Kleas

Spain marries Wisconsin

It took me a while to go through over 500 photos that I took on our trip to the farm for the four-day celebration of the marriage between two dear friends.  It was quite an event.  The blend of two cultures, two languages and two families who live a continent apart.  It was beautiful.  Magical.

On the three-and-a-half hour drive to the farm I had grand plans for my little sewing project.  I had cut about eighty pieces of vintage sheet fabric and was hand stitching them to a length of t-shirt yarn.  I only was able to stitch up twenty.

I thought they were pretty, but they paled in comparison to the stunning ones made by the bride and her friend. (I'll admit I was a little embarrassed to hang mine up, but they insisted...)

Grooms dinner and breakfasts were held at the beautiful Old Oak Inn, located in a nearby town.

We had the priviledge of staying in the log cabin.

We stayed through Monday to join the Catalans in a canoe trip down the Kikapoo River.

It was a truly magical event.

mosaic monday-neutrals

1. textile on pole 01, 2. wildflowers 016, 3. http://tremblinginsidethecocoon.wordpress.com/, 4. textile piece, 5. Riverside Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 34" x 46" Tea stained voile, cotton, linen, yarn and embroidery thread, 6. spent, 7. flag bunting, 8. blog post 1500, 9. linen

All neutrals for this weeks mosaic...I think it's reflective of the meloncholy that is setting in.  The change of seasons, some big good-byes, my boy's return to school later today...all these things signaling the end of summer.  Which is not a bad thing.  I love autumn, I am looking forward to returning to my preschool in a week, starting some knitting projects, reconnecting.  A new rhythm needs to be nutured, adopted, and I will need to keep focused to help my boys ease into this new season.

housekeeping

We are home after a long weekend at the farm.  Two dear friends were married and there was quite a celebration.  I am stll basking in the glow of the beautiful time we had enjoying the company of wonderful friends in one of the most magical places I know.  I took over 500 photos so have a lot to look through before I can even think about sharing some of them here.  

Found while running today...

...a true sign that summer is beginning to fade and that autumn is on the horizon.  This brings feelings of melancholy as we look to the start of a new school year, and a transition into a new rhythm.  Sadly, this also means I won't be spending endless beautiful days with my two boys constantly by my side.

Saturday, the boys' grandmother will be returning home.  She has been visiting us since mid-May and her sudden absence will be another adjustment for us all to make.  I am so grateful for this time we've shared over the summer and that she was able to get to know her grandsons so well.  And since she does not speak English, Julen's Spanish has improved tremendously!  

Here she is teaching my boy how to tie his cleats.  (Did anyone else forget to teach their eight-year-old how to tie shoes??...Seems crazy, I know, but in this velcro and slip-on world, seems I let that one slide through the cracks!)

For all my local friends-anyone planning on attending

• The State Fair?
• LOLA?
• The Tapestries of Helena Hernmarck at the Swedish Institute of MN?
• Rembrandt in America at MIA?

Trying to squeeze it all in before summer's end.

weekend plans

...a little sewing project I need to finish.  Happy weekend friends!!

one for my nephew

It didn't hit me right away, but after a long conversation with my sister on Sunday night it began to really sink in...her boy is starting college this fall.  In fact, he leaves on Saturday.  She has been a bit of a wreck all summer.  Her baby, her first born will be leaving home.  He is the oldest of all his cousins so first to take this giant leap.  It came so fast.  In the blink of an eye.  Being eight years older, my sister has always paved the way for me.  I have had the opportunity to experience things in her life, before my turn comes to live them.  So it didn't hit me right away.  The enormity of a child moving away from home...it takes a big gulp to hold back those tears.  Watching my boys on Monday morning, I was reminded I need to hang on to each day of the next ten years...because my oldest will be moving on then.  Now I was a wreck and the without really thinking about, I grabbed two skeins of wool yarn and began to crochet a scarf for my nephew.  I don't know if he'll ever wear it, but I felt I just had to make him something to take to college.  The North wind blows hard here in the fall and I imagine him needing something warm around his neck for the walks across campus.

For this scarf, I used two skeins of Patons Classic Wool in dark grey Marle.  I chained 30 then worked each row in a simple double crochet stitch until I had used all the yarn.  Here is Julen modeling it.

It took me only two days to make this from start to finish.  I think that is a record for me.  It was a good way to work through the tears of saddness/joy of realizing my nephew's next step in this journey of his.  I wish you well, little i.  xx,Tia

hand-printed fabric swap re-cap

Twice now I've joined Leslie's Fabric Swap, and I've showed you what I've made (here and here), but I've neglected to show what I've received in return.

These gorgeous fabrics from swap one:

Left to right from Clemetine's Shoes, SugarLemon, Flowerpress and Starashan.

And these beautiful ones from round two:

from Bimba, Lamina and Amy.

