Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Moments of Delight

"There never was a golden world, and I don't suppose there ever will be, yet now and then -- in moments of delight -- we catch the glint and gleam of it. I don't mean lumps of glittering happiness, but moments brought by little things." -J.B. Preistley in The Listener

the swing!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Creativity, Voyages, and Churchill

Found this in an old anthology from Reader's Digest called "Getting the Most out of Life" and really wanted to share this quote---
"Buy a paint box and have a try. It would be a sad pity to shuffle along through one's playtime with golf and bridge, when all the while, if you only knew, there is waiting for you close at hand the wonderful new world of thought and craft, a sunlit garden gleaming with color. Inexpensive independence, new mental food and excercise, an added interest in every common scene, an occupation for every idle hour, an unceasing voyage of entrancing discovery-- these are high prizes. I hope they may be yours."

You will never guess the author of this quote(okay, maybe my blog title clued you in)-- Winston Churchill. It is condensed in the anthology and entitled "My Adventures with a Paint Brush" from his work "Amid These Storms." I always associate Winston Churchill with serious matters of state and world war history. I had no idea he was also a painter. Love the phrase "an unceasing voyage of entrancing discovery"! What voyages of discovery have you been on lately? Have you been thinking of trying a new hobby? Take Churchill's advice and buy a paint box or a set of needles and some yarn. You never know what you might discover in your voyage if you don't try. This month I have been enjoying warm sunshine, beautiful gardens, and wonderful times with family and friends. Hope your summer voyages are full of new discoveries and lovely memories.

gorgeous flowers from my mom's garden

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

501 Denim Blues Blanket.


This blog post was created at the request of dear old Mums...
So, have I previously mentioned that I have a tendency to start projects and never finish? Oh yes, I started this blog off with that little factoid. My mom has been under the weather and decided to clean out some of her sewing/project room closets instead of lay immobile on the couch like normal, non type-A folks. In the process of cleaning out her closets she discovered another one of my unfinished projects...a blue bin full of cut squares of old blue jeans.

I am not a huge concert go-er and generally get lawn seats when I do attend live music venues. I am waaaaaaay too cheap to pay over $100 per seat to attend a two hour show. I just am. I went to a Norah Jones concert years ago with two of my siblings. We did not bring the sister that is generally prepared for all situations and were thus up a creek when we discovered that the ground was still wet from a rain the day before. Wet lawn seats...not fun. We all crammed on a jacket one of us had brought. Norah Jones kept interrupting her show because her earpiece was picking up the signal from the nearby television station. Needless to say, it was not the best concert I have ever attended.

What we really could have used was a good picnic type blanket. This is where the jean squares fit in. After that concert or another (I can't remember because it has been that long), I decided to make a picnic/concert/outdoor blanket out of old denim.

I cleaned out old pairs of my jeans and scoured a few yard sales to collect different shades of denim for the project. I cut them all into squares...I think they are 8x8 or 10x10 inches. Anyway, they are still waiting to be sewn together. I need to enlist Mom's assistance or finally figure out how to use the scary sewing machine and get this blanket project done in 2011!!! Do any of you have unfinished projects tucked away? Or a project you have long been wanting to tackle and haven't yet? Please tell me I am not alone with my unfinished project list.
Craft Hope Spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time