Off Kilter

"The small fragments of our current lives sometimes seem overshadowed by the pandemic particulars....almost but not quite.  May the fabric of your life be filled with lovely, lively, off kilter moments and memories of this unique time."
From an e-mail exchange with my friend Lynne

Lynne and I continue our periodic e-mail creative pep talks....she's a teacher and a cheerleader.

She's been busy making quilts during this stay at home time and shared her most recent "off kilter" scrap quilt experiment. As I mentioned before I'd already been thinking about reinventing some of my daily squares...even turning them on an angle....and today I had the courage to cut one block a little "off kilter."  It felt good.

So the 100 day project is shifting. The first 50 days or so I made squares....and the 2nd 50 I'm going to play with what I have....and a few other sewing experiments I want to try. It about a creative daily sewing practice....unless I'm in the garden all day.

But today I was also compelled to actually finish something. So I took one of my blocks...added to it and made a little mug rug.  I use these mini placemats/coasters around my house....at my puzzle table...at work my table or beside my chair where I watch TV and hand stitch...wherever I have a drink and a snack.  This "lively" one is going in the mail to a friend who once told me she can never have enough of these.  It's a wild version of her colors.

Quilting changes everything....and I really do love topstitching straight lines.  It's calming and satisfying....things I needed today.


With my needle set to the right I used the side of my presser foot as my guide. And because I always went in the opposite direction it created this window pane pattern and I like the way it looks on the back.

Here's Lynne's "off kilter" scrap quilt experiment....wonky, wild, and wonderful! 

Heavy Heart

"I weep, and I hope. I smile, and I stare into the distance. I curse, and I pray. For the world...our world. As it was. As it is. And as it yet may be."  Dan Rather

I drove to Maine this afternoon.  The air is cool and dry and the birds are singing as the sun is setting.  But my heart is heavy. 

I just talked to my sister Nancy who lives just a few blocks from the devastation and mayhem that is happening in Minneapolis.  Her local grocery store, pharmacy, and mom and pop restaurants are destroyed and her post office has burned to the ground.  There is so much injustice on so many levels with this...it's heartbreaking and scary.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Martin Luther King Jr.

What Joy Looks LIke

Sometimes joy looks like a pile of stuff in the driveway:  buttons, beads, fabric, felt, ribbon, yarn, fibers, paper, lace...and a zillion little bits of this and that.

A week or so ago this ad on the Lexington buy/sell Facebook page caught my attention:

I've been collecting and using art and craft supplies most of my life.  I see potential in almost anything...so when people offer me their extras or cast offs it's hard to turn them down.  And...there's nothing that brings me more joy than to pay it forward and share my stash with others.

I ended up having quite a conversation with the young woman who posted the add through the Facebook message board....not only about what she's looking for but also about her story of rising up out of a difficult situation.  I wanted to help.  So over the past week I searched my closets and bins and gathered a big pile of things I thought she could use....and today I handed them over to her at no cost. That's what joy feels like sometimes.

And joy looks like this sometimes too.....on our morning walk...an explosion of honeysuckle.  I think they look like little firecrackers.

And these yellow daisies were a refreshing splash of joy.

And just in case you were wondering...this is NOT what joy looks like.

Yes...that's my front door in a zillion teeny weeny pieces. It had a bad reaction to a flying stone.

But do pay attention....sometimes joy looks a little different than you might think.

Danglers

"We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden."  Alfred Austin

I was going through some boxes and came across this little pendant I made quite some time ago.  It's a photograph of Bessie, my grandmother....and it's one of my favorites photos of her.  She was such a classy lady.

I shrunk the photograph, sandwiched it between two very thin pieces of glass, wrapped the edges in copper foil tape, and soldered it securing the rings into the solder.  Then I added the blue bead dangle.  I think it's sweet....and I will find a place to display it.

 

I spent the almost the whole day working in the gardens in Lexington....there's always something to do.  I love the way the Solomon's Seal flowers dangle from the bottom of the stem....almost hidden. They're so delicate and sweet.

