Zipper Mouth!

I needed something to make me smile... I think he will do it. Quite dapper, don't you think? His name is Archibald Hubble Stuart.

 

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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....

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.

 

 

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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!

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.

 

 

 

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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!

 

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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. 

Black and White and Red All Over

 

Just a little project to keep me out of trouble while I knit, and sew on my Quilt Club project. I love the batik in front, and the red pops out of the black like a beacon.... I think I will make a second one just a little bigger now, since this is perfect for my iPad, but a bit small for my other goodies that I NEED to carry. Maybe two inches, that's all. I think I have some black and white fabric with animal skeletons.....

 

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Warping the Quilt Club

So this is the block that we are all starting with this year... Sunbonnet Sue, classically done.  I, of course, am a rebel, and have no intention of doing Sue in a classic style.  In fact, we spent much of the time in quilt club discussing how to warp the standard Sue block into something less like your grandmother would have made, and more like a technicolor dream.  Or nightmare, in some cases!  We will be making 12 blocks, 8 small, 4 large, using either Sunbonnet Sue or Overall Bill or a combination of them. 

My first block has been started... Sigridr and Balli are my two Norse faceless friends.... oh, this is going to be fun!  I am doing the handwork now.... I have many plans.....

 

Chaos and Order

 

Today we saw the neurologist, and got some not so good news.  Meg actually did have some shearing and bleeding in the parietal lobe, shown on the second MRI.  No treatment, just time and watching, but it means she is more at risk than we thought for a second seizure.  She also has some facial paralysis from a crush injury to her forehead.  This will all heal up, but will take somewhat longer than hoped for, and that wasn't what Meg wanted to hear.  Nor Gil and I, of course. Still and all, she is doing well, and expected to make a full recovery.  

The wallhanging I have been working on shows pretty well her shoulder injury... there is a small bit at the top that holds it together, the break goes all the rest of the way down, with about a 3/8th to 1/2 inch separation at the bottom of the scapula.  The radiologist says it is the kind of injury they see with baseball bat assaults.  (Shudder)  The ribs are healing as expected, they take months, of course.  Her pain level is better, but not zero, which is the goal.  Time, time heals.  Rest, sleep, food, water.  Those are the things she needs.  Me?  I need my daughter back to normal!  Soon.  It will happen soon.  In the grand scheme of things.  Just not soon enough for any of us.     

 Each of the elements has meaning...I won't explain them all, but the Kantha stitching represents my prayers, and the bird is God's ever present Spirit.  

Knit One, and an Anniversary Coming Up!

I saw a really cool looking shawl, and being cheap, uh, frugal, decided I could figure out the pattern myself, saving the princely sum of 7.95!  We'll see how successful it is, but so far so good... with, of course, modifications to make it mine.  I will post pics of the inspiration and the finished product later. 

I am fast approaching my 400th post!  I am thinking of an appropriate celebratory action... but in the meantime, I am working on a little wallhanging.  It was started after my daughter was out of the hospital, and I needed to start working through the feelings I had.  It is still a work in progress, but here is a teaser... I am very much enjoying the process of stitching my feelings onto this fabric.  It is amazing to me how much of the negative it drains away and lets me concentrate on the positive.  Working with my hands has always been therapeutic, though I didn't realize it at the time, but now, it has become a necessity.  If that is my addiction, so be it.  It is a fairly innocuous one, I suppose.  At least my wife whispering husband knows where I am, nights!