What have I been up to?

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I have only a little crochet to share with you. It seems that the demands of everything else have
taken over for a little while. I managed to squeeze this little bit in while waiting on my laundry.
The washer decided to stop working and until it is replaced, visits to the laundry mat are necessasry.
The good news is our local laundry mat is nice and I am using this little bit of time to run errands or crochet.

Also, I wrote a new poem:

You always came bearing gifts....

                  good food

                                good drink

                                              good conversations

We tilled the soil,

built a fence,

watched the fruit trees grow.

The owls flew in the Walnut trees...

I had never seen owls so big!

Hover bees danced to the music of the spheres

and there were rings around the trees.

You know I loved and lived magic.

You slept with your knit hat on, with the flaps

that covered your ears, like a Peruvian in the

mountains. 

It always made me smile.

You were a good friend.

Thank you for every thing....

Be well...

<3

Some fun things to look at:

 This is visually fun for all you knitters:


http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/crafts-and-sewing/99-yarn-bombed-trees-by-knittaplease-142211

beautiful clothes:



http://www.fillydesigns.com/collections/11-spring/11-spring.html

Have a great day!

<3

Praying hands

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Watch this:

http://yasusuzuka.com/img/movie/gasshou/index.html

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I have found another copy of this book at a local resale shop, as mine was
misplaced. It was given to me as a gift during a difficult time and I so enjoyed reading it.
I want to re-read it again. It seems timely that it found me again.



I wish I could say I have accomplished a lot of stitching, but it has been minimal
lately.

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I spent quite a bit of time doing tiny back stitches on the Bloomsbury inspired fish piece.
 When I began stitching it just seemed the piece "demanded" tiny stitches.  lol!    : )

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I embroidered the words,"time no more" on my grandmothers quilt piece. That is about it for now.
 My goal is to spend some time over the weekend stitching...
we will see....

<3

Japan

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I have been thinking about the people of Japan....I created these cloth pieces a couple of years ago.

Last night daughter #2 had a band concert, and as I was sitting there listening and enjoying.

I kept thinking of the people of Japan..... I was so grateful to be able to attend my daughters

school and listen to the children play music.

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 daughter #2
 

Watching everything unfold makes me see just how connected we all are.....

Just thinking....

I wanted to share a link to a blog I have followed over the years:

   http://japanlivingarts.com

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Peace <3

manna

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a new piece I am working on, inspired by the Bloomsbury artist.....

and a poem I wrote:

I am a traveler from far away.

Across a bridge of stars I have known.

I hold the sand in my hand,

~but it is not mine to own.

Trinkets and treasures come and go.

They fade and wither.

Thieves and vultures always at your back.

I come to collect memories, 

and then,

I return home.

I am a traveler from far away.....

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Good News

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Just a quick post to say:
 I hear the birds again....that is a good sign that Spring is not too
far away. That makes me smile. I have also heard a large woodpecker.
 The woodpecker is black with red spots and ver-r-ry large.

  Also, I will be "swinging back around"
to the quilt piece (above), and do some stitching on it, in celebration
of the coming of Spring.

This makes me happy:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/house-tours/stevens-800-square-foot-relocated-beach-cottagehouse-tour-140848


The home is in Venice Beach California. I am not usually an orange person, but there is something so happy about this place!

This makes me happy too:

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a sweet picture of daughter #3

(don't let the picture fool you, she is one strong girl)

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daughter #2 and #3

and this is the "bathroom chronicles" lol!

Where ever we go, the girls dash into the bathroom and take a picture.

Why? who knows! Just for the fun of it.

Lastly,

I am sooo touched that I am mentioned in a new blog:

http://Jeanne-inoneplace.blogspot.com/2011/03/ancient-cloth-lifelines-annd-wisley.html

Jeanne has several other fabulous blogs you will not want to miss seeing...check it out

: )

Thank you Jeanne!

<3

notey: I guess my word of the day is happy!

(smiles!)

Grandmother's quilt

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I spent some time today piecing together blocks of fabric I cut from clothes

that belonged to my grandmother. I noticed that one of the blocks had some holes in

it and rather than try to hide the holes, I decided to emphasize them. At first, I just

stitched a circle around each hole and upon inspection decided that it would be fun

to add a little more color to this little group of holes.

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A little bigger picture of the blocks I put together.

You will notice the slight white spots on the turquoise fabric.

