King sized quilts are not my forte. I won't tell you how many hours I spent over the weekend preparing and attaching the binding for my daughter's quilt (which was supposed to be ready by Christmas!).
It's a big bear, a giant of a quilt! Now that the binding is on, I can turn to the meditative process of hand stitching it into place. I enjoy this quiet final bit of sewing.
I've made my peace with garter stitch.
Discovered and fell in love with Tina Givens and her beautiful repertoire. She has sent me back to my sewing machine, which is a very good thing, indeed!
My friend Elaine invited me over to her studio where she did all of the work helped me calculate borders for the H quilt. I had found a delicious Kaffe Fassett print and was scared reluctant to cut into it without Elaine's expertise. Many thanks to you Elaine - I couldn't have managed without you! Your generous nature and amazing cutting table turned this UFO into a completed top! Yay!
This image was taken moments before the skies opened and let loose with a wonderful torrent of rain! Harley was not asked to pose - he simply appeared for this photo! After all, he was the one who sat out all of the cutting and pressing and piecing of the quilt - what better closure than to lend his good-looking self to the beauty shot?
I plan to send this piece, my FIRST king-sized top, to a machine quilter. I am in Wanda's debt for introducing me to this joyful block - thank you, my friend! I follow your blog religiously and you never cease to amaze me.
One always hopes for lighter days to follow the dark ones. These colors lift me, help me to focus on the positive aspects of this one life. And, as always, I've returned to my favorite - ORANGE.
A carotene table runner! My carrots never came up this season, so I made a giant fiber substitute! I'm still wondering what went wrong with those seeds.
I like this piece a lot. Orange continues to be my neutral - my inspiration, my obsession.
When the rain stopped we took a stroll outdoors, shaking off too many days and nights of artificial air. Don't get me wrong - I am pathetically addicted to, and grateful for, and LOST without, the central air conditioning. But there's something so powerful about that green-ness, that SMELL of the earth when it rises to meet the rain after so many days deprived of its goodness.
I'll get back to the herb garden with my new plan to replant the herbs and flowers that I'll need for the moth/mouse repellant that I want to create. (please don't look at those weeds!)
A finished quilt top and a healing summer rain...perfection, except for what is missing and how we continue to miss him. On the morning that Jack died, my Madonna lily bloomed.
Pristine. Fragrant. Breath-taking.
Signs in the universe. All is unfolding exactly the way that it is supposed to.
Have worked twelve days in a row, stopping yesterday for a mental health break. We had a family party to attend last evening, so my creative time has been non existent. I did manage a few 'H' blocks in the morning and decided that the quilt needed a little push - remembering that Wanda had added beautifully effective star blocks gave me the courage to go out on THIS limb . . .
What can I say - both Hilary and I adore flamingos... I mean really, what's NOT to love!
Spent some time reorganizing my knitting patterns - I am getting ready to 'publish' my first original and you will see it here first. But I cannot predict when that will actually occur! Work has been insane, life has been messy. Knitting on this little project is mindless and perfect for a chaotic mind. Blue Sky Alpaca cotton always delivers.
'Follow your desire while you live.
Place myrrh upon your head,
Clothe yourself in fine linen,
Anointed with real wonders
of God's own stores.
Increase your beauty,
And let not your mind tire
Follow your desire and what is good :
Acquire your possessions on earth.'
My dearest friend is following her bliss and going back for her doctorate - I am so glad for her. 2010 is going to be HER year - my dear Lally - can you hear me? Lally, your spirit does not age. Rather, it gets better with age! I carry you around with me as I have from our beginnings. You laugh at my ridiculous moments and grieve over my losses. You share my adventures. You give me hope. We live so far apart, but are never apart. Now, it is YOUR turn to take us into the wild blue yonder, that's me, riding on your shoulder. Talk to me about a Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan. Tell me about what gets in the way of our knowing ourselves ... remind me of the courage we all possess that strengthens and doubles when we go out on our native limb.
Congratulations - can't WAIT to call you DR.
What did I do today? Well, I have to admit, I've been fussing. I'm on overload at work and feeling remorseful about the time I DON'T spend at my father's nursing facility. It snowed all day long and I was housebound with these feelings SOOOO ... I did what any good fiber addict would do: I rummaged around for awhile ...
and then pressed a few things -
moving right along ...
See, this is an interesting project because it could be for any number of people! Thank you dear Wanda, for getting me started on this 'H' quilt. Could it be for Hilary? Hadley? Hack? Horton? Hermonine? (I made that one up) Well, it has grown very quickly today, thanks to Wanda's good instructions - each cut provides for two blocks. I feel as though I am creating two quilts at one time, with very little leftover. (what do you do with your scraps?)
Can-Do-Guy came upstairs to say that we should hop in his truck and go to the diner -that we needed to shake ourselves out of our lazy at-home day. I don't know about He-Who-Spent-the-Day-on-the-Sofa, but I accomplished quite a lot! I wasn't really enthusiastic about stopping, but I did. I was hankering after food that I did not have to prepare myself - something easy and light - a swiss and spinach omelet?
This is so much fun - I have a wicked big stash that I rarely visit and now, finally, I am digging in with a recklessness that is contagious. Very little planning here - Big Fun.
It's a big bear, a giant of a quilt! Now that the binding is on, I can turn to the meditative process of hand stitching it into place. I enjoy this quiet final bit of sewing. 
I've made my peace with garter stitch. 
Discovered and fell in love with Tina Givens and her beautiful repertoire. She has sent me back to my sewing machine, which is a very good thing, indeed!
