miles and miles

We weren't gone very long but did travel miles and miles. My daughter traveled here from Massachusetts and then we went to Virginia to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my mother and brother.

This is the first block of a small quilt I started so that I would have something to work on in the car, but instead of sewing, I mostly looked out of the window.

While in Roanoke I did go to the market but had to go on Friday since we had to return home on Saturday. Disappointing since I was hoping to see Cheryl.

starting

something new. I've made a little more progress since this photo but I haven't yet decided where I'm going with it other than having plans for embellishments.

“Beginning is easy - continuing hard”(Japanese Proverb)

around the house

"Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."

 ~ Herman Hesse

continuing

to embellish 

reckless embellishment as a process

This is a small section of a ten-inch square . . . a fragment from around 9/11 because the fabric is the same that I used in a larger crazy quilt that I was in the process of embroidering and embellishing at that time. Neglected for all of these years, I haven't liked it enough to do anything with it.

So it's a good candidate for "Reckless Embellishment."

I'm still not sure whether I like it any better or not, but I'm certainly enjoying the process.

components and layers

From Donna Watson's lovely blog Layers

"Each of us literally chooses,

by his way of attending to things,

what sort of universe

he shall appear to himself to inhabit."

~ William James

fifth generation

My great-grandmother was a quilter. So was my grandmother and her sisters. 

Her son, my father, was not a quilter but he was artistic. My mother started piecing a quilt, her mother worked on it, and someday I hope to complete it.

Mrs Moen Napkin Challenge

Need inspiration? Some design ideas? Nina Lise is holding a Napkin Challenge that I'm finding to be a great source of inspiration.


First I was considering one of these:

Then I decided I liked this one much better:

But . . . since then I've discovered one that I liked best of all and this weekend I finished the piece. But I won't be showing it until December 1.

In the meantime, though, I might just go back and make a second one based on the third napkin.

living life

Over the weekend I made a couple of necklaces. This one is similar to one I  made earlier and wore to our quilt guild meeting. It was suggested that I make one to donate to an upcoming event and this is the result.

The temperature has started to drop and I've been harvesting herbs:

basil

a tiny bit of lavender

a tiny bit of lemon verbena

rosemary

A quote from a speaker at a "Lunch and Learn" I attended last week:

"I can't do anything about it right now so I'm going to live my life!"

looks similar

to "swirls and twirls"
but this is much smaller


a journal quilt
8 1/2 x 11


more of an abstract floral experiment using layered raw edges and coiled colorful wire

"Earth laughs in flowers."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"

flea market friday

For Flea Market Friday:
a pretty little tin that actually seems fairly new

but filled with an assortment of 

• vintage notions
• buttons
• watches to be taken apart for steampunk creations
• some junk jewelry

and a pair of long black gloves.

This was my most recent flea market find.

Not really very much.

But all of it was only $2.00.