Symposium Woes

The biennial national quilt symposium of New Zealand is the biggest deal in the quilting world down here and it's next happening in Christchurch October 2017.  They are calling themselves Creative Construction this time around - a nod to the immense rebuilding that has taken place in the city after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

http://www.quiltsymposium2017.org.nz

I'm planning to go.  I've been to four other symposiums and I wouldn't miss it.  It's such a buzz for anyone who loves quilts!  Five intense days of classes, lectures, exhibitions, get togethers - just lots and lots of fun.

I'm making the trip with a friend of mine who's never been before.  I did that last time too, and enjoyed introducing someone to the delights of symposium.  We've just booked our accommodation, so even though it's almost a year away, we're getting prepared.  If you've never been before, I wrote a post with tips and advice for attending - you might like to check it out for a few ideas.

My prizewinning quilt 'Tui at Dawn'.  I REALLY enjoyed symposium that year!

But now, here's my problem - the registration book comes out soon and I've been looking at the tutors online, thinking about who I'd like to study with and what sort of classes I'd like to take.  And I'm blown away by the choice.  It seems like someone picked my brain for all the people I'd love to study with and invited them to attend.  It's going to be too hard to choose!

There are two five-day masterclasses this year.  One that particularly interests me is Lisa Call's 'Working in a Series'.  Lisa was my amazing SAQA mentor and I'd love to extend the learning I did under her guidance and I've always looked at this class thinking I'd like to do it.  But that's five whole days, and one of my own tips is to leave a day or two to see the exhibitions, rest and catch up with friends.  Arrghh!

My friend Shirley catching up at the Symposium Dinner.  Shirley is one of the most wonderful supportive quilters I know.

Then there are the international tutors who I might never get another chance to study with:
Jane Dunnewold - yes, I said JANE DUNNEWOLD, the queen of complex cloth is coming!
Luke Haynes - who I follow on Instagram and am intrigued by his work in series;
Jacquie Gering, whose walking foot quilting class on Craftsy really changed the way I use a walking foot;
Lyric Kinard, whose book 'Art + Quilt' was one of the first art quilting books I ever read;
Charlotte Yde - her work is just stunning, and thoughtful and intriguing;
Sherri Lyn Wood, I love her book (that I reviewed recently) and the thoughts behind her process.

And that's just the international tutors that interest me (there's more too) - there's exciting Australian (funny that they don't count as international, but I get the distinction!) and New Zealand tutors too.

It's too much!  How am I ever going to decide?

So tell me, are you going to symposium next year?  What tutors are you interested in?  And how are you going to decide what classes to take?

Thoughts

It's our turn for the sickies. Blech. Little boy home from school with an exhausting cough. I've got it too and lots of snot. Took the night off work on Thursday but here I am on Friday night because there is pretty much no-one else to work! Only one woman in who has just had her seventh baby and doesn't need much help from me. I'm alcoholling my hands and holding my breath whenever I go near her room, just in case.

I'm in the throws of deciding whether to give up work or not. I went back to work almost a year ago because I was going a little crazy and financially we REALLY needed it. But now it's not so tough moneywise and I'm finding I'm going crazy in a different way.

My family has no routine and it's hard for the little ones who never know if Mummy is going to tuck them in at night, be there if they wake in the night or be home with them for breakfast. Darlin' Hubby is putting in the whinge too about us never being at home together - it's either him home with the kids and me working or vice versa. I put it to him that maybe HE should quit his job, but being self-employed that's not really a goer. And besides it's me who's not really enjoying my job.

And that's the big thing. When I studied Midwifery about eight years ago, I was passionate about it in a "I'm gunna change the world" kind of way. And now I'm not. I'm still interested in it, I still enjoy it and I still think it's important. But I'm just not PASSIONATE about it.

I went down to Auckland for a one-day workshop on Wednesday. It was an amazing workshop on Childbirth Education. Inspiring, informing, energetic. But it confirmed my thoughts, I've lost my real enthusiasm for it all.

It might be that it's because of the impact it has on my family. It might be because there is not as much time left over for the other things I want to do, namely quilting and, for a want of a better word, homesteading. But whatever the reason, it's getting mighty hard to look forward to another shift.

What do you do when you have a big decision to make? What helps you sort out your thoughts?