing embroidery floss/media at an embroidery shop that I had a ton of fun playing with. I also managed to go to a small yarn store and pick up a couple of skeins to play with. Part of my focus on weaving during this vacation is the ‘Weave Every Day in June’ Challenge by Mirrix looms. They specify that you do not have to weave every single day to participate, just submit your calendar of the days you did manage to weave.

One of my pleasures is eating, of course. I created a ‘snackle box’ for myself as an attempt at portion control during my trip, it served me well. I also tried Halal food, which was interesting. The cabbage was sweeter than I thought so it tasted odd to me, the cucumber salad was amazing, I love the white sauce. The beef and lamb tasted a bit too much like an Arby’s Gyro to impress me, however I am very glad that I tried it!

My cousin’s wedding was a sheer display of art, craft, and sheer geekiness that was inspiring to say the least. After seeing her and her husband be unabashedly geeky I realized how much my own Self-Sabotage and Imposter Syndrome is hurting me emotionally and creatively. That allowed me to have a burst of cleaning inspiration that was halted, abruptly, by my IBS acting up. YAY. On that bit of chronic illness TMI, I am going to sign off since my lunch break is almost over. Hopefully my cleaning and crafting mojo decide to keep going for the rest of the week. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Everything’s Going to Be All Rice

by CZeitler

About a month ago I purchased a great deal on frozen fish. Since then I have created a couple of amazing rice bowls to enjoy. Rice from the rice cooker, baked fish, Japanese BBQ sauce or Hoisin Sauce, and then sprinkled over with the ‘Everything’s Gonna be All Rice’ seasoning that was available at Walmart for a while. I have to go light on the seasoning since it does have salt which can then overwhelm everything. This has been a fun treat a few times a month to get me to eat more fish, eat at home more, and enjoy flavors that I do not always get to enjoy.

This is what happens when you are at work, as a librarian, and notice that the t-shirt you pulled from the clean laundry pile has a couple of grease stains that are now set in and do not come out with a shout stick. You sew a felt wizards tower to cover the stains. I think this turned out well!

I am also trying to sew a skirt for my cousin’s wedding this upcoming weekend, I lost the pattern until this past Saturday, so it isn’t just that I am procrastinating. The waistband is elasticated, my left hand had ligament repair surgery, so I improvised. I used a pair of table clamps to clamp down on the waistband while the elastic is slightly stretched, then I sewed the seam. This worked really well, though since the fabric is linen some of the fibers were slightly crushed leaving tiny shiny spots that are not noticeable at all.

I asked a cousin of mine if they would like a quilt. They readily agreed so I wanted to make some samples of different colored thread. I am looking at this sampler and even I can tell that the variegated is right out, the white just blends in too well with the background fabric. Fortunately I will be seeing this cousin at the wedding and various festivities around the wedding, so I am quite excited about that.

Other than some organizing and trying to put a shed up in my back yard that is all that I have been up to. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Travel and Time

by CZeitler

I believe I am almost entirely recovered from both the surgery and my cold. There is some white on my tongue that the Mayo Clinic website seams to indicate may be a bacterial infection, however salt water rinses should take care of that. I did manage to visit my cousin, though over the weekend rather than during the week. There is kerfuffle about the cars, however I will not bore you with that.

I absolutely love going to see my family, however I think I will limit my travel to spring and fall. In the summer work tends to take up most of my time with Summer Reading Programs, and I would like to focus on my garden some this year. Since I live in western New York winters can be dicey so I prefer to stay between work and home for those months. This means that, after the wedding, my next trip is likely going to be in October since I am teaching classes in September.

While I was visiting there was an amazing gem and mineral show that we attended. I purchased some lovely larger stones that I hope to use as focals or pendants, as well as a few tiny gem quality stones. I also had time to listen to a couple of audiobooks during my travels. One of which is “The Lost Art of Doing Nothing”. This is an amazing book that speaks about how in this day and age of instant gratification as well as the ability to entertain our selves with doomscrolling, or tik tok videos, we no longer take the time to allow ourselves to be ‘bored’. This means that all too often we do not allow ourselves to enter into a creative mindset. Most of the time the best of ideas come to you when you are in the shower or driving because you have little else to focus on so your creative mind can come out. Personally, I had a few good ideas while I was driving along so I used the notes app on my phone to make sure I will not forget them.

