happy new year

revisiting white

snow as the inspiration for 

 returning to working on 

 some white and peaceful pieces

Merry Christmas!

the reveal

Today is the reveal date for Lorelei's  current Michael's Reader Challenge!  The challenge was to  buy the beads pictured in her post at Michaels and create a necklace, using your own stash to supplement two  extra types of beads, a clasp and a focal.

I wasn't able to find the mother of pearl faceted beads and substituted a white nebula.  The focal is a skeleton key I found packaged as "Santa's Key" at a craft show. The clasp is a toggle with a dangling sparkly heart. 


Check out the other participants:

http://silverrosedesigns.blogspot.com

 http://blog.elysianstudiosart.com/

http://threeredbeads.blogspot.com/

http://starcitystory.blogspot.com/

http://erinsiegeljewelry.blogspot.com/

http://www.thistlefarmarts.blogspot.com/

http://therabbitmuse.blogspot.com/

http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/

http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/

http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/

http://jenjuddrocks.blogspot.com/

http://formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/

http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com/

http://deborahmpurdy.blogspot.com/

http://beadhappytoday.blogspot.com/

http://pinkicejewels.blogspot.com/

http://craftyhope.blogspot.com/

http://gr8findings.wordpress.com/

http://tropicbeads.blogspot.com/

http://melissaruth.com/blog/

http://maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com/

http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

a tree as story

ornaments from Paris

The first Christmas we were married, we bought a single Christmas ornament and decorated the tree with popcorn and cranberry garlands and other homemade decorations including salt dough and paper ornaments.

Early in our marriage during our first, and very brief, visit to Paris we bought these ornaments.

 ornament from Paris

2010

For thirty years now we've added to the collection, at first one or two at a tine, then as a family each of the four of us would select an ornament, usually at Chrismastime and occasionally on summer vacations. Although we are now only a family of three, our tree still tells a story through the ornaments selected and made by a family with two little girls. The decorations represent and are comprised of school pictures, musical instruments, fluffy pink birds, dancing shoes, and small toys. In recent years we've also added the ornaments that used to hang from the trees decorated by my husband's parents.

It's just a tree but each ornament tells a story.

every inchie monday

These green inchies were made by Kris of Erosion Bundles fame whose project for 2011 is Every Inchie Monday. This is a weekly challenge for interpreting the Inchie Word of the Week by creating one square inch of art with anything on it. 


Beginning on January 3, 2011.


One inch of art a week.


This sounds like a commitment I can make. 


I've made inchies before but I like the idea of experimenting with different techniques, adhering to a schedule, and the exercise of working within the parameters of the weekly words.

an inside flurry

of household tasks, and we haven't even yet gotten to the inside decorating for Christmas.


We've been painting, re-hanging stained glass, hanging new art work, clearing out clutter to make room for houseguests over the holidays.

  "We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves." ~ Dalai Lama

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." ~ Jimi Hendrix

With red walls in the living room, though, in a way it looks like Christmas all year round.

sometimes there is ice

I often start projects with specific fabrics and colors in mind, although not necessarily with a specific theme or direction in mind. For this little quilt, I've cut out 25 background squares, selected the fabrics and have a general pattern in mind.

So far I've completed 4 of the squares and this is one possible arrangement. They won't be permanently arranged until I've finished all of the squares.

I love Corrine's interpretation of one of these blocks featured a couple of posts ago of ice in a frozen pond "with leaves and such trapped in the layers."

This morning I took some photographs of the ice in our little backyard pond.

Now I'm thinking that the white nebula I'm using for Lorlei's second Michael's challenge looks a little bit like ice.

Lorelei's Second Michael's Challenge

Lorelei is holding a second Michael's Challenge using these selections.  I wasn't able to locate the mother of pearl faceted beads and am instead substituting a while nebula.

Our designs are due on December 17 and this looks like another fun project!

Mrs Moen Napkin Challenge Piece

This was so much fun! This is the piece I created for the Mrs Moen Napkin Challenge.

It was hard to decide which napkin to use for inspiration but eventually I selected this one:

miles and miles

We weren't gone very long but did travel miles and miles. My daughter traveled here from Massachusetts and then we went to Virginia to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my mother and brother.

This is the first block of a small quilt I started so that I would have something to work on in the car, but instead of sewing, I mostly looked out of the window.

While in Roanoke I did go to the market but had to go on Friday since we had to return home on Saturday. Disappointing since I was hoping to see Cheryl.

starting

something new. I've made a little more progress since this photo but I haven't yet decided where I'm going with it other than having plans for embellishments.

“Beginning is easy - continuing hard”(Japanese Proverb)

around the house

"Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."

 ~ Herman Hesse

continuing

to embellish 

reckless embellishment as a process

This is a small section of a ten-inch square . . . a fragment from around 9/11 because the fabric is the same that I used in a larger crazy quilt that I was in the process of embroidering and embellishing at that time. Neglected for all of these years, I haven't liked it enough to do anything with it.

So it's a good candidate for "Reckless Embellishment."

I'm still not sure whether I like it any better or not, but I'm certainly enjoying the process.

components and layers

From Donna Watson's lovely blog Layers

"Each of us literally chooses,

by his way of attending to things,

what sort of universe

he shall appear to himself to inhabit."

~ William James

fifth generation

My great-grandmother was a quilter. So was my grandmother and her sisters. 

Her son, my father, was not a quilter but he was artistic. My mother started piecing a quilt, her mother worked on it, and someday I hope to complete it.

Mrs Moen Napkin Challenge

Need inspiration? Some design ideas? Nina Lise is holding a Napkin Challenge that I'm finding to be a great source of inspiration.


First I was considering one of these:

Then I decided I liked this one much better:

But . . . since then I've discovered one that I liked best of all and this weekend I finished the piece. But I won't be showing it until December 1.

In the meantime, though, I might just go back and make a second one based on the third napkin.