A New Stash

It's been awhile since I've blogged so I thought I'd let you know what's been going on and what I've been doing! We had to postpone our Mexico trip in January because of some medical issues, so I started knitting which is more portable than quilting and quite stress relieving.

 I bought the yarn and needles over a year ago and totally forgot about them!  Luckily, a friend reminded me :)


 The first pair on the left was for a friend and the yarn made the lovely pattern.  The second pair below was also for a friend.

Of course, I had to have a yarn stash and I bought 2 or 3 skeins of every color in the store except for the solid colors. They don't knit up very fast as they are on size 2 needles and I used some tiny circular needles to make them. 







Notice that the stash is in a basket in plain sight!  I won't forget I have this yarn.

This is the pair I'm working on at the moment.  Thankfully we aren't dealing with any medical issues at the present time so I'm not in too much of a hurry to finish these.












I did manage to put together a small quilt kit of star blocks.  I like the way the stars float, don't you?

And, machine quilted a doll quilt top that I had for a long time.

We did make a trip to Mexico, later than usual, where we relaxed, read and enjoyed some warm, sunny weather.

I've pulled some fabrics for an "Out the Door Quilt".  Not in any hurry to cut into these.

  

On the right are some indigo fabrics I've been washing for a doll quilt swap.

When we returned home from Mexico, we put in the dock.  We enjoy catching crappies and sunnies off the dock in the spring.  Next weekend we'll have a full house (kids and grand kids) for the opener, so there won't be much sewing getting done!


That's about it for now!  Hope your spring is going well!

Nana

Deck the Halls

Here it is, December 1st, the start of the Christmas season and once again I intend to heed the words of G.K. Chesterton....

Angels can fly…….

. . . because they take themselves lightly.

                               - GK Chesterton

 

It is difficult to fly when we take ourselves so seriously that:

- we feel we must be on "top" of everything,

- we have to have "all" the answers,

- we must provide a "perfect" Christmas,

- we have to "do it all" ourselves,

- we must be "in charge,"

- we have to "fit" it all into our calendars.

 

May we take ourselves a little more lightly this

Holiday Season

- knowing that God loves us

and understands what it is like to be human.

For those of you who have read the lines above before on this blog, just look at the quilts, both Primitive Gatherings projects.  Above, Warm Winter Blessings  and on the left, Back in Time.

Both are wool applique/embroidery on cotton that I completed once my wrist recovered from the fracture last winter.  Back in Time is hung over an antique radio that Grandpa refinished for us many years ago.

Close-up.

I'm grateful to be able to complete these projects and hang them up for Christmas, however, once again I'm wondering why every December we plan and execute more things in 25 days than we might normally take a year to accomplish. Do you find yourself doing this?  I also find people who have it all done by December 1st quite annoying and I'd like them to go away!

Tango

So, this December I plan to keep a sort of journal on my blog to first remind myself of what I do indeed accomplish, as well as to try to keep the spirit in everything I do as I travel lightly through the holidays.

On the left is one bright spot in a -7 degree morning.  The "Tango" geranium my grand-daughter gave me for mothers' day is blooming in the living room

Finally, here is a peek into Santa's Workshop, sewing room or best yet, The Studio.  You can find me here, listening to Christmas music and trying to put it all together.  I'll bet you're wondering if I can find anything in there.  You're probably right.



I'm ready for the journey.  Would you care to join me?


Nana

Gratitude

About my previous post.....

When I wrote my post in January about trying to be more and do less, little did I know that I would be spending the rest of winter just being..... I must have had a premonition.

We had a wonderful vacation in Cozumel.....we were snorkeling, swimming, walking and I was doing a wonderful online watercolor class with Jane Lafazio.

After shopping at the Mercado for models, I painted apples and lemons.

Since there wasn't a lemon to be found on the island, I used a yellow lime!

On one of our walks, we found an empanada stand on a corner where a mother and daughter were making the empanadas from scratch. They were delicious!

Then I broke my right wrist and left kneecap when I stepped into a puddle from my husbands bathing suit in the bathroom.

We had excellent help from Sara, the manager...(getting x-rays since I was certain nothing was broken and going to an orthopedic surgeon who assured me that both were indeed broken) , but this put an end to the vacation about a week early.


So for the past month I have been practicing just being.  Can't write, sew, quilt, knit, drive, cook or clean.  Wait...there's nothing wrong with not cooking or cleaning.

However, I can read, nap, play the piano with my left hand and walk around with the brace on my left leg.  Time goes quite quickly as everything takes twice as long with my left hand (like typing this post)!


To my delight, my watercolor class had a lesson on drawing with the non-dominant hand which I highly recommend, and here are some of my examples.

 This is one of the dozen roses my husband gave me for Valentine's Day. I've also discovered his talent for cooking and housekeeping that he hid for so many years.

In about a week and a half, I'll be getting the cast off my right arm and then I'll be doing physical therapy as well as still just being.....

Nana

Dooby, Dooby Do

The Sundogs of January

 January is almost gone and I still haven't made any goals or resolutions although I keep thinking about it.  I love to check things off a list or make a clean sweep of the studio when a project is done and heaven knows the basement could use a bit of work.

Instead I've decided to be more and do less and try to stay in the moment.

Hand quilting is something that I find anchors me in the moment, so I intend to keep a project going in the hoop.

This is a pattern by Lori Smith.  I started it last year with plans to hang it up for Valentines Day.

More handwork here with this little wool applique on cotton , Back In Time from Primitive Gatherings.

I'm sure there will be more pieces to finish as the year rolls on, but hopefully I can enjoy the process and let the deadlines, among other things go.  One of my favorite ideas from yoga teacher Judith Lasater is to do everything 10% slower to stay in the moment.  Perhaps that's why hand quilting is so restorative.

So this is my little plan for 2014.  Be more, do less and let go as much as possible.

How about you?

Nana

Merry Christmas

 

If,

as Herod,

we fill our lives

with things, and again

with things;If we consider

 ourselves so unimportant that

we must fill every moment of our

 lives with action, When will we have the

time to make the long, slow journey across

the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch

the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the

coming of the child as did Mary? For each one of us,

there is a desert to travel.

A star to discover.

And a being within

ourselves to bring

to life.

Author Unknown

 Wishing you peace this Christmas and all through the New Year.

        Nana

Thanksgiving 2013

Every year at this time I'm reminded of how many things I'm so grateful for besides friends, family and good health.  So, here is a little quilt show with some thoughts and quotes on this great day we celebrate.

 

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.  

~Native American Saying

Dear Lord; we beg but one boon more:
Peace in the hearts of all men living,
peace in the whole world this Thanksgiving.
~Joseph Auslander

You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.  

~G.K. Chesterton

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. 

~Terri Guillemets

Wishing you many blessings this Thanksgiving.

Nana