tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-291738372024-03-12T18:24:27.277-07:00j.m.b.The life and times of a mommy, quilter, designer, gardener, and photographer.jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.comBlogger438125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-41074406646359481192014-08-12T10:48:00.001-07:002014-08-12T10:48:58.567-07:00Time to fly!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello beautiful people!<br />
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I am working on the last parts of my cocoon stage.... my wonderfully different butterfly wings are almost done forming and I am just sure they are going to be ready to unfurl soon.<br />
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This cozy blog home has gotten too small for me. I have made my self a new nest over <a href="http://craftypickle.com/">here at CraftyPickle</a>. I will be continuing the journey into my new life there, I hope you will join me.<br />
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--JMB, Jessicajmb/craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08011135927049402849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-63816758525835498722013-09-25T13:47:00.001-07:002013-09-25T13:48:26.542-07:00A little Clover Sunshine...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The rain has been in FULL EFFECT in the Pacific Northwest the past few days... all I can think is "where is my summery September?" Luckily, just in time to save me from my grey sky doldrums, Alison Glass, a sweet friend and wicked awesome designer, sent me SUNSHINE to play with. Nothing quite as sweet as sunshine, Clover Sunshine, in a FQ pack to keep me humming and wanting to climb back into my hammock for that last sweet summer/fall afternoon of reading.</div>
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My favorite thing about new fabric is dreaming up all the things you can make with it. Is there anything with more potential than a stack of beautiful fabric? But cuts must be made and plans started... the Circle print stole my greedy little heart as soon as I opened up the FQ. This set of four begs to be made in to a fantastic improv block! That was the plan, I swear.</div>
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But then I made the other crucial steps and just cut some strips from the other colors... and don't they make such a pretty rainbow? I needed a rainbow yesterday, I really did.</div>
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So, as I often do, I sat down and just sewed. The colors were so inspiring and glowing that I totally felt the sun yesterday, though the sky was a dark grey. This batch of strips just begged to sing out their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf33ueRXMzQ" target="_blank">ROY G. BIV</a> beauty, when the rainbow calls we must answer!</div>
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SO here I am today, taking my Clover Sunshine for an impromptu reading break, hoping the rain will hold until I can get through the last 150 pages of Game of Thrones. It is so exciting, but I know what's coming and that slows me down a bit. (For those of you out of the loop "Winter's coming")</div>
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Winter is coming around here... but this winter I am going to be looking and the cute little treasures hidden all over the Clover Sunshine line. (I love that the little bunny and cupcake get to have a little party. SO cute, Alison!)</div>
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Speaking of parties (sort of), <a href="http://alisonglass.com/blog/" target="_blank">Alison Glass</a> is have a wild one over at her site... seriously... 74 FQ?! Sawheet!<br />
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See you all soon! (I have been having a writing fast apparently-- I have still been doing lots of beautiful and fun things, but just posting them over on<a href="http://web.stagram.com/" target="_blank"> IG</a>-- jmb_craftypickle-- come and visit me! It's a fun time!)<br />
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--JMB<br />
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If you were concerned about the Circles piece that I first fell in love with... It is making friends on my design wall and will be completed soon!jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-3095551794427305762013-07-06T12:28:00.000-07:002013-07-06T12:28:09.890-07:00Looking at quilts... now and then.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last December I bought a used Long Arm quilting machine... it was such a good deal and I knew that I could put it to use-- but I did not have a designated space for it (details!) It was bought and the task of figuring out where to set it up became the studio rearrangement project/life rearrangement project of 2013. I am not there yet-- I am definitly doing the good work of getting there and in the mean time I am making lots of simple tops to use as practice for when the garage is finally insulated and lit.</div>
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I am accepting now that life is a series of plans we make and then what we end up doing when those plans need some tweaking. The plan tweaking has been such a good learning experience... 2013 is my year of saying YES to things. I am spending less time over-weighing what a precious stack of FQs is going to be and just cutting them up and sewing them back together. I am trying out using a pattern!</div>
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My Tula Pink, Birds&Bees, is now a fun (and fast) top made with the <a href="http://sewwithsass.blogspot.com/2013/04/quilts-st-louis-16-patch.html">St. Louis 16 Patch tutorial</a>(picture below). Above is a Modern Meadows version of Mardi Gras by <a href="http://www.villarosadesigns.com/" target="_blank">Villa Rosa designs</a> (Patterns for less than a latte!! I got to meet her at Spring Quilt Market and that was super fun!)</div>