And there's no better dangler than bleeding heart.....this photo was taken on a walk in Portland a few days ago.

Three Things

"When you release expectations, you are free to enjoy things for what they are instead of what you think they should be."  Mandy Hale

There are many things I could share today....but I'm just going to just pick one.  I drove back to Lexington this evening for a few days so the day was pretty focused....and now I'm ready for bed.

I had a little bit of "just sitting" and finished a delightful 500 piece puzzle I borrowed from Joan.  Margie did it first....and I've been picking away at it this week at the condo. 

This is one of those puzzles where some pieces can fit almost perfectly into the wrong spot....and that happened many times.

All week I was certain this piece in the blue tree was missing.  But sure enough...I found it at the end in the wrong spot.  I had to laugh because it's not even close except the approximation to another blue tree....I'm blaming it on not wearing my glasses. I'm glad I can return all 500 pieces to Joan.

 

OK....I'm going to share two things.....how can you not celebrate lilac season!

And now I'm changing it to three.  The allium balls were still very pretty but starting to shed....so I moved them outside and enjoyed them on the patio. Don't they look pretty against the woods?

And when I got back to Lexington.....the ones I left in the garden were at about the same stage....so the enjoyment continues.  I hope you had at least 3 things that brought you some joy today.

Just Sitting

"Some days, I simply sit quietly with the things I find beautiful & it is enough."  Brian Andreas

One of the things I am reminded of this time of year is that most of my creative energy goes into  getting the gardens going.....so there's not much time in the studio. And that's just fine with me.  When the work is done for the day....I spend a lot of time just sitting.

The brunnera in my little woodland garden is doing very well....and I'm loving that pop of blue. 

And my back yard garden is really coming along.  I moved some things around last fall and some others this spring....and everything seems to be thriving.  It's been a good spring for plants....an it must have been a good winter too.   The "rock from my garden" I found a few weeks ago while I was thinking of my mom in her rock garden now has a place of prominence.  It makes me happy.  I'm really enjoying the view from the patio ....when I'm just sitting.

Two of my favorite hosta....the corkscrew and mouse ears are happy and healthy. 

The pots at my front door are planted....and I look forward to the day when friends and family are welcome. I love this little porcelain sign given to me from Margie years and years ago. There are a few others I have in Lexington.

The flowering trees in our condo complex are out in full force....and sometimes when I'm not working or sitting....I'm walking...soaking them all in.  

I am trying to sew just a little bit every day to continue my creative daily practice....and I'm playing around with something totally new that I'll share in a few days.  

I also may be totally rethinking how I use the squares I've made so far....let's just say I'm looking at it from all different angles and possibilities. More on that later too.  For now it's  mostly about gardens....and just sitting.

Happy at Home

39 years ago today (on a Monday Memorial Day actually) I married Paul Coven Shupe in a little church just over the Iowa state line into Missouri.  It was the day after we graduated from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and our reception was held in the college dorm lobby.  I've always been proud to say that our whole wedding... including the dress that I reworked myself cost around $500.  Total.

Even after all these years we're still figuring some things out....but I can't imagine my world without him in it.  He loves me and I love him and that is enough. Today we took a scenic drive, picked up lobster rolls and enjoyed the rest of the day at home....we're both quite happy at home. 

All decked our for a college hoedown.....we knew how to party in Iowa.

"None Were Mere Numbers"

I'm starting this post with a peaceful scene from the other side of the pond.  And if you're interested there's a cute little video of the whole duck family getting into the pond on my Instagram page that can be viewed here.

Yes, this blog is mostly about my joy....but today it's about my sorrow....and dismay.  As we head into Memorial Day you've probably seen that The New York Times has given us a powerful visual that needs to be seen widely....so I'm also sharing it here.

