friends

hannah's friend rachel is almost 22.

they were thinking about going in to the city to celebrate.

but they are college girls, after all.

and need to live within their means...

so we hosted a homemade birthday party.

cooking (spinach lasagna), baking (chocolate cake),

cleaning, decorating...

and then we had seven,

some in and out and some overnight.

friends from high school, four years later,

telling tales, laughing,

talking about what comes next in the big, wide world of possibilities

godspeed, dear ones.

today's truth

Being happy and at home

is what the whole thing is about.

-C. S. Lewis

blue sky energy

Henry is all velvet ears and corduroy forehead today. The two of us are loving the blue sky and bright reflections off the snow. We are a few of the oddballs who like winter.

Reading lots for an upcoming committee meeting. Especially this.on teaching.

Listening to this.segment of Speaking of Faith.

Still thinking about Invictus, which I saw yesterday, with Hannah and friends. Reconciliation, compassion, courage, vision...and how something as simple as rugby could help heal a nation.

Struggling through switching from one photo application to another.

Sorting through sewing projects. Three options: finish, start, abandon (every once in a while, abandonment is the kindest thing to do).

Errands. Including sending LOTS of used Epson ink cartridges back for recycling. My "good citizen of the world" in $5.95 postage. And finding just the right shade of linen at the fabric store.

2010 is just a lovely blank canvas, and I'm having fun sorting out the possibilities. How about you? What are you doing today to move into your aspirations?

feast of the epiphany

Words from this morning's Writer's Almanac...

James Joyce wrote that the epiphany was the sudden "revelation of the whatness of a thing," the moment when "the soul of the commonest object ... seems to us radiant".

inspiration 2010

Revisiting a few favorites.

The Simple Home, The Luxury of Enough, by Sarah Nettleton.
Plain and Simple, A Woman's Journey to the Amish, by Sue Bender
and
The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian.

Simplifying, paring down, transitioning to the next chapter.

Inspired by the lovely Gudrun Sjoden (which I cannot afford), I've pulled out a few Folkwear patterns (saved from the '70's!). Indygo Junction offers "Handmade Style for the Creative Spirit". And Fabric, by Elizabeth Hilliard and Stafford Cliff is simply amazing.

And what about those special bits and pieces that are in the "special" fabric stash? What, exactly, are they waiting for? ...2010!
Art supplies. And I'm determined to find the owner's manual for my camera, and explore the possibilities!
My first ever "art swap". Can't wait!

And there's still so many old favorite inspirations that follow me into 2010!

How about you...what's been catching the attention of your muse?

putting christmas away

A few years ago, I traced some cookie cutters onto some shot cotton the color of gingerbread and appliqued them onto one of my favorite prints.
Then I pieced the rectangles together with a sweet floral.
I added a few embellishments (buttons, cinnamon sticks, ribbon...)
Added a border with rick rack, quilted and bound it...and voila...a holiday wall hanging.
And this is the product of one of the very first quilting classes I ever took, back in the early '80's, done 100% by hand.
Last night I got nudged to the very edge of the comfy chair by the fire.

Hope you are cozy, too!

handmade gifts

These went back to Stew and Dawn's kitchen in Oregon, along with a photo of Stewart, at about 6 months, wearing overalls made from the elephant fabric. A tutorial for the knit dishtowel can be found here.
These pillowcases went back to Massachusetts with Lindsey. She has loved this Kaffe Fassett fabric forever.
These went to Lindsey's kitchen.
This project bag went back to college with Gretta. Fabric from auntycookie in Australia.
This is the other side of the project bag...with an appliqued felted/printed origami crane. (Lindsey had given this to me ages ago, and I squirreled it away for exactly the right project).
The pattern for this charging station came from this book.Sad thing is, Hannah lost her cell phone right before Christmas. Ooops! (She's hunting for a new one for cheap, as we speak).
Clever Batman made me this drying rack, to make reusing plastic bags even easier.
And check out this gorgeous table he made for Stewart and Dawn from repurposed and harvested wood from "a bit of earth".

To read about our guidelines for holiday giving, click here.

To see what the kids came up with click here.

A few pairs of muttons came off the knitting needles, too.

And due to the five days I was stuck in bed right before the holidays, a few IOU's went out. I'll post about them when they're done!