juxtaposition

This is the beginning of a fiber/paper collage that incorporates two sizes of vintage blocks (approximately three inches and seven inches). I've had these blocks for over 25 years and they had belonged to an elderly family friend. I've used some of them before but not together. It appears that the larger (seven inch) block may have been part of a quilt top at one time and then taken apart. The vintage buttons are not yet sewn on and may be re-arranged.

once the winged

Fiber and metal.


As once the winged energy of delight
carried you over childhood's dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.

Wonders happen if we can succeed
in passing through the harshest danger;
but only in a bright and purely granted
achievement can we realize the wonder.

To work with Things in the indescribable
relationship is not too hard for us;
the pattern grows more intricate and subtle,
and being swept along is not enough.

Take your practiced powers and stretch them out
until they span the chasm between two
contradictions... For the god
wants to know himself in you.  ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

weaving wip

Jude is the master and I've seen many wonderful examples by her students.  Inspired by her work, this is my first attempt and is still a work in progress.

celebrating

Last week I celebrated my birthday by working on this block and

with roses from my husband

and with this package from my friend Corrine that included 

wonderful things to play with! Many thanks Corrine!

rhythm

This week's inchie has a fiber base and is embellished with beads and wire.

"Everything has rhythm, everything dances." ~ Maya Angelou

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." ~ Thomas Merton

"Now this is very profound, what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it . . ." ~ Virginia Woolf

tactile history

Diane Savona refers to her art as "bricolage, a technique that makes creative use of whatever materials are available regardless of their original purpose." She "uses salvaged cloth and garments, domestic found objects and intense hand stitching to construct fossil specimens that present textiles in an archaeological context."

I don't know how I missed learning about her before but she certainly accomplishes what I sometimes strive to do.

endless mountains

Endless is the word for this week's Every Inchie Monday challenge and for some reason I thought about endless mountains. Having grown up in the Roanoke Valley, I have many fond memories of the  Blue Ridge Mountains.

flower show inspiration

It's still cold here but at the Philadelphia Flower Show it's Springtime in Paris.

dance

"If you danced from midnight
to six A.M. who would understand?"


from the poem "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by Anne Sexton


This week's word for Every Inchie Monday is dance. 


I don't imagine this is what their dancing slippers might have looked like but this does like something a princess might wear.


This inchie is comprised of muslin, lace and tulle, none of which are visible since I decided to add beads.

conventions

You may notice a pin in the top left corner of this block. There were a couple of conventions I adopted for myself early in my quiltmaking and this is one of them. This is code to myself for the orientation of the block.

The other day I was fascinated by the shadows of the lattice fence and gate when I went outside to make sure my Erosion Bundle was still there. (It is.)

"Be happy for this moment.
This moment is your life."
~Omar Khayyam

Barbara's New Blog Pinelands Treasures

Poof! It disappeared! Barbara deleted her gmail account and her entire blog Pinelands Patches Beadscapes and Spirit Dolls disappeared. So for anyone who followed her blog, she has now created a new blog called Pinelands Treasures. She'll be posting photos of her beautiful Spirit Dolls.