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And they are off

Just over a week ago Saturday I delivered the last of Kelsey’s things to Wheaton. Two daughters in college. Wow! Monday was a thoroughly relaxing holiday, a light breeze wafting through open windows, as I picked up the detrius of two people moving out and into college housing.

The latest quick project was pillow covers to help with college decorating …. turns out we didn’t guess so well on color coordination, but new tries are getting better.

The couches are eggplant (not teal), so here is an updated pillow cover matches!  I’m never going to be a fanatic curve sewer. This pillow is actually my test run – stay tuned for the next one that hopefully matches up even better.

Assuming a teal couch, the original color scheme was red, gray, and lighter with white … not so great in a cream/eggplant/odd blue/mauve room! However, these covers below are finding homes anyway, in a bedroom and guest room at home!

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Why so long?

Finished! This table runner that evolved out of mostly hand-dyed scraps of fabric from my stash is finally finished. I’m not sure why each phase took 4-5 months, but it is fun to see it all together. The binding makes it feel finished. Not sure I would attempt the same thing any time soon, even though I have many more scraps. Time to eat the bananas, though. (Hopefully they will help legs dragging from mountain biking.)

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Finally

My camera has been giving me grief. Turns out the CF card was giving errors. I’m back in business, and finally can show some photos. My first big quilt in a while, but it felt good to get back in the groove.
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Wisdom – shoots and branches

Deep into a seminar on grant writing, pondering how I ended up in that room at that time, I sketched a quick drawing on my legal pad, juxtaposed with tips on honing specific aims in a grant.

Thoughts of wisdom imagery, of wisdom waiting in the town, up on the hills, at the door, welcoming me into a thoughtful life. Thoughts of life, of journeys, growing, new doors, and re-entering doors. Yet, always the possibility of the sprouting of vivid new life.

Don’t love how it turned out … used felt with batting, and have it pinned onto another piece of felt to ground it. But, it is nearly finished, and I learned something.

If I tried it again, I would make it more colorful and graffiti-like I think, but still with the seedlings popping. Maybe a traditional backing and binding? However, my goal was to try to make progress on a series of art quilts, and this is forward movement!

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Wisdom: many laws to one love

 As my faith community studies its way through the Bible this year, we considered how the Jewish faith has the Torah, many laws that help guide and craft a thoughtful, good life. Jesus, when he came to earth, turned the law upside down, focusing on one love instead of many laws. My faith draws me to walk in this way of love. Life constantly challenges me to figure out what this means. Living a life filled with love for God, myself, and others is a constant dance, filled with thought-provoking, life-provoking moments.

This quilts many colorful squares represents the Torah, full of life, in many bits. Its drifts down into a growing circle, representing the love and wisdom that Jesus calls us to lean into.

The idea for this sampler quilt came to me last fall, but the design just would not fall together! Finally, I think it is finished.

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Christmas stocking

Another Christmas stocking to donate … cheery colors, and happy prints designed by Taylor and sewn by me. Thankful for all I have, giving a little back.

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Christmas stocking too

Another quilt for the U of M holiday stocking project. Extra squares from the table runner project just seemed to have a happy holiday feel. I painted the red branch fabric to add a more festive feel in a branch fabric.

This project reminded me that even when you are trying to get something done, you should listen to your voices. I wondered if the white fabric was heavy enough to have a good feel, wasn’t sure, and used it anyway. I ended up having to add another layer of heavier fabric as a compromise because it wasn’t very good at all. The back still looks a little muddy because the gold fabric of the lining shows through, but there was no real solution except to completely start over on the body of the stocking. Next time, listen to those voices!

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It is working!

Happy to report that I’ve finished another table “runner” this weekend. These were the left-over blocks from Kelsey’s super potholder, and I sashed it with white, used a lovely teal Marcia Derse fabric on the back, and bound it with a stripe from Bits and Pieces. Had my quilting design all picked out and then realized it would make the back simply ugly, so instead I quilted following the back which gave me a nice non-uniform grid.  

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Finished!

I’ve been enjoying the process of laying out, sewing, and quilting this table runner, and it is finally finished! Yeah! I was aiming for a contemporary, beachy feel and I think it works. The first quilting was about 1/2″ apart, and the shadows were too strong, so I doubled the stitching, and now the shadows simply become an overall pattern. Early summer at the beach, just looking at it makes me smile.

Can’t you imagine the cool sand between your toes, the icy water teasing your footsteps, and the dune grass twisting in the breeze?

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My piece of joy

Been enjoying putting together these cards. Went to the Kelsey museum over lunch and enjoyed a display of glass from from 100 BC to 100 CE. One decorative piece was gray with charcoal, cream, yellow, and red circles and I was reminded just how much life cycles. And yet, we each add our own piece, a piece only we can add, to the whole.