Kathreen Ricketson’s Brave New Quilts Legacy Tour

I am deeply honored to have been asked to be a part of Kathreen Ricketson's Brave New Quilts Legacy Tour. This is not just about her beautiful new book, but about the indefatigable spirit of Kathreen herself.

When I first received Brave New Quilts, saw the gorgeous cover and flipped through the pages; a fresh grief washed over me for a moment. Her tragic death earlier this year was such a shock to me and it was unthinkable that this bright light in our community was now gone. After a brief moment, I shook off the sadness and dove into the book with a sense of celebration and wonder!

I know that this book was a deeply personal project for Kathreen and that she was excited about it. It is a corker too! It's not just a fresh and cool new quilting book, but a really good read as well. Kathreen's voice is clear and engaging, and as with everything she put her energies into, it is so inspiring.

In Brave New Quilts, Kathreen has created quilts inspired by 12 different 20th century art movements. I love this! The information she provides is fascinating and accessible, the design principles engaging and inspiring. She really has a wonderful way of discussing color, design, and the rules of creating the quilts in the book. All the while she encourages us to go our own way and discover our own path; even providing alternate colorways for each project.

The arrival of Kathreen's book turns out to be quite fortuitous for me personally. I have recently renewed my love of quilting and have been experimenting with modern and art quilt design, this book is a great resource to add to my collection and just the nudge I needed to get cracking!

I can hear Kathreen's voice telling me, "You can do it! Go for it!" 

Kathreen's legacy is huge and far reaching. From my first introduction to her via her trailblazing website WhipUp, to her brilliant kid's magazine ActionPack, through her books and all of her endeavors; I have admired her talent, her love for her family, her intelligence and her amazingly generous spirit. She encouraged me greatly when I was working on my own book. She treated me with great respect and made me laugh. She is one of the people through whom I have made friends from all over the art/crafting/making community and have been more inspired and courageous than I ever could have imagined.

As I wrote in a post on WhipUp earlier this year:

 "Though I never met her in person, I considered Kathreen a friend, a kindred spirit and a supporter of the utmost kind. Through her hard work and gorgeous spirit, she brought together a community; fostered art and craft, endlessly inspired and encouraged so many wonderful people.  She made such a tremendous impact on me and I know so many others. She created an amazing legacy and I truly believe she made this world a better place. She reminds us to live life with passion and intent; to live deliberately with love and to continue to follow our hearts."

I absolutely recommend Brave New Quilts, it is a brilliant book. I also encourage you to follow along on all the stops on this Stash Books Legacy Tour!

Tuesday	10/1	Heather Jones
Wedneday	10/2	Kristin Link
Thursday	10/3	Maya Donenfeld
Friday	10/4	Alexandra Smith
Monday	10/7	Sonya Philip
Tuesday	10/8	Ellen Luckett Baker
Wedneday	10/9	Andrea Jenkins
Thursday	10/10	Shannon Cook
Friday	10/11	Mimi Kirchner
Monday	10/14	Cheryl Arkison

Wind and Rain

Oh my but it is a gloomy Monday! We are having quite the storm here in our neck of the woods. Pouring rain and blustery winds since the start of the weekend. As of yet, we have not quite been washed away, but I have had moments of concern.

What better way to spend a stormy Monday then to unpack some pretties in the new studio? It really is thrilling to be putting my fabric up in it's new home!

Even Tiny Alice is getting into the spirit and fighting off the wicked weather by wearing her most Springy of aprons, getting dressed up for the Grand Opening even though it is still sometime off.

So that's where you'll find me today, unpacking and pottering about in my studio, feeling very grateful indeed to have a room of my own.

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The Amazings

Quite some time ago I heard about an organisation called The Amazings in the UK. A group that is dedicated to passing on handcrafted knowledge from wise elders to the next generations. Now that is amazing! I would love to take part in something like that, to learn hands on from those who have so much to share and teach. Alas, I do not live in the UK, ah well.

Then earlier this year I was contacted by The Amazings and learned that they are doing video courses! They were kind enough to let me preview a couple of videos and I was again, amazed. What wonderful quality videos storing a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips!

From the site, I found this statement and found it to be very true

Mastery and Wisdom, Brilliantly Shared.

We're creating online craft classes with elders showing us how to make, mend, master - and live. Let's keep knowledge alive."

Well, how about I let you watch the video below as an introduction, to give you a sense of their fantastic purpose.



