Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Reminiscing


The last stitch was in.
Untidy threads were trimmed.
I sat by the fireside looking at the latest offering to the gods of quilting,
The urgency to finish sated… for the moment.
Closing my eyes momentarily in weariness, I leaned back in the overstuffed chair stretched my aching arthritic fingers and looked around my domain.
Hope sat quietly in her little chair by my side, while I told her about the quilt, strips of the golds and greens; blues and reds; the black of night; the warming sun; the memories of that golden week in West Virginia.

Evergreen branches -Green fingers reaching out to grab the unwary walker
Sycamores dropping leaves of tan and red, white strips of bark dangling, slipping silently to the ground
Bears hiding in darkened corners filling up for the long hibernation...
Raccoons racing through the golden leaves hunting, hunting….
Small red deer peering through baring branches, looking warily
Hunters hiding, sneaking, trailing…
Gold, tan, black, red; colors of the autumn life in the Shenandoah mountains
And Figaro, fat, and lazy sauntering towards the cabin porch for a nap
In the sun.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

The Ugly Quilt


In the back of the room, in a dusty corner sat the box, forlorn and nearly full.
This was the ugly quilt block box. When a guild member made a test block or two and didn’t like the results she could donate it to the box. I’ve seen some strange blocks in that box; satins mixed with burlap, sequins and sparkly flecks, ribbons and lace. What were they thinking? The pretty ones had seams coming loose. Stretched triangles, and odd sizes also helped a block make it into the box. One poor thing was made of left over pajamas. One child that year must have had flying pigs while her brother the blue and orange plaid. But the red satin tricot?; My oh my, mama!
I often pawed my way through the box looking for adventure.

I enjoy quilting, but I’ve never gotten good enough to win a prize at the quilt show, well maybe an honorable mention for effort. The year I finally got a second place ribbon was because I told them I was blind. My brain only registers the view of one eye at a time, flipping back and forth without any consideration of what I was trying to look at. You can imagine what my seams looked like!

I decided to try an experiment.. I would blindly make a quilt. I piled thirty-two blocks on my cutting table according to size but not looking at color or pattern. I began sewing strips, willy-nilly not caring about color or pattern, just size. When my strips were done, I combined them wherever they would fit.
I grabbed a length of cotton from the third drawer down in the blond dresser. These were the one-yard pieces. This was for the borders—hummm gold and black mini checks, she must be blind I heard a voice whisper.
I have to stop playing blind now to quilt my quilt. I had an older friend years ago that was blind and still quilted but did it by hand. Her work was beautiful. She could feel the seams with her fingers to follow with her stitches. Using my sewing machine I would have to let it just do the work as I closed one eye and pulled the fabric through. The binding will be dark, black or blue, maybe brown to calm down my crazy pattern.
Now I just need a happy child, ones who loves color, and crazy ladies to tuck my quilt around. For after all—
Love is blind.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

army of cranes


 







One
Two three,
One two three
Cranes
On the march

Off
They go
Through the snow
Out
 By the trees.

Cackling
In high pitch
Gaggling too
I live in the
Woods
Kind of zoo

One
Two three
One two three
Cranes are in flight

Finding
A roost for a
Cold
Winter night

What A Day!
















Ahh February,
A favorite and strange little month
I remember when I was growing up It would snow in the mornings and be warm and sunny in the afternoons. Blue sunny skies and sweater weather abounded.
It was a paradigm     of contradictions
What is your favorite day in February? Valentines day? Groundhog day? Washington or Lincolns birthday? Did you know that someone has collected a day to celebrate for every day of the year?
Some I thought worth mentioning for February are:
3. Laugh and grow rich day
26 National Pistachio Day - it's a nutty day!
February is also the month the seed catalogs come out making you anxious to get out in the snow and garden.

In the bible we read,
“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? …
As we come to understand that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, our desire increases to follow His example and serve those in need. Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. … And I lay down my life for the sheep” John (10:14,15) Because of Christ’s Atonement, none of us will ever be so lost that we cannot find our way home (see Luke 15)).
President Thomas H Monson said, “Ours is the responsibility to care for the flock. … May we each step up to serve.” 

February’s special days give us a chance to think about people in our lives and give them a friendly cheer

Hurry! Hurry!

I always liked February.
Fury little creatures
Poking out of the ground
Looking for sun;
The quiet stillness in the air;
The sun shining
In spite of the cold;
Plants buried in the snow
All straining,
Waiting,
Anticipating
Spring