gratitude and remembering

I’ve appreciated (and responded to) each of your lovely comments about my fabric book. I’m planning to make another one next year and hope some more of you will be tempted to join me. Next time around, it might be fun to create a way to share some of your images (with your permission, of course.) Let’s think about that…

This morning, I want to share a sweet story with you, dearest readers. A story of connections and love and devotion.

My friend Cathleen from our days in Connecticut (or the queen of everything, as she likes to say), lost her beloved son a while back. He was a young man and so the loss was especially tragic and heart wrenching.

Cathleen shared this with me, when I asked if I could write about our collaboration here, on sewandsowlife…

“Christopher Owen was a lovely man, a wonderful son, and a great uncle. The two words I’d use to describe him are kind and brave.”

When thinking of a way to honor his memory, she asked if we might be willing to plant some balsams down by the playhouse. Christopher loved Christmas, Cathleen wrote, and he loved to play with his niece and nephews.

So, of course, we did. Peter had some seedlings he had started in his balsam nursery, and we took three down the hill to plant on an early spring morning. As these trees grow taller and wider, they will provide shade and shelter for any children who come to make potions or look out for pirates. Christopher’s ethereal presence will grow deeper roots here at out bit of earth.

I could not resist hanging a birch bark heart on one of them. xo

Christopher Owen, we are honored to have a tiny part of you here with us.

And as spring brings renewal to Vermont, we will forget-you-not, dearest Christopher.

xo

the 100 day stitch book

Beginning on January 19th, and ending on April 27th, I stitched for 15 minutes nearly every day on this super fun project. Once in a while I missed a day, but just stitched double time the next. Inspired by Ann Wood and her handmade website, I followed her directions and ended up with a sweet fabric book!

I stitched the book 100% by hand, including constructing the book itself. Some of the pages are wonky, and slightly different sized, even though they all started out 5 1/2x7 inches, raw edged. I used a lot of my home-grown, hand-dyed fabrics. I used bits of my paternal grandmother’s napkins. I used a feather, I used a few bits of birch bark, I used some William Morris fabric and batiks, too. I used some selvedges. I used cotton thread and embroidery floss and metallic thread. I didn’t buy anything for this project. Everything came out of my stash.

At the outset, I did not have any specific ideas about what I wanted to sew. Instead, I followed Ann’s advice to do “improvisational stitching, a “yes, and” approach”.

So I let my mind and hands wander, with thread and needle. Sometimes I dropped into that lovely state of flow where I’d get lost in my thoughts for a bit. As I sewed my way through 100 days, I processed a few things, I had revelations, I discerned some new paths forward.

And so, I titled my fabric book, Sometimes when we wander we end up being led.

Front cover: hand-dyed moon and tools of the trade. Brown title patch dyed with birchbark.

Left: Scraps of Ikat from an old skirt, another hand dyed moon, and a feather found on the ground. Right: light blue sky and shibori below made from indigo grown here at out bit of earth. Appliqué batik bird from blouse circa 1975.

Left: Appliquéd napkins. Right: home-grown, hand-dyed indigo, appliquéd with a bit of napkin. Pocket made of shweshwe fabric, printed in South Africa. The bits of paper are a collection of words that launched my original blog way back in 2009.

Left: Log cabin pieced with cottons dyed with birch catkins, yellow onion skins, tansy, marigold and Black Hopi sunflowers and some William Morris scraps and some indigo-dyed raw silk. Right: appliquéd and reverse appliquéd circles stitched with commercial fabrics and hand dyed indigo on raw silk. Background fabric, dyed with marigolds from my cousin’s garden in NM, mordanted with alum.

Left: background hand-dyed with madder root, appliquéd with bits of birch and fern fabrics. Embroidered with cotton floss. Right: background fabric hand-dyed with birch bark. Square “buttons” made with birch bark scraps. Embroidered with floss.

Left: I’ve loved arches as sewing motifs for ages. The sunshine is stitched with Shibori style, tansy dyed cotton, the arch surrounding it was dyed with marigolds. Appliquéd bird, “singing” with beads. Right: Cotton background dyed with yellow onion skins, pebbles appliquéd with some commercially dyed and some hand dyed fabrics.

