stitching therapy . . .

Two days in a row . . . please don't pass out!

I wanted to share my finished "Cattitude" piece from Saturday's workshop.  I had a little Nook time yesterday afternoon and managed to get it quilted.

Nothing fancy ... I did a little stitch-in-the-ditch machine quilting and then I tied it with yarn (because Gwenevere loved playing with yarn and string) which felt like the perfect touch.

Really pleased with this finish and have it hanging over my laptop!

I couldn't do the workshops on Friday, but I saw a lot of the finished pieces from the afternoon session.  In fact, I shared a picture of Meg's 'word quilt' in yesterday's post. I got the itch to do a word quilt of my own, and while I was brainstorming for an appropriate word, I realized I needed to stitch while the stitching is good.  Tomorrow is D-Day . . .

I know, right?  If they'd skipped everything between "shoulder" and "procedure" it would have meant the same to me! But what it will mean is limited mobility for at least five weeks, aka, no stitching. As I thought about all that, the perfect word hit me . . .

Heal! And since I had taken the photo workshop, I pulled up a png of a band-aid and printed it off to lend a visual to the project.  That was a fun and easy finish, too, and it's hanging over the space where I'll more than likely do most of my "recovery" for that first week! This was my pre-surgery therapy. Very fulfilling.  :)

It seems like there's always something blooming at the camp . . . but these yellow water lilies were so beautiful, I had to share them:

And in the same area (the turtle sanctuary), the lettuce had gone to seed and produced some beautiful purple flowers:

Yellow and purple are a favorite color combination of mine! That lettuce has never flowered before. Funny how nature works, isn't it?

Not sure when I'll be able to manage a keyboard, so it may be a little dry here for the next week or two. But I'll be reading (if not commenting).  But when I do post next, I'll expound on this pretty little picture . . .

Fits right in with my lilies and lettuce, no?!

Have a GREAT week!

:)

words and photos . . .

Great news:  I finished my challenge piece! I did work out a solution, but I can't really say what it was until *after* the challenge show (which isn't for another 25 days). I'm dying to share this piece, because I've really loved working on it, from conception to finish (with the exception of that pesky trimming-it-too-short business).  Anyway, it is DONE.  Whew!

Thursday's program with Meg Cox, and yesterday's workshop were fantastic!  She's a fun, quirky speaker and talked about creating 'rituals' to mark special moments or milestones, and how to incorporate quilting into those rituals.  In Friday's workshop, they made word quilts. Here's Meg with hers beautiful piece nearly finished . . .

Joy is her word for the year! I thought that was so awesome, especially since it's a huge part of my life verse (James 1:2-4). I'd have liked to have taken both days, but I could only manage one.  I think, though, if I'd done a word (and I *might* just have time to do one this afternoon), I'd have chosen "HEAL".  Nevertheless, Saturday's group was small but a blast!

We spent the morning pouring through magazines, cutting out pictