Thursday, February 28, 2013

Galadriel's Lament

I feel very much like this now.  I have been sewing, and will post later, but right now, must acknowledge this deep sadness.  I feel that something is indeed passing, leaving, never to be found again.  The golden leaves of Lorien are on the ground, but no new leaves are on the branches.  I shall tread upon the gold, and remember....

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Handwork, and Patchwork

Sewing on the Norse cap....slowly coming along, needs to be done by Saturday, in time for court. Hmm.

This was sent to my sister for her birthday... There was more, but this was the biggest part. I like the pattern so much I think I will make it for myself, but in golds, and blues.

 

 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Sunbonnet Sigridr

The first block is done, and the second one started.  Sigridr is a nice Norse women whose man is a sailor about to go off on deployment, so to speak.  Remember Gentle Reader, it's not just a job, it's an adventure!


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

All Done But the Shouting!

After sewing the binding together, and pressing it, I sewed it to the back of the quilt, the reverse of the normal way I do a binding. This is a totally machine sewn binding, at my sister's request for sturdiness, so I used my walking foot to stitch in the ditch of the two color binding. Poof! Instant flange! I really like this technique, it adds a lot to the framing of the quilt. I really love the texture of the quilt after washing, though the binding definitely needs to be pressed on the big board tomorrow before I send it out to my sis, but it will be worth the wait, really.

 

 

 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ready to Bind

 

 

This is the quilt I made for my sister that needed to be quilted on a long arm. I chose Judy Moorman, a long armer near me that I met at work. I liked what she showed me, and decided to use her for my own tops... An excellent choice! I love the way the heart pattern looks, and it is sparse enough to leave the quilt soft and flexible, yummy to cuddle up. I decided on a two color binding, one that will creat a flange in a deeper color with a slightly paler outer binding. A bit more work, but sturdy and full of life. I hope she likes it!

I'm ready to press... Pictures when I am done!

 

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Feeling ...

Life is transitory.  This was a farm horse, needed and valued, used to open the fields for planting and used to haul in the harvest.  When he died of old age and weariness, the farmer didn't have the resources to do anything with the old guy, so he lay in the field in western Virginia and the beasts and birds gradually picked his bones clean.  Sad?  Maybe.  But also quite ordinary, normal.  Natural.  We fear death and dying as a society, and so we glamorize it, make it almost unrecognizable.  We hide the emotions, make the gore something to win film awards for, and ignore the important aspects.  Where is the soul in those film and tv deaths?  What do we say about the people?  Do we even think any more of what happens afterward, or have we put all that "childishness" behind us?  Have we become just the mud from which we were made?  We were made to rise far far above that... have we stopped trying?  That is what causes the problems of society, that cessation of trying to rise above the nature of mud.  Not guns, not race, not poverty, not ill health.  Giving up on being better.


I look at the stars at night, and while I see the far off bits of gas that burn and roil, I also see the lights that God put in the sky for us, to give us comfort and guide us.  I see the glow of the unimaginable love of a Father for His children, wayward though we are.  And I know that, insignificant as I am, I am loved. 

Almost Summer, Winter is A-coming.

The day began early with a ride north for a little minor surgery.  The sun was up before we left, but not before we rose.  The sky was a won...