I imagine my grandmother might have been cleaning something,

and bleach splashed on her shirt.

I am just letting the imperfections be a part of my "memory quilt".

The "imperfections" are my favorite part. : )

It brings character to the quilt.

ancient heart song

egg

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As I was stitching this new piece I was reminded of a brand new baby chick I had
brought home from the post office long ago:

The melodious box of little babies singing and chirping. I had never before raised
baby chicks, so this was all new to me. Being a mother myself a sense of urgency
grabbed hold of me and I quickly got the new babies home to feed and water.
A few little chicks did not make the journey, but as I understand it, that happens.
within a day or so of watering and feeding my little herd was doing well....
all except one. The others began pecking at it and I quickly removed the little
baby to a safe warm box near the fire place. It was still cold outside and it was necessary
to keep them warm. The little chick struggled and struggled to keep going. Finally,
it began singing the most beautiful song, and it would not stop. As if it were a clarion
call to some distant memory from long ago. On and on it sang like I have never heard
a little tiny bird sing...until finally it passed away. I think the little chick was singing a "heart song".

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I think our heart sings an ancient song. One that continues on and on.....

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The background fabric is a turquoise linen fabric cut from a dress.

The heart is cut out of fabric from:

gerdiary.blogspot.com/

also the center of the heart is fabric from gerdiary.

The fabric she sent is fabulous. If you are looking

for wonderful hand dyed unique fabrics I recommend

her beautiful fabrics. (lovely to stitch with :)

As with most pieces, this needs more stitching and I will be

embroidering words on it. The "whole" picture turned out too grain-ee.

I will share that another day. It has been raining here, so there has not

been enough light for good pictures.

<3

Hope

This is a repeat post from one of my old blogs. I just love this poem and wanted to share it.

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Hope is a thing with feathers….

by Emily Dickinson

Hope is a thing with feathers

that perches in the soul

and sings a tune without words

and never stops at all.

And sweetest, in the gate, is heard

and sore must be the storm

that could abash the little bird

that keeps so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land

and on the strangest sea.

Yet, never, in extremity

it ask a crumb of me.

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<3

stitching waves

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I decided to work on the boro Madonna/heart/water quilt again.

Just quietly stitching today......

The children have been on spring break this week

and I have been busy working, so I have not had much time

to stitch.

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Have a great day!

calendar weaving

              

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de-constructing time

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My journey of de-constructing time has begun.

 My sister sent me two boxes of things

that had belonged to my grandmother.

I opened the boxes not knowing what she would have chosen....There are hand towels,

one embroidered tattered pillowcase, (my favorite thing), and clothes she wore. There is

a bit of fabric, nothing I would ever choose (too synthetic), but special, none the less, because my grandmother chose

it. I carefully unpacked everything and began cutting apart the clothes. Tearfully at first because the smell of the fabrics

and clothes reminded me so much of her and my mother...

Funny how our senses bring back so many memories.

Not long after I began cutting the tears went away and I decided it was indeed ok to make

the quilt and travel through the memories each little scrap of fabric would bring.

I am willing to travel down this road of (self) discovery....

                                   Begin again, knowing that those I love

are watching over me somehow and are probably amused at me and my

ramblings at times.

: )

Part of this new journey is learning new ways of stitching.

I have had the opportunity to take Jude's

spiritcloth.typepad.com 

Cloth to Cloth class,

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/cloth_whispering/2010/12/cloth-to-clothvideo-series-1.html

All I can say is it is, fabulous and if you were even remotely thinking of taking

the course, it is so worth it! 

She now has it in a video/pdf format so you can work at your own pace.
She is so knowledgeable about fabric and stitching and she offers so many
helpful insights.

I look forward to practicing what I have learned.

<3

               

One of the items in the box was a Linen calendar from 1973. I am pretty sure I had something

to do with giving it to my grandmother. Back then, linen calendars/pictures hanging on the wall

 were quite popular.

I want to say it was some sort of school fund raiser and we bought one for my grandmother

as a gift.

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I liked the pictue part of the calendar for the quilt I am making, but I felt the calendar

part would be too much.

When I sat back and looked at the calendar and thought about my grandmother

I kept thinking ...."and there was time no more."

She had somehow stepped out of time.

So, I decided to cut off the calendar part and cut it into strips and weave

it back together.

At this point, I participated in Jude's online course and found new inspiration...

I will share more as I move along.

<3