It's hard to think about cutting into these, but I definitely want to come up with some project that uses all of these beautiful fabrics together.  I hope that Leslie will do this swap again...it's so fun to try something new and quite inspiring to see what everyone comes up with.

Here are some resources I found helpful when looking for inspiration for my fabrics.

I'll bet most people already know about Lotta Jansdotter's book Lotta Prints.  A wonderful resource for a wide variety of printing techniques.

New to me was this great find at the library, Print & Stamp Lab by Traci Bunkers.  This book details great ways to use everyday objects in printing.  Some examples...

 After reading through this book and following some examples, my boys and I had such fun playing with printing from objects around this house.  This book shows wonderful ways of combining different elements to create some great patterns.  There are also lots of examples of overprinting which I have only recently become fascinated with (thanks to the lovely work of Flowerpress).  I will absolutely be trying some of these new printing techniques at the preschool this year-it is just so much fun, and I know the kids will love it too.

That last resource pictured above is Martha Stewart Living Magazine, July 2012.  That issue came out just as I was working on my own fabrics.  I love the look of the plastic berry basket, but I have not seen those kind of containers since I was a child.  Some more inspiring images from MSL.

Just for fun, I've been playing with adding a little embroidery to some of my printing practice fabrics.

Not sure yet where I'm going with this...if it turns into anything, I'll let you know.  xx

mosaic monday-lovely stitches

1. Untitled, 2. El vaso no quiere asomarse, 3. pink stitches, 4. moonglow anemone and beach debris, 5. process image: textile strips, 6. white on paper #2, 7. Women's Suffrage, 8. memory thread: chapter one, 9. Freewheeling pouch necklace, 10. simple stitches, 11. beads stitch, 12. island hopper

So much beauty in this handwork found on flickr.  I marvel in each piece and appreciate all the time and dedication it makes to create such lovely works of art. 

I've got a few stitching projects I hope to make this week-there never seem to be enough hours in the day, but I am hopeful I'll get to them.

Happy Monday!!  x

when i disappear...

...I go here.

(photo by niece, Katie)

This is the cabin, the house, I share with my sister and brother.  It was meant to be our father's retirement home, but prior to completion he became sick and passed away.  That was over eighteen years ago.  He would have been seventy-nine years old last Tuesday and my thoughts were all on him that day.  I guess that was what was on my mind when I woke up Wednesday and said "boys, we're going to the cabin".  So we packed up our things plus one friend and away we went.  Three glorious days in the North, surrounded by a lake, the woods and a creek.  The boys just played and played.  

The creek water is so clean and clear.

In a previous post I showed off bits of the outside of the cabin.  This time I took photos of some of the little details found inside.

A painting of my father as a young man, another piece by my sister.

Together, my dad and my brother built this house...I love that my brother saved one of each variety of nail used in the construction.

Pieces of my parents wedding dishes that now are being used once again.

Our eagle feather collection...before his death our father said his spirit would travel in the eagle, so each and every feather we find is a treasure.

That beautiful mantle was built by my brother from a felled oak tree.

I was wishing friend (and mushroom connoisseur) Lisa could have paid a visit.  There were dozens of these black mushrooms that she would be able to identify...I wish I knew if they were edible or not.

I feel very lucky (is a five-leaf clover more lucky than a four-leaf?) to have this beautiful place to escape to...my boys are already asking when can we go back.

Weekend blessings!  xx

mosaic monday-an odd collection

1. 54534-01 Papaver somniferum, 2. ladders and waves, 3. Opium poppy seed pod, 4. studio, 5. papaver & physalis, 6. Mr. Ears, 7. Poppy Pods. Маковые головки. Papaver somniferum, Opium Poppy — Мак снотворный, или Мак опийный, семенные коробочки, 8. squirrels do more than gather nuts to prepare for winter. they knit, too., 9. DSC_5660_Papaver_poppy, 10. Woven Shibori, 11. Pop ups (1), 12. Sashiko Samplers 003 hiratsume sanmasu (3)

This is kind of an odd collection of flickr favorites this week but I do love how the different shades of poppy pods compliment some of my favorite handwork pieces.

It's that time of year when the poppy pods can be found in the garden.  These seed heads are my absolute favorite...I love them just as much as I love the poppy bloom itself.  I'll be playing with my collection this week, but if anyone has any ideas of how to craft with them, I'd love to hear about it.

Happy Monday friends!  x

complete

Papa is home from his coaching job that takes him out of state every summer.  Solo parenting is one of the hardest jobs I know and I salute and admire all those who do it on their own.  Oh what a happy day when he got home.  We are all reconnecting and once again finding our rhythm that includes him.

I was completely surprised by this gift he brought me...a beautiful ceramic vase made by Gail Garcia that he found in the Princeton Art Museum gift shop.

I just love it!  I also love the way it looks next to my sweet bud vase that Jen gave me for my birthday two years ago.  

We are complete once again.  x