Two-day Tote

Fall has really come to Virginia, and so I wanted to make a new bag out of some tweed that I've had sitting around in my stash for far too long. This is the Lotta Jansdotter All Day Tote pattern from Simple Sewing. Aside from the slippery nature of the fabric, this tote came together pretty easily over a couple of evenings' worth of light sewing. The side media pocket is a really good idea, and a fun way to show off your interests (shown here with an issue of Hobby Farms magazine all about pack goats-- can you imagine? But oh, how I'd love to have a hobby farm all my own someday, and some regular goats. No packing required.)

And here's the charming interior fabric. Sweet deer twill and a scrap of Amy Butler lotus. I'm saving the rest of the deer twill for some fall jumpers or overalls for little ones someday-- isn't it cute?

I had it in my head to write a whole post today about tweed, and why I love it so, but this chatty post is all that will come out of my brain this afternoon, so sorry. (I guess the one about tweed would have been pretty mindless, too, but at least it might have required some actual thought.) Until tomorrow and another poetry Tuesday.

I-9, Chase A Myth

Here's another lovely Dear Jane block done up in batik. I can't get enough of these fabrics, and I think it runs in the family, as my mother has a healthy stack of them as well. This quilt is turning out to be a pretty good way to show them. Something about the very traditional blocks balances out that wild tie-dyed pattern.

I also quite like the name of this block. Sometimes I feel like I am chasing myths. Definitely with the foxhunting, and also with building a home and a family with my husband. But we also make myths of our own. Stories to tell over and over.

Unfortunately I won't be making any myths (ha!) out hunting this week. Yesterday I had a little mishap involving day-old baguette and a serrated knife that landed me in the emergency room for a few stitches and a splint. So the foxhunting (and the foxhunting stories) will have to wait until next week. In the meantime, here's a little photo of me on the horse today with my everyday 'pack' of one. (If you look closely you might be able to make out my purple be-vet-rapped left pointer finger. Please excuse the very goofy hat-- I need a new rubber band for the cover.)

Poetry Tuesday: Hymns as Shared Poetry

Let All Things Now Living
Words: Katherine K. Davis, born 1892
Music: “The Ash Grove”, a traditional Welsh melody

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who still guides us on to the end of our days.
God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into light.

His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a Song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
"To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"

This was one of the hymns that we sang at our wedding. The tune is simple, and you would probably recognize it even if you aren’t Christian. I especially like the last line of the first stanza-verse. ‘As forward we travel from light into light’—what a great way to think about our time on the earth and with the people who join us on our travels in this life. We have come from good and light, from the love of our parents. And we strive to spend our living time moving forward, in the light and to the light, in good and upstanding ways.

The lyrics written here on the page seem a little dated and patriarchal (in the traditional Christian way that God is He), but there is something transformative about singing with a group of people in a church. The slow, carrying music. The men who just mouth the words because they’re too embarrassed to sing, and the women who belt it out in the pew behind you. The little children just learning to read whose parents follow under the words with a guiding finger, and the older folks who know every word without looking at the book. Singing this poem in unison is an act of restoration and clarity, even in a room full of people who annoy you day-to-day. As long as they sing along (or pretend to), we’re all making something beautiful together.

On the anniversary of a day when so much hate was spewed on our country, it helps me to remember moments when I have felt such love.

Placemats and Pesky Puppies

Here's part of the promised batch of new sushi placemats. I had intended to give them away at a bridal shower/bachelorette party on Saturday night, but my husband took one look at them and declared them 'too nice' to give away to people who wouldn't know how much work I put into them. So I ended up giving a set to the bride and keeping the rest. I don't know what I'll do with them yet, but they're nice to have around. Also nice is having a husband who values the little things that I make and puts up with the sound of the (very loud) sewing machine through our evening television time.

The rest of the second batch (save the ones that went to the bride, in linen and this fabric a la the elephant mats).
And here's what happened when the pupster saw me paying so much attention to the placemats through the camera. He grabbed the first thing he could get his lips on and ran. I know that geraniums (or, excuse me, pelargonium) are poisonous to dogs, but I got it away from him pretty soon after this photo. Don't worry. Until tomorrow.

G-2 Mohawk Trail

A busy day today, so just a Dear Jane block. This one was kind of tough-- so many little pieces and not really my style. Doesn't it just look like a couple of fortune cookies back to back.

The fabric has a story behind it, though. In high school, some members of our Key Club went to the state-wide convention. We were supposed to have some kind of uniting piece of clothing, and so my mom dutifully made about eleventy-billion bucket hats for us. This was the fabric on one side of my (reversible) hat. The other side was a green plaid that all the hats shared.

I love the little dandelion puff-balls here, and it was fun remembering us all in those hats as I cut out the pieces for this block from a piece of fabric with an oval missing where Mom had cut out the crown of my hat. It was kind of sad seeing this fabric again, too, because it also reminds me of our Key Club advisor, a very young teacher who had become a friend. A couple of years ago, she died suddenly. We hadn't been in touch for quite some time, but it was a very sad thing. Funny how a fabric can make you feel both happy and sad, just sitting there on the ironing board. Maybe I'm too sentimental.

Work Day

Do you ever have days where there's so much to do that you'll never finish it all, but somehow you're still calm and collected and things move steadily forward, one task accomplished after another? Today is one of those days for me. There's a certain rhythm going, of preparations, housework and making, and I'm so grateful that this day is lilting along.

On another note, I love this super-saturated photo of bridles hanging in the tack room. Some of the preparations that I'm making these days are for the foxhunting season, which began (with cubbing) on Labor Day. My horse and I will probably go out for the first time next Thursday, for a 7 am meet in the fog, and I thought I'd do a little foxhunting feature on Fridays starting next week. There aren't enough blogs out there about horses and riding-- probably because the actual riding takes so blame long. Anyway, I hope I don't bore any non-riding readers with my little hunt season diversion.

For Supermarket Sushi Nights

We love sushi around here. So in keeping with my recent love of elephant designs, I decided to make some placemats with chopstick pockets for those nights when supermarket sushi makes its way into my shopping cart. I love the way they turned out, and I'm planning to make a few more as favors for a small sushi-themed bridal shower that I'm helping to throw this weekend. Hopefully they will go well with the bride-to-be's favorite spicy salmon rolls from this wonderful restaurant!

I also got around to another Dear Jane block during this lazy Labor Day weekend. This is G-9, Mary's Journey. I love the look of the white, kind of carved out of the batik fabric, but I'm afraid that the block itself will be too dark in its placement in the quilt. I'll probably just let it go, though, as I have yet to finish a bed-sized quilt. I can't give myself more excuses. Until tomorrow!