Starting a Collection of Circles...

I am starting a hand appliqued circles quilt top that will be made entirely of fabrics from the quilting and sewing scraps my Grandma gave me. I am going to choose the colors and add on as I go...

Circles With Roots

I have been working on my hand applique. Just circles - but it's so much fun. It is a slow and quiet process - and portable, which is nice too. I am fond of that curling and wandering strand of spare thread - a tiny seedling root searching for the good soil. Thoughts of starting seedlings for spring and getting my hands in the dirt are what I am thinking of - but the ground outside is covered in snow...

Follow the Lines

I am heavily machine quilting a rather large piece - lines are about half-an-inch apart, some less. This white is the back - but I like the texture that has been created...

Bit of Fabric Used as Paper...

Nine-Patch Shell Inlay

I just had to pop in for a moment and post this - lovely little black and white nine-patch patterns in an egyptian shell inlay box. I really like the way their edges form a star. Spotted it yesterday while at the museum with my boys. When quilts are on your mind you can spot them everywhere.

Restoration

I am taking a break from this blog for a week or two. I am feeling tongue tied and overwhelmed about what to do next, what to post next - the new year is so full of anticipation and what will be - but it is a whole year - there should be no rush. So I am going to back up and run through my start of the year domestic rituals of simplifying and winterizing and getting comfy with being inside - a lot. Going to get my blank book started for the year ahead. I will plan a birthday party to remember for my soon to be 6 years old boy.

I feel I also must post this photo of our sweet girl napping yesterday afternoon. When she is sleeping she is the portrait of relaxation. My husband and I have talked of how we imagine this sweet face and her soft fur when we have trouble sleeping, are far from home, or just need to relax. So - I will be back when my thoughts have had a bit of this...

Results From a Sewing Kind of Sunday...

We had a nice quiet kind of day yesterday and I was able to get some sewing time in. I pieced these little squares and got things rolling on something new. The patterned fabric squares (about 1.5 " square before sewing) are from my collection from Grandma. The charcoal linen is from a repurposed men's shirt. Details on what this will become on a later day...


I also spent some time on my current end of the day bedside table project - adding hand stitched details to the little Bluebird quilt. I have been stitching loose threads into little thread sketches and squiggles. It has been very enjoyable and is helping me get to know this little quilt again after letting it rest for awhile now...

Direction

Daydreaming, plotting, planning, inching towards all of these big and little things...

Happy New Year!

Ohh! - and this happened too. It was lovely and sort of quilt-like...

Coffee Cloth

I had been reading and seeing things here and there about natural dyes and it has been on my mind, because it looks like so much fun. On Tuesday late afternoon our cold coffeepot still contained about a cup of coffee. So I poured it into a jar with some fabric for a few days to see what would happen. First I tied some little glass beads inside to see if I could get a few circles out of it - they came out alright. I think I like the striping most of all - like an aerial view of a creek bed or river.