"Marvel At the Day"

We've had a couple of cool, but lovely spring days here in Lexington...good for walking and taking in the marvel of spring. I'm enjoying the trees....the birds...the blooms....and even the rocks.  

I love this little glimpse of our church in the background and long row of  Scilla contrasted with the Forsythia along the driveway of our neighbor First Parish Church.

This row of splashy hyacinths is right up the street...and such a treat to walk by. There have been years when it's gotten too warm too fast and the spring blooms don't last. But they like this cool weather and will stay beautiful a lot longer. So today I'll accept celebrate the cool spring temps and enjoy the show.

Dean and Joan love rocks as much as I do! 

Joan and I did a fully masked puzzle exchange.

The Minute Man statue on the Lexington Battle Green is all decked out for spring....

it's just a block from our house and right across the street from our church.

This next Monday we should be celebrating Patriot's Day in Lexington....the biggest day of the year in our small town when there's usually a reenactment of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.  But this year it will be quiet and peaceful on the green while we shelter at home.

Day 10 of Another 100 Days....today it's yellow in honor of the daffodils.

Back to Batiks

"Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue...and the dreams that you dream of really do come true."

I'm getting back to a full spectrum batik sewing project I started in early January.  I set aside when I started the online Fabulous Florals class and the winter became all about painted paper and collage. So it sat.....until now.

This is where I left it the back in January.....just finishing the oranges and golds.

And this is where it is today.  I worked my way through the greens, teals, and aquas....and am heading into the blues and indigos...then on to the purples and violets.  

I am hoping to make it into some sort of art piece for the condo.  I may end up cutting it apart and rearranging a bit....but for now I'm going to keep adding to these long landscape rows and see how it looks.  I love getting back to batiks...and I love all this color!

It looks like stained glass when I held it up to the light. 

And when you look at the whole thing you can see all the "oops" moments that can only be seen in the light. I'm trying not to have seams line up....but here you can see all that do....that's what happens when you just wing it. I think they'll just fade away once I topstitch.

Day 9 of Another 100 Days.....using some darker blues....and orange, the complimentary color of blue.

Cheery Masks

"In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to."  Dave Hollis

I had to smile when my son Sam posted this picture on his Instagram page.  He's tapping into his colorful supply of bandannas that he gets in his Christmas stocking every year and said he's trying to be "cheery" while out and about in a mask.

I'm working on another pile for Margie's senior living facility....as of this evening I've made another dozen.

 I made some that were a little more neutral on one side....

and cheery on the other.

And I found some cheery fabric for a mask for Margie.

One side is a little wild but it has two of her favorite symbols....a peace sign and the world.  The other side will be a simple aqua pattern.  Cheery....don't you think?

And here's day 6, 7, and 8 of Another 100 Days.  I'm enjoying this daily sewing practice....and I think these are pretty cheery too!  As a matter of fact I've been spending quite a bit of time sewing and have even gotten back to a project that has been patiently waiting since January.  More on that tomorrow.

Who I Want to Be

My mom always had magazines and catalogs around for us to cut up and I have very clear memories of the box of used greeting cards upstairs at my grandmother's house that were up for grabs. I even remember the way it smelled when I was sorting through them. They both would have loved that I am making flowers out of torn catalog pages.

Rainbow scraps from a Gudrun's World Catalog:

I don't have a lot of photos of my mom and grandma....but I love this one because when I think of them....this is how I picture them.  Grandma (Bessie) always wore a dress and stockings and took the time to put on earrings, some sort of pearl or beaded necklace and usually a pin...and a little rouge on her cheeks....even days she was all alone.  My mom (Elaine) had a more casual....but very put together sense of style....and she put on lipstick every day. I'm fairly certain that in this photo my mother is the age I am right now.

These classy women remind me of who I want to be....who I hope to be.

During an e-mail exchange with Linda late this afternoon I was reminded of a favorite Easter memory.  

My mom used to turn this cake stand I wrote about in this post upside down as an Easter centerpiece.  She would put flowers in the hollow base and line the underside of the top with Easter grass and our decorated Easter eggs and those fuzzy little yellow chicks.  I remember thinking it was so special. Mom had a flare for decorating and homemaking. I'm sure she learned that from Bessie...and I learned it from her....and I am grateful. I think I AM a little bit of each of them.  

Happy Birthday....

....to my mom.

Today would have been my mom's 94th birthday. She died when I was 29 years old and was just one year older than I am right now.

Happy Birthday Mom!

With the help of my sister Nancy my mom was able to make a trip to Maine just after Paul and I moved there back in 1987.  She loved seeing the ocean and our new home....and she is the one who taught me how to make a house a home.

I shared this poem here last year on my own April birthday....and today I'm sharing it again on what would have been hers.  I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday raking, weeding, and cleaning up gardens....so I'm especially tuned into the "old camel" and the "inexhaustible flame" that was my mom.

August Third 
by Mary Sarton

These days
Lifting myself up
Like a heavy weight,
Old camel getting to her knees,
I think of my mother
And the inexhaustible flame
That kept her alive
Until she died.

She knew all about fatigue
And how one pushed it aside
For staking up the lilies
Early in the morning,
The way one pushes it aside
For a friend in need,
For a hungry cat.