One of the best parts of this, is that the courses are affordable and quite accessible. I have it in mind to take one on Altered Books and one on Home-dyed Jewelry, and ... so many to choose from really.

I highly recommend you go take a look see at The Amazings site, it is near impossible to not be inspired by this group's dedication. I see too, that they are adding new courses all of the time.

The Amazings have been quite generous with my readers, offering a free course! Just go sign up HERE!

I truly love what The Amazings are doing. It is important and useful work and a great deal of fun!

Settling In

Slowly, but ever so surely, we are beginning to settle in bit by bit to our new home. There are still an unnerving amount of boxes piled up in the garage, but we chip away little by little. In a while everything will be nice and cozy for Fall. The temperature has taken a sudden dip on the day of the harvest moon! I can't say I am prepared for the change of seasons, but the seasons have never consulted with me as to my readyness or not, and tend to come on anyway.

My Grandmother's hot pink velvet love seat has finally found a home and that makes me quite happy indeed.
And though she's a delicate thing, made for Victorian Ladies with small bird-like features and handkerchiefs, she does look awfully pretty in the living room light.

As for the studio, oh my good gravy. We did some wall bashing of course, then I went on to spend 3 tedious days painting the walls that we left behind. Many coats of paint later and it is starting to really look like something! There is still the sticky issue of proper lighting and wiring, best left to professionals to switch that business around you know.  As I have grown a bit itchy to get back to it, I did start to move in just a little.

Tiny Alice was somewhat miffed that I had taken some previous photos of her in undress, so I've made sure to protect her modesty with an old French nightgown for the picture.
So looking forward to doing some stitching again, the ideas have been buzzing!

Well, I hope I haven't bored you to tears with my tales of moving in, but it is my world at the moment. I am saving my strength since I do have some pretty great things to share with you all next week!
Until then my lovelies, be safe, be well!

Of Produce and Progress

Oh my good gravy! It has been one crazy Summer! I shant bore you with slippery details. I'll just get straight to the Produce Aisle of today's post.

Welcome to the front/back-yard farmer's market! 

Oh I do think I need to come up with a fitting name for the new garden. Any thoughts? Lola's Retreat? Alex's Acres? NirvanaNova? No... it will come to me I'm sure. Oops, sidetracked there for a moment. 

That big Tom there took both hands to hold it. It was so big in fact, that when Pony Girl tried to bring it into the kitchen, it was far too bulky to handle and it leapt from her small hands and crashed with a squooshy thud on the floor. There was a moment of silence as we believed it was indeed a very sad end to a truly impressive tomato. Upon closer inspection we saw that despite a bit of bashing and bruising and breaking in half, there was still plenty of good tomato left to slice and eat with bread, basil and a drizzle of olive oil!

The Delicata squash is nearly there.

The figs are coming on gangbusters! My first attempt at drying a few in the dehydrator was a bit of a bust. Tonight's fig and sweet onion jam should have better results.

And the jelly cupboard is getting fuller by the week! I have discovered the joys of ginger cardamom pear butter!

Now that I have distracted you with the bounty of my garden, I shall move on to the Progress portion of this post.

Since last we chatted, we have acquired a dining table and chairs for the dining room. Previously loved of course. It is the very first proper dining table I have personally owned in all my life. As I am going on a few freckles past 44, this strikes me as quite a feat! Our extended family dinners are sure to be much more comfortable and sociable now that we can all eat at the same table.

A few of my knickknacks have shed their boxes and wrapping paper to make temporary camp on the shelves of the Aqua laundry room/wet bar. There is a little cocktail cart discreetly out of frame. 

This isn't pretty, but progress has definitely been made on my studio. We've been bashing down walls and exposing the brick, which incidentally is the name of my next album. Painting and lighting come next.

Progress was also made today on perfecting my Chai spice blend recipe. I am soooo close!

In that mug up there is one of my favorite things; Chocolate Chai Tea!

Well, that concludes the Produce and Progress report for today. Have a gorgeous weekend all!

Greetings and Salutations!

Well hello, long time no see! It was a long and arduous journey this last month or so, and busy, busy, busy!
Once we got the bulk of our lives moved to the new place, then the heavy work began to get The little Green Cottage into shape for market. Scrubbing, painting, landscaping, replacing windows, etc. We worked long and hard and finally said our last goodbye to the old place. So long old friend, it was a good run!

Meanwhile, over at the new house...
There hasn't been much unpacking or making our own just yet, there just hasn't been time. We have spent everyday and evening in the back yard though. The new garden is a gift that keeps giving, and while I am a bit nervous about the amount of maintenance my new "park" is going to require, we are in love!

