Joyful Inspiration

"She believed that all people deserve love, support, and equality. She believed that her husband was the love of her life, her children were wonderful, and her grandchildren were utterly perfect. She believed that lawns were for kickball, birds should be fed, the dusting and ironing should be put off to later, and curling up with a good book is always a good idea."  

This is an excerpt from the obituary of my neighbor and friend Sandy who recently passed away from a sudden and serious illness.  I'm so glad I knew her....she was an inspiration. 

Another frost photo from Alyson.

Sometimes things pile up all at once that just feel heavy. Several people I really care about are struggling in one way or another with illness and loss....and it breaks my heart. But these people are also some of the very people who so often lift me up in one way or another. I'm grateful to them....and I wish them peace and comfort with their struggles.

These days when my heart is heavy joy is a little harder to find. I was scrolling back through my photos and came across some joy I meant to share...so this is the perfect day to celebrate an artist I admire.

Last time I visited Anne, I saw her finished "embroidery journal." From a distance it looked like a colorful abstract work of art, but up close it was a delightfully detailed year long journal of 2021.

Her project was inspired by these artists on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/thestircrazycrafter/

https://www.instagram.com/threesixfivestitches/

Anne filled each month's wedge with words and images that captured her joys and adventures.  Each month included a yoga pose and something about her three young granddaughters...the rest just unfolded.  

Anne's journal hangs in their condo in Portland under this fabulous art quilt honoring her and her husband Dana's bike trip around the world.  

Joyful inspiration at its best.

Floating

Paul and I had an all day field trip.  It started with a fabulous brunch with our son Sam and his girlfriend Lise at their place in Jamaica Plain, right outside of Boston. Then Paul had an afternoon event in Lexington and I spent time catching up with my dear friend Anita.  All of it perfectly joyful.

So to quote Mary Oliver again....it is actually possible "to be dazzled--to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even float a little above this difficult world."

The only photograph I took all day long was this one of Lise's dog Kyle....I don't think she has a care in the world.

Simple Image

Sometimes the simplest little image can capture your heart. 

"It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world." Mary Oliver

Saying prayers for the people of Ukraine. 

"Comfort Town," a suburb of Kiev was created to brighten up the gray Soviet buildings of the 1950's and 60's.  One of the designers said "the only instrument we had to work with was color."  Let's pray for peace in "Comfort Town"...and the rest of Ukraine.

Chapter Three

Remember my two chapter story about my little quilt that nobody wanted? You can read about it here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2022/02/hanging-around.html

I'm starting to write chapter three.....I'm teaching a class at Handiwork, the little store where my quilt landed. https://handiworkportland.com/

I was a special education teacher for 23 years so taught classes every day.....and I've been helping people make things almost my whole adult life. But this feels different. This most certainly feels like a new chapter.

In April, I'll be offering two sessions of a collage class I'm calling "Torn Paper Garden" at Handiwork. Each class will be limited to four students because of COVID....and that's a really nice number to work with. 

I'm pretty excited.....now I just need a few sign-ups.

Over the past few weeks I've been tearing up all my gelli prints and hand painted papers.....and it feels really good to be putting them to use.

I'll be providing all the materials for the class including a little packet of papers to take home with gelli prints and my precious metallic papers.                

Shades of Blue

I stopped in the Cotton Weeds Quilt shop to watch Jane machine quilt her most recent quilt....and I needed to pick the thread color and quilting design for my crazy quilt we're she's working on.. It was fun to see the process and I was surprised that she doesn't actually watch the needle. 

She watches the tiny red dot on the swirl near the arm...and she just traces the pattern over and over.  It was fascinating...and looked like fun!  

Her calm and beautiful sea glass color scheme is a stark contrast to my crazy wild quilt.  I'm using the strip scraps to make a border for one end...mostly to make it easier to see how the quilt goes on the bed...but also for a little more interest. Not that it needed it....😉.