I hope to use this summer as a chance to explore my creativity, plant a beautiful garden, and set my workshop up for an amazing year of creativity. I am so very lucky that I have the opportunity and freedom to explore my creativity, get to spend time with my extended family more, and have an amazing job that I love. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Too Much, Too Soon

by CZeitler

This past weekend was busy, though it could have gone much worse. Friday I missed half of staff development day, with the directors approval, and my sister and I made the 11 hour drive to where my cousin and uncle live. We got there about midnight, and were up the next morning to attend the funeral, graveside service, and memorial lunch. We did a little bit of shopping and were back in time to get invited to a family pizza fest. We ducked out of that a little early and crashed hard. The next morning we woke early to catch a cousin we had not seen in a long time, then crashed a bit more before we had to pack up, check out, and attend a lovely brunch to commemorate the family. Much was made of the little banner things I made, I hope they truly enjoyed them. There were so many people I only got a few minutes with my uncle and cousin, however I did get to spend time with family I had not seen in a while.

I also found out that another cousin was engaged to be married, I have never seen him happier than he is with his fiance. I am looking forward to seeing the family again in June for (yet another) cousin’s wedding. I love being a part of a large family, I do need to save up a bit to give them a wedding present.

We drove home on Sunday, getting there about 1am Monday. I had an appointment to get a tooth pulled at 9:30 am, which we made. It was fascinating as I swear I was only out for five minutes, but it turns out the procedure took 30 minutes. I did spend the rest of the day sleeping instead of the shopping trip my sister thought we would be taking. My supervisor had scheduled me to come back on Wednesday since I am going to be working this Saturday. I really appreciate that since I was not up to much on Tuesday.

Today is Wednesday, I am not sure if I am reacting to the surgery and antibiotics or if I have the cold that was going around work last week. Either way I seem to have a runny nose, and a slightly dry/sore throat. Plans are always shifting here. Originally I was going to attend Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, then go on to H&H Americas. Then I chose to do a car shuffle with my cousin, sister, and myself. That meant that longer trips were off the table for a bit. After that I cut my vacation in half, however, I was going to go south east to help my cousin, that I did the car shuffle with, because her dad was having a procedure. The procedure was pushed back a week, so I am not needed, and I feel slightly like garbage so I do not know if it is a good idea for me to take the trip for a visit.

My cousin who lost her mom asked for me to distract her with a quilt I will be making her, I sent and email and hope to make progress on that. At present, if I am feeling better by next Tuesday I plan on visiting my cousin for Wednesday through Friday, leave early Saturday so I can swing by and change cars with my sister, then sleep on Sunday. I think that this would be the easiest way to not feel like I am missing out on anything and still give myself a little time to figure things out. On the other hand, if I still feel like something ran me over I will probably skip everything and sleep my time off away.

Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Progress and Learning

by CZeitler

I did manage to finish my Edwardian gown sewn by hand. I do see some changes that I would certainly make, especially if I knew what I was doing. I love how the front looks, I’m not as thrilled by the back. I think I am going to try to add some to the waist to get things to be a little more flattering. This is made of cotton muslin, dyed with Rit wine dye, and with sequins added for interest.

There are two free learning opportunities coming up this week, the Quilter’s Life Summit and the Eco-Creative Summit. The first can be found here: https://the-quilters-life-summit-spring-2026.heysummit.com/?ac=UVJEWwz8&sc=qTK9onZv

https://events.hobbyscool.com/2026-eco-creative-registration-page/?affiliate=byheidigrace

I do not have any affiliation with either of these events. I plan on attending both for free and not upgrading to the paid method. I do attempt to support the events by supporting the presenters when and where I am able to.

My bead weaving class went amazingly last weekend. Everyone was amazing, I love how their projects turned out. I did focus on making sure that the materials I brought are somewhat organized once I got them home. I ensured that I have my materials for the May 30th Tapestry weaving class are mostly in one place, along with the bead weaving materials for the September class.

I do have a shed for my gardening equipment, however, I have to put it up before I can store my supplies in there…that is not going to happen for a couple of weeks at least. I did get some clover and shade wildflowers seeds scattered, and they started to poke their first 2 leaves up, unfortunately it started snowing this morning so I hope that the little bit of peat I put down will cover them enough to survive.

Sorry for the short post, I am focused on other things this week. When I have some spare time I am working on cutting out some pattern pieces for a couple of projects I hope to work on later this spring and summer. I am hoping to make a couple of memorial banners for family members before Thursday, as well as one or two sample blocks for my cousin. I believe that I managed to finish most of my pattern cutting done and will put them away before I pull out my Embroidery Machine.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract.

Tangled Threads

by CZeitler

*There is very little crafting content in this*

Sometimes you do ‘everything right’ and there is a tangled mess in the background. I spent quite a bit of time winding a very long warp, crocheting it into chains, and then warping the heddle. I am at the point of winding the warp onto the back beam so I can start tying onto the front beam and weaving my bog jacket. The threads have currently turned into a snarled mess that makes me want to cut the entire thing off and tie on the rest of the warp when I get time. I have had to take a break and leave things as they are until I get a little more time and patience so I can take the next step.

This is why, in my darker times, I wonder if making plans is even worth it. I had plans to do some traveling this summer, those have fallen through so I have attempted to pivot. For May I was going to have to miss my weaving guild meeting due to a conflict, that was fine, I was not that invested in the topic being discussed. I decided that I was going to miss my cousin’s bridal shower, I’m always single and didn’t want to deal with that, but I hoped to get some projects completed during that time. The bride’s mother (who had asked me to make the quilt) had been under a lot of stress attempting to help her oldest brother (my uncle) take care of his wife since she is an EMT. Unfortunately the morning of the bridal shower my aunt, my uncle’s wife, lost her battle. Instead of going to the April weaver’s guild meeting I will be attending a funeral. I am trying to be there for my cousin of that branch of the family, I will be working on making a quilt for her.

In the long run the pieces that I am having to pivot are small potatoes. I would rather be there for my family than worry about a chance to learn card weaving on an inkle loom. It looks like this year, similar to last, is going to be one of remembering what is truly important in life. Things are not all doom and gloom. I have made significant progress on sewing up my folkwear Edwardian gown. I am currently fighting with myself about adding the zipper onto the back, I would like to be able to add more authentic closures, however I am not double jointed so a Zipper is a must.

(Note, I started this post almost a week ago. I discovered that if I do not hit the ‘Save Draft’ button at the top then the draft is not saved for me to work on it on other devices. The rest of this post is from the 17th of April, while the first is from the 12 of April.)

I did manage to get the zipper added as well as remembering that I wanted to add pockets. It fits amazingly well, I am so pleased. I do plan on using Rit dye in the color Wine to add a pink to red color to this dress. I am hoping that it either turns out pink or burgundy-ish. I then hope to put some hot-fix rhinestones on to add a small amount of weight in the hem and decoration. I am hoping to ask one of my colleagues to take photos of me in the dress on Monday so I can send them in to the Folkwear contest.

I have made no progress on getting the rigid heddle loom warped up, I will in the near future, however it just seemed so daunting when I have this dress to finish and a funeral to attend. The funeral is next weekend so I have not dealt with that yet. Next week is going to be quite busy for me, I am planning on using a system of treats to allow me to get through the week in a relatively positive way. Every day is a chance for new adventures and new blessings. Often it is your attitude that gets you through each day, and sometimes bed rotting for a day or two is the only way to get through things.

Until next time remember to Live Life in a way that is A Little More Abstract.

