Spring has sprung!!

No April Fool joke here! Just pure satisfaction!

“She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

"Winter is dead.”

A.A. Milne - When We Were Very Young.

Yes, Spring is definitely here! I know the official date was March 20 but that day it wasn't quite spring in our neighborhood! We know spring is arriving when we see the mesquite trees turning that fantastic yellow green--and pollen falls from the trees. The sure sign that spring has sprung--pecan trees bud out! oh, joy! It's spring! The daffodils pop up, bluebonnets soar in the fields, indian paintbrush dot the roadsides with their lovely shade.

Oh new growth for new year! Lean into the feeling of happiness that Spring brings forth--new beginnings! Ditch that jacket; go forth and explore! Plant seeds and enjoy the new growth as it breaks through the soil! There is nothing like renewal--

The Secret Live of Color--World of Colors continued

And now we come to this new addition to my color library.

The author, Kassia St. Clair, has taken 75 shades, dyes and hues of color to tell a story about how color has changed the world.  She has taken brown, way battles were fought, to white that gave protection against plague;  Picasso's blue period to charcoal on cave walls--scarlet women to industrial pink--a thread through history.

As the pages show the different tints and shades of color, we learn how each hue creates

our moods and temperture; how we choose a color to wear, decorate with, speak about--

adventures abound in this book--I'm enjoying each page as I turn from color to color.

How do you use color in your daily life?  Or your work in fiber?  

Pat Sloan is taking this book to task--she is going through the colors to create a quilt with

her shoofly block.  There is purpose!  Makes for an interesting project and goal in mind--the hardest thing to do is achieve each tint, shade or hue in each color section--

I've always thought of white as the absent of color--boy, was I wrong!

White light is a combination of all colors in the color spectrum. It has all the colors of the rainbow. Combining primary colors of light like red, blue, and green creates secondary colors: yellow, cyan, and magenta.

And now, a whole new can of worms has been open for me to explore!  Pliny Elder, 1 A.D-100A.D was the first on record of trying to make white color--never heard of him!  But, now, I"m curious and tried to track down his recipe for white--here you have it!

Think I'll just buy my white already made!  Although it would be fun to mix all the above colors to see if I can achieve that "white" which I know now is a COLOR!

How do you see "White"? 

Purity, virtue, innocent, delicacy.

white calms, balances, purifies, brings clarity

cleaniness, elegance, simplicity, goodness--

bland, unfriendness, emptiness, coldness

Here is Mary O'Neill's thoughts on WHITE

White is a dove and the lily of the valley 

and a puddle of milk spilled in an alley--

A ship's sail, a kite's tail, a wedding veil, Hailstones and Halibut bones and

some people's telephones.

The hottest and most blinding light is white. 

 and breath is white when you blow it out on a frosty night.

White is the shining absence of all color, then absence is white out of touch, out of sight--

White is marshmallow and vanilla ice cream

and the part you can't remmeber in a dream.

White is the sound of a light foot walking; white is a pair of whispers talking

White is the beautiful broken lace, of snowflakes falling on your face

You can smell white in a country room toward the end of May in the cherry bloom.

And so my reading and studying will continue into the world of color--

 

Colors of the World

Who doesn't love color?  And me, I love to find books on color--since I'm a natural dyer, I always like to know the history of certain colors.  Just recently, this book "Secret Live of Colors" came on the market.  I ignored it for the longest time--why read another book on color?  Could it have anything else to know about color?  Finally, I succumbed and purchased the book.

This book is a different approach to how color is viewed in the world.  So, it does belong in my library along with my favorite books.

Oooh, this book is absolutely lovely!  filled with Blue from beginning to end!

Blue that is derived from indigo!  What mysterious dye gave

us such lovely shades of blue--Indigo!

Blue!! “Trustworthy, peacefulness, logic, calm,

Sensitive, patient” 

"What is Blue?

Blue is the color of the sky, without a cloud, cool, distant, beautiful and proud

Blue is the quiet sea and the eyes of some people

And many agree as they grow older and older

Blue is the scarf spring wears on her shoulder

blue is twilight, shadows on the snow

Blue is feeling way down low

Blue is a heron, a sapphire ring, 

you can smell blue in many a thing:  Gentian and Larkspur, forget-me-nots, too

And if you listen, you can hear blue in wind over water

and wherever flax blooms

and when evening steps into lonely rooms.

Cold is blue:  flame shot from a welding torch is too.

Hot, wild, screaming, blistering Blue and on winter mornings, the dawns are blue"

Mary O'Neill--Hailstones and Halibut Bones

Here is the history of Cochineal--a red color you can achieve from a tiny little insect, that

thrives on cactus.  How is that possible?  All things in nature are possible--this is a fascinating

journal into the life of that little bug that colored the world and made RED like nothing the world had ever seen!

Red is Strong, ambitious,outgoing, color of heightened emotion, power; invigorating, intimidating and it's never boring!

What is Red?  red is a sunset, blazy and bright.  Red is feeling brave with all your might.

Red is a sunburn, spot on your nose; sometimes red is a red, red rose.

Red squiggles out when you cut your hand.  Red is a brick and a rubber band.

Red is hotness you get inside when you're embarrassed and want to hide.

Fire-cracker, fire-engine, fire-flicker red-------

and when you're angry Red runs though your head.

Red is an Indian, a Valentine heart; the trimming on a circut cart,

red is a lipstick, red is a shout, red is a signal that says: "watch out!"

Red is a great big rubber ball.  