Left: selvedge and sprouts print from Bookhou, purchased years ago. French knotted tiny circles of an assortment of hand-dyed fabric and a commercially produced fern fabric. Right: Commercial batik appliquéd onto linen hand-dyed with avocado pits and skins, using the clothespin technique of resist. Embroidered with French knots, cotton floss.

Left: reverse appliquéd constellations, embroidered pines on a swatch of raw silk, hand-dyed with indigo, with a strip of selvedge on top. Right: cotton background hand-dyed with Black Hopi sunflowers. Fresh indigo leaves, pounded onto cotton, with indigo-dyed raw silk appliquéd below..

Left: the perennial fave, a mini nine patch, stitched with a variety of scraps. Ceramic button, too. Right: Two commercial cottons and hand-dyed indigo, again, using the clothespin Shibori style.

Spread: commercial fabrics, appliquéd and pieced and wonky! xo

Back cover: commercial fabrics and cotton hand-dyed with birch bark. Wooden buttons, stamped date.

I’ve used this project to meld the sewing and the sowing in my life…sewing with fabrics dyed with plants we gathered and grew (sowed) here at our bit of earth in Central Vermont! What a treat to have such wonderful instructions, shared by Ann Wood. How could I not be tempted to try another book sometime this fall?

My friend Cathleen (tqoe…”The Queen of Everything”) has been sending me pictures of her stitching now and then.

Have YOU stitched a book? Let us know!

xo

end of April digest..with book talk

We recently went to visit my Mumsie at her assisted living community and as I was standing in the lobby, waiting for the elevator to take me up to her apartment, I spotted this sweet paper cut out on the bulletin board. Despite having 91 year old hands gnarled by arthritis, she still loves to produce a monthly display for the residents. She is quite amazing.

And in other generational musings, I became a mama 42 years ago today, delivering my sweet Baboo in a hospital in Puerto Rico. Stewart led me on the best adventure of my lifetime, and now his dear Theo has added new dimensions to my journey. Happy birthday to Stewart!

Gosh. Sometimes life just takes our breath away, doesn’t it?

The bluebirds are back, the spring peepers are singing at dusk, the lawn gets greener day by day and chives and rhubarb are coming up in the garden. The garlic survived the winter and are all lined up in their bed. We’re washing the screens today and Batman is back at the golf course whenever he can squeeze it in. I can feel my whole body exhaling a bit in the sun’s warmth.

I was dumbstruck the other day when I looked out the window and saw the colors across the way. Less than a week earlier I had stitched the image (on the left) for my 100 days of stitching project. It just amazes me how strongly a sense of place can influence us, sometimes in the most subtle ways.

Wilma, my studio companion.

All twenty of my pages have been stitched for my 100 days project. It took a bit of time to pair them up in a pleasing way. Some I had planned as pairs, other’s I had not. I then numbered them and have begun the task of sewing them together.

Here the page spreads have all been pinned into place, after I checked the instructions many times. You can follow along here, to see how “inside out” the thinking will be for this finish! And I can’t wait to put the book together, instructions shown here.

In my last post, I promised some listening/watching ideas.

• A quick film about Nikki McClure, paper cutter extraordinaire. PBS Newshour, via my dear friend, Dolo.

• Another talk from Anne Lamott, Meditations on Life, Love and the Cycle of Aging, also via Dolo.

• A wonderful, hope-filled documentary about a gardening program in Maine’s prisons.

• A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my top ten favorite books of all time. We have been watching the series, starring Ewan McGregor, on Paramount Plus and it’s just wonderful! You may find it in other places, and sometimes streaming services offer limited time, free subscriptions…

And some reading ideas.

• This is Happiness, by Niall Williams. This is a lovely story set in Ireland just as electricity was being brought to a rural village. It’s a coming of age story, too. And the story of lost love. The stories intertwined, inter-generationonally. The writing style delighted me, but sometimes an occasional run on sentence would exasperate me. There were some absolutely heart stopping passages, filled with wisdom and beauty. This is another book I would not have read without participating in my book group, to them I remain grateful.

• I Never Thought of It That Way, How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, by Mónica Guzmán. Can you imagine a more fitting book to read at this time in 2024? I have just started it, and it’s a bit dry as the author sets up the scope of the book. I look forward to making my way into the heart of the book.

• WHAT ARE YOU ENJOYING? Drop a note in the comments.

Now I have some questions for you.

• Do you listen to audiobooks? Where do you find them? I have loved the Libby platform, but sometimes there’s a queue for the book that I may want now. Also, sometimes I can’t find the book I’d like. Audible is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon, so I’m not interested in that option. Do you have suggestions? I am particularly looking for The Lioness of Boston, the story of Isabella Stewart Gardner. I’d like to have her story as a companion in my studio.

• Do you keep track of the books you read? If so, how? I have used Goodreads to keep track of my reading and the reading of a few friends. It came to my attention via Sarah’s blog Wool&Home that Goodreads is also connected to the long tentacled Amazon! Sarah is a voracious reader and shares her reviews quite generously. Sarah has recently shifted over to StoryGraph as a way to keep track of her reading. I must confess that I also keep a reading log in a notebook, where I keep track of recommendations and who actually made them. It’s quite fun to peruse the list…it’s so very long, I can’t imagine I’ll ever get them all read (I am such a slow reader!)

So friends, if you’ve made it all…the…way…to…the…bottom of this post, well done, you! I’d love to hear from you about what you’re listening to, watching and reading. Other sewandsowlife readers may be curious, too. So drop a comment or send me an email.

With so much gratitude (and curiosity!)

Karen

a studio tunic, other stitching and catching up

Good afternoon friends. Spring is finding her way into our neighborhood, strengthened by longer days, warmer temperatures and occasional sunny days. We’ve planted so many flowering bulbs here at our bit of earth over the years…bit by bit…and they are beginning to fill in nicely. As with so many things in life, blooming things do remind that patience has its rewards.

Our goat friend Toshi had the last batch of this spring’s kids at our neighbors’ down the road. She waited for the big snowstorm to pass before she settled down to deliver her triplets. She looked like such a wide bit of critter, we thought she might be carrying three. Now that the weather is nicer, all seven kids are able to get outside and frolic on the rocks in their barnyard. Their mamas may have been getting tired of being their playground when they were snug in the cozy barn! We’re so lucky to have the herd down to road. Visiting them can really cheer us up. xo

I finally finished Gretta’s Studio Tunic, using a pattern from Sew Liberated. It’s been forever since I sewed a garment, and this one went together so nicely! Gretta had purchased a quilt weight cotton, so it sewed up just a bit differently than a heavier fabric might. I made adjustments to accommodate the yardage she sent, mixing and matching the three prints. Gretta teaches science to middle school students (bless her, am I right?) and she may wear this as an occasional lab coat. It will look spiffy with her oversized, bright turquoise glasses. :-) Since it was folded up and put into the mail, I am leaving the final ironing to Gretta. xo

Some observations on the project

• I love the way the facings are finished, but I am really trying to get away from using iron- on interfacing (It can’t be good for the planet). I may use a lightweight cotton lawn next time.

• All of the seams are clean finished (with easy instructions), so there will be no fraying.

• Maybe it was me, but I found the instructions on sewing the small, inner pocket to be wonky. Proceed with caution.

• I did not mark the fabric with the pocket placement dots. I regretted that “shortcut”!

Let me know if you sew one! I’m looking forward to making one for myself.

I continue to work on my 100 days of stitching book…

I used the last tiny bit of the sprout fabric I bought from BOOKHOU years ago. You can see another project I made with this fabric here. All the dots/flowers were cut from some of my hand dyed fabrics, secured with French knots.

I wanted to be sure to use some of this avocado dyed linen. I used clothespins to create the “resist”, or white patches . The soft pink shade does not reproduce well here on my computer screen but it plays nicely with this batik from my stash. I kept the page simple to create some contrast. Or maybe I’ll add a little something…

These will be facing pages in the book.

There’s so much mayhem in the news and I know that our brains were not built to absorb and understand all of it. It’s just too, too much. After remembering that April is National Poetry Month I renewed my devotion to reading poetry. What a lovely way to slow down, disengage from the headlines, pause and savor thoughtful words. Tea improves the experience and provides a few moments to participate in the calming and ancient ritual of brewing a mug. Wish we could share a teapot, dearest readers.

Batman and I enjoyed another quick get-away to Portland, ME for a few days. We ate some wonderful seafood! We walked the cobblestone streets of the old port and stumbled on some sweet shops and cafés. We bought a loaf of oat porridge bread warm from the oven at Bread &Friends. Gosh, have you ever had the experience of walking into a place that just felt so very homey? Next time we’ll have to stop by for breakfast. Hooray for small and local businesses, doing things right!

I’ll catch you up on my reading and listening next time and ask about yours! Until then, lots of love. xo

oh happy day!

60 degrees, sunny and breezy.

Today some of the laundry transitioned from the wooden drying racks in the upstairs hallway outside to the clothesline! This makes me so very happy. I’m thinking of some of my readers here, who find the same simple joy in this ritual.

scilla sprouts, pushing their way up to the sun.

Indeed, this happened again last week. 18” this time, but the sun made short work of the melting!

Today I can hear the snow melting off the roof, in a loud orchestra of dripping. The vernal streams on either side of our land are gushing down the hill. I hear the hum of small planes, flying further north to the total eclipse of the sun. I-89 is reported to be a parking lot headed north, too. Batman packed himself a picnic and drove the backroads to a special spot to see the total eclipse. I’m staying here, happy to experience a near total here on the hill. I’m curious to experience this special treat from Mother Nature.

Tomatoes and indigo are sprouting in the utility room, under lights rigged up by Batman. Three more baby goats were born down the road from us and the coltsfoot is blooming by the side of the road. Pick-ups are rumbling along the ridge, with sap tanks in their beds, sloshing liquid gold inside.

Spring is coming.

I found this amazing video via the BBC, documenting an ancient festival in Slovenia called PUST, to chase away the winter. I listened to this talk by Anne Lamott, and she really has a way of looking at the world that I appreciate. Maybe these will resonate with you, too?

And here is my “catch up” batch of 100 days of stitching, with notations about dyes made with plants from our gardens here at “a bit of earth”.

Brown cotton, dyed with Black Hopi Dye Sunflowers, raw silk dyed with indigo, indigo leaves “hammered” onto white cotton.

Center square, from my gram’s napkin set. Lower left square, Shibori dyed with indigo.

Pink cotton, dyed with madder. Fern and birch, some of my fave scraps. Yay for French knots!

Marigold and tansy, singing together. I do love an arch.

Yellow onion dye reminded me of sand patterns after a wave. Inspired by some of my pebble collection. Madder, birch catkin and birchbark dyes. Before.

After. Maybe I fiddled with this one too much, but there are no sewing police…so whatever…

Will you see the eclipse where you are? I love that the light will disappear, but IT WILL COME BACK!

xoxoxoxo

standing squarely in a puddle of hope

Hello dearest ones.

My friend the red squirrel and I are here to help you remember that hope springs eternal. These photos were taken last weekend, when we got 16-17 inches of snow here in Central Vermont.

I took this photo this morning. These brave little snowdrops sprung back to life once the sunshine created lots of solar warmth to melt the snow.

Here is a snow drop in bud, and the same stem once it opened its umbrella-like flower. I adore them and am slightly jealous of folks in Europe, who cultivate many more species than we have here.

A few years ago I used “birthday money” to treat myself to this sweet little dish made by Memphis potter Melissa Bridgman. Her work is gorgeous (and often blue and white). The wee pitcher (in the “chintz” pattern) is another of my faves, from Burgess and Leigh, in England. You can read about it here. Little bits of beauty on a windowsill or table can really lift the end-of-March spirits!

You’ll be glad to hear that Batman was able to resurrect the hoop house, and it will need just a few adjustments before we start planting in there.

And isn’t that hopeful? Planting again!

If you are thinking about gardening this spring check out Anne’s Seed Sowing Planner and Lori’s Garden Planner and Journal, both free printables!

Another way to find hope is to get out and help if you can.

I invite you to check out work I’m doing to feel hopeful in the midst of such overwhelming struggles in the world.

Vermont has the second highest homelessness rate in the country, just behind California. Food insecurity adds to the challenges of simply getting by. Yet, Vermont has a healthy number of not-for-profits, folks working together to improve the lives of their neighbors. I serve on the board at Capstone Community Action, and you can read our inspiring Annual Report here. It’s a snap shot of the wonderful things the agency has been able to accomplish despite last year’s flooding, in July and December.

Our sweet little library was just awarded a grant to repair our historic cupola. You can read about it here. And we are watching a bill move through the legislature, hoping it will pass.

You may wonder how repairing a cupola will really change things…our little rural library has much to offer and builds community for anyone walking through its doors. Keeping it in good repair (mending a leaky roof) allows the library to continue to shelter its patrons and the collections as well. And truth be told, libraries shelter democracy, too. No small feat these days.

If you have work you are doing to sow hope in the world, please jot a comment below. Share it with us here! Each time we put our hands into the soil, each time we mend a garment or a relationship, each time we pitch in to help a neighbor, each time we raise our hand to say “yes, I can help”…gosh we are doing good work in a world that defies understanding.

And later this week another 12-13” of snow are forecast. No worries, it will melt…

Hope.

Let’s put on our boots and go stand in that puddle of hope together, shall we?

xo

PS More of the 100 days of stitching project to come later this week…

PPS I finally responded to your many kind comments on the last few posts. xo

waiting for the next Nor'easter

Our week with Lindsey’s family was such fun. Reading out loud a lot, making homemade pasta, building snow people and snow angels, visiting the day old baby goats, story time at the library, playing in the card table “fort”, drawing… So glad they had a safe drive to Vermont and back to Detroit. I’m not sure they’ll navigate Mud Season again anytime soon, but we’re so glad they just did.

My maternal grandfather made this step stool for my brothers and I in the very early 1960’s. It has survived many moves and a few years in storage, and came out for Flora and Matilda’s visit.

My dad made this version for my kids in the mid 1980’s. It has since made its way out to Detroit and helps little Freya step up to brush her teeth.

Batman and I decided that Theo needed a step stool for his second birthday and put together this third generation kitty bench.

Does this mischievous face remind you of anyone? I’d like to think that my long-departed grandfather would approve. :-)

Spring has come to Vermont’s calendar, but we’ve had nothing but flurries and blustery wind for days. Tonight two storms will converge to create a Nor’easter and we may get as many as 19” of snow by tomorrow evening. I will be stitching in my studio while the wind howls and the snow swirls!

The last three weeks have been busy and full. I’m carving some time out to reset and regroup. Coming back into this space more intentionally is something I’m looking forward to. “See” you soon.

xoxoxo

mud season getaway

At this time a year ago, Batman, my brother Doug, sister-in-law Ra and I were busy clearing out my Mumsie’s home of 70 years. I am happy to report that she is still happy as a clam in her assisted living community today.

When Ra’s beloved aunt died a few weeks ago, Ra made plans to go to Florida to clear out Sally’s beachfront condo. Ra had been so devoted to helping us get Mumsie’s place cleared out that I raised my hand to help Ra in Florida.

It was a daunting task, but we pulled it off.

Throughout the week, we used the two chairs on the balcony as a sanctuary from the sorting, box filling, Goodwill trips and UPS drop-offs. The waves, the horizon, the changing colors of the sea, the birdlife and Ra’s good company helped us clear our heads and put things in perspective over and over again. We hydrated often and ate “cuties” for snacks. It became a ritual.

I’ve had a day and half to rest and get ready for the next adventure…tonight Flora and Matilda and Lindsey and Scott arrive for a week. They delayed their trip for a day due to the crazy March snowstorm this weekend that left much of Vermont without power (so glad we invested in a generator a few years back.)

I took the week off from my 100 days of stitching, so there are no pages to show. I did read Gather and loved it. The narration was fresh and the message of living in community was gritty and true.

I look forward to catching up with you next week. Theodore Alan turned two and Batman and I made him a sentimental gift, which I’ll share with you then. Now I am off to make beds, pull out the kid’s books and wash down the high chair. :-)

Hope you’ve been well dearest readers. Keep your heads above the fray (for indeed the fray is real!)

xoxoxoxoxox

PS While I was away I was voted onto our local library board. Watch out book-banners! :-)

resting for a bit

words that have anchored my blog literally since day one.

xoxoxo

a mid-february digest

-HEARTS

After my last post, about Ecological Grief and Anxiety, I thought a more light hearted post might be appreciated. :-)

On Valentine’s Day Batman baked sugar cookies and we decorated them together. It’s been a tradition in our family for years and years. Some went out the door to neighbors, some stayed in the cookie tin here at our “bit of earth.”

I do spend a bit of time over at the American Heart Association’s website these days. (Knowledge is power, don’tcha know). A wonderful story was posted over there on February 1, 2024. I thought I’d share it here with you.

-BOOK TALK

Our book group has chosen our next few books for 2024, maybe you’d like to follow along. We had a lively discussion of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store last Friday night. (I was really thinking I’d love it, then I sort of slogged through it, but once our group had discussed it, I liked it better. Thank you, friends.)

March Gather, by Kenneth M Cadow, a very local author. He was a National Book Award Finalist for 2023. I can’t wait to read this!

April This is Happiness, by Niall Williams, set in rural County Clare in Ireland.

May I Never Thought of it That Way, How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, by Mónica Guzmán. Need I say more?

June Mercury Pictures Presents: A Novel, by Anthony Marra.

I just purchased a copy of The Comfort of Crows, A Backyard Year, written by Margaret Renkl and illustrated by her son. I had picked this book up several times in the past few months before I actually bought it at Bear Pond Books up in Montpelier. Composed of 52 chapters, one for each week of the year, I thought I would read it that way…a chapter a week. (My friend Anne also recommended it to me).

-STITCHING

I’m still loving my 100 days of stitching project, hand stitching for at least 15 minutes each day. I have revisited some of my favorite themes for this page…embroidered balsams, raw selvedge scraps and constellations. The piece on the right was my first take on the scene. I didn’t like it at all. I altered one of my original guidelines for the project and I did decide to take some stitches out. #autonomy I like the one on the left much better!

Orion, my favorite constellation, wanders through the night sky at this time of year. Robert Frost wrote a beautiful poem called The Star-Splitters.

"You know Orion always comes up sideways.

Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,

And rising on his hands, he looks in on me

Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something

I should have done by daylight, and indeed,

After the ground is frozen, I should have done

Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful

Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney

To make fun of my way of doing things,

Or else fun of Orion's having caught me….(cont.)

Here is an ode I stitched to Orion years ago.

I’ve been meaning to get a STUDIO TUNIC for Gretta underway for ages. Once again, my blogging buddy Anne had the right words at the right time. Even my somewhat little project benefitted from Anne’s strategy to get going on something, to hatch a plan, to begin!

Gretta purchased the teal and citrine fabrics, but there wasn’t quite enough to make the whole tunic. I had some gorgeous bug fabric in my stash and when I pulled it out I gasped. Now I have enough fabric, I just need to figure out how best to juggle the pattern pieces.

-BREATHING

A few days ago I took a walk on the road to stretch my legs and clear my head. It was cold and windy. My eyes were watering and my breath was visible. I went to say hello to the cattle who were sheltered in their shed, out of the wind. They took no notice of me as they chewed on some hay and buddied up to stay warm. On the way home I stopped again and again to watch the changeable sky, darkening as the afternoon faded into evening. How lucky am I to have this pocket of peace right outside my door?

4:49 PM on Valentine’s Day

I send you light and love and hope…always hope…from my home to yours, dearest readers. xo