handstories

orange you glad...

    Jude shared some sunshine recently... Janie taught me to love orange.  She would point out flowers, pumpkins and the Sun.  She loved the Sun.  It was never too hot for her.  (Those that have been here a while have heard stories of my long gone friend, for you new folks who would like some backstory, there's a "Janie" category to click on at the bottom of the post.)  

    She loved all colors with a passion...she loved most things with a passion.  Everything was "the Most Beautiful" thing she'd ever seen.  I used to laugh and roll my eyes at her.  "Everything can't be the most." I'd say, ever the Eeyore to her enthusiasm.

    "But it IS!"

    She really lived in the moment.

    (Stitching lavender, the first of three border lines.)   

    She bought this dress- a long flowing peachy orange thing with lavender trims, it was the 90's.  It was the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen...  She was wearing it as we sat in her sewing room.  "It looks like a sunset..." she said.

    Soon after she painted her sewing room walls that same peachy orange, with lavender baseboards and ceiling trim.  

    It was the most beautiful room...

Lavender & Light

    It seems lavender and periwinkle have been catching my eye lately, or they have worked their way to the top of the cloth baskets.  Either way, they are peaceful easy colors...  

    This handful of handstories will be going into the shop tomorrow (Friday).  

    Wishing you all a lavender weekend, oxo.

what day is it???

    Last week was all about the abstract.

    Since then, there have been two birthdays (K. & Moon).  Moon's (17th!) included his girlfriend, a whirl (or four) on the Seattle Great Wheel, finding a geogache*** with the two of them, and apple fritters.  Which, if I remember right, is what Blue asked for on his 17th birthday, too. 

    There has also been time spent supporting a close friend recovering from surgery, a bee sting for Moon that required an ER trip, multiple taxiing trips for two boys who refuse to drive (Don't get me started), and at 4am tomorrow Blue is heading to New Jersey for a conference.  

    A couple of moons, a boat and a few trees in the last days were good for relaxing.  (It's funny, and swell, how happy playing with those tiny beads makes me.)  Tomorrow I think I'll sit still and stitch some squares.

    *** "Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use their smart phone and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world."  

    (It's the new-fangled & technological way to go on a scavenger/treasure hunt.)

the moon & other wonders

    It started with a piece of cloth full of Shibori (Nui Shibori?), a gift from Jude.  Each one is like a truffle.  I just love them.  When this golden centered one was placed on a piece of Tina's lavender cloth, it reminded me of the moon.  There was some thinking about rectangle vs circle, and what if the moon was different than we know?  Still not sure where this piece is going, the ideas keep coming, and changing.

    Last night we watched a PBS show about the landing on the moon.  And imagined what it must have felt like to see up close, step on, and know the moon?  There was some sadness too, for the unknown being lost.  It's not made of cheese, no one is living in it...  

    Something is lost with too much knowing.

pink echoes

    Following Jude's advice for rinsing her gifts of red, these scraps were pinned to what's left of an old walnut/tea dyed silk shirt, and then put through the wash.  (She shares more thoughts about this process in her series).  The resulting pinks are pretty. 

    There was a time when I didn't think residual rosiness was quite so swell...  

    We had just moved into our first apartment, married two weeks.  A funky old 1920's office building with two apartments upstairs.  Other than here, it's my favorite place we've ever lived...  Anyhow, downstairs there was a washer and dryer (one quarter for a wash, and a dime for thirty minutes in the dryer!).  K. went to do the laundry.  There weren't that many whites, so he threw in his old red striped bathrobe.  You can guess what happened.  Pink underwear and t-shirts for a year.

    We've pretty much been doing our own laundry since.

edges

    I have no memory of working on this piece.  I suppose I could go back through the blog and find the story of it, but it doesn't matter.  Jude said some things about this much more eloquently in her Patchwork in Perspective series recently (she's sharing such good rich thoughts).

    Today it's about stitches, and playing, and the joy in that.

    It was kind of a grumpy and rough week.  Mostly due to my mouth aching, not sleeping well because of that, and some growing pains in the family.

    On the worst day, driving down towards the lake, I said out loud to Whatever might be out there, "Please let everything be ok."  A moment later an eagle soared into the sky, and stayed in sight all the way down the hill.  "Thank you."

    Today everyone is fine, out in the world doing things they want to be doing, and I was able to eat a cookie.

foggy

    Slow blurry stitching here and there.  

    Dental surgery yesterday.

    If it didn't cost so much, or hurt right now, I would find my mouth fascinating.

backstories

    K.'s sister and friend are visiting.  Lots of walking, eating and talking.  It's always fun to hear more layers to their family stories.  K. is the youngest and just went along, not remembering much.  She's the oldest, like me, and can fill in most of the details.  

    Looking here at the backsides of some of my pieces before the backing cloths are stitched on.  I kind of like their web-like tangles.  Grandma Blanche would have chastised, saying the backs should look as nice as the front.  Oh, well, no time, or cares for that.

    We're off on another walk soon.  Wishing you some loveliness in your day. 

the glow of things

    These are quiet days.  Blue and Moon are both usually working, or hanging out with friends.  For me, there has been lots of time for stitching and catching up with friends, too.  

    Yesterday's walk was with an old friend I hadn't talked to in six months.  We've known each other for almost twenty years, taught together, our boys went to school and played together when they were small.  She's one of the smartest coolest people I know, almost always calm and takes things in stride.  

    As we rounded the park, I shared some of the experiences of the last months, trying to tone down my stories, so as not to seem too overly dramatic compared to her collected self.  Surprisingly big bold expressions came out of her mouth!  I loved every one of them, and was so grateful for the validation.

    Sitting on a bench at the end, we went on about the now, and what's next for each of us.  I went on about my studio, how it has changed things.  "You've needed this for years," she said, and asked if I was finally going to let myself just be in this piece of time, without self-judgement and worry?

    "I think so."

        "I'm so happy for you."

    "Me, too... Who am I?!?"

    We laughed, and I felt warm from the inside out.

mapping story

    I like this scrap of cloth at the top of the photo very much (thank you, Jude).  So, not ready for it to be gone...cloth inspired cloth.  All day I stitched on it, almost non-stop.

    It was great to work from start to finish in a day.  There was wide open time because my foot needed resting.  The evening before there was a misstep on our old deck- a quick turn, and then my foot went straight through an old board, with the rest of me crashing to the ground, curled up in a heap, crying, and cursing (which Moon says he's very sorry to have missed).  Honestly, it was quite dramatic, I texted my sister afterwards.  She said it sounded epic.  We wondered who would play me in the movie?  Good grief, I just don't bounce like I used to.

    Ice, arnica and propping up made a difference.  Still scraped and bruised, but the swelling is down, and it was a great excuse for spending the day mapping a sky.