stitch sketch

Walk in the Woods

All these taken two weeks ago on a walk to the big pine forest.

My boys and the light in a patch of running cedar.

Bluebird Visitors

Today it is rainy and chilly - but for nearly every day last week I opened the windows in the afternoon. It was wonderful to sit by an open window to work and be near the curtains moving while the house breathed in and out. The weather has been strangely warm for awhile and we have been spending much of our free time outside. 

I had been working towards a stable way of hanging something small without altering or interfering with the cloth. It had been in my head for awhile and a deadline has helped me finally get that all figured out.

We had bluebirds on our feeder two weeks ago - on my son's 8th birthday. It is the first time we have ever seen them here right near our house. My grandma always sent wishes for happiness on cards and stationery with bluebird illustrations - so they are a favorite of mine. A lot of the time it seems to me they make appearances on special days in special places - when it's most meaningful.

I am moving towards an early spring cleaning of my sewing room. Opening the windows makes me want to move everything around. I am looking forward to seeing what I can find to use in what is next. I am not very organized - so it seems there are always wonderful surprises to be found in what I already have.

Stitched and Drawn

transition

Winter and Whatever

I am so glad the snow is back. Fifty degrees and sunny is nice too - but it is winter after all.

This quilt has been folded away for a few months short of one year.

One year can seem like no time at all - but January, February and March always seem to last forever. Last year I thought starting something big sounded like a great idea with those three wintery months stretched out in front of me. Spring hit and all things wintery were fast forgotten - but here I am again, at the start of the long haul indoors.

This stitched pattern is always in my head - a layer hovering above the pieced fabrics. The stitches unify what lies beneath them. 

Old and new, winter and whatever are all running into each other.

Construction

I have been thinking a lot about the ways I build a quilt in order to make covering a cloth in hand stitches from edge to edge manageable. Working on a small scale has been helpful and I love the look of the all over stitches. I love the meditative process of sewing the stitches and the feel of the finished cloth.

These last few weeks I have been working and daydreaming of ways to include areas of dense stitching as a design element and strengthening element but changing the construction a bit to allow a cloth to grow into something that can keep my children and my family warm and cozy. So I am going to try working towards building bigger - one block at a time.

This red and yellow shoofly block given to me by my grandma. It was likely given to her by her mother or maybe a friend.

List

The short list of plans for my needle and thread in the new year:

- start and complete a collection of small quilts that have been developing in my sketchbook

- make and mend the things that are needed and wanted for my boys, my family, my home and my friends

- document the way the fibers of a quilt and the threads of my days are all a part of the same patchwork

My long list is much more adventurous - but I am hopeful these few things may lead to all the others.

Happy New Year!!