umbrella prints trimmings challenge 2015

• I bought the packet of trimmings at nido in Burlington in the winter.
• Here's a pic of all the random little trimming pieces.
• This is the laurel wreath I stitched with the trimmings. I added only a few scraps of solids from my fabric stash. I used lightweight fusible fabric to applique the leaves and topstitched with rayon thread. I cut out all the little leafy pieces and then played with their placement until I settled on this casual wreath motif. Used a linen/cotton blend for the background. Patched together odd pieces of batting for the middle. Kitchen string for the hanging loops. I used the frayed selvedge as an edge at the bottom, I do so love the gentleness of a linen selvedge. 
• Closer view.
• A bit more detail.
• Up close, you can see the topstitching. Also a bit of echo quilting around the wreath.

For details about the challenge, look here.

This piece has so many aspects of my life stitched into it. The "making do" as we wait for our house reno project to begin. My maturing rejection of (the energy block of) perfectionism. My bittersweet feelings as I get ready to attend my very last board of trustees meeting after serving for nine years (the laurel wreath is a bit of an homage to the blessings of liberal arts education...). 

Are you ever surprised by emotions that bubble up when you're working on a creative project?

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• doorknobs pilfered/salvaged from my grandmother's house. the culprit texted me "mischief managed" after she obtained them a few weeks ago.
• such a hot and humid day, hydration required.
• and then the storms came and drenched the thirsty gardens.

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triptych 14 and a p.s.

Oh impatience, when will you stop haunting me? All my life, impatience has kept stepping in my way, taunting me, challenging me, daring me. I have been trying so hard to learn her lessons, but here she is again. 

A few weeks ago we learned that due to circumstances beyond our control, our house renovations will be delayed until after the August wedding. I do not need to bore you with how many ways this has tossed me into a tizzy, but you can imagine...

But here's the thing. We are still here. The view out the windows has not changed. The blessed land we walk on is still underfoot. The sun shines, the wind blows and the rain falls, here at our beloved "bit of earth".  These are not small blessings. Who am I to complain?

So in the meantime, I am making friends with our funky kitchen once again. Her aging appliances are still doing their work, her freshly scrubbed sinks still look out on the blossoming crabapples. I am recommitting myself to making do with things the way they are.

It's all good.

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apple blossoms

in the yard...heirlooms planted years ago and some newly planted 

in a bowl...zen

in stitches...vintage treasure

buzzing with bumble bees

petals floating with the breeze

nested by robins

pink and white and magenta

talisman of may

exquisitely temporary

like all the best things in life.

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In the spring, at the end of the day,

you should smell like dirt.

-Margaret Atwood

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Miss Rumphius and Batman planted...

• Vermont wildflowers
• red clover, Vermont's state flower
• buckwheat
• lupine

Henry napped. (On the new quilt.)

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Thank you for all of your kind comments about my triptychs. I am just popping in with words to give Golly Bard credit for the lovely spring fabrics I used in my Persephone quilt. You will find a link to her Spoonflower shop on her blog. Stitching on this quilt helped me move from the seemingly endless winter here in Vermont into the extraordinary spring we are enjoying. I did not actually quilt it, but rather hand tied the layers together using pearl cotton. I also sewed the binding on by machine, using this tutorial.

Can you see the wee bird perched near the top of our lilac tree? I think she might have been whispering to the buds, "Open, open, open".

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