« September 2010 | Main | November 2010 »
My mother's house is full of collections and displays of pretty things. Family heirlooms and tag sale finds sit side by side. You wouldn't even believe what she has stowed away in her sewing room. She can't throw anything away.
I have inherited her tendency to collect, but am better at letting things go.
{Do you see the little pink birds sitting in the plant in the middle photo?}
Happy Friday.
Finishing up my preparations for the Twist Fair next month. I haven't done much sewing in the past couple of weeks so it feels nice to have some quiet time this morning to sew. I wanted a new pin cushion myself, then found myself making up a bunch for the fair.
It is a rainy morning. The diffuse light makes the carpet of yellow leaves on my lawn glow. Inky black crows march about on this carpet, a striking visual treat.
I found David Gillanders via Kickcan & Conkers. This is harrowing but important work. Such complicated yet universal problems in this world.
These illustrations are from the book my mother gave me for my birthday last week. It is called "The Complete Guide to Indoor Plants" and is written by Eigil Kiaer. The illustrations are by Ellen Backe. The book was published in Denmark. It is amazingly beautiful.
I have been thinking of making some soft sculpture flowers and plants. These leaves are a part of that experiment.
I just finished a very busy week of work, work, work. It feels good to be back here making a post.
My mother tucked this photo under the ribbon of my birthday gift. It shows me cutting my cake on the occasion of my 5th birthday (in 1971!). Don't you love my graphic red, white, and blue dress? And the pig tails? I'll bet I had just received that wrist watch as a gift. That is my lovely 6-year-old sister looking on. Where has the time gone? My kids are older than this now.
Thinking about stones and how to cover them, because I am participating in Garden Mama's artful stone swap. I have some new ideas in mind.
I have been very quiet here on my blog. I think it is one of those quiet lulls that proceeds a new creative burst. We'll see.
Today is my birthday. I had a party over the weekend, and dinner out tonight. Otherwise a routine day. My daughter did cook me breakfast - scrambled eggs, toast, and tea. Sweet. My mother gave me a vintage book about houseplants, FILLED with lovely color drawings. I will share after I take some photos.
Stitching some felt brooches.
The TWIST Fair is just over a month away. Wondering what else I want to make to bring with me.
The frost has come to our valley. It was so heavy on the grass this morning that my children thought it had snowed. Very exciting for them, but I am sad for the loss of the flower garden.
The monthly craft lab I belong to met last night. We dyed silk scarves, exploring the Shibori dyeing technique. We won't know what our finished projects look like for several days as they have to be fully dry before we remove them from the tubes they are wound around. Very fun to have something that is not immediate in this culture of constant immediate gratification.
New inspiration hung some new images on my bulletin board.
New trees I've seen these cone trees around the crafty blogs for a while and finally made some up myself. Lovely for table top or shelf display.
New birds I like to make these birds, particularly the feathers.
I made two more polar bears - each with his own special blanket.
Margie suggested I try a snowy owl to accompany my polar bears and arctic foxes. I am motivated to do this after seeing "The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga Hoole" this past weekend. What a beautiful movie. Here is a trailer if you haven't had the opportunity to see one yet.
My new sewing tool: needle forceps.
I read about using needle forceps for turning sewing projects a while back on Abby's blog. I seem to make things that have narrow parts to turn, and often find myself frustrated by how long it takes, or how I end up poking a hole in the fabric when turning with my handy chopstick. The needle forceps appear to be a very good alternative. I can reach up inside and grab a piece of the fabric at the tip, gently pull, and amazingly the whole thing is suddenly right side out. I also found that I can use the needle forceps to place small amounts of stuffing in corners and tips of things I am stuffing. This works very well.
The amazing thing is that these needle forceps have been sitting right here in my house for the past 13 years. I bought them when I started my midwifery training. I learned to suture by sewing up pieces of thick foam - the kind used for upholstery cushions and the like. Interesting to think that I probably have other useful things hanging around my house that I don't even realize I could repurpose for current needs.
This coral is the first project I turned with needle forceps. Check out all those pointy projections - turned with ease!
**************************
Thanks for all your interesting comments regarding the Merlin. I am not sure I will be able to get him preserved. I believe that one can only preserve a migrating falcon for educational or scientific purposes. I have him wrapped in plastic in my freezer right now, just in case I discover some other alternative. I have thought about this bird a lot in the past week. He is just so beautiful and represents the wildness of this world. Something that we need reminding of.