blue moon

Happy end of 2009! I'm choosing to look at the occurrence of the blue moon on the last day of this year as an indication of better things to come in 2010.

erosion bundle day one

My erosion bundle is probably large enough that I could have made multiple bundles but . . . it just seemed efficient to put it all together. Besides there is only one good sturdy hook.

Some of the contents include rose petals, keys, other metal objects, and of course a variety of fabrics. I used a plastic mesh to try to secure some of the objects so they would be more evenly distributed.

Hanging from a hook on the side of our woodshed, this is visible from my back door.

centering the sun

Apparently the weather is reflected in my choice of projects. Today is cold and windy but sunny so it seems I am drawn to this piece. Most likely I will be returning to the white sampler later this week.

a little light

"Light tomorrow with today." ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

first and last

This was the first improvisational quilt that I made, other than small art quilts. Made as a baby quilt for the daughter of a colleague, it seemed particularly appropriate since she had voluntarily provided improvisational acting workshops for the teens in my programs. It would be the last quilt associated with that era.

a familiar hand

Transitioning from a pc to a mac and consolidating photos I found this one of a small quilt I gave to a friend when she moved to New York a few years ago.

happy wishes

Merry Christmas! Thank you to all of my followers, friends, and readers of this blog! I very much appreciate all of you and your comments and emails.

accepting good

The new addition to "White Sampler" is a fortune cookie saying woven through the piece of eyelet.

"White Sampler" was lost for a few days. I thought perhaps my kitty helper had mistaken it for a toy (it is rather small and she likes sparkly things) and I searched under furniture. My husband wondered if he had possibly accidently included it among the materials he removed from the living room table and took out for recycling. It was in my studio the entire time, having gotten attached to another small quilt.

studio and snow

While my husband and our dog Mollie are outside shoveling snow, I'm still inside preparing for guests, which includes getting my studio ready to be one of the guest rooms. Finally I was motivated to decoupage another old spice rack (as you can see in the before and after pictures) for bead storage.

the presence of snow

It has been snowing all day and as long as we can stay in and not have to go out, it is a beautiful and peaceful sight.

This is a "present" I found for myself at Goodwill, complete with bow.

I just finished this scarf and am planning to give it as a gift.

little hopes

"Little Hopes" rather than little hope. I've been invited to teach a workshop this spring to create little quilts such as this one. Originally the little quilt in the photograph was made as an atc and one similar to it was given to the person who is coordinating this spring event. In the context of the setting, a wellness retreat, I'm thinking of naming them "little hopes." Part of my inspiration comes from some experiences in which the only way to move forward was a tiny bit at a time, a little hope at a time.

making choices

Embracing the unknown is part of letting go. Letting go of the idea of perfection, of control, and sometimes feeling like there are no options. Sometimes it can prevent me from cutting into a special piece of fabric that I've saved or making drastic design decisions. Reckless embellishment often helps. Also, recently I came across this thought:

"I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude." -- Judith M. Knowlton

from Mrs. H.'s stash

Made from Mrs. H.'s stash, we've enjoyed these for a few years.

names and changes

This is a wall hanging I made a few years ago. This fairly traditional design is Bear's Paw or Hand of Friendship. There may also be other names for it. It's interesting how the same patterns were used throughout the country and had different names depending upon local cultures. The fabric I used is actually more disparate than it seems at first glance. I think I may have matched up similar fabrics too closely. At least one of the reds is from an old duster of mine from childhood. As I'm writing this I'm thinking, why were they called dusters (for wearing while dusting the house?) and how names of items of clothing change as well as names of quilts.

a new swiss one

Inspired by jude, I wove a few strips of fabric into the fringe I had already added to the white sampler. We brought in a few of the last of the roses and my husband added a new nutcracker to his collection.

something sparkling

sparkles near the edges

finding their place

The five rectangular beads were from a strand I purchased from a vendor at a bead show a couple of years ago. I made the mistake of storing this strand as well as a couple of others in the glass tube spice racks (mentioned in an earlier post) in my studio in direct sun. All of them bleached out to a light color that bore little resemblance to the beads I purchased. (So now I am very careful about the types of beads I store in these containers.) I was particularly disappointed about this strand because when I purchased them they had lovely layers of purple and green. But I saved them and now at least some of them finally have a place, on this white sample little quilt wip.

the art of waiting

or white sampler 2.

lines and stripes

I removed the block that I'm planning to tone down by dyeing and cut apart a couple of other blocks and sewed them together in a different way. I used red and black embroidery thread (separately) for stitching.

white sampler

I've been thinking of a project in whites but the snow finally inspired me to start it. So far I have 25 small squares sewn onto a fabric foundation. I purposefully used different shades and textures, and included fringed edges. For me it was an exercise in accepting, possibly embracing, imperfection, and becoming more comfortable with raw edges. I also thought that working with whites would be soothing. Well, I was wrong about that. Maybe I will change my mind when embellishing, but I think I prefer working with strong colors and contrasts.

rosemary and roses

Yesterday I took photos of rosemary and roses growing in our side yard. Today it is almost snowing . . . little flakes fluttering around but quickly turning into rain . . . and I'm thinking about working on a project in white.

Update: now it actually is snowing.

toning it down

At one point this is how these pieces were coming together. However, I may remove the block with multi-colored diagonal stripes from this grouping, and try to tone it down with a coffee or tea bath.

spirals and spice

One of my favorite ways to store beads and embellishments is in spice racks. I particularly like the one I have with spirals.

squares in the middle

Some tiny squares in the middle. With a helper.

glitch day

Two separate issues: I'm having some sort of "error on page" problem with blogger and all my photos are coming out blurry. I think I need to check the manual that came with my camera since I must have accidently changed a setting. I don't know what to do about blogger.

less than we think

Sometimes it takes less than we think to sustain us.

Erosion Bundle Project planning

This is just a preliminary collection of "ingredients." Obviously there will be layers of fabric and papers and as many "rustable" objects I can come up with. The bundles are to be placed outside in January so I still have time to forage through my collection of found objects. I'm also thinking of sprinkling in some tumeric.

This sounds like a fun project. Kris Henderson's Erosion Bundle Project is "borrowed from Seth:The idea is simple: create an artistic bundle made from materials of [your]own choosing and 'hang, bury, submerge, or just place' the bundle in the elements. This collaboration is to be with the ultimate partner…Mother Nature herself!"
Kris is calling this project "Erosion Bundles" and is "a personal and creative challenge" to "make your bundle...of anything you like. Fabric, paper, metal, plastic, fur or whatever!"

jumble audition

I'm considering adding this strip (at the top) to the jumble quilt. I may also add a similar one to the other side.

stars, keys and an embellished car

This past holiday was spent with my family in Roanoke. I saw this embellished car at the "market" downtown. I bought this ring of small keys at a nearby antiques mart. They look like potential embellishments to me.

Destinations can change despite original intentions. I'm thinking now that these heart and star blocks may be worked into my own commemorative piece representing the star city of the south. Saturday on the way to visiting my old college friend, I tried to take photos of the actual star on Mill Mountain but none of the photos turned out.