Red is the giant-est Color of all; Red is a show off no doubt about it-----

But can you imagine living without it?

Mary O'Neill Hailstones and Halibut Bones

I love color! I can't imagine not seeing color-- my husband is color blind-- he can't distinguish between brown and green. 

What does colorblindness mean?

 

The Art of the Palm

Have you ever had your palm READ?  I'm told there is a whole history about you, just in the palm of your hand.  The other day a friend said to me "look at your palm--do you see your life line? and do you have a M there?"

I never thought about reading my palm--but now, I"m looking more often about my palm to see how

close to my life enfolds.

 DO YOU HAVE THE LETTER M IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND?

I have this letter in the palm of both my hands...

How about you?

“Palmistry is an ancient method of predicting the future and interpreting a person's personality from the pattern of the lines of the hands. Sometimes these lines can form even numbers and letters.

One of these letters may be the letter M, the meaning of which has been investigated by many mystics.

As many believe, the lines on the palm reveal our character and destiny.

The letter M is assigned to truly special people.

They are endowed with extraordinary intuition and represent the ideal partners for any business.

If the people you love have the special letter M on the inside of the palm, you have to know that you cannot mock and you cannot lie or deceive that person in any way.

Being very intelligent and intuitive, people with the letter M in the palm of their hand easily realize that they are being lied to or deceived.

Women who have the letter M on their palm have a stronger intuition than men, even those who have this letter.

They are gifted with the power to manage and overcome any obstacle in life, and they know how to exploit the resources and opportunities that are offered to them.

The letter "M" on your palm can also mean:

• Leadership skills

• Can

• Joy

• Excellent opportunities

According to popular tradition, this sign is characteristic of the prophets ... So if you have this letter in your hand, you are really a special person! Some people hold it in one hand and others in both.” ~ Martin Santos

Credits: Quantum Physics and Kabbalah

Abandoned!

At A Loose End*!  Definitely, I don't know why this town was abandoned some years ago!

I recently looked for the box that contained the patterns and instructions, only because, 

Pat Sloan was reviving the sew along--Will You Be My Neighbor?"

When I saw that notice--I said to myself--"self, you have this somewhere in your studio"

Look for it--and there it was--all neatly bundled up in a box with fabric I decided to use--plaids.

I had made four of the blocks and then--bam!  I abandoned the whole neighborhood!

It's big blocks--18" so it's doable and I have all the fabric selected--now is the time

to pick it up again and make another street or two or just finish the town!

Only three more streets to do--it can be finished if I put my mind to it!

So why 'be at a loose end"?

*"if you see children mooching about, apparently doing nothing recognizably useful, you are likely to say--they are at a loose end.  Why not send the little dears off to sea on an old sailing ship.

That is where the phrase was coined!

As with spinning a yarn, on quiet days at sea when the weather was good, sailors would have to perform ordinary tasks.  All the thousands of ropes of sheets making up the rigging needed to have their ends bound with twine to prevent them fraying.  Anyone with no other duties would be sent to

"tie up the loose end"

*Rigmaroles & Ragamuffins, Elinor Kapp author!

 

Luck of the Irish!

 As Luck would have it is the latest sew along from Fort Worth Fabric Studio.  You can find the free instructions on their Facebook group.

The phrase luck of the Irish is commonly thought to mean “extreme good fortune.” "During the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, a number of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish and Irish American birth. . . 

My oldest daughter has the best luck--she finds four leaf clovers as she walks through her pasture

 The leaves of four-leaf clovers are said to stand for faith, hope, love, and luck. It's often said that Ireland is home to more four-leaf clovers than any other place, giving meaning to the phrase "the luck of the Irish." If you're lucky enough to find a four-leaf clover, look for more!

How rare is a four leaf clover? Its relative rarity (1 in 5,000 clovers) suggests a possible recessive gene appearing at a low frequency. Alternatively, four-leaf clovers could be caused by somatic mutation or a developmental error of environmental causes.

There were four steps to completing this simply made quilt top.  I didn't begin this one--now, I'm thinking I never have anything green to display for the month of March--this one could be it! 

Better, join their Facebook page to had advance information.

Look at that!  The pattern block called for is an Irish Chain!!

There will be a spring sew along in the next few weeks--

Tonight when you have your corned beef and cabbage--think of all that good luck you'll have in the coming weeks!  

A Quilting We Go

WORD of the DAY:  "many a mickie makes a muckle"--in other words:  A lot of small amounts, put together, become a large amount!

 It's been several weeks since we have graced the door of our local quilt shop (LQS).  We were going to not only SHOP (SALE! SALE! SALE!)  but we have couple of quilt tops to long arm in the back studio--First!  we must shop before the crowd enters.

My stash!  Certain fabrics were $6 a yard!  Alot of batiks as well! Yay!  that was fun.

I was quilting my Corey Yoder "Spring Brook Blossoms" from her 2021 blog--was great fun to sew up a garden of blossoms in different colors.

I was trying out my free form flowers and bugs--I know it looks like some kids' drawings--well, I'll take that compliment! 

I had this small top to place on the end of my longer quilt--don't remember where I got the pattern

For this one, I did my amateurish hearts and along the bottom "Love"

My friend was quilting on this top that she constructed though the $5 Club.  Each month you attend the meeting and bring in your completed block, you can get the next one for $5--she likes doing her quilts this way

You can see her backing at the bottom--here is a better photo of her backing

Butterflies!  Perfect for her flowery garden top.

It was a good day!!