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Jelly roll race with my self... this is going to be a happy little quilt for my hammock!</div>
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This is the first quilt that I ever made... I thought I was going to hand quilt the whole thing and finished 3 blocks before I tied the rest. Best laid plans, no?! I think that the old adage of "finished is better than perfect" is really good to remember.</div>
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I will practice reminding myself of that. Also I need to ask myself more often "What am I planning and what am I actually doing?"</div>
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I want to be in the practice of doing.</div>
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JMB</div>
jmb/craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08011135927049402849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-60864466558961152013-06-24T22:48:00.004-07:002013-06-24T22:48:48.570-07:00Leeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Good Monday to you.</div>
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I have renegade leeks, confirmed today, in the grey Oregon afternoon.</div>
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Somehow they moved from my garden to my front yard. I have been watching them grow and grow each day for the last 4 months. I could have sworn they were giant allium, but when they passed 5 ft in height... nope. It has been a practice for me, leave the house, look at the volunteers, ask self "what are those?", and then be content to wait to see. </div>
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I am practicing my scientific mind. I am curious. I am being patient, waiting calmly. I have finally learned what being patient means, really learned. </div>
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And I practice being patient. I am practicing being patient with me, with my family, with our life, and with these leeks. </div>
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Today they burst open. They are glorious.</div>
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And each different and unexpected.</div>
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I had no expectation for what they would look like, I had just been noticing them as I journey through my days. It is a good practice for me, patience, compassion, being curious. </div>
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Amazing things happen, in their own time, every day. We just don't know what exactly they will look like. It's good. They are beautiful, I will see what they look like tomorrow.</div>
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JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-69977638032969781872013-05-03T11:53:00.000-07:002013-05-03T11:54:18.060-07:00Moving in to the life that you want...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The sun has arrived in Oregon!! It is a bit early and it probably won't last much longer (we'll see it again around Independence Day) but it is here now and I feel it's catalytic magic. I've talked about it before, but I am moving in to a new time, a new scenario, a new path. Finally, I feel like the steps I am taking are more firm and pointed in more of a direction-- I am more comfortable now that the path is going up and down hills and valleys to a better place that I do not know... but I do know that the path is there. And it is populated with kind folk and so much beauty.</div>
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Things setting that path before me are some of the old standards... sewing, quilting, photography, gardening, and my dear sweet children.</div>
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New endeavours are powering me down the path too... My first bag project is coming out this month (<a href="http://www.sewdaily.com/blogs/stitch/archive/2013/04/19/stitch-with-style-2013.aspx" target="_blank">Stitch with Style)</a>
and it has LEATHER! I am immersing myself more in the design process
and printmaking (woodblock printing totally makes you feel like a
badass) (knives!!) I am also remembering to breathe. Lots and lots of breathing going on around here... oxygen = clear head (or clearer.) </div>
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I read something last week on <a href="http://www.elephantjournal.com/" target="_blank">elephant journal</a> via Facebook-- because, don't you just find EVERYTHING deep on FB these days? ;) It talked about moving from a "positive attitude" into "well-being". My "take home" message was (and is) our place of "well-being" is grounded not just in smiling and being happy or content but in the truth of the human struggle that always accompanies us. <b>With this struggle is the truth that we are not alone and the world full of kindness and beauty-- but there is an element of reaching out that needs to happen.</b> For me, I am reaching, well-being is happening (although is it kind of mysterious), and I hope, for you too.<br />
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JMB <br />
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<br />jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-51662711249207773492013-04-08T15:17:00.002-07:002013-04-08T15:18:02.604-07:00Be True<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;">"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend."</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_david_thoreau.html" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Henry David Thoreau</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">Happy today to have so many good friends and to have so much work to do.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">JMB</span>jmb/craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08011135927049402849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-86557157106424166422013-04-06T22:52:00.003-07:002013-04-06T22:53:18.633-07:00Be Good<h2 class="quote">
