Happy color from the archives

Since I haven't much new to show you in the way of sewing, and because I'm still feeling pretty down, I thought I'd pull out some happy pictures of my old work.

First some scarves. Years ago, STITCH had a retreat at Anne's beach home on Whidbey Island. I made Anne a scarf inspired by a photo I took from her kitchen window. That photo and the scarf are first up in this post. I love, love, LOVE, those soft clear colors.

Next is another scarf I made and wore with Carol while we were staffing a table on the Gig Harbor Garden Tour. Someone actually bought it right off of me.

Then there was my Jelly Roll 1600 phase, and I'm wrapped in one of those with an iced mocha, before I switched to iced tea to cut back on sugar.

Below are a few of us from the quilt guild meeting with the fabulous Freddy Moran in front of one of her quilts on display at the old Island Quilter on Vashon Island. Her motto is, "Red is a neutral." (I'm wearing another scarf that I made, this one knitted.)

And here I am with a small quilt of mine but it's one of my favorites, "Starfish Rising." It was on display at the International Quilt Festival's West Coast Wonders exhibit in Long Beach, CA.

Next we look at STRONG WOMEN!

Here I am again, this time in front of a quilt that I made mainly of painted silk organza. I remember feeling strong when that photo was taken, although the quilt is called, "She's Come Undone" because I let it disintegrate at the bottom.

"Mary Conquers Cancer" is a piece I made for an auction to benefit breast cancer patients. It was inspired by my friend Mary who asked me to walk with her throughout the snowy, cold Illinois winter while she was undergoing breast cancer treatment. By the time spring arrived, she had finished the treatments, I was teaching her to knit and she was planning her garden.

This little square quilt is called "Chocolate Nirvana In Red." I used the foil from Hershey Kisses to dress my alter ego calmly strong yoga lady.

FAMILY

Here is my daughter, Julia, after I made her pretend she was meditating  so I could use the photo in a quilt. We had been laughing and goofing around on the front porch, and she groaned when I pulled out the camera and told her to close her eyes and "meditate."

"Days of Togetherness" is the quilt I made for my son, Keith, and his wife, Rachel, for a wedding gift. It's an Apache wedding blessing that reads:

"Now you will feel no rain, for each will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each will be warmth for the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each will be companion for the other. Now you are two persons, but there is one life before you. May beauty surround you in the journey ahead, and through all the years. May happiness be your companion. May your days together be good and long upon the earth."

Just happy colors:

I'm linking to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday so you can see what other fiber artists have been up to this week: ninamariesayer.blogspot.com

Another colorful scarf as I stand in front of "Searching."

Thanks for indulging me, and ...

 Have a colorful day

Color blocks and a good stiff drink

First the drink. As I've mentioned, I'm going through a really tough, sad, emotional time, and my friends are rallying around. I went to a Thai restaurant Sunday with a friend and the first thing I wanted was a cold, sweet, Thai iced tea. We each had one, and it was so good. 

Since this "thing" exploded and caught me totally unsuspecting on Christmas Eve, I haven't been able to focus on sewing. But I did pin together my monthly color blocks from last year. I was going to sew them onto Osnaburg cloth, a nubby natural cotton, but the fabric store was out of it so I went with an off-white duck cloth. It's stiffer, but that may work better. I haven't figured out anything beyond that. I'm running on adrenaline, and I think that's why I can't focus.

Have a colorful day

More yoga wisdom

Bunny love with Julia and Bunners.

Jillian had more words of wisdom for us at the end of today's yoga practice. Here it is, along with some pictures of my daughter's sweet bunnies.

My wish for the New Year

That you have someone to love,

have meaningful work to do,

and have things greater than yourself

to believe in.

That you have a reason to smile every day

and a shoulder to cry on when you need it.

That you keep your integrity 

even when the choices are hard.

THAT YOU LOVE DEEPLY,

give freely, forgive willingly,

laugh easily, and live well enough

to be grateful for every day.

Jillian, Namaste.

 Have a colorful day

STITCH and hallways

From left: Andrea, Carol, Judy, Linda and Karen

At yesterday's STITCH meeting, Linda revealed her awesomely colorful fantabulous hand-appliqued quilt that she has been working on for two years. In all the flurry of getting everyone positioned for a group photo, I forgot to get closeups. So lucky to have them in my life.

A blogger friend, Tie-Dye Judy, passed on a quote that she thought might be too racy for my blog, but I'm publishing it anyway:

"When one door opens,

another one closes.

But those hallways

are a real bitch!"

My STITCH buddies and other friends and family are doing a good job of escorting me down that hallway!

Have a colorful day

A cupful of wisdom

My friend Elizabeth invited the yoga girls over to her house after this morning's practice to get us off to a good start to the new year.

Besides feeding us food (of course), she passed around a cup filled with words of wisdom clipped from a calendar. As we passed the cup around the circle, we withdrew our slips of paper and read them aloud.

Mine couldn't have been more appropriate for the stress and challenge that I'm going through. Namaste, Elizabeth! Here are the two sayings I pulled from the cup.

"Our greatest glory is not

in never falling, but in

rising every time we fall."

      -- Confucius

"You can't be brave if you've

only had wonderful things

happen to you."

            -- Mary Tyler Moore

Have a colorful day

Friends and family

I think a good way to kick off the New Year is to reflect on the riches of friends and family. This is by no means inclusive, but know that if you're my friend and I don't have a picture of you here, you're still in my heart! This is also a therapeutic post, as I'm going through a tough time that's made me appreciate the support of friends and family even more.

Today's yoga message from Jillian was also appropriate:

Namaste: My soul honors your soul. I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the light, love, truth, beauty and peace within you because it is also within me. In sharing these things we are united, we are the same, we are one. Namaste.

Happy 87th birthday, Mom!

Three generations.

And let's not forget the bunnies.

 Have a colorful day