piecing and musing

still sitting in a piecing sort of mood these days. this patriotic pinwheel is coming together quite nicely as a result.  it will make a festive table cloth for upcoming summer festivities by the fire pit! being smaller, and most likely to need frequent cleaning, i think i shall machine quilt this one.  usually, i would rent a long-arm machine, but since it is not so large, i will work on my home machine quilting skills.  it's been a while, so perhaps a few scraps for practice might be wise. ha!

namaste'

boo!

joyous all hallow's eve to you all in whatever form you choose to celebrate it! bodhi and i spent a quiet night with a few friends, breaking bread, sharing sweets with neighboring children, and then snuggling on the davenport watching hocus pocus and allowing our respective surgeries time to heal. it is our sincerest wish that you all are enjoying the evening as much as we have been!

namastě

happy holidays

whatever the holiday (or holidays) you celebrate, 

this is my wish that you find it filled 

with love, joy and peace!

namaste'

warm winter wishes

the roads are empty today...of all save those, like me, who travelled to work and will be providing warmth and cheer for others to enjoy until their families come for them and leave us alone in the cottages awaiting their return this evening.

there is a warmth in being able to provide joy to others. though, sometimes, a quiet, (guilty) selfish voice whispers into the darkness, hoping for some for myself some day... it's odd that i've lived here in billings for so many years and have so few friends. most of them have moved away to other parts of the country. somehow, billings still manages to grow. yet, i work entirely too much and have forgotten, i think, how to make connections with people in my own community. or, perhaps, the new influx of out of staters simply stick to themselves more than the locals...and the locals are happy in their own circles already. most of the time i don't think on it much...though the holiday season tends to bring it to the fore.

may you all enjoy your family and friends and holidays!

namaste'

tattered beginnings

cutter cloth. there's nothing quite like it. soft. delicate. weathered and worn. so much history whispers from the depth of stitches and the woven threads. stories humble and grand...sad and joyous! nothing else churns the creative ocean quite like cutter cloth. some are folded neatly on shelves where they whisper quietly night and day. others are sliced into pieces and woven into other cloths to create new, yet tattered beginnings, both grand and diminutive in scale.

a thought, whispered quietly into my patient ear, has begun to manifest. the idea: to cut stars, hearts, moons and other shapes from cutter cloth scraps and incorporate them into larger cloths as dimensional applique.  now, to find the time to allow these larger cloths to coalesce...

as you can see, the snows have all but melted away now as warmer weather creeps silently in to steal any lingering dreams of a white holiday tomorrow... at least the lights are still prettily lighting up the dark night!

and what to do with so many of these old book blocks that are beginning to pile up? in my bookbinding journeys (which have not appeared much in this particular blog...yet), i tend to deconstruct and re-use old books, much as i do old cloth. book boards are stripped, recovered, collaged, or otherwise redesigned and given new life. individual pages are frequently harvested and re-purposed...

into new manifestations such as paper wreaths...

...paper flowers, amongst other things...

and you can only tie up and display so many book blocks before your home begins to look like an old, misdirected book shop...

so, what to do with so many book blocks? right now, i am simply quietly waiting and listening for them to begin to whisper... but i have faith that their stories will soon emerge.

namaste'

better late than never

it's been tough getting into the holiday spirit this year. but a flurry or two of snow, my santa cloth, and a horse and carriage ride around downtown billings, after a leisurely stroll through moss mansion, oggling all the delightful holiday decorations of bygone eras, and i think it is finally beginning to descend...

with faces like these, how can you not feel your heart begin to warm?

namaste'