We discovered that our apple tree is a Gravenstein, an old fashioned variety that I have loved from my childhood. It is an early apple with a very short season and shelf life, but the flavor is amazing.  When we got the keys to the new place, most of the apples were already on the ground, but I couldn't let them go to waste. So I salvaged what I could and made applesauce, delicious! So, first week in the new place and I was already canning!

We also have been snacking daily on the raspberries that just started coming on when we moved in. I do love a bowl full of fresh berries with my afternoon tea!

Pasta and Caprese salad have been devoured made from the abundant basil and some gorgeous tomatoes from the new garden too.

The latest food source comes from a giant old tree and since we haven't yet purchased a fruit picker thinger, we have to wait for them to fall to the ground. Yummy Bartlett Pears!

In the front garden, we have figs coming on as well as a bumper crop of Delicata squash. Next year we shall have 2 varieties of cherries and blueberries to pick as well, plus whatever we decide to plant in the well appointed vegetable beds. So you can see, that though we may have no living room nor dining room furniture, we will not go hungry!

We (by we, I mean the engineer and a friend) did manage to put up a new coop for the girls. Lots of re-use, reclaimed materials were put to good work and the new place is very fine indeed.

Oh, and lest I forget, we also have a fancy pants fountain in the new garden!

As for getting my crafty on, it will have to wait. I have some walls I need to bash down and a whole heck of a lot of painting before my studio is ready for business.

So nice to visit with you all again. Things may be a bit spotty in this space until school starts, but I am back!

Have a wonderful weekend all!
xo

Boxed In

Clearly the idea that I could keep up with my little blog here whilst waist deep in moving house, has been a tremendous fail.  So, I thinks it's best to admit when one is beat and politely tip one's hat to the day and say, "See you on the other side friends!"

I shall return in a couple weeks time. Until then, I wish you all the best!

Blue Bee Farm

Have you ever come across a place that is so great that you can't wait to tell people about it? A place that is truly special - so that a tiny part of you sort of wants to keep it a secret too? Well, we have found such a place and it just wouldn't be fair to keep it all to ourselves.  That place is Blue Bee Farm.

The last weekend in June we had a bit of a heat wave here in the Northwest. We had also seen a house that we fell in love with and on Friday, we put in our offer. This is a bit nerve wracking as the last place we put an offer on, we were outbid. To keep our minds off the whole business, we decided to pack up the car and take a drive out to Sauvie Island. Now, Sauvie Island is just a 20 minute drive from our place and is a magical spot. It's landscape is stunning, dotted with farms and wetlands. There are plenty of U-Pick farms to choose from, some of which can get down right crowded on a sunny weekend day.

The Engineer happens to work with a fellow who's family has opened a Blueberry farm on a beautiful piece of land. We made our way to the farm ready to pick some berries in the sun.

Blue Bee Farm is family owned, and the family is truly ace, really the nicest folks you could imagine. No sprays or chemicals are used on the fruit, they practice natural and sustainable farming, and the surroundings are lovely. The scene was so peaceful, we nearly had the place to ourselves. We headed out to the fields with our buckets looking for blueberry gold,
and boy did we ever find it!

Though the bushes may have looked small, they were literally bowing under the weight of masses of big, juicy, ripe and incredibly sweet berries. Every bush was a treasure. Every few minutes Pony Girl would yell, "Jackpot!"

Blue Bee Farm grows several varieties of blueberries, all of them delicious.  In the short time we were there (not much over an hour) we picked an incredible 16 pounds of blueberries without even realizing it!!

It made for an awesome family outing in beautiful surroundings, we had such a fun time. If you live anywhere near the area, I can not recommend Blue Bee Farm enough. Just click on the link to get info, hours and directions. I happen to know that there are plenty more blueberries coming on at the farm, so go get some now! You can also follow them on Instagram HERE and see their beautiful farm and berries!

I know for a fact that Blue Bee Farm will become a family tradition for years to come!  Thank you so much Shanna, John and family for a great experience!

While we froze a good amount of the berries, we ate quite a few fresh. I also made a batch of blueberry syrup, oh man that stuff is good! Here is a basic simple recipe, much like how I made mine if you care to give it a try. It's easy peasy. It is good on everything from ice cream to pancakes and it makes my new favorite summer refresher: Blueberry Soda with Lime and Mint!

Oh I almost forgot to tell you...

We got the house!!!

Happy Monday all!