Thursday, January 2, 2020

the second day of january

 fronts
 backs
 zipper pull
 a hanging striped plant bucket
a modified rope bowl, to hang

I did a bunch of fun sewing as 2019 wound down! I used a free down loadable PDF pattern for zip bags by Karen Z Stevens, which you can find here. You may remember other projects I sewed with a pattern by Karen  here, here and here.

The speckled blue, the deep blue with a moon and the soft yellow are all fabrics I hand dyed...indigo and tansy. You can find the lovely ginkgo print by Anne at My Giant Strawberry here. The zipper pulls are made from scraps I got during a tour at Vermont Glove, (formerly Green Mountain Glove) which you can read about here.

I had such fun making two hanging planters to keep some of our houseplants out of the reach of Wilma and Cora, who are notorious plant nibblers. I may have used some colorful language when I was trying to remember how to make rivets. These hang in our bathroom, soaking up humidity from showers and the wet laundry that often hangs on wooden drying racks upstairs.

After a quiet start to 2020, I'm feeling a bit invigorated for the winter days ahead.
  • I've got a vision statement for January, supporting bullet points and an outcome in mind that I've shared with an accountability partner.
  • And I've got my nose stuck in this book.
  • This wonderful new cookbook has me inspired.
  • I'm delighted with a gifted milk foamer, and I hope to master all sorts of fun hot beverages. (The nearest coffee bar is miles away from our sweet spot here). Matcha latte? Cappuccino, inspired by our B&B in Florence? Chai latte, heavy on the cardamon? We shall see...
  • More bulbs are coming up from the root cellar...hyacinths, wee daffodils, amaryllis and of course, more narcissus.
  • The windowsill Meyer lemons are beginning to turn yellow, and the pea shoots are filling our salads with fresh nutrients. We're growing local food, even in January!
  • The new year brings new projects and good work to the not-for-profit I serve, and it helps keep me hopeful and engaged with the challenges we face in Central Vermont.
  • Houseguests will drop in tomorrow (folks we've never met!) and there's our annual snowshoe weekend coming up as well.
  • There are one or two really big things percolating, but as yet held close to our hearts, and isn't that the fun of life? Being present and yet keeping dreams held on the horizon.
So dearest readers, if there are still some of you out there...what are you excited about as we step into 2020? I'd be ever so curious to hear.

xo

7 comments:

  1. I'm happy to learn - finally - English
    and I'm looking forward to new sewing jobs
    and some traveling ... and I love coffee with milk foam. Greeting to you Viola
    The bags are wonderful. Thank you.
    I wish you a wonderful new year.

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  2. Your creativity always inspires me along with the happenings in your world out there in Vermont. You continue to offer information that I find to be so helpful. My creativity has been dormant for a few months and I have been looking for that spark. I downloaded kzstevens zipper pouch, so perhaps this will fan the flame and I can return to creating and nurturing my soul. I thank you. xo

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  3. Happy New Year! And thank you for you inspiring post. I have made a few of Karen Stevens's komebukuro bags. So thank you for the link to the zipper pouch! Also I ordered the books from the library, which adds to my ever growing list of holds! I am excited to create, be it knitting,drawing, painting, sewing, or something new even. The last decade was a hard one, including the loss of my husband six years ago. I am learning who I am, after fifty years of marriage and lately, each day I get up, looking forward to whatever it is I am working on, reading, or learning. New Years Day I started and learned how to start two at a time, magic loop, toe up socks! Thank you You Tube and my perseverance. haha Also thank you for you recommendations for listening on Christmas Eve. The story about the dog and the man was lovely. I am a hound lover myself.

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  4. Love your zippered bags. I downloaded the pattern. I am hoping to make more time for myself in 2020. Thank you for taking the time to write your blog. I enjoy it very much!

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  5. Happy New Year to you and yours!
    Love the hanging plant holders, what a good idea! I like the idea of having 'aims' instead of resolutions....much kinder on yourself I feel. SO as we enter another decade I look forward to our friendship here on our blogs and on Instagram growing.
    xxx

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  6. The zippered bags are so lovely, especially since they are made with fabric you dyed yourself! I got hooked on a wool penny challenge via Facebook last summer (80 "pennies" in 80 days) and now there's a new challenge for 80 wool hexagons in 80 days. I enjoy the comfort of colorful hand embroidery with cotton on wool.

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  7. Love seeing my ginkgo leaves! It's been delightful to catch up with my blog reading. I've been thinking about blogs, blogging and social media lately and realized that if I want blogs to stay around for a while, I need to make time to read them regularly (and comment, too!).

    Thanks for sticking around and for sharing your light with the world, my friend!

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