A Contemplative Life

My Lavender quilt-in-progress.... How now, suddenly, my heart is drawn to the Lavender EPP quilt when not long ago I didn't think I'd ever finish it. (And now that translates to other things, like certain novel series, Enran ahem....) Over five years ago I started basting shapes for Jodi Godfrey's Lavender quilt . It's from her book The Seedling Quilts , and in Godfrey's pattern, the EPP is surrounded by negative space. I first made the pattern with her Seeding Quilt sampler and I FELL IN LOVE with it, once I understood it. That took a while, staring at this beautiful design but not quite able to get my head around it. Then it was yet another English paper pieced quilt I just HAD TO MAKE. Several of those over the years, lol, but I've completed some. Yet for all my initial love of Lavender, other shinies overtook it. Shunted it to the end of the queue. Demoted it into a tote that despite being feet away from where I sit at night to stitch, it might as well hav...

This morning's gorgeous sky! Last night my husband and I shared supper with good friends. Before we left our house, marine layer-looking clouds were drifting from the north along the western horizon. I figured that marine layer would spread, and while I'd not been to our host's home, I hoped for a few minutes to admire the blue sky from her place until the clouds firmly took hold. This morning as the marine layer was interrupted by a smidgen of blueish sky, I was brought back to our lovely evening filled with great conversation, delicious food, marvelous friendship AND a clear sky that seemed to defy the marine layer until well past nine p.m.! Our host has beautiful western and southerly views from her backyard,where we ate, chatted, then enjoyed a fire in her firepit. All the while I kept remarking how amazing was the sky, unfettered by the ubiquitous cloud bank. I saw Venus descend, other stars emerge, and the waxing gibbous moon to the south, such astronomical treats! Ou...

Hearts hand-quilted during this summer, including one from last night. I'm not posting an excerpt, merely wishing to get my head around a piece of writing, all seventeen chapters of it, that kinda emerged outta the blue, or the gray, as today along the North Coast it's seriously MARINE LAYER DAY. Like the marine layer is super-peeved at unceremoniously being shoved aside in recent weeks for plenteous sunshine and is asserting itself in a You Can't Touch Me sort of way. I could giggle at that marine layer, which won't last forever as it's already close to Mid-August, but this isn't a Where has summer gone? post. This is a How many antidotes are necessary? entry, as again I write a chapter littered with spiritual references and emotional upheaval. I have a post waiting, entitled The message of reconciliation . It's based on a line in an aged hymn, Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven , which like many ancient hymns is merely the first line of the lyrics. ...

Peace Round the World quilt yesterday on the work table. Well, I've read over the last five chapters of On Being Brave , so maybe tomorrow I'll write a new one. Once again, I am floored at how when allowing the Spirit to do the heavy lifting, some nice work comes together. Heavy on the character-driven fiction, a little sci-fi thrown in for good measure, pressed down, then overflowing with grace, forgiveness, and love. That's my genre-jam in a nutshell. For backstory, read Home and Far Away: The Enran Chronicles Book Four . Ignore the Book Four. Home and Far Away can be read as a standalone, though if you want all the backstory, read Far Away from Home: The Enran Chronicles Book Three . Feel free to read Book Four first. And have a wonderful Wednesday!   Chapter 16   Gilly and Ross arrived at SFO on Wednesday afternoon. Richard met them, but Gilly drove on the way back to Jumpville. Ross peppered Richard with questions about Hugh’s conversion to Catholicism while Gill...