Time to fly!

Hello beautiful people!

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.

This cozy blog home has gotten too small for me.  I have made my self a new nest over here at CraftyPickle.  I will be continuing the journey into my new life there, I hope you will join me.

--JMB, Jessica

A little Clover Sunshine...

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.

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.

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.

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 ROY G. BIV beauty, when the rainbow calls we must answer!

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")

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!)

Speaking of parties (sort of), Alison Glass is have a wild one over at her site... seriously... 74 FQ?!  Sawheet!

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 IG-- jmb_craftypickle-- come and visit me!  It's a fun time!)

--JMB

PS
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!

Looking at quilts... now and then.

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.

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!

My Tula Pink, Birds&Bees, is now a fun (and fast) top made with the St. Louis 16 Patch tutorial(picture below).  Above is a Modern Meadows version of Mardi Gras by Villa Rosa designs  (Patterns for less than a latte!! I got to meet her at Spring Quilt Market and that was super fun!)

Jelly roll race with my self... this is going to be a happy little quilt for my hammock!

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.

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?"

I want to be in the practice of doing.

JMB

Leeks

Good Monday to you.

  I have renegade leeks, confirmed today, in the grey Oregon afternoon.

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. 

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. 

And I practice being patient.  I am practicing being patient with me, with my family, with our life, and with these leeks.  

Today they burst open.  They are glorious.

 And each different and unexpected.

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. 

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.

JMB

Moving in to the life that you want...

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.

 

Things setting that path before me are some of the old standards... sewing,  quilting, photography, gardening, and my dear sweet children.

 

New endeavours are powering me down the path too... My first bag project is coming out this month (Stitch with Style) 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.)

I read something last week on elephant journal 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.  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.  For me, I am reaching, well-being is happening (although is it kind of mysterious), and I hope, for you too.

JMB

Be True

"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend."

Henry David Thoreau

:)

Happy today to have so many good friends and to have so much work to do.

JMB

Be Good

 

 "A little kindness from person to person is better than a vast love for all humankind."

 Richard Dehmel (1863-1920)

 Poet, Playwright

It is so true-- I keep trying to add more, but really, why?

:)

Be Good 

JMB