Mother, be with me.
Today on your birthday.
I am older than you were
When you died
thirty-five years ago.
Thinking of you
The old camel gets to her knees,
Stands up,
Moves forward slowly
Into the new day.

If you taught me one thing
It was never to fail life.

Different Sort of Easter

Tomorrow is Easter.....usually a day when many of us gather, celebrate, and sing.  It will be a different sort of Easter this year.  We will gather remotely, celebrate quietly....and it may be more important than ever that we sing.

Happy Easter Joyful Puttering friends! 

This torn paper spring wreath is on an Easter card I made for Margie. 
Happy Easter Margie!

Day 5 of Another 100 Days....went with pink today.

Another 100 Days

The official "100 Day Project 2020" started on April 7th....and it's not just for artists and crafters. There are no rules....anything goes. It's simple...."choose a project....do it every day for 100 days....share your process." Several of the artists I follow are already on board with interesting projects.....and I've been contemplating starting another one of my own for a little while now.

Last year's 100 days took me on a wonderful journey creating an index card a day from scraps, leftovers, and cut up art projects gone wrong.  There are several videos and photos on this Instagram post of my 100 cards. Be sure to scroll through the whole post if you want to see them all.





When I was planning squares to finish my cathedral window quilt I realized I had way more scraps than I needed....and that got me thinking. And if I'm being honest the scraps in this box are just the tip of the iceberg.

Here's my random thought process.

1.  I've always wanted to make a blue and white quilt and have collected a nice variety of fabric over the years. But I'm also realizing my taste has changed a bit....and I lean towards wanting more color.

2.  I've always been drawn to scrap quilts with random piecing.

3.  I've been playing so much with paper...that it might be a nice change of pace to work with fabric again.

4.  Making a quilt square a day for 100 days may be just the incentive I need.

5.  Why not combine a blue and white quilt with my colorful scraps.

So here I go....I'm off on another 100 day journey.

It's day 4....and here are my squares...I'm not going to worry about size at this point. I'm just going to strip piece with no fussy cutting....and I'm OK if the squares turn out a bit wonky.  When I start joining them I'll add more strips so they fit together to form bigger coordinated blocks.  Maybe it will look like a a rainbow in a bright blue sky.  One can dream.

I'll piece together small scraps of the colors in coordinating fabrics and at the same time piece together a variety of blues. I'm not going to over think it...I'm just going to sew a little bit every day.  If I miss a day....that's OK....and some days I might make more than one.  It's all good.

This is the first time I've used a new wool pressing surface that fits on top of a wooden TV tray.  It works like a dream along side my sewing machine.

This aqua block was my first one....several pieces and more thought out. The purple one was today's day 4...simple and straight forward and took about 6 minutes.  I can do this!                                                           

 

All the blog posts about last years 100 day project can be seen here in reverse order: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/search/label/100%20days

Two To Go!

As I write this post we've got 2-3 inches of fresh snow here in Portland....and it's still coming down.  Spring snow is inevitable in New England....it's beautiful and will be gone before you know it.

About a week ago I finished adding and inserting colors for the first of the three remaining rows on my cathedral window wall hanging. Two rows to go! The hand stitching is perfect for evenings while I watch Netflix...but I have to be careful not to stitch too long or too many days in a row as it's a bit hard on my hands.

Yesterday I laid it out again and planned the colors for the next row. I'm still set up in the little guest room where there's good morning light. I have a photo open on my computer of the other half that is hanging on the wall so I can do my best transitioning the colors. The end is in sight!

When I'm done planning I stack them all up and put the squares in little baggies....one for the strip....and one for the insert when I connect it to the quilt.

I have many stitching evenings ahead ...I almost finished 12 colored squares last night and will settle in again tonight.

Paul snapped this photo of me yesterday...wet head and all.  I never like pictures of me....but I thought this was a good addition to this post.  I really enjoy this part of the process...sorting and choosing colors....it's quiet and calming.

Sitting at the puzzle table this evening watching the snow and listening to John Prine with Paul was also calming.  

Both Paul and I really enjoy his music and story telling....it's so sad that he recently died from the COVID-19 virus.

Distinct Layers

"Hope is something you do, as opposed to something you have. It is a behavior and a commitment that allows us to utilize the wisdom and courage we all possess." from a friend's Facebook Page

Because puzzles are such a source of joy for me....I have to pause and share what's currently on my table. It's one I've done before....and for some reason I don't have the box...just a cutout of the photo that was on the cover.  It's 1000 pieces and has three distinct layers.  Over the past week or so I've been slowly sorting the pieces into three separate boxes and got to work on the sky layer.

There's lots of sky....but it was surprisingly easy because of the clouds, birds, and variation in the shades of blue.  The graduated size of the sunflowers will make the next layer doable too...so now I'm looking for the distant blooms.

I finally gave up looking for this piece....I know it will turn up....so I'm moving on.

And I continue to love my spot behind the couch....I love being in the center of the room with a view of the back yard....and on this particular morning a view of Paul working from home. 

Paul and I took a long walk this morning....some of it through the woods on Portland Trails. It was a beautiful morning to be out.

And what's not to love about a twirling splash of color along the way.