Mittens

There you go.

Oh how I compartmentalize

pentameter

sestina

the delicate petals of haiku

forged unwillingly 

into steel

are we

     .

I would go down into the ground with her

to bring her back from the arms of hades,

wrest her from the flames of the forge

all the while

recalling the perfume of persephone

spoonflower fabric

this quilt top center was put together using the larger center diamond shapes from the Inklingo Jane Austen collection.. I will make the corners from the fabric below. The printed diamonds are also from spoonflower fabric and some batiks. It will be a Very Bright Quilt.The center is made and I need to figure out how I am going to use the fabric from below to the best advantage.

Wow. That is all I can say. I will use this fabric in a quilt with similar colors and just wow. If you have ever wanted to create your own fabric, Spoonflower is the place to try your chops. excellent. and thanks to my dear friend for the gift certificate. xo.

Happy Valentines Day

Every night Mike sets up the coffee pot. This is true love. happy valentines day.
Illustration by Mike.

The first thing Mike ever gave me was a snickers bar and a coke. I was much thinner then. 

Storm at Sea, top completed

So here it is at last, photographed in natural, albeit dwindling, light and obligingly undulating in the breeze. Using Inklingo made cutting of the shapes perfectly uniform and in my parallel existence I am sewing this all by hand. Many of these blocks are hand stitched and I love the way the seams are flat but in real life I am a machine jockey. I had a the colors in mind, but also went wildly astray as I am wont to do-which also meant that I sometimes did not cut as carefully as I should have (picture me like Edward Scissor hands at my cutting table, scraps flying) and there are some corners that are a wee bit not so pointy. But I think once it is quilted it will not be an issue.the last one is the blocks on the wall before they were rearranged which makes a huge difference. The fabrics are mostly handy dyed and batiks with a tiny bit of other toile like fabric. 

Owls

The bodies were made from a cotton sweater so the shaping was a little unpredictable.

Link to Blue Moon

These two are ready for  stitching. Lovey pattern from Mimi Kirchner -what a fun pattern! I was a woman possessed.

The sweater was my grandmothers and I wanted to use it for these owls as soon as I saw that Mimi was publishing a pattern.
Today stretches out before me, inviting me back into the quilt cave. Storm at Sea blocks are ready to sort out. I have a stack of triangles ready to use for leader ender stitching , the owl supplies to put away.
And a new book about knitting charts titled 'Charts Made Simple'by JC Briar that I bought from Blue Moon FIber Arts. . I still love actual paper and ink books no matter how many books and charts I can have on my ipad.
I am three quarters of a mitten away from a pair that I made for a kid at work.
And we will be watching the superbowl tonight. Maybe I will finish a mitten then.

birds feeding in the morning and so on...

Love the shape of the bird in the top.

woman cardinal flew away when she heard the beep on my camera-but not too far.

That's my car when after it broke down while attempting to take Bailey to work. I am sooo grateful it did not happen on the highway. We were able to pull into this parking lot after the power just cut out. We were coasting and able to turn into the entrance and then pushed it further in. No one honked at us but no one stopped to help either. Mike will trouble shoot.

What I did yesterday. I went to the doctor for laryngitis, and spent most of the day right here, with the support of Poppet the lap cat. My voice is slowly coming back. But I still sound like I am talking through a bad speaker.

The cardinals only feed at the beginning and end of the day. Otherwise it is pidgins and swallows,

Flap is made of wool squares with silk overlays-to keep the  pieces from shifting when you open and close the book. It is secured with 'measuring tape' trim that I got from purl soho. The cover of the book is heavy duty iron on interfacing covered with fabric . I am considering keeping the bottom open to use for storage- I can slip fabric into the space between the fabric and interfacing on one side where it is not glued. Not very elegant but it works.

preparing packets

Pixie is intrigued by the ticking of the clock.

   So - four people responded that they would like some fabric and four shall have. Today I am home, scheduled day off, and I am happy to be here, unaffected by all of the awful weather events that are whirling around the world. Here's hoping that all are safe from the storms, wherever you are.
 

Mimi Kirchner

Mimi Kirchner

Don't you just love this? I do love her work!

