a baby quilt~

well, i certainly didn't mean to stop quilting.  really.  i just find this season of my life to be particularly challenging.  the demands of motherhood keep me hopping, and although i thought i would have more time for sewing as my kids got older, i find they need me more as a presence... to take a walk with, to read to, to take skating or swimming, etc.  they need me to be more present in their lives... available.

making this quilt was pure joy.  a lovely couple in our church expecting their second child, a girl.  i was completely inspired by emily of mle knits and her crosses quilt. i raided my stash and found a kona curry and some prints from the innocent crush line as well as some others that really seemed to work well together.  i pieced the crosses section with three inch squares and bound it with signals, from innocent crush.

Edited to add: I'm entering it into the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side.

margaret bag

with a snow day yesterday, i was happy to sit down with the sewing machine.  there is something so great about loosing yourself to a project.  it's like reading a book... i'm lost to all that's going on around me, focused on the project... the process.  i love that.

 

i'm a little late with teacher (christmas) gifts, but i still love giving something that is handmade to those who mean a lot to me and who i know will appreciate it. elizabeth hartman's margaret bag is a perfect bag.  large on the inside with two pockets.  i  made them both with the longer strap option for a cross-body bag.  i used some duck/twill type fabric for the exterior and some fun prints on the inside.  a pretty quick project and very satisfying. 

and now i need to clean up the havoc i've wreaked around here!

a new year....

just last year i began writing occasionally here in this space.  i wanted a place to write about the quilts i made, and the things i sewed.  sometimes i wrote about places we went.

i started a 365 project last year (flickr collection here) and then during the summer and fall joined two self portrait photography courses, called NOW YOU.  suddenly more time was spent taking pictures than sewing.

i have learned so much this year about taking pictures, and have been doing lots of thinking about myself and my place in this world.  but i long to sew, to put strips of color together, to make something out of scraps...  to have the concentration sewing requires.

this is my word for this year. thanks to sarah of urbanprairieforest, i can't get this word out of my head. here's a link to the 'earworm'. rhythmofthehomeblog.com/10/being-persistence/.  i want to have persistence in choosing gratitude, in choosing patience, in being gentle with my family, in carving out time for myself. it's just the right word.

and for those of you that quilt....  there may just be a scrappy trip around the world coming...  i don't know how much longer i can resist.  it's like a siren.

~b