January, 2022
Love this book structure – the Shrigley, designed by Benjamin Elbel @bookbindingoutofthebox , taught to me by Erin Fletcher of @herringbonebindery in an on-line workshop organized by @sanfranciscocenterforthebook . This version has a concertina binding and is now the home for some vintage New York City postcards. It’s really versatile, doesn’t damage your inserts. There’s an accordian version too – that’s the one that Erin teaches in the workshop, and here’s a picture of that:
I need more practice to tidy up my execution, but I’m hooked.
January, 2022
Since we moved full time to our downtown Chicago condo, about 5 Christmases ago now, we have changed up our holiday decorating game. No more 6 foot tree. We still get a real one, but we usually get it from in front of the liquor store a few blocks away, carry it home it a grocery bag, and set it up on top of our media cabinet. I’ve adapted the scale of the ornaments, though the color scheme is still a little random, but the tree skirt just hasn’t been right all this time. It’s a quilted version from several years ago, but every year the colors just don’t look quite right.
Well, I didn’t get around to it BEFORE we set up the tree, or even WHILE the tree was set up, but for some reason as soon as we took the tree down, it became a real priority for me, so here it finally is. It will be a real treat next year.
Holiday sewing has been a pre-occupation for years. I guess it started when my aunt hand-crocheted Christmas Stockings for my brothers and I. Later, when they married and had children, someone had to carry on, so I started to make ribbon-woven stockings.
Then, some years later, a hairdresser I went to in Atlanta took on sponsoring a holiday party for a kid’s residential treatment center, and for several years I sewed 50 Christmas stockings every year. That has led to a huge stash of scraps, which I’m now working my way through to using as table runners and assorted other items that will likely get into my Etsy shop this year. Here’s hoping!
January, 2022
When sitting doesn’t work, and lying down seems too much like a nap, there is always walking meditation. Here’s the idea – you walk, usually back and forth, not trying to get anywhere, taking each step deliberately. If there is a labyrinth near you – lots of churches are adding them now – that’s one way to give your practice a framework. Just for inspiration, here is a website that helps you find labyrinth’s around the world. OK, so if there isn’t a labyrinth, you can use a hallway, or just walk around the same block over and over. At one point I enrolled in a self-study mindfulness meditation training program – sort of a pre-requisite to teacher training – and the final day long retreat included a few rounds of walking meditation. Due to the weather and other stuff, I wound up doing mine walking back and forth, up and down a hallway in a rental condo, and it worked just fine.
It’s pretty tempting to pass off just any old walk as a walking meditation, but there is something about walking TO somewhere that changes the dynamic. On the other hand, as nice as it is to do this kind of thing in the quiet woods or along a waterfront, it works in a busy city too – a nice walk around the block, and around, and around, and around. . . . . . .
January, 2022
One of my personal themes for 2021 was “do it or drop it”, so I was particularly mindful of Works in Progress. At the same time, I had the chance to start a lot of new things, and learn a lot of new techniques from teachers I have never had access to before (yes, a COVID silver-ish lining).
Several months a go I took a class in curved piecing from Carolina Oneto, and left with a pieced square that was my first experience with this modern adaptation of English Paper Piecing. At the same time, it was a chance to experiment with transparency – something I’ve done a lot with paint, not so much with fabric.
After the class I got a little ambitious and finished another 11 squares (rectangles, actually), then puzzled a little over what to do with them. Finally, just before the end of the year, the setting strategy fell into place. I ran out of time and batting to get the quilting and binding done before the end of the year, but the batting is arriving this week, so hopefully the momentum will carry me forward.
December, 2021
After all the talk you can find about how to sit, that is hardly the only option. Do you want to lie down? Then lie down. The only real reason not to do it is that you might find it harder to stay awake. Well, there is one other thing, at least for me. I don’t think there are many of us that are perfectly symmetrical, so when I am down on a yoga mat or the floor for an extended period of time, my body tends to react like a building settling and shifting on its foundation – sometimes gently and sometimes more aggressively. It can be a little distracting, but I’ve actually come to enjoy it, a break from holding myself upright is just the thing some days.
There is actually a whole kind of practice that is sort of a cross between meditation and yoga called yoga nidra. That one is practiced while you are flat on the floor, and a teacher talks you through a progressive relaxation – you can find in person classes, but you can find it on YouTube and other channels as well. It’s the one where it doesn’t matter if you fall asleep, in fact I’ve practiced in group classes where the teacher called it nap time for adults – doesn’t that sound great?
