This week's spoils....

I've always loved thrift shopping!  It's an activity that is fun to me because I just never know what I'm going to find.  This week I headed out by myself which meant I spent a good two and half hours at one shop really combing through the racks for some good finds.  I love going with other folks but, it's always relaxing to let my slow paced shopping habits have their time to shine.

 I couldn't resist this multi-patterned yarn and these brushes which are gonna be great for the fabric paints I've been experiementing with.  I also scored a bunch of new stretchy clothes to work with.  I can't wait!

And here's a sneak peek of a shirt I finished up today.  I'll be adding the finished shirt to my shop over the weekend!

Litha

Moving to a new place can sometimes be hard.  There are moments when all the changes feel like the best thing in the world and other times it can start to feel a bit overwhelming.  Luckily, the wheel of the year keeps turning and today is the solstice marking the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.

A mini solstice alter on my herb cabinet

When I'm feeling bogged down by still not being able to find things and more and more disconnected from myself it can be easy to sink into that overwhelm.  A day like midsummer offers a great moment for me to pause and do some self reflection.  I interrupted myself from just charging through the rest of my day and I tried to poke some holes into that overwhelm by making a mini alter.

This little cabinet is perfect for an my home apothecary!

 It totally helped me to accept the moments that are challenging and tell myself that it's totally o.k. to feel overwhelmed sometimes.  Plus, I got to use this super cute cabinet that I'd been holding onto waiting for the right space to tuck away my herbs with love.

My new home...

It's been just about two weeks in my new home and I'm finally starting to feel settled in.  I feel like I'm on vacation even when I'm working.  I hear it's easy to feel that way in the north country.  I'm adapting easily and quite nicely.

What a cutie!

This is the view from the porch that overlooks the front yard.  I've seen so many creatures in just two short weeks.  It is totally knocking my socks off.  The other night during dinner I looked out the window to see a fox padding slowly across the lawn.  It stopped and looked up at the house before it headed down the road. About ten minutes later, I heard the neighbor's dogs barking their heads off. hmmmm?

deer, fox, snapping turtles and more!

Now I'll take you around to the backyard.  That cute little building buried behind those trees is a wood fired sauna.  Haven't used it yet but I bet it's nice on chilly winter nights!

When I headed around to the other side of the backyard I was excited to see that the deer was out there grazing.  I don't know if I keep seeing the same deer or if there are a bunch of them, but I feel like every time I look outside there's one running about.

 

And last but not least, I'm happy to inform you that the gnomes have also relocated from the river valley to mountains with me.  The opted for a stony wall instead of their usual tree dwelling and I think they've made themselves quite at home.

 I love it here so much!

USFC Quilt is finished!

During the fall Pedal People was asked to submit a fabric square with our logo to be added to a quilt displaying a variety of worker owned cooperatives.  I created this quilt square for the Worker Cooperative Quilt Project and am happy to announce that I just found out that the quilt has been completed!

There's the Pedal People square I created!

The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives or USFWC is "a national grassroots membership organization of and for worker cooperatives, democratic workplaces, and organizations that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives."

The quilt represents over 25 organizations and it measures 80" x 60"!  It has some handstitched details and also includes the seven principles of cooperatives which is stitched into the border. 

The finished quilt!  yay!

A new creation..

I started out with a v neck sweater.  I really don't like v necks for some reason so I'm trying to chop them up or off at any chance I can get.  I have nothing personal against them I think I might just have a thing for round soft edges heheh...

Getting ready for surgery...

I decided to cut off the v neck so that I could add a cowl neck from this lovely deep purple felted sweater I had kicking around.  After that I took a vintage table runner with a unique bird embroidery on it.  I decided it would look nice incorporated somewhere on the sweater.

Using some fusible webbing to help position the design...