It leads with this paragraph:

"Numbers alone cannot possibly measure the impact of the coronavirus on America, whether it is the number of patients treated, jobs interrupted or lives cut short. As the country nears a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths attributed to the virus, The New York Times scoured more than 1,000 obituaries and death notices honoring those who died. None were mere numbers."

This link to a visual is worth scrolling through....very sobering.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/24/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-100000.html?referringSource=articleShare&fbclid=IwAR3g6q69ucATqofp7O1xukY071WPu__sHaNUROl3tKVH9NTGF11b8cgcNSU

This is 1000 names of moms and dads, friends and neighbors....and it's just 1% of the almost 100,000 people that have lost their lives.  Mind-boggling.

"On Monday, Memorial Day, we will honor those young men and women who did not believe that being an American meant refusing to inconvenience themselves to help their neighbors."  

Heather Cox Richardson

My friend Becky reposted this on Facebook....and it was a good reminder what decent people do!

Be safe.
Be smart.
Be kind.
Be decent.

My Project...My Rules

The allium balls I brought to Maine have fully opened up....how can I not celebrate it!

Today is day 47 of my another 100 days scrap sewing project.  I've only missed a few days recently....and some days I made more than one because I'm a little ahead and have about 50. My daily sewing practice will continue...but I'm going to start sewing the squares together for a few days and see what I want this to be. I'll still be making squares...just larger ones.

It's a little wonky and not necessarily in a good purposeful kind of way....but it does look better in person.  I can see in the photo that I need to balance the lights and darks a little better.  I can't say I love it...so it will likely end up as a small quilt for a child's bed or maybe a picnic blanket.  And....as I've always said....quilting changes everything.

These nine squares made about a 16 inch larger square....and I have to decide how to proceed.  I think I'll just keep adding rows to the sides and work my way around and around?  That dark orange one is really bothering me...it may have to go.

I pinned another potential row on two sides....just to have something to mull over and I'll fiddle a little more with placement. I can already see some I will change.  I hate that block in the bottom left...that's got to go...but now the orange one is not as big of a problem. It will all be just fine in the end. I will certainly sew all 50 squares together but then may do something totally different for the next 50 of my 100 day project.  After all...it's my project....my rules.  It's all about a creative daily practice....and I think I want to practice something different.

We had our good friends Dana and Anne over late this afternoon....first guests since since the pandemic.  We visited safely outside....and as you can see we went from summer yesterday....right back to seasonable cool spring.  It felt good to be with friends again!

Felt like Summer

"I do believe that "luck" exists but people choosing to share, support, connect, promote, and raise others up is how most things are actually accomplished.  Adam Kurtz

Do you see them?  A tiny huddle of 5 baby ducks swimming solo in the pond this morning.

Finished the puzzle....and tackled lots of outside and garage chores today.  It felt like summer out there....but I'm still holding onto spring.

I loved this one Joan!  All the critter characters and color made it an absolute delight!

Amen....to this summery day.

Transition Day

I had a flurry of activity this morning before I left Lexington and headed to Maine and I snapped some photos before I left of some wider views of the backyard gardens I've been working in.  There's still more to do....but they look pretty good from a distance.  I see I still have the newspaper tucked into my wreath keeping the birds from nesting....it might be time to take that out.

I have a scraggly lilac bush blooming behind the garage. 

It really should be cut down and started over.  It only blooms way at the top out of reach.

I left some sticks and balls in the garden....but had to bring some with me to Maine to enjoy....along with some lily of the valley and another sweet white spring bulb flower.  I will enjoy them on my puzzle table and hope the allium balls continue to open up.  I'm guessing the others will still be blooming in the garden when I return.  

Transition days are often busy...and it's always a little difficult leaving something behind.  But tomorrow I'll be settled in and make the rounds in my little gardens at the condo....and finish that puzzle!  And maybe I'll even sew a little!

Speaking of balls.....I dropped off my striped fabric at Jane's in Ocean Park..... and was quite taken with this little pile of ready to applique circles.  A nice little splash of color to tack on at the end of this post.