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<i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> "</span>A little kindness from person to person is better than a vast love for all humankind."</i></span></h2>
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<i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Richard Dehmel (1863-1920)</span></i></span></h2>
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<i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Poet, Playwright</span></i></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It is so true-- I keep trying to add more, but really, why?</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:)</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Be Good </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">JMB </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></h2>
jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-61416051957955445342013-03-01T11:23:00.000-08:002013-03-01T11:23:36.746-08:00Greetings Earthlings!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I did not know what to write today, only that it needs to happens. Not needed, but needs... not past, but present and future. The last two years laid me OUT, filleted me, and I am hoping-- cut out some of the extra shit that isn't worth carrying along. Is it an early "mid-life" thing or is it just a LIFE thing? We know the answer to that... oh yes we do. </div>
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LIFE- beautiful/ugly, complex/simple, present-necessary, sometimes as painful as hell.</div>
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I am so glad that I take pictures. When I sat down today I was going to write something so very different. I put the pictures in for a short sweet note--- and they did not sing a shortly or sweetly. Today they are sang to me of aching beauty, brutal change, and walking through it all to right now. Motion is key.</div>
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January 2013-- Eugene, Oregon lived some beautiful frosty days. I was not living beautiful days, but thought that being in the frosty terrain might shift that. Taking my camera, my body, and walking out to look. I looked behind (above) and I looked ahead (below).</div>
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Looking at these moments right now, on March 1, they both look COLD--FREEZING--BARE--Beautiful. </div>
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I can see that there is a path and a place to go, but <b>WHERE</b>? And I am so happy to say that I <b>went</b>, I do not know <b>where</b>, but I moved my sad fanny down that path. I walked myself right in--to the next moment because I. Did. Not. Want. To. Stay. <b>There</b>. I am accepting today that I have no control over <b>where</b> is... but I can walk my self down the path until I like the <b>where</b> better. Maybe it is going to take a while, but I. Can. Walk.</div>
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I am a photographer. I take pictures of EVERY thing around me, I need them. The pictures the last 2 years have been helpful and brutal highlighters to my memories. I took a number of pictures of my mom's house after she died, I took pictures of her in her hospital bed, pictures of my us in her room with her. They are raw and I probably won't show them... but they help me. This year I am doing a self portrait every Friday. I want to be able to look at me (January me above.) I want to see myself.</div>
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Today, March 1, I am right here... a different place, maybe not where I want to be, but it is not on that frosty path. That is the only thing that I know. I am not on that frosty path. Thank God, I am not on that frosty path.</div>
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I keep walking. </div>
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The past week has been about having my mind blown at<a href="http://www.quiltcon.com/" target="_blank"> QuiltCon</a> and spending time with my Grandparents in Colorado. </div>
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QuiltCon was like taking a vacation to be ME. I was crazy, but really myself... my- ME. (you know the ME isn't slogging and getting bogged down in the daily BS.) Seeing her again was pretty great-- I am so glad she is still alive. Sometimes I forget that she is still hanging out here-- and that we are actually walking the path together?! What-what?! Yes!</div>
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My Grandparents, my mother's mom and daddy. They are in their late 80's and are THE most active people I have ever met. They have outlived 2 of their 5 children, lived through the Great Depression and WWII, as well as the rest of the last 80+ years of history. Were they perfect parents? No. Are they perfect people? No. They are 2 people LIVING, and that is messy and beautiful. </div>
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They have kept walking, literally and figuratively (you can walk any age), through each and every curve that life has brought their way. They do what they can with what they have...<b> every day</b>. That is what I want. That is what I want this space to continue to be. There is no room in LIFE to be scared-- have fear, yes-- but then <b>walk on</b>. I am walking right now, and I hope that you are too.</div>
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Thank you Grandma, for providing me a path back to here.<br />
