i've created a banner/bunting in celebration of my wonderful daughter's homecoming. we knew she was coming soon but not the exact dates . . .

we'll be picking up our grand-pup from the airport tomorrow evening and then WD on friday. the poor girls are both going to have need of some winter wear as we're getting our typical mountain spring snowstorms and they're coming from a two year acclimation  to a tropical climate.

anyway, i've managed to complete this welcome home gift just in the nick of time. i'll share a few details with you.

 i began with a very tattered antique cutter crazy quilt piece that i purchased off of e-bay several years ago. i have managed to create some Christmas stockings with this piece and still had some bits left. enough to cut out some triangles as the base parts for my bunting.

do you recognize the bird? it's one of those fabulous dictionary images that i posted a while back. i did some cropping and printed it out on vellum. then stitched it into place.
both plain and fancy embroidery as well as other mixed media embellishments have been used.
i attempted to stick to a "home" theme while also trying to make it something that she could use decoratively later on if she chose. not too celebration specific but definitely festive and suitable for this occasion.

 i may share more photo's of it at a later time. these were all taken in a hurry and, as you can imagine, i'm in fits of excitment so they aren't the best.
but all in all i'm quite pleased with the outcome and can only hope that she will be as well.

if you notice me absent from the blogging world for a few days it's because i'm happily gathering them up and enjoying my little family's reunion~!!~

: D

"All the art of living

lies in a fine mingling

of letting go and holding on."

HAVELOCK ELLIS

last week i planted some seeds. they have to be kept in the house for now until we have warmer temps but this morning i noticed one of the edible chrysanthemum's is coming up. actually there are two but the one next to it is just barely peeking out of the ground.

outside my windows there has been a mix of cold winds and light snow flurries but inside it's spring~!!

oh me of little faith . . .
i'm such a doubter when it comes to planting seeds. i much prefer to go to the nursery in the later spring and buy those plants which are sprouting up and already showing promise . . . but this year my daughter encouraged me to start more from seed . . .

btw: if you click on the photo you will be able to actually see it
: D

Bloggers Day of Silence

 

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to the fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

—

http://www.utterlyengaged.com/category/contest/blog-love/

http://www.forjapanwithlove.com/

my personal goal is  to see these all up and down my sidebar as other bloggers join in.
help me out and help Japan.

Happy St. Patrick's Day~!!~

remember these? way back before the holidays i dyed this group of fabrics.

i was inspired by a photo that i seen on Lori's beautiful blog. she seems to go to a lot of quilt shows and is very generous in sharing her experiences/photos with all who follow her blog.

this particular quilt was one that she seen and admired at the Old Aurora Colony Quilt Show.

it was made by Matilda Knight Stauffer.

i thought it was pretty awesome too. i've always been a big fan of the antique Amish style of quilts and this one struck me as particularly beautiful.

Lori and i did a little brainstorming, i dyed some fabric, she had a friend who was willing to help out with the pattern making and before you know it Lori and i were both sewing up our own personal interpretations of this beautiful antique quilt.

in addition i had a book (within my obscenely huge personal library) called Amish -Inspired Quilts: Tradition With A Piece O' Cake Twist by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins. i've admired the quilts in this book for quite some time and especially loved the "fragment" style quilts that are depicted within it.

so i decided to combine all of these inspirational sources within the piece that i've been making and these are my results.

starting with a variation of the block within the Matilda Knight Stauffer Quilt and setting it on point within the turqouisey blue fabric. this produced a piece that measured 16.25 inches (finished).

i then added a skinny cheddery yellow border of 1.75 inches (finished) and wider green border of 3.5 inches(finished) to the top and the bottom.

then the holidays were in full swing and i had to set it aside. but i knew that i wanted to take the piece into the "fragment" style at this point and so i cut a 6.5 inch (unfinished) strip of the red fabric. i pinned these pieces up onto my wall and thought about them A LOT.

i drew up sketches and played around with the idea of adding a vine applique as well as some quilting possibilities . . .

and finally i've been able to get back to it and begin stitching that vine. the center "stem" is nicely in place and i will begin to cut and sew leaves tomorrow . . .

meanwhile, Lori has been exhibiting the patience of a saint as she is much faster than i am and has her wonderful piece already quilted.

this has been wonderfully fun and some day soon i hope to show the finished results of my little Amish inspirations fragment quilt. hopefully you'll show as much patience as Lori has.

research or dictionary mania ~!?!~

consider this an explanation of sorts as to why it takes me so long to complete anything.

sometimes i like to read through dictionaries. especially old dictionaries. i'm not sure why but i find it both fascinating and comforting to sit and quietly peruse the thin crispy pages. i have a small collection of them and am always on the hunt for more. this morning i settled in with a 1946 edition of "The New Century Dictionary"; volume one (A - pocket veto)

i actually had a goal when i started but then the spell was cast and i found myself wandering from definition to picture to definition . . . pages turned . . .

time passed . . .

eventually i felt compelled to get the camera out and collect a few of the images that might be useful in my "feathers and fins" theme. ah yes, back to the goal . . .

this is definitely a fish with a beak . . . 

it's interesting how similar feathers and fins are . . . 

what a show-off~!~

then i began to notice how similar many leaves are to feathers and/or fins . . .

and even insect wings looked like they belonged somehow . . . 

i was absolutely fascinated~!!~

hhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm . . .

i did get a little distracted at times . . .

but eventually got back around to the inspiration of "feathers and fins".

my head is full of ideas and directions to go now and my spirit strangely calmed by the act of wandering through old print and hand drawn images.

however, i must get back to the daily stuff of life and set this all aside to simmer a bit within my head . . .

inspiration is like that for me. i'm Alice down the rabbit hole for quite a while before it all perks back up into some usable fodder: (fod' er), n. Food for cattle, horses, etc., esp such food as . . . oops, sorry.

what is the creative process like for you? share with me your process (or one of) that you use to slip into that wandering, wondering, pondering pool that then enables you to swim happily to your own strange island of imagination.

our creative processes are as unique as what is actually created i think.

while you think about it i've got to get to the dishes and laundry.

darn it~!

there are some "moments worth celebrating" coming up and so i've been working on a few smaller projects.

 this is a postcard i have just finished binding. i sometimes benefit from a "theme" when i start a project and with this one i chose "platinum and pink" to sort of give me a guide as i worked. the pink piece in the center and the lavender binding were fabrics that i hand dyed myself.  i used some metal embellishments and metallic threads as well as a tiny frame that i found an equally tiny (paper) image to fit within. i think i like the way that this one turned out. i only have the signature postmark and back to do before i send it on to it's recipient.

i think the theme for my next postcard is going to be "feathers and fins" . . . sounds fun, doesn't it!?! i hope to start on that within the next few days.

 i've also made a small pincushion using a ceramic egg cup for the base. i thought it might be nice to include the card as a primitive tag . . .

with a two sided message~!~

and (finally) i've put the finishing touches on this ATC. i'm calling this one "Journey Home" and i think i like it so much i'm going to keep it rather than trade it.