Gratitude & Glimmers #109

Welcome to my post of glimmers (of joy and wonder) and gratitude for the month of July. You can find links to more posts like this one at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.

Peace is the strongest power, yet unrecognised.

--Sri Chimmoy

1. You know my lifelong love of trees. You may recall me talking about that time in 1994 driving through and stopping (for not long enough!) in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island. How I wish I could fly out to Vancouver to see this current exhibit about the magic of BC’s ancient forests.

Lifesize model of an 1800-year-old Mother Tree.

New Quilt Update

If you follow me on Instagram, which is increasingly difficult, not to say most aggravating, these days, then you may have seen a few posts of the new quilt request I am working on. Since I like to track my quilting and bit of life journey here, I’ll show you what I’ve been preoccupied with of late! It started with a screenshot Dayna sent me, a post of cozy room décor that happened to have what looks like a quilt or maybe a printed microfleece blanket artfully draped over the back of a couch.

“Can you make me this quilt?” she texted.

I zoomed in on the photo, seeing that it was basically an Evening Star surrounded by… a TON of HSTs. Gulp.

“Sure!”

Zephyr

I’ve turned to my modest stack of layer cakes, aka 10” squares to get them used up and into quilts. This one is a stack of 14 bought from Connecting Threads several years ago. Inside were 16 squares! This is a Rashida Coleman Hale line by Cotton & Steel supplemented with a few solids.

The impetus for making this quilt is twofold: first, way back in April I made a mental note of the block Yvonne Quilting Jetgirl made for a charity quilt block drive she is a part of, and two, I needed something mindless, fast and satisfying to sew after all the work, mental and sewing, put into the release of my latest pattern, Diamond Baby.

Diamond Baby Pattern Release and Bright Spark Quilt

I have the rights back to release my design that was featured in issue 70 of Make Modern. I am so pleased to release this pattern that can actually put quite a dent in your white, cream and beige strings. May I present Diamond Baby, now on sale in my Etsy shop!

I get a little fizz of a thrill every time I see that photo. So glad I was able to take some pretty great photos of the quilt at Fishermen’s Cove in the Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia.

Celestial Déjà Vu

Déjà vu indeed. If you are having that kind of moment when you see this quilt, your memory is correct! I  one very close to this earlier this year for a Project Quilting challenge. I called the first one Circadian Rhythm. I liked it so much, and I had enough of the Celestial fabric, that I planned to make another.

Besides, I had cut too many triangles for the first one!

A Commissioned Toiletries Bag

You may recall the totebag I made for my friend from my yoga classes. Well, I’ve made her a coordinating toiletries bag in a custom size.

Amongst the lavender (two years old now) and calla lilies (five or six years old now!)

When I gave the tote to her, I asked if she wanted a matching makeup bag, and she said no, she didn’t think so; they were too small for what she needed. I told her I did have a couple of bigger ones in my shop and so she said she’d take a look.

Gratitude & Glimmers #108

Making gratitude your default emotion will single-handedly alter the course of your life.

—Topher Pike

1. A couple of evenings ago I noticed the half moon against rose-lit clouds, so I stepped outside for a better look, and was rewarded with a rose-lit contrail and a couple of swallows flitting around catching bugs. A glimmer indeed!

Welcome to my post of glimmers (of joy and wonder) and gratitude for the month of June. You can find links to more posts like this one at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.