inspired...

Over the weekend many projects were going on but this was my favorite. It was inspired by an old post on wisecraft, the need for an end table and a free stump.  With a little love, a lot of elbow grease, three coats of shellac and a beeswax oil polish this stump which was destined for the wood chipper is now a thing of useful beauty. 

 Happy Monday.

piecing things together...

{beginning with paper, wood and wax}

{beginning with color and cotton}

Hello from the middle of the week.  An incident in my neighborhood has left me feeling very unsettled and unfocused this week (everyone is fine but it was definitely a wake up call).  I've been unable to concentrate and have found myself doing the busy work of sanding blocks, painting on the 1st layers of wax and cutting out birds.  All very important tasks but not very exciting stuff for this space.  I'm still knitting a bit of Agnes each day but a new project is vying for my time and attention.  I've tried to talk myself out of this project (with committing to finishing the monkey anniversary sweater and all) but I don't think it's working.   So, yesterday I made the trip to the fabric store and picked up a few snippets of Denyse Schmidt fabrics and started planning a quilt for Theo's new bed.  Theo has a teeny-tiny and somewhat awkwardly shaped room so discovering these carpet tiles set a plan in motion for a much needed room makeover.  I'm sure Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger would have some bedding that might work with the red, white and blue carpet tiles but that would  be too matchy, matchy and that's not how I roll.  I need something a little more eclectic to tie together the carpet tiles, the band & concert posters and  my 14 year old boy.  So I'm working and reworking color combinations and am going to move forward with a very basic and modern quilt project.  I love the look of the simple freehand edge to edge loop but am not sure my 25 year old Singer sewing machine can handle that.  I don't think I'm up for hand quilting the whole thing (I pieced and hand stitched two quilts many, many years ago) but I'm going to cross that bridge when I come to it.  Any advice on teaching myself to machine quilt?

Happy Friday-

I spy signs of Spring inside and out these days but it hasn't slowed down the clacking of the knitting needles.  Agnes is 1/2 knit in just a few days time and I'm having trouble putting her down.  Once she's done I'm planning to use up some odds and ends to replenish the hat and mitten stash for next year and to get back to working on a sweater for C that's been 1/2 done for 7 years (pitiful, i know).  In fact, since I'm saying it out loud I may as well commit to finishing that monkey on my back sweater.  Yes, this is the year that I will complete the anniversary sweater (a gift intended to be for our 10th anniversary) by June 17th which will be our 17th anniversary. Well now, this is not the post I intended to write but it will keep the needles clacking.  Happy Friday!

teeny-tiny art...

secrets

(put away for safekeeping)

1.25"x3"

Traveling Light

2.5"x2.5"

I am so loving these two wee paintings created very late one evening when I needed a break form the large multi panel piece I was working on.  I had come across two bits of newsprint both with that gorgeous salmon color in them when I spied two tiny scraps of wood under my table. So, in a I-probably-should-have-been-in-bed-haze decided to give working tiny a try. I am so smitten with the scale of these pieces that I have already cut a huge pile of 2.5" square wood blocks. In my mind I can see small groups of 4 or 9 and large groups of 20-30 of these tiny pieces hanging together making some noise.  Time to get busy...

growing inside and out...

The feelings of renewed energy and inspiration I described just a few short weeks ago here have given way to feelings of restlessness.  This transitional season between the dark and quiet of winter and the light and living beauty of spring has hit me hard as mama nature teases with 60 degree days followed by 30 degree days and snow.  The order from High Mowing for this year's garden arrived early last week and while we were all very excited about starting everything from seed we know that it is a wee bit early to get started.  But it's never too early for sprouts!  We planted the first round of sunflower sprouts in Organic Mechanics sustainable seed starting blend and have been watching them grow for the past 5 days (within two-three days we should be able to cut and enjoy this 1st crop).  But thoughts about growing aren't limited to the garden around here.  Thoughts about what I'm doing, where I'm at, where I'm going and what it all means have been inching their way up from underground as well so I think it's time to get into the studio and work some of this out.  I need bits and pieces of text and color (seeds and starter), ideas, thoughts and questions (rain) and inspiration (sunshine) to grow and make sense of things.

What do you need to grow?

Saturday he turned eight...

Turning eight can wear a person out.  This weekend was full of a special dinner, cosmic bowling with good friends, a visit from Grandma and Granddad, a trip to the zoo and lots of jumping on a new mini trampoline.  It was a good weekend for a very sweet and not so little boy. Eight is such a brilliant age to be and Sage is so very in the moment of being eight (but by the end of each day he is wiped out).  Being eight is hard work, fun work, important work.  

Happy Monday.

Party Girl

Party Girl

 (book of dreams)

This new Party Girl has been sitting on my table for a few weeks now watching other pieces come and go and wondering when it was going to be her time.  I love the grey and gold print in her dress and find myself picking out these colors over and over lately.  Yesterday I finally got around to creating a tiny copper book filled with pages of her hopes and dreams and she is oh-so-happy to be complete.