This one took a super long time to figure out how to arrange everything on the back of the sweater.  I swear I must've spent an equal amount of time rearranging the pieces and staring at what looked like mush for a long time before it all came together.  I really liked working with the texture combinations of a wool blend sweater, a completely felted sweater and a thick cotton.  It was challenging to keep the pins in and I'm really grateful that I splurged on the extra long sewing pins.  I highly recommend them for anyone attempting fiber collage appliques!

I finally got the pieces on in a way that I thought worked for the existing sweater.  That's all part of the fun of working with recycled and reclaimed materials!  Sometimes no matter how much I try to brain crunch and pre-plan my steps, I still have to leave myself very open to change and spontaneity for things to work themselves out.  Kind of like life right?

Here's the finished design.  It's available in my etsy shop!

When the moon is full...

 I am constantly looking for ways to add a bit of nature connection into a life lived in a faced paced and busy culture. So, I'd like to share a mini tradition I started about 5 months ago...

On the full moon night, I head outside for a walk.  I love to watch the moon.  Sometimes my walk is more involved and sometimes it is really more of just standing on the front stoop trying to find and view were the moon is creeping up from.  I always wish it could be a long walk on a nearby ridge trail but, I'm at a point where if the front stoop is all I can muster that month, then that is enough.

After checking out the moon I head back inside and cut or tear up some small slips of paper. I write down a few things I'd like to add to keep in mind for the next few months.  An example is something llike "I'd like to eat healthier" or simpler things like " I'd like to make more time to hang out with animals". I try to spend some time concentrating on the one that feels most important.  The one I'd really like to keep in mind the most.

I'm a pretty visual person so part of the fun is spreading everything out in front of me and just taking it all in.  Each months notes are subtly different based on the paper I chose or if the slips had been torn or cut....  I like that sort of stuff.   I go through all the old ones and check em out.  

After that I grab my little envelope.  It's full of tiny reminders of things I'd like to keep in mind from months past.    Some are cheesy, some are super personal, and some are deep dark secrets that I wouldn't want anyone to see. They're mostly about whatever I've been thinking about a bunch or am regretting.  I pour all the older notes out onto the table.

Tucking em' away till next month...

After I'm done I put them all back in the envelope, pop in the new ones that I wrote, and tuck the envelope away till next full moon.  It's pretty fun and keeps me remembering when the full moon is and gives me an extra excuse to get my but out there and do some peeping!

What types of things do you like to do to add some nature connection into your daily, weekly, monthly, yearly routine?

Meanwhile... Nutmeg stays all cuddled up!

02.05.12 Thread day...

I started with a sweater that I had no arms because I stole them to make a pair of legwarmers.  I've been trying to figure out uses for growing pile of frumpy sweater torsos I've been accumulating.  I've trying out a bunch of different vest ideas.

I took a bunch of the cut scraps from some other sweater projects and started to pin them on the main sweater body.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the felted wool pieces were easy to sew on and also created some nice texture when I played around with the stitching

The finishing touch, which also happens to be the part of a garment I like creating the least, is the belt or back ties.  It didn't feel has annoying to make this time as they usually do.  Maybe I've grown to appreciate the parts of sewing a garment that are less free from and more formulaic...

Here's the finished vest.  

Available in my etsy shop...

I'm pleased with the results and super excited to keep experimenting with the different wool scraps that are piling up in my work space. They send out these little fuzzies into the air that float around like pollen.  When the sunlight comes through the window it's beginning to feel more and more like spring!

Gracie

Joey

02.22.12 Strange dog legs

 02.06.13 Chicken Hunters

02.22.12 Lil' Nutmeg on the Prairie

02.16.12 Working on the collage book of inspiration

02.22.12 Studying embroidery techniques

 02.22.12 Appreciating vintage sewing books!

I took the old bedroom/workshop apart...

Started to move everything downstairs into the new workshop space piece by piece...

Nutmeg was very attentive to the entire process

It's looking better and starting to feel like a real work space!

11.01.11 Leaves in the snow...

11.01.11 Sycamore branch