Jane told me to sew my scraps a strip of muslin to stabilize them and keep it from going wonky.  I sew a strip on...then press it back and repeat...repeat...repeat.  I want to be ready when she's ready so I'm going to work on it a little bit every day. I got about 3 feet done today.

Like the rest of the quilt it's just random...and I will admit...it IS a little wild and crazy. Once I get it long enough to go across one end...I'll trim it up and it will be ready to add to the quilt. 

The colors in my next puzzle match my quilt....and as I'm setting up my boxes I'm pulling out all the shades of blue and purple as a place to start....in honor of Jane's beautiful quilt.

Woodpiles

No matter how wonderful a trip is...it's always good to be home.

This was the view of the morning sun from the porch this morning just before we left. How lucky am I to have spent time in this beautiful place....and to have a wonderful place to come home to. 

Thank you Patsy!

Today was a transition day.....so I thought I would share a few more photos I took over the last several days. You most certainly know you're not in the city anymore when you see things like this!

On one of our walks we visited a neighbor to check out his process of boiling sap into maple syrup.  It was fascinating....but I was more drawn to his woodpiles ready to cut up for his firewood business.

And I've always loved Patsy and Brian's view through the woodshed.

There is just something about the colors and textures of a woodpile.

Group Projects....

.....and a field trip.

We took a little field trip today to meet up with Patsy's daughter and her kids for lunch and this is a screenshot of the map on my phone.  We were almost to the most eastern point in Maine and this map gives you a clear visual of why the coast of Maine is called "Down East."  

The squares are done.  

Now we just need to add the borders and do the quilting.  Jane has become proficient at free motion quilting so I will pay for the rental of the big machine and she'll do the quilting and I will bind it.  I love these group projects!

This quilt is a wild one!

We always spend a good amount of time sitting at the dining room table....eating our meals...playing cards and doing our projects.  We get to enjoy these beautiful lights...and the fabulous view of the water. Tomorrow Jane and I will head home and Patsy will stay for a while longer.  It's been a wonderful getaway.

We finished the fox puzzle this afternoon....another group project.  And Margie...it was just as fun as you said it was!  Thanks Lynn for this wonderful group gift!  I wonder who I will do it with next.

Fabric and Fibers

I got up early this morning to watch the sunrise....it was spectacular and changed by the minute.  It was a balmy 30 degrees so I was able to sit outside on the front steps to soak it all in.

Like I said yesterday....there's fabric and fibers flying all over the house.

One of the things I've been playing around with is this twisted fabric rope.....I've always wanted to try it.  It's a good way to use scraps....and I'm finding the twisting process quite relaxing. 

I'm not quite sure what' I'll do with it...but it could be coiled up like a braided rug for coasters, a hot pad or even a basket.  

For now....I'm just having fun using up some scraps and watching the colors mix together. I'm just going to keep going and make a big ball of it.

And I got all my paper pieced squares all sewed together. I'm thinking it needs to be just a bit bigger so I'll dip into my stash of batiks when I get back home.

Jane has been cutting wool strips for a rug. The squares will be stripes like this with next square's stripes going in the opposite direction. It's going to be stunning!  

 

Patsy is working on an incredibly detailed cross stitch on linen.  It's going to be a stunning Wizard of Oz scene for one of her grandchildren.

And Jane and I (mosty Jane) have been working on extra squares for a quilt she's making for me with my striped and polka dotted fabric.  You can see the first set of squares all layed out in this post: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/07/one-of-those-days.html  More on that tomorrow.

It's such a pleasure and a privilege to have this focused time with friends....doing things we love to do.  We even played some cards today and took a nice walk. 

Joy!   

Fresh Air

We took a long walk today....and although it was cold...the fresh air was amazing.

Before they built the big house....we used to stay in this little cabin.

You would not believe the colors and variety fabric and fibers that are all over the house....but that's another post.  

But here's a little update on my litle paper piecing squares.....I'm starting to sew them together in rainbow order. 

 

Snowy Coast

A beautiful view and a little slow stitching.....life is good on the snowy coast of Maine.