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JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-31687365762247159302012-11-06T17:44:00.000-08:002012-11-06T17:44:31.844-08:00Above and Below<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi friends</div>
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Sometimes all I know is that which is above my head and below my feet. </div>
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Today is interesting. Tomorrow is still an idea and Yesterday is gone and done.</div>
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<br />
Times are a changing... and I am hopeful for good. The space between now and August has been long and short-- mostly winding, full of seeking and learning.<br />
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I am still learning... and seeking. You too? I hope so.<br />
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Here are some places to see what I have been making and doing:<br />
<a href="http://www.interweavestore.com/Sewing/Magazines/Stitch-Winter-2012.html" target="_blank">Winter Stitch</a> (The love mitts on pg 2 of the table of contents)<br />
<a href="http://www.fatquarterly.com/issues/issue-11" target="_blank">Holiday Fat Quarterly</a> (Issue 11-- Art quiver!)<br />
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I am so pleased to be counted in such talented company. So many great projects for your holiday crafting! Happy.<br />
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See you round- sooner rather than later. I am sure of it.<br />
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JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-29503774838759724772012-08-09T14:58:00.001-07:002012-08-09T14:58:48.028-07:00Just images... and a few thoughts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have written posts in my head so many times the past few weeks. But then I am moving through the day, the beautiful summer day with my tribe... and it seems like the movement is what is important to all of us right now. So I must just go with that, no?<br />
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We are all growing and changing so much right now. My two year old little Mango will be three at the beginning of next month. And she already seems to be three (maybe 7?) in deeds right now. There is so much to share with her brothers, her father, and I. It seems as if she has always been with us... but she is only two! <br />
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I have been noticing the space that we each hold in our tribe, our place, our role. Sister, Brother, Mother, Father, Daughter, Son, Wife, Husband, Partner, Clown, Audience, Rock, Mess, Talker, Listener, Planner, Leader, Follower. Noticing that sometimes these spaces need to be adjusted and swapped, allowed to be more fluid as they fit us or discarded if they no longer work. <br />
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It is a space for movement that allows each of us to feel most comfortable in our skins and in our family. When I was younger I never understood the danger of rigidity, inflexibility, and how it can lead to injury so easily. Like trying to stretch in to a forward bend in Yoga-- and it just isn't going to happen by force. Rigidness seemed like a valid notion, a decent framework to hang a life on. There are definites there, boundaries. But rigidity gets so stale and dated, even before you know it, and can become unuseful. Then what are you left with? Something that isn't working and isn't able to change.<br />
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With movement, we adjust to things in life that might surprise us, enchant us, or derail us. Flexibility insures that we stay intact as individuals and as a whole no matter what life throws our way. Maybe we don't touch our toes the first Yoga class, but with movement by the third class we can grasp that big toe and it feels SO good. Isn't that what family is? An entity to itself, a whole that needs care and space to change as seasons march ever forward, kids grow, jobs shift, and directions adjust. <br />
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This summer has been about taking that breath, sometimes it is more of a controlled shudder (but breath is the goal.) I am breathing, looking at my tribe, being with them, moving through this time, and being patient about what I am going to grow in to, and what we are going to grow in to, together.<br />
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JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-26877915612373611262012-07-20T16:07:00.002-07:002012-07-20T16:07:59.241-07:0015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://youtu.be/crTc1V34m8g" target="_blank">The Promise- Tracy Chapman</a><br />
If you wait for me <br />
then I'll come for you<br />
Although I've traveled far<br />
I always hold a place for you in my heart<br />
<br />
If you think of me<br />
If you miss me, once in a while<br />
Then I'll return to you<br />
I'll return and fill that space in your heart <br />
<br />
Remembering<br />
Your touch<br />
Your kiss<br />
Your warm embrace<br />
I'll find my way back to you<br />
If you'll be waiting<br />
<br />
If you dream of me <br />
Like I dream of you<br />
In a place that's warm and dark<br />
In a place where I can feel the beating of your heart <br />
<br />
Remembering<br />
Your touch<br />
Your kiss<br />
Your warm embrace<br />
I'll find my way back to you<br />
If you'll be waiting<br />
<br />
I've longed for you <br />
And I have desired<br />
To see your face your smile<br />
To be with you wherever you are <br />
<br />
Remembering<br />
Your touch<br />
Your kiss<br />
Your warm embrace<br />
I'll find my way back to you<br />
Please say you'll be waiting <br />
<br />
Together again<br />
It would feel so good to be<br />
In your arms<br />
