What I Did on My Blogging Vacation

1. I wrote like the wind! I finally finished my fitting chapter (well, the first draft of it anyway) and turned it in to my editor. Sweet relief! Amazingly, the basic text of the book is written (sans revisions, of course). Next, it's on to the projects. Ten patterns—with variations. I can't wait to start sewing the garments for the book.

I managed to get my chapter in last Wednesday, which left me plenty of unwinding time before I picked up blogging again. Here's what else I did . . .

2. I painted. Remember when I wrote about being interested in silk painting to replicate some vintage rose prints? Well, I got some shantung and Dye-Na-Flow paint and sumi brushes and had myself a ball. I started with the roses in a deep blue.

Guys, I painted two and a half yards of roses. I can't wait to make a dress out of them. The trick is that you have to stabilize the fabric. I used embroidery hoops since that's what I had handy. I could only do two roses at a time, but I was persistent! I covered up my ironing board with a towel and used that as a surface.

3. I moved on to poppies later.

4. I learned Photoshop. Well, as much as one can in three hours. I invested in a one-on-one lesson to learn the basics of manipulating images. It was fantastic! I learned how to do some awesome stuff with scans of my silk paintings.

5. I came home and started designing fabrics on Spoonflower. Readers, I went crazy. More on this later, after I get swatches of my designs in the mail.

6. I bought a sweater. It's a casual sweater in bubblegum pink. I wore it for three days in a row over the weekend.

7. I started a book. My Life in France by Julia Child, at the recommendation of commenter thatgrrl. I'm loving it. It makes me inexplicably happy that Julia didn't start learning French cooking until she was 36. Also, she adored her husband so much. It's a great love story.

8. I watched TV. Community, Glee, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family. (I think my favorites are Community and Parks and Rec, you? Might have something to do with my crushes on, respectively, Joel McHale and Adam Scott.)

Okay, I'm going to quit before I start telling you what I had for breakfast each day. I'll leave it at this: it's good to be back!