Spirit Cloth

quilting a morning after

...it was a good thanksgiving. (thank you to all for the well wishes, they worked!) i did not overeat or drink. a cold wind blew in last night and the leaves were crispy and the moon was shining. and there are leftovers!
....i rose early to stitch the back of magic pink. (continued from) i happened (?) upon an old bee print in my scrap box, perfect with its  honeycomb design. and pink bees. i am dreaming of pink honey.

it is quite chilly this morning and the leaves are still crispy. and i am going to the post office.

quilting on thanksgiving

there are still a lot of leaves on the trees for november but at least we have some color. it is so warm. all my cooking is done and i will pack up some food and spend the day in the nursing home with the folks. not the best thanksgiving but family all the same.

i am bringing a few small projects to work on. just to keep my balance. finishing some detailing on magic pink, an owl that goes with O on the alphabet quilt, and some seasonal trees....
happy thanksgiving to all.

doodle wednesday- flashback

self portrait 1972

quilting a mess

....so i have been asked if i like the sewing machine. i have mixed emotions. (like when is that not true?) i certainly feel drugged by the speed (that is the good kind of drugged) but i am overwhelmed with the mess it creates. there are scraps and threads everywhere! i do feel out of touch a bit with my train (not the commuter one) of thought and i just made a comment to someone last night that i don't like sewing with the machine as much as hand sewing. 
i am rethinking though (let us not judge so quickly) and realizing that we all like better what we are used to. trying new things takes time. it takes time to be able to have a conversation (a personal one) with your tools. your tools are so integrated into the style of the work you produce and what you expect. the tools around you may very well create your ideas..and so for me, machine sewn work always looked alike. i rejected it on that premise. i am rambling here i suppose but i am enjoying the new experience ( thanks to the generous teaching of Tonya), i am enjoying learning how it works and what can be done. and i am curious how to speak with it.
....so Jan asked what was next and i guess it is M and i guess it will be for Mess... and Mushroom.

inspired by this sweet gift from Kristin who has so patiently waited for me to mail her the fabrics i have promised.

i am such a snail.

speaking of mushrooms, check this out.

quilting an alphabet quickly

....i got home from work...and suddenly all those letters and blocks, they went flying about and quickly became like this... just like that. i suspect it was the sewing machine. amazing. i am dizzy.
whew.

commuting with pins

the magic pink project will travel with me today. i am hoping to complete it and get it mailed by tomorrow. i slipped a bit of batting under the floral at each side and i hope to get some nice quilting done during the commute.
the backing has also been placed and every thing is pinned. i normally try to baste and get rid of the pins because they cause a bit of fear on the train. but today they must be  the keepers of my intentions...oh well. deal with it people.

quilting a center

centering a project (continued from here) is always important. it the process of creating the heart (spirit) of the thing.  the patchwork has become an applique and has been sewn to the linen ground. in the center. i chose a flower cut out to appliqué in the center hexagon. this patchwork is very much mandala style the way it naturally radiates from the center piece and so the center is already the center. the appliqué is placed slightly off center as a reminder of imperfection and to expose a bit of peach background, bridging the yellowed linen ground ... it feels more earthy now.
that black and white thread is back and i used it to quilt/embroider in the seam and also decoratively accent the lines radiating from the center. i wanted to quilt it to the linen but i was bored with just stitching around all the hexagons. this way it is well tacked and the hexagons have a soft puff about them. like flower petals.
now i am playing with the wrong sides of floral fabrics, to encourage an aged feel. this is a good way to make new fabric look like vintage fabric.