rainy day stitching

My dear internet buddy Anne of My Giant Strawberry had one of her designs selected by Spoonflower for printing! I've ordered a few and sewed one up today. It's been rainy for a few days, and so these bright nasturtiums brought some cheer to my studio. You can find her tea towel for order here.  (One of Anne's watercolor prints hangs in our basement guest room, here).

There's some grand baby stitching going on too. Gretta sent me some fabric from her internship days at Ink and Spindle and asked me to make a jacket with the pattern I used for this one. I've decided to make it with flannel rather than quilt batting to make it a bit softer and less bulky.

I've been a devotee of Mettler thread forever. But now there is a lot of buzz around Aurifil these days. I'm giving it a try (I love the size of the spool!) Do you have opinions about thread? Please share!

If you'd like to see a peek at the latest incarnation of my sewing studio, look here. Be sure to check out the spotlights on other VTMQG members too!

tiwhll #3

We had a very weird growing season here in central Vermont. A wet and chilly spring and a dry and warm autumn had everyone confused. We had a string of four days near or at 90 degrees in late September. This past weekend Batman and I put the gardens to bed in mid seventy degree weather. Our foliage season has been completely off kilter. Mother Nature is expressing the unease so many of us feel...

My brother Doug helped Batman build four new garden beds and treat them with linseed oil. This weekend Batman and I installed and leveled the beds. We hauled a truckload of composted manure up the hill and divided it up between the four beds. Then we harvested some amazing kitchen compost from our homemade compost bin and dumped it on top. We'll let everything settle over the winter and then have fun planting seeds next spring. The garlic have already been tucked into one bed and we covered it with straw from the wedding bale.  The leeks and some of the herbs are still braving the chilly evenings. Sometimes I find green sage nestled under the snow as late as December.

Later we mulched the fallen leaves from the yard and piled them in the now empty kitchen compost bin, to mix with kitchen scraps over the winter. Just trying to keep the process as local as we can.

So, farmers and gardeners, as we get ready for colder weather here in the northern hemisphere, let us take a leap of faith and let us hope with fierceness that all will green up again in the spring. May we trust that the circle will come round again to growth and nourishment and food security for all. 

And may we all take pleasure when the seed catalogs start arriving in our mailboxes later this winter. Hope. Pages and pages of hope.

(This picture is especially for Simone and Andrea)

xo

tiwhll #2

this is wilma,

trying to catch cluster flies
flitting about the bathroom window.

she is filled with hope

and she persists.

i've been at a loss for words these days.

perhaps you have been too.

i listened to this episode of on being on tuesday

and i will listen to it again this weekend.

and this instagram post
is a gem, too.

i love that sometimes other folks find beautiful
and comforting words when we are struggling to find
our own voices.

there is hope in that,
don't you think?

xo

tiwhll #1

676.9 miles

38 hours.

to brooklyn and back.

sitting in a cafe

with a small group of friends and family,

showering gretta and ben with love and hope.

on a bench,

side by side with my youngest child,

with my hand on her full belly,

the warmth of

my first granchild

right there, under my palm.

if that is not hope

i do not know what is.

tiwhll...This Is What Hope Looks Like...an autumn series with occasional posts, starting today.

(photo shared with permission of  auntie-in-waiting hannah)

choosing

Each morning provides a fresh start...

a chance to notice and celebrate all that is

beautiful and good in the world.

Let's choose hope today.

Let's persist and work for positive change

wherever we can.

Are you with me , friends?

xo

again...

In a world under siege

we can find sanctuary in the breath.

Deep inhale, relax shoulders, deep exhale.

Repeat.

Then love and hope and persist

with all our might.

xo