A gift...

Just thought I would post this sweet picture of my grandaughter wearing a pair of shoes I made for her recently. It's a pure joy for me to create something from fabric, in this case wool felt along with some DMC # 8 thread that I hand-dyed used as trim. The shoes fit her perfectly.

What is it that is so rewarding about finishing a project? Must ask that question often as sometimes I feel it may be my ego yearning for that pat on the back. Or, is it the love of giving the gift? Either way, it's huge on satisfaction.

Time to change this blog?

Ok now... my entries to this blog have been very sporadic. Should I change my blog to reflect my daily doings? my interests? my fabric focus? my creative side? Maybe being motivated to create something on a daily basis would work. Hmmmm...

I've been wanting to practice and play with dyeing fabric. Let's see how goes... My inspirations could be some of my photography. Hmmmm...

Watch for some action here.

Life is good

Wow. Can't believe that the last time I posted was 2 months ago. Christmas, New Year's and Martin Luther King's birthday have all passed. It's now almost the end of February--the very same February in which I celebrated another birthday.

Ouch! Almost never has a birthday bothered me as much. There's nothing that can be done about it--it just what is. And you know what they say, "you're only as old as you feel." So, hit the gym and eat the right foods and life will continue in a gracious way. A friend of mine told me that "motion is lotion" and I believe that whole-heartedly.

Enough rambling on about age. There are things to celebrate! Our grandson has turned 3-years-old and my youngest daughter is expecting her first child in July. We are both retired now and beginning a new phase in our lives together. We are truly blessed. Life is good.

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose

all the other ages you've been."

--Madeleine L'Engle

Sampling of work

Here, as promised, I've included a few picks of the machine embroidery samples from the class I took at the Gail Harker Creative Studies Center this past August. There's the workbook and just a few of the samples that were created for the study. All of the fabrics used in the samples were hand-dyed.

Fabric arts as a passion

The weather has changed. Temps are cooler and my focus is now switching to my indoor passion which is fabric art. This summer I took a prerequisite class at the Gail Harker Creative Studies School in Oak Harbor, WA (on Whidbey Island). The class was titled "Experimental Machine Embroidery" and it touched on everything from how to work the tensions on your sewing machine, to dying your own fabric and experimenting with free-motion stitching. Fun stuff!

I came home very excited about the class. The possibilities are limitless! I also came home with samples and notes from the class that will forever be a resource for me. Gail Harker is an accomplished author and graduate and teacher of City & Guilds of London. She is a wonderful teacher; urging you on to your fullest capabilities.

The homework involved includes finishing the sixteen (or so) sample's edges and mounting each in an attractive mat along with the notes/documentation I made in class. These will all go in a notebook. In addition she has asked each of us to create 3 new samples on newly dyed fabric in a different color scheme.

Right now, I am working on my ideas for those 3 new samples. I will be using the analogous colors in the violet/red/orange range. Tomorrow I will do the dying in my kitchen. Hope I don't make a huge mess. What I really need is a separate studio to do the dying in. I'll write that on my Christmas wish list right now...

I will take a few pictures in the coming days of the samples I have created before I send the notebook off to be evaluated by Gail Harker. Watch for them.

Sometimes have to pinch myself to realize that I am actually--finally--working on what I am passionate about. The next class I want to attend is the Level 2 Creative Machine Embroidery which is a 2-year course of study under Gail. I'm saving my pennies... maybe a good fairy will come along and wave the magic wand...

Fall is in the air...

Hello again. It's been quite a long time since I've entered anything new. I think summer happened... Now we're coming into my favorite season of the year "autumn" (with spring a close second). There's a distinct change in air--temp is crisp and it reminds me of going back to school each fall. I can just smell it. Just returned from a visit to my sister's home in Lake Tahoe, California. Had beautiful weather and the nights got very cool. Mornings were fresh and clean. A few wind gusts brought down light sprinklings of leaves. Did I say I love this time of year?

The pumpkins in my garden are turning orange and the maples are changing. The school buses arrive and depart on schedule, "picture day" comes soon. Football season begins--go Seahawks!

I sometimes wonder why autumn is my favorite. Maybe I'm just ready for a change after the long summer months. It is autumn that brings on the gusty winds and thirst quenching rains. It is autumn that uses my favorite colors to paint the landscape. It is autumn that urges me to find that cozy spot to read on a rainy day. Did I say I love this time of the year?

This photo was taken on the deck last year. The leaves fell from our bonsai maple and I could not resist the gorgeous color.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." Albert Camus

Worms and tea

Something fun... I just figured out that you could double-click on the photos for a larger view. So if you go back an entry or two, you can double-click on the mushroom picture and get a great zoom view of the tiny little slug.

I haven't blogged for awhile but will try to be more faithful. My daughter reminded me that I should also blog about a few of the other interesting things in my life, such as: tending my new worm composting unit. I agreed with her and realized that was a great place to start.

We purchased the composting components back in April/May at the Pacific Northwest Garden Show (sadly the last one in Seattle for a while). We brought it home and prepared it for receiving a cast of 1000's. Actually, one pound of worms is approx. 1000 red wigglers. It's an interesting process getting ready for the worms and learning how to feed them the right way. Their environment has to be balanced--not too wet and not too dry. It's got to have a nice earthy smell also. They can't have citrus, onions, meat or dairy. They love strawberries, banana peels and coffee grinds.

Now you might ask why one would want to compost with worms! Well... the worms create two unique by-products: worm castings and worm tea. As the worms process the veget and fruit trimmings (along with newspaper, dryer lint, etc) they leave behind castings which work to enhance your soil in a very organic way. The worm tea comes from liquid draining from the castings. It's used for watering my house plants currently and I will also begin using it on my potted plants outdoors. I already see a very healthy difference in my house plants; they love the worm tea and they love going green.

There you go! An insight into my worm composting endeavor. Just another aspect in my daily doings. There is something very fulfilling about managing these worms and reaping the compost and tea. AND... it's all about recycling isn't it. We should all be doing our part.