Where all my journeys end<br />
If you can make a promise <br />
If it's one that you can keep<br />
I vow to come for you<br />
If you wait for me <br />
<br />
And say you'll hold<br />
A place for me <br />
In your heart.</div>
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Sometimes what was relevant in the beginning is even more so after many years. <br />
-JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-90962933072015289762012-07-13T17:55:00.001-07:002012-07-13T17:57:42.438-07:00Sometimes life with minimal filtering is quite beautiful...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
The last time I took a photo of a delicate Anemone was this past fall in my mother's hospital room. <br />
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They bloom again. <br />
<br />
Much is different and much is familiar.<br />
Fragile looking, but also strong on that long thin stalk.<br />
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Crocus<br />
Daffodil<br />
Tulip<br />
Lilac<br />
Iris<br />
Dahlia<br />
and now this early Anemone<br />
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Seasonal reminders of time passing,<br />
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Beauty.<br />
Transience.<br />
Continuity.<br />
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I didn't know we were here yet.<br />
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JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-57763524027387482132012-07-12T14:25:00.001-07:002012-07-12T14:25:43.310-07:00And then it was finished... Jubilee Crush<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Quilting as <a href="http://dordognequilter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Clare</a> tweeted about the <a href="http://www.thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org/Gallery.aspx" target="_blank">Jubilee Boat Parade</a>... it almost didn't get finished that day. I love the Queen and the pictures of the colorful boats on that grey, grey water. It was all so inspiring. I had to keep sewing.</div>
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I am so glad to have this one out of the studio and out in to the world. I have spent many nights already snuggled underneath,3 sewing and playing <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scramble-with-friends-free/id485084223?mt=8" target="_blank">Scramble with friends</a>.</div>
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Almost the most satisfying part was using these crazy golds in in the back-- made palatable by that AWESOME IKEA number print. Feels so good to finish something and to use some of my favorite fabrics. Hoard no more! (if I say it enough, it might happen.)<br />
<br />
:)<br />
JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-73407635999791512022012-07-11T09:45:00.001-07:002012-07-11T09:46:12.366-07:006 sides, stripes, and a surprise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi<br />
I miss this space.<br />
There has been much time spent studying the 6 sides of this shape. And then not even studying it, but just sewing. Just being in the moment and moving through it. If I am lucky moving through it means there is a folded basket of laundry or, even better, a finished block-- or, the best, a finished quilt.<br />
<br />
the big dreams are still percolating<br />
confidence is building<br />
directions are getting firmer<br />
<br />
but there is much of the just moving through the moment to be done still.<br />
<br />
finding a balance point with all the change<br />
that is what my libra spirit craves<br />
but we are not there yet.<br />
<br />
someday soon<br />
<br />
i hope<br />
<br />
-JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-46685708392605045482012-06-05T09:21:00.002-07:002012-06-05T09:21:43.596-07:00The Jubilee Crush<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am working, hopefully there will a rain break today and I can take full pictures of these last two finishes. It is so good to finish.<br />
JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-57950758149856972362012-05-25T22:33:00.000-07:002012-05-25T22:33:04.455-07:00The Journey...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been thinking a lot lately about the journey that we take to get from one point to another. It is not linear, and I had thought myself a linear-type of person. It is not about the destination or the product, and I had always thought that I was a destination type of gal too. What I am seeing about motherhood, daughterhood, sisterhood, personhood is that there is so much to be learned at each step... if I will just let myself slow down and figure it out. There is so much to be seen, and taken in if I will just remember that "it is supposed to be fun." There is also fellowship and enough room for all of us, if only I remember that our journeys take different paths at times.<br />
<br />
I am still working on the things that need to be culled and purged from this path I am on now. I am feeling the sweetness of carrying around less (20+lbs thanks goodness), but also that illuminates other things that were formerly precious and that I can be rid of. I feel keenly that I need to get on with being myself, but that there is a process to it that can't be rushed.<br />
<br />
There is anticipation, dreaminess, and nervous optimism for the future.<br />
<br />
I am busy Dreaming Bigger.<br />
Nice to see you here.<br />
<br />
JMB <br />
<br />
<br />jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-82564771129061719422012-05-06T16:40:00.002-07:002012-05-06T16:40:28.412-07:00Guest house<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
This being human is a guest-house.<br />
Every morning a new arrival.<br />
A joy, a depression, a meanness,<br />
some momentary awareness comes<br />
as an unexpected visitor.<br />
<br />
<div>
