new stitching

Last Friday I made preparations

for e new ( small ) piece :

a golden yellow silk / hemp piece of a "Paapje" remnant

and as a thin cloth to baste on

a piece torn  from the sleeve of an old linen shirt

with a bit of Kaffe Fassett cloud.

I started stitching today

and show you only the smallest piece

( the coat is nearly 2 cm high ... )

... to be continued ...

special ....

Today in Rotterdam

with our Stitch'n Bitch group

we did something very special :

we made a joined mandala drawing

for our dear friend M

sending her all our love to strengthen her a bit for next Thursday

*

You might remember I showed an "oak tree"

that popped up in our garden this spring

well ... I didn't plant it

though I had a hunch who did !

Earlier this year a jay was looking for something

he had hidden last autumn : something to eat !

This morning before I went to Rotterdam

I saw a jay sitting on the pergola.

The next time I looked he was gone, or so I thought ...

But no : he was sitting on the ground,

hiding something and also putting a dried leaf on top of it !!!

When I removed the dry leaf ...

there was an acorn

( it proved my hunch was correct ! )

new mandala season

Yesterday evening we had our first

coming-together of the mandala drawing group.

This time the inspiration will come from

the ancient Maya Tzolkin Calendar.

It is quite complicated in the beginning to understand :

it's about "solar seals", "waves", "colours" and "numbers"

and every day of the year has a combination

of these elements

in an on-going cycle.

( A bit like the Zodiac or the Chinese Years )

Yesterday was the day of

Yellow seed

the wave of the Red dragon and

Tone four

And this is what I came up with

As you might notice : there's a feather in it .....

The logic explanation would be Jude's  Magic Feather Project

but ... the feather just "appeared"

in the meditation we always have before we start drawing.

( Yesterday I send off one of my mandala drawings of last year :

to Alaska

in a swap with Susan , ..... I'm so delighted ! )

little man

Remember this little person ?

He was swimming in his soapy pool awhile ago.

It took some time, but he slowly evolved ...

First he was waiting for some decent trousers

( jeans like a real sixties guy )

Then again after some days :

he was patiently waiting for his sweater of true Noro Kuryeon Sock yarn.

.....

"Ooooh my goodness, mam

do you see this ?

I can't go out like thát !

Can't hear a thing

and

   no hair ... "

Finally this morning

( on Feather Friday )

I gladly submitted to his wishes ...

and he could go out all by himself !

 I love him, and I think I call him Gabriel

( someone will definately know why )

Before you're asking : is he alone in the house ...

O no, I can assure you .....  he is nót !

( and there are many more )

*

And don't forget, it really was Feather Friday :

the last of  four

ready to fly to the other side of the ocean

( this last one was inspired by the five young swans who are grooming

and taking flying lessons right across our garden )

waves

I always loved the undulating sides of some scarves.

( normally you try to make the sides of your felt flat

and definately not with waves ! )

Altough I 'd never done this before

I had a rather good idea how it must work :

so much of the end result is preordained

by the way you lay out the wool rovings.

Apart from the waves I wanted

some leaves too

I left the ends of the leaves untouched

so they would felt in with the rest or the scarf

... and this was the result : just as planned

;-)

( hmmm ... sometimes it's just your lucky day )

your body

A little bit earlier than planned

( it's still September and not October )

I want to tell you :

to be aware of your body

and to take good care of it so that you enjoy it for many years to come.

Yet

sometimes

you can get the feeling your body is letting you down

is cheeting on you

.......

I went to one of my dearest friends today

for a little support :

she is starting her nasty fight against breast cancer !

She's rounding up all the support she can get

and that's the best way to do it.

Don't try to do this alone,

get help from every dear person that's around you,

that still leaves enough, you have to do alone

M, take care

we will be walking right beside you all the way

and come out of this together !

(the photo in this post is one side of a double-sided quilt I made in 2009

for the art-quilt exhibition "Uit de naad" in Alkmaar)

a real gem !

I always loved picture-books

probably because I like to draw

When I worked as a teacher in Elementary school,

and especially the last 15 years with the youngest groups

I collected quite a "few" !

Ofcourse I used them at school

but I would have bought them anyway.

Although I retired 4 years ago ... 

and the grandchildren read their own books ...

I bought the most wonderful picture-book last Saturday !

"Sam & Julia"

The day before I read an article in the newspaper ( NRC next )

and I couldn't help myself :

I had to look for it !!!

A former politician, Karina Schaapman, made in her home

out of plywood fruit boxes from the local store,

a giant doll's house or rather

the house for a lot of :

MICE

( it measures 2 x 3 metres !!! )

In it are a lot, and I must say really a lot, of rooms, stairs, corridors and stores

for all the mice, which she also made herself ofcourse.

As most of the furniture, lamps, pictures, and all items in the different shops 

With the making ... came the stories !

And although the book has only just been published
( Rubinstein )

there are already negotiations going on with foreign publishers

Right they are : this book is a gem

children all over the world will love it, I'm sure

A tiny peek of the pastedown page shows how big

uuuuuhm ... how small the mice must be. 

( compared to the poppy heads which feature as bottles )