umbrella prints trimmings challenge 2016

 Here's the packet of trimmings I ordered from

Umbrella Prints in Australia.

I enlarged a star map of the Orion constellation, 

with help from my college sweetie and husband of nearly 37 years. 

He's an amateur astronomer and I welcomed 

his collaboration on this project.

I marked the stars on some black Kona cotton with chalk. 

Basting the reverse applique "stars".

Stitching the Umbrella Print fabrics under the Kona.
The pink basting stitches were then removed.

Once all the stars were sewn, I pin basted the top, batting and backing together.
 I drew some parallel chalk lines to guide the random quilting lines.

Once the background quilting was done with black thread,
I connected the stars with white quilting lines.
Orion's left shoulder is a "red star", often viewed as 

an orangey red in the sky. I embellished Betelgeuse with
some embroidery floss. 

Here is The Orion Nebula found in Orion's sword,

created with tiny French knots, using white embroidery floss.

This is the completed wall hanging, over our bed.

One of our favorite constellations, 

we watch Orion move across the night sky here

in the Green Mountains of Vermont during the winter months.

(Try as I did, I just could not get a sharper image of the whole piece.

I hope the more detailed pictures will help 

give you a better idea of the work).

Be sure to check out all the other wonderful submissions

 here. Show all the crafty people some love!

To see my submission from last year, look here.

To see beauties from 2015, look here.

We've made love private,

contained it in family,

when its audacity is in its

potential to cross tribal lines.

-Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise

the week in pictures

::MONDAY morning...seriously.

::TUESDAY trillium

::WEDNESDAY falu red and ferns

::THURSDAY the greening of spring is creeping up the mountainside across the valley

::FRIDAY planning this year's entry in the umbrella prints trimmings challenge.
for my entry from last year look here.
for all the gorgeous 2015 entries look here.
nothing like a deadline to light a fire under my butt!

what have you been up to this week, dearest readers?

triptych 32

::forget-me-nots for erin elizabeth potts' birthday yesterday. she would have been 25. "e"very day is a blessing.

::birch catkins.

::birch white, spring green and sky blue. my holy trinity.

may and october are vermont's loveliest sisters. xo

breathing space

The Chandler Center for the Arts in downtown Randolph, VT put out a call for pieces for their annual Area Artists Show. It is not a juried show, and so I gathered my courage and put together this piece and submitted it last week.

The theme of the show this year is "locally grown" and after some careful thought, I decided to do a piece that showcases the peace and calm of this lovely place. "Breathing space" came together very easily once I got started. I used my own Shibori indigo dyed cotton, some linen, denim and birchbark salvaged from our place here. (FYI...Stripping bark from a live tree does it harm, so please only use bits find on the ground, shed naturally from the tree).

I machine quilted the Shibori fabric first, then did some hand stitching to attach the frayed green linen to the piece. I used an awl to make holes in the birchbark and stitched the bark to frame the fabric. Then I placed the entire birch piece onto a hemmed piece of denim and stitched around the edges. I had originally hand sewn some acorn caps onto the green linen, but did not like the scale. I had a stash of drilled sunflower seeds from another project and liked them better. Then I took a walk around the yard and clipped a branch and found a bit of kitchen string and used some embroidery floss to create a hanger.

I've been a bit "under the weather" and so missed the opening reception. I look forward to seeing the show soon, and finding out what else has been "locally grown" in the gallery. For details, check out the website at The Chandler. My cousin Kristen's beautiful paper collage work is featured in the publicity. xo

triptych 31

-feeling called. even by tea bag tags.
-cedar waxwings, in the morning treetops.
-much loved overalls. frayed, patched and faded. comfortable old friends, really.

waiting for may and all of the green that she brings.

sometimes this happens, too...

...imagine my delight when the three girlies converged on NYC (thanks, Hannah, for the ride) and drew me into their warm embrace, to celebrate my belated 60th birthday.

Our "cruise director" was the newly minted bride, Gretta, and she had our path plotted for the most efficient use of our time. This included a bit of shopping (with all three acting as my "personal shoppers"), amazing food, thoughtful gifts, such kind words, gut-busting laughter, lots of walking, a bit of subway platform dancing and deep appreciation for this life we share. 

Gretta (and Lindsey as her sou chef) created a healthy buffet for our Saturday supper and Ben added a Brooklyn Blackout chocolate cake with a blaze of candles. A perfectly timed "face time" call from Stewart in Portland, OR rounded out the evening. 

Sunday morning bagels and a stroll in Prospect Park finished up our visit, then we hugged and went in our own different directions.

On the drive home to Vermont on Sunday I had plenty of time to look back over the many years of growing up with those wonderful kids. 

-The days and nights that blended together with a newborn, the reshuffling each time a new child was brought into the equation, the books and books and books that were read aloud (by me, by Batman and by the kids). 

-My mantra (call me if there's blood), the Third Floor Theatre, the homework that I didn't really believe in, the walks in the woods on weekends, "shops", hailing the cab in the basement.

-House cleaning on Saturday, meals at "camp credit cafe", being "the meanest mom" to teens, gathering so many of their friends around the supper table

-Listening to  musical instruments being practiced, the sweet (and not so sweet) little hand written notes left on my pillow at night, the chore wheel, Christmas Eve and Robin Hood.

We raised them with such earnest intention and were young enough to have fun with them too. Now they are a delight to spend time with and I marvel at who they have become. Parenting, it seems to me, is being very directive when needed and getting the heck out of their way when it's not. The trick, I think, is knowing which is which. 

I am still learning from these kiddos of ours. They challenge me, hold me accountable, cheer me on, laugh with me, make me uncomfortable...and like this past weekend....spoil me rotten.