Welcome and entertain them all!<br />
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,<br />
Who violently sweep your house<br />
empty of its furniture.<br />
Still, treat each guest honorably.<br />
He may be clearing you out<br />
for some new delight.<br />
<br />
<div>
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,<br />
meet them at the door laughing,<br />
and invite them in.<br />
Be grateful for whoever comes,<br />
because each has been sent<br />
as a guide from beyond.</div>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Rumi<br />
<br />
--I don't think that it was this poem I found while cleaning my mom's house... but my mom loved Rumi's poetry and this fits her so well. What a Woman! I am so grateful be her daughter.<br />
<br />
JMB</div>jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-29838225984022816992012-05-04T16:55:00.001-07:002012-05-04T17:05:13.624-07:00On the beach at night alone...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
On the beach at night alone,<br />
<dt>As the old mother sways her to and fro singing her husky song,</dt>
<dt>As I watch the bright stars shining, I think a thought of the clef of the universes and of the future.</dt>
<dt> </dt>
<dt>A vast similitude interlocks all,</dt>
<dt>All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,</dt>
<dt>All distances of place however wide,</dt>
<dt>All distances of time, all inanimate forms,</dt>
<dt>All souls, all living bodies though they be ever so different, or in different worlds,</dt>
<dt>All gaseous, watery, vegetable, mineral processes, the fishes, the brutes,</dt>
<dt>All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations, languages,</dt>
<dt>All identities that have existed or may exist on this globe, or any globe,</dt>
<dt>All lives and deaths, all of the past, present, future,</dt>
<dt>This vast similitude spans them, and always has spann'd,</dt>
<dt>And shall forever span them and compactly hold and enclose them.</dt>
<dt><br /></dt>
<dt>-Walt Whitman</dt>jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-46847642542126803852012-04-27T11:30:00.000-07:002012-04-27T11:30:47.941-07:00Love After Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><br /></b>The time will come<br />
when, with elation,<br />
you will greet yourself arriving<br />
at your own door, in your own mirror,<br />
and each will smile at the other's welcome<br />
and say, sit here. Eat.<br />
You will love again the stranger who was your self.<br />
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart<br />
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you<br />
all your life, whom you have ignored<br />
for another, who knows you by heart.<br />
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,<br />
the photographs, the desperate notes,<br />
peel your own image from the mirror.<br />
Sit. Feast on your life.<br />
<br />
<i>Derek Walcott</i>jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-36390676042480046462012-04-26T07:48:00.000-07:002012-04-26T07:48:29.620-07:00Sleepy Friends?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi all--<br />
<br />
Why have I been posting poetry?! <br />
<br />
There are animals in my studio!! They have now made their way over to Fat Quarterly! Maybe I can finally get some work done!!<br />
<br />
(Issue 9 of Fat Quarterly is available<a href="http://www.fatquarterly.com/" target="_blank"> here</a> on MONDAY April 30!! You can also make the plunge and get a subscription-- I do not think you will be sorry. This ezine is always bursting with awesome content and the staff are great people to swap with-- and there are great sponsor deals too!)<br />
<br />
If you want to chat, I am busy cleaning up my most recent mess-- learning the "ins and outs" of twitter (@craftypickle -- YO!) printing some COOL stuff, digging the weeds out while the sun shines, and basically embracing the crazy around here. Times they are a changing!!<br />
<br />
-JMBjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-67730469547446753082012-04-23T12:32:00.000-07:002012-05-25T22:36:46.359-07:00Enough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><br /></b><br />
Enough. These few words are enough.<br />
If not these words, this breath.<br />
If not this breath, this sitting here.<br />
<br />
This opening to the life<br />
we have refused<br />
again and again<br />
until now.<br />
Until now<br />
<br />
-David Whytejmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-30854798482469259302012-04-20T20:16:00.000-07:002012-05-25T22:37:12.985-07:00The Summer Day<br />
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<b><br /></b><br />
<div align="left">
Who made the world?<br />
Who made the swan, and the black bear?<br />
Who made the grasshopper?<br />
This grasshopper, I mean-- the one who has flung herself out of the grass,<br />
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,<br />
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--<br />
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.<br />
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.<br />
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.<br />
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.<br />
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down<br />
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,<br />
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,<br />
which is what I have been doing all day.<br />
Tell me, what else should I have done?<br />
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?<br />
Tell me, what is it you plan to do<br />
with your one wild and precious life?<br />
<br />