Sunday morning peace

Bliss

Pixie Anne Bilski

Peaceful Sunday morning.

sewing kit for hand piecing. 

closed

I challenged myself and came up with this book like kit. It is growing on me.  I love making these things but so far the perfect one eludes me.

Storm at Sea 

     All the blocks are finished and ready to be arranged and assembled. I am thinking I will try to group the color values and use the lighter ones in the center. 

     I used Linda Franz' Inklingo to print the shapes on my fabric using my home printer. If you have not visited her website, you are missing out on a great resource. For the curious, there are some free selections to get you started. And tons of beautiful photos to entice and inspire. And of course there is the inimitable and dashing Monkey. You will just have to drop in see for yourself.

stash busting

I have a pile of Laurel Burch fabrics that need giving away. This is kind of like a pay it forward thing. if you are interested, let me know. I am thinking if I give you this fabric, you may find something in your stash that somebody else might like.
Over the years I have received such wonderful bundles of fabric from friends all over the world-as far away as New Zealand. If I get a lot of responses I will make a few bundles. I am in the mood for some pre spring cleaning. Let me know also if you would be interested in some smaller scrap bag (2.5 squares).
Please help me on my fabric diet!

and then there was more snow

Storm at Sea-four more blocks added and four more to go.

  Once I have the last four blocks made, I will do some rearranging to balance the colors and spread out the ones with the snails tail centers. I am using Linda Franz' revolutionary Inklingo program to print  the shapes directly onto the fabrics. The quilt will be five  blocks by five blocks,  My wall is not big enough to spread them all out. I will not be quilting this myself because it may never get finished and I have enough unquilted tops. There are a few that I do not love (see the one on the upper left-hiding there?) and I am deciding if I should simply make do or do them over.
My collection of hand dyes has been put to good use and I am happy to say that I used at least half of it. What is left is the reds family and many oranges pinks etc which will go nicely into another quilt--maybe a red and pink posie quilt?  or a red and white quilt? something to think about.
I have four more days off. I could finish two quilts in that time. The Jane Austen quilt needs a border and that is it.  I also did some leader ending style piecing of  another triangle scrap quilt that is on my other wall. It would be nice to have that done this year. And so you have it, My vacation plans...

snow fell during the night and there is a nice layer of ice underneath.

through many panes of glass

View from my window- houses built in the 1920's by the same builder. Other window reflected in backround

Beautiful windows in the lobby of the restored Virginia Stage Company

Theatre

before valance with the Baconator in the foreground

Lace valance from thrifted table cloth

Our Barrier Island from the AA Eagle 

DJ list Spring Fling 2004 and 5? - gratuitous quilt po&n

Happy Birthday Dad and Annette

digital doodles

This quilt needs corners so I painted some. I used a vase, whose picture I took at the met during our last walk around. I was enchanted by the shape of it and did a small oil pastel of it, and did some smaller mandalla type things and then photoshopped it until I stumbled upon a color that I liked.It reminds me of the beautiful Indian panels that we used to have in the 70's. I have seen some of them around lately. The original was dark blue. I uploaded the newly colored pictures into Spoonflower and walla. A digital age rendering of an ancient blue flowered vase. Yes it will be very bright. I am a little afraid;) but I am going to finish this quilt one way or the other.

Nuther thread

They tell me that one thread a day will move the work forward. I intend to test this theory.

Snowday?

OK. I am starting again. Lesson one. Don’t try to knit lace at work. So now that I (might) have a snow day, I guess I will try again. Apparently I can’t talk and eat and knit at the same time. 
Oh and lesson two is put in the life lines and do not take them out!! Every time I take one out I regret it. 
The good news is that the Long John Shelter wool from Brooklyntweed is going to be amazing! I LOVE this color! 
Any one knitting today?
On the 'one thread' front, I will do one thread on my Pindigo before I re start the Juneberry. I need to put a star on my calendar to note my progress...
Snow here. about a foot of it. the neighbor and Mike are having a go at it with the snowblowers and shovels. I do not know if I can get to work. It is too soon to tell. I have a number to call but of course it is not being answered. I will check again. There is no bus or train service, but the mall is open. o ye gods of mammon!

attire

being a sewer means I am always drawn to articles of dress, be they on a horse or human.     The Met bookstore has shelves and shelves of books on fibre, fashion and costume. A TROVE!