Episode 376: the this and that of the last few weeks and the sewing of a striped pillow.
Amy
50 | Creative Journey | Featured | Philosophical Threads | Podcast | Quilting drawing, pillow, podcast, sewing
“Coco” has become a semi-frequent guest at our house on our inevitable path to dogdom.
While I was working in the kitchen the other night, I needed paper towels. Maximizing my efforts, I bundled up a bag of trash and headed down to the garage. When I came back up, ready to resume dinner-making, I realized I had forgotten the paper towels. I gathered up a load of recycling and… more…
[A few days separate then and now.] The things we do. Last night I did something that we hope we never have to so, but something that many times I have thought necessary and, even so, a step I have never taken. Until last night. I called 911 for an ambulance after a frightening afternoon… more…
A pointless photo, but after making my second full cup, I was thinking about a meeting I had this week. I typically manage to keep a low meeting profile, but before our once-a-month in person staff meeting this week, I agreed to a pre-meeting with a young scientist to talk about social media. She does… more…
Decadent. I bought two things in the last few months that were decadent (for me). Both are indulgences that I had wanted but put off, money being tight for most of the last few years and such purchases seeming, to me, unnecessary even if desired. The story of my first pair of Dansko shoes is… more…
“40” (A year quilt.) A Look Back. That’s how the interview with Tammy feels… like a look back through a long and winding forest road. I probably should have just drawn a regular pie-chart at the end. I hope some of you have a chance to read the interview — I very much appreciate Tammy… more…
’42’ Things have been too chaotic to allow me to get sketches from the book to the computer, as simple as that task might sound. But Opal sent me this photo (along with others) yesterday. I saw it first as I tried to sort out car issues and a rental, and I just love… more…
Sunday. (It was.) Yesterday was my mother’s birthday, a day of celebration and a day that signals my own birthday is a week away. A few months ago, I was aware of the coming birthday. I remember points at which I wondered how much I could change my life, my current mindset, my… more…
Sunday. I hope all of you are celebrating Mother’s Day — and being celebrated. And maybe somewhere in your day are a few coveted minutes and a cup of tea (or something deeper and redder) and time to reflect on the day, on the role, on the years of commitment and love and challenge… more…
Friday. A break for tea and a check-in. Most days after school, my kids play on the hillside just outside of the school gates, a scraggly stretch of trees, grass, and dirt that has, for years, carried with it the name of Terabithia, after the book. The “inhabitants” of Terabithia change, I believe, year… more…
Wednesday. This is not a quilt I made. But isn’t it beautiful? This quilt was a gift in 2012, one of a special collection I am lucky to have. Some days I am not sure where to put all the quilts I am accumulating at a rapid rate. But I love them all, and… more…
Sometimes the creative process looks just like this! On the final day of Opal’s visit here, I finally sat down to plot out the measurements for a large commissioned project. Our work is by its very nature so completely free-form that measurements are rarely an issue. We work until the piece is done or… more…
Day 13 – A Monday. Today was the end of the visit. There was a flurry yesterday of business to attend to and loose ends to wrap up, a special dessert made (I have no clue who will eat all of it that remains!), new roses to refresh the old, some lessons in sourdough… more…
Day 12 – A Sunday. I am a few days behind. Today is the last full day of this collaborative working visit. There has been a lot going on, a lot of routine, a bit of drama now and then (including a toe accident that sort of dictated the pace of several days and kept… more…
Amy
Creative Journey | Featured | Photography | Quilting collaborative, orange, patchwork, quilting, sewing
Day 6 — A Monday. A busy day. Back to work for me, and one boy was home with a gnarly toe injury. Late in the afternoon, we took a quick trip to a favorite flower shop, grabbed a coffee, and then back to work on the roosters.
Day 5 – A Sunday. The school auction happened at the end of Day 4. With only a few weeks before the deadline, we started working on a collaborative donation. After much debate about which colorway to use, we settled on what felt safest, the one we felt might draw the attention of “this” audience…. more…
Day 4 – A Saturday. After time blocking out remaining issues with the purple quilt, rearranging, filling in, and getting it ready for the final long seams, we made another color shift. Greens came out. A bit of an experiment ensued. It’s unfinished, but it was a good diversion before the shift to another project… more…
The day began with a bit of finishing work on the food piece. It looked done, until we realized the pieces for an “appetizer” were ready and waiting to be added. It was a good decision. A bit of disassembling of some unused parts, and we filled in the left edge. There’s a full on… more…
Photos from Day 2. We often approach chronicling our collaborative visits with good intentions that quickly get swallowed up and left by the wayside. This time, the goal is a bit of a pictorial view of the days. I’ll be posting some photos I’ve snapped and some Opal has snapped with her camera. The “food”… more…
It’s an unusual array of colors for me, although the roots are in greens, a zone to which I’m returning and sliding into as one might a pair of favorite, well-worn jeans. The above stack, small as it seems, took weeks to order. I’ve been debating colors for a project about mapping and journey,… more…
The days are busy, but a collaborative visit is coming. My available time (or maybe energy) for working on our projects is certainly less now than it was when we began a few years ago. Still, we are a pretty productive duo, and when we do have the rare opportunity to work together in person,… more…
Having cleared the design wall of two possible auction donations for our elementary school, and then clearing the scraps from the table into baggies and putting the larger remnants and strips back into their bins, it’s time to focus, again, on this project… my “2012.” I know the subtitle already, but I am not… more…
I finally pulled photos off my camera tonight, a medley of photos chronicling the collaborative visit. There were two of us using the camera during those days, and so there are a hodgepodge of perspectives and personalities and degrees of exposure. But always it is interesting to see what is captured. The above photo I… more…
Accck. I’m all over the place still and again! As I roam around getting in the pre-December spirit of things, I keep turning up all kinds of amazing patterns, books, examples, and sources of inspiration. Here are a few worth sharing and checking while you take a break with a cup of tea. Books… more…
Maybe this is the only way for now… lists to help get something recorded, pass on some inspiration and some reality, and clear a nano-fiber of mental space from wherever this is I seem to be. Finished and mailed:Blocks for a commissioned piece in lavender. Favorite recent kid-speak: (A shriek from the top bunk at… more…
An unexpected two hours of time. I didn’t empty the dishwasher or clear out the sink. I didn’t sweep or vacuum or wipe down a dusty surface. I didn’t run in, log in, and spend every second working on “real work,” although I could have. Instead, I turned on Pandora on the Squeezebox, rifled… more…