-Mary Oliver</div>jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-30956177755196607002012-04-18T10:15:00.000-07:002012-04-20T16:28:08.253-07:00Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Ah, could I lay me down in this long grass<br />And close my eyes, and let the quiet wind<br />Blow over me—I am so tired, so tired<br />Of passing pleasant places! All my life,<br />Following Care along the dusty road,<br />Have I looked back at loveliness and sighed;<br />Yet at my hand an unrelenting hand<br />Tugged ever, and I passed. All my life long<br />Over my shoulder have I looked at peace;<br />And now I fain would lie in this long grass<br />And close my eyes.<br />Yet onward!<br />Cat birds call<br />Through the long afternoon, and creeks at dusk<br />Are guttural. Whip-poor-wills wake and cry,<br />Drawing the twilight close about their throats.<br />Only my heart makes answer. Eager vines<br />Go up the rocks and wait; flushed apple-trees<br />Pause in their dance and break the ring for me;<br />And bayberry, that through sweet bevies thread<br />Of round-faced roses, pink and petulant,<br />Look back and beckon ere they disappear.<br />Only my heart, only my heart responds.<br />Yet, ah, my path is sweet on either side<br />All through the dragging day,—sharp underfoot<br />And hot, and like dead mist the dry dust hangs—<br />But far, oh, far as passionate eye can reach,<br />And long, ah, long as rapturous eye can cling,<br />The world is mine: blue hill, still silver lake,<br />Broad field, bright flower, and the long white road<br />A gateless garden, and an open path:<br />My feet to follow, and my heart to hold. <br /><br /><br />Edna St. Vincent Millayjmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-80600533545993667872012-04-17T09:49:00.000-07:002012-04-20T16:13:17.735-07:00Where the Sidewalk Ends<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
There is a place where the sidewalk ends<br />And before the street begins,<br />And there the grass grows soft and white,<br />And there the sun burns crimson bright,<br />And there the moon-bird rests from his flight<br />To cool in the peppermint wind.<br /><br />Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black<br />And the dark street winds and bends.<br />Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow<br />We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,<br />And watch where the chalk-white arrows go<br />To the place where the sidewalk ends.<br /><br />Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,<br />And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,<br />For the children, they mark, and the children, they know<br />The place where the sidewalk ends.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3c605b;"> --</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3c605b;"><span style="color: black;">Shel Silverstein</span></span></span></div>jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29173837.post-38400345656120007142012-04-16T09:43:00.000-07:002012-04-16T10:01:03.227-07:00A step in the right direction...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Journey</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One day you finally knew</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">what you had to do, and began,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">though the voices around you</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">kept shouting</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">their bad advice--</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">though the whole house</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">began to tremble</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and you felt the old tug</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">at your ankles.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Mend my life!"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">each voice cried.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But you didn't stop.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You knew what you had to do,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">though the wind pried</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">with its stiff fingers</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">at the very foundations,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">though their melancholy</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">was terrible.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was already late</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">enough, and a wild night,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and the road full of fallen</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">branches and stones.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But little by little,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">as you left their voices behind,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the stars began to burn</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">through the sheets of clouds,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and there was a new voice</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which you slowly</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">recognized as your own,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that kept you company</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">as you strode deeper and deeper</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">into the world,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">determined to do</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the only thing you could do--</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">determined to save</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the only life you could save.</span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">--Mary Oliver</span></div>jmb_craftypicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00168511543648304545noreply@blogger.com1