A Contemplative Life

I've wanted to blog for, well, a couple of days. Since we lost a hen. Since the election. Since, well, the last time I wrote, lol. Now it's closing in on nine p.m., which is usually when I turn into a pumpkin. But before I do, I just wanna say Future Me was right. Closing in on two years ago, Future Me told who is now Past Me to stay the course . I thought she was crazy. She wasn't, merely possessing the knowledge I now have, that things do change. Slowly yes. Lives lost yes. Freedoms denied yes. But not all is as we thought in late January 2025. I have since completed the top right block and have started two more blue blocks. My goodness do I ADORE this process! Anyway, I just wanted to give Future Me some props, as well as share my latest quilting craze, that of log cabin blocks. If I'm not doing laundry or dealing with very skittish chickens, I'm sewing these gorgeous blocks. My back remains meh, so no book stuff happening, but that's okay because Americans c...

Many things I could have written about but this wasn't on my radar. Yet as I stepped outside to check for chickens, a hawk flew into the air in front of a greenhouse where the hens like to gather. A barnevelder had been attacked; I could tell from her limp form and the feathers around her. From left: Welsummer, Owl, Gigi-Ru, the backside of Camilla, and Nadia. Immediately we found five living hens; Owl, Camilla, Cami, Welsummer and one of the Triplets. Nadia was missing, as were the other two triplets, though I didn't think Nature Girl was accounted for. Not for scratch or money could we lure the chickens into the run or coop, so while my husband buried the deceased hen, I kept watch on the rest, wondering if Nadia was gone. Meanwhile my back, which I wrenched on Sunday, wasn't awfully painful, which was great! I had a very nice time with my sister, but this was the first I'd been out with the hens since coming home due to a very achy lower spine. Who I believe is Natur...

I chatted with the giver of fabric today, and asked what was the idea behind those 1.5" strips? At the end of a fabric's life, if an inch and a half remained, a strip was cut, then put in the bag for a possible log cabin quilt. I simply ADORED the process! I've never made a log cabin block quilt, though I made a large log cabin top earlier this year. I still want to make a scrap strip quilt, but this afternoon I dove into the bag, retrieving lighter-hued strips, then pressed them smooth. Being only an inch and a half wide, at times when ironed, the fabric curves a bit, making for a perfectly imperfect block, especially when paired with Kaffe Fassett jelly roll cuts I've had for more than a few years. Blues and greens worked amazing well with the neutrals, as did the random black and pink batik scrap. All those were two and a half inches, but it was marvelous to cut off the pinked edges, making for relative smooth sewing, curved pieces notwithstanding. A quilt in the ma...

A quilt I made in 2015 for a beloved healing from a car accident. All those low volume prints I recently received could easily facilitate another methinks, insert smiley face here. I'm currently reading, not in order, the second section of On Being Brave that I wrote during summer. This is the first I've looked at it since and I'm pretty pleased, though I have no idea when I'll release it, two other sections still to create. At the end of Chapter 16 is a scene that relates SO MUCH about forgiveness and love that I'm putting it below, even though I've offered the entire chapter twice in previous posts , LOL! Yet some life lessons are so important, valuable, priceless, that hearing them again matters. Or that's my take on it. If you've read Home and Far Away , references to that novel are like treats. But that book isn't required, merely a manner to proffer it if this scene resonates. Have a lovely, peaceful day! Chella stood as soon as the screen ...

Recently I was blessed to receive four bags of fabric! The bags were for full-queen comforters, recycled as a quilter might dream, lol. One was all solids, two were a mix and many of the pieces were a yard or larger, SCORE! The last bag, on first glance, was of much smaller scraps, and I opened it last, finding quite the treasure; one and a half inch strips, mostly neutrals, many being Width of Fabric (WOF) in length! I divided the prints into stacks; stuff for the grandgirls, autumnal fabrics, batiks, Christmas, low volume (Most of which was one-yard cuts, sweet!), and a small pile, maybe no more than four or five pieces, for a Kawandi quilt I'd like to make. I didn't make it through all the solid hues, and those fabrics weren't run of the mill cottons; they felt like a blend of cotton and linen, what treasure! The fabrics also felt HEAVIER than what I currently sew with; the oldest piece was dated from 1997, but who knows from when these were purchased. The giver is older...

Noticing striking patterns as I hand quilt the Mandolin cozy. And how endearing these unexpected designs are to my heart! Stitching this has become a love affair like few others I've experienced while hand-quilting. This evening I realized that I wasn't sewing the center joining blocks the same way I had done them around the perimeter. Instead of ripping out stitches for a matchy-matchy, I merely sewed additional squares and triangles to correspond with those finished first, then I studied it, and was so utterly pleased it was like I'd written a book in those few minutes as well as sewing fabric. This cool pattern also caught my eye and is easier to share than what is described above, lol. It's late and I'm tired, but I wanted to record this relatively minor marvel because sometimes life is very hard and makes us ache and other times it sparkles so brightly we wonder how we are so graced as to not go blind while admiring the beauty. Another nice design. Maybe more a...