"A Bit of Heaven: The Story"

Recently I made a quilt which I named "A Bit of Heaven." It is pictured here above my posts. The quilt is 20" x 20" and is partly hand appliqued, partly machine appliqued. The embroidery and quilting were done by hand. The handwriting at the bottom of the quilt says: "On Earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it." A quote from Jules Renard. I didn't start out to make a quilt like this, nor did I intend to give it away, but like many things we do.....ideas change as we go along, so this little quilt turned out to be a surprise for me. A pleasant one. As quilters tend to do, I took the little quilt to my daughter's house to show it off and to my further surprise...my son-in-law took a liking to it. He is always complimentary when he sees something I have made, but has never expressed an abundance of interest. This time he did. So, I gave the quilt to him. He seemed so pleased, therefore, I am pleased also. Isn't it nice to know that mother-in-law/son-in-law relationships aren't always as they appear in situation comedies. And, isn't it interesting how work imagined one way, at the beginning, can turn out to be so different in the end.

Too much to Do...Too little Time

It's Monday. All day!! I always feel like I'm playing "catch-up" on Mondays. Today I am going to the hospital to see my 90 year old mother-in-law. She has pneumonia, but is doing much better. She will be returning to the nursing home in the next couple of days. While there I will take my latest applique/embroidery project for her to see. She always likes what I do, so I know I will get a really positive response from her. It's fun, because she gets excited about whatever it is and that makes me happy I did SOMETHING. Now, your friends, that's another story. You never know if they really like what you made...or they just don't want to hurt your feelings. Anyway, she will give me some positive vibes today and I'll give her some. Well, it may be a pretty nice Monday after all. Take care.

The Bird Nest Journal: A new beginning

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step" a quote by Lao-Tzu, pretty much sums up how I am feeling this moment. Where will this new blogging experience take me? I can't wait to find out. A few months ago the only thing I knew about blogs was they existed somewhere out in cyberspace. I had never read one and certainly never thought about participating in such things. Then, I happened upon a publication called "Artful Blogging." One of the delicious "food for the eyes and soul" publications by Stampington & Company. The cover got my attention, the photographs got me interested.....the people writing the blogs got me fascinated and here I am.

I have a studio in my backyard named "Bird Nest on the Ground." Quilting and embroidery are my great passions along with talking about them incessantly, hunting and gathering new "old" materials at flea markets, teaching and sharing my love of these things with friends and even complete strangers, and being in the "nest." Every day in here is just another day in paradise, as they say. The name of my studio came from my husband. Years ago when we lived in a smaller house, I had to use my daughter's old bedroom as a studio. It was tiny, only ten feet square. It was cramped and all my "stuff" was stacked everywhere. I happened to be talking to myself (out loud) about it one day as my husband walked by the door. Grinning, he said, "what are you whining about...you have a bird nest on the ground." And, my studio has been called that ever since. Loosely translated (in Texas where we are from) it means I have it made. And, of course, I really do.

So, from time to time, I plan on writing about what goes on in the nest. I have no idea what I will say, but I do know that lots goes on here....family, friends, my work and play, all kinds of things fun and some not so fun as we, like everyone else, have days of sunshine and shadow. A new journey has begun for me.....hopefully of at least a thousand miles.