Busy Weekend

by CZeitler

My sister has been without a car for a couple of years now. She lives in a larger city in Pennsylvania so she could use a bus to get around, however the busses are not always reliable and she often has to call an uber or another transportation service that is a bit costly. In 2023 I was able to get financing to purchase a hybrid car that will be paid off in 2031. One of our cousins in New Jersey managed to get a scratch on the side of her car that her insurance considers ‘totaled’. She fixed that car up and gave it to me, I gave my car to my sister (I’ll still work on paying it off), so that we both have vehicles. I am very grateful that I was able to do this, I didn’t realize how much it was stressing me that she did not have transportation. This did force me to clear out my car, which allowed me to find some amazing items that I ‘lost’ in the car. I am trying to keep my new to me car a bit cleaner.

Since we were visiting our cousin I decided to stay on a few extra days to hang out with the family, it is always fun to spend time with them. We visited a huge mall and I was able to find some mini block kits for over 1/2 off, and I treated myself. These are the super cute ‘monsters’ from Pac Man, I have the PacMan head and cherries to put together another time. I have been getting some spinning and weaving done on a tapestry piece that I choose to call my “Vacation Tapestry: Time is Fleeting”.

I also attempted to be a ‘passenger princess’ and craft in the passenger seat of the car since my sister drove us both up in my car. This did work somewhat, but not entirely. I managed to get some braiding done on a new kumihimo braid in Christmas Colors. Not as much as I wanted, though I did get some dozing done, I haven’t been able to sleep in a car in quite some time.

This was an amazing trip. It has taken a lot off of my mind, we both have transportation, my car insurance cost went down significantly, and I have had time to get quite a bit done. With the cost of gas this summer, the fact that my new to me car has horrible gas milage, and other considerations means that I am going to spend more time at home this summer. This is going to be a great boon for me. I am going to finally get my home organization finished, I have definite steps to take. My garden and garden storage are going to be greatly improved this summer. I have clover that I need to plant when the winter weather holds off for a few days, and there are English summer garden bulbs on the way for me to plant when frost holds off. At work we created ‘Seed Balls’, because b-o-m-b is a Nono word in a public library, and several of the seeds need to be stratified in a cold environment (kept in the fridge) for 30-60 days. That means that I have several seed balls that will be thrown in my back yard the beginning of May and a few that will be thrown the beginning of June. I am very excited to see if these are going to bloom.

Okay, I think that is enough for this post. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Keeping the Flow Going

by CZeitler

I have been asked to teach two different craft classes for another library. One is a bead weaving craft class. I made a lovely piece with size 8 beads out of blue with a red heart and diamond. To ensure that I have some pieces in different sizes I used size 11/0 seed beads to create the moon wall hanging, the random forest colors are out of 8/0 and the various plus signs is out of 6/0 beads. I love how these turned out, they were so much fun to put together, I am very exciting to teach this class. It is fun to purchase the supplies knowing that people are going to love learning this skill. Apparently there were enough people that signed up so another class was requested. Unfortunately Saturday’s are very busy for me so I cannot teach another Saturday class (other than the 2 scheduled) until September. The second class is going to be weaving a tapestry pouch using cardboard and worsted weight yarn. Both of these are going to be a ton of fun, and easy to learn.

This is only part of what is going on in my life right now, this is the fun part really. I have some dental problems that I am getting treatment for, which is very expensive and anxiety inducing. Fortunately I have enough money to cover my bills and basic expenses.

At present I am working on making an Edwardian Gown using a Folkwear Pattern. There is a contest where Threads and Folkwear have teamed up to offer a prize, I hope to enter with this gown. I am making it out of Muslin cloth, dyed red with some trim. Hopefully this will turn out good enough that I can wear it to my cousin’s wedding.

Life is amazing, I am so lucky for everything that I have and can do. The weather is warming up so I hope to be able to work on my garden/yard soon.

I wrote this post several weeks ago, so the information is accurate, but a little out of date. I am going to post this today, and follow up early next week with updates to this post and what I was up to the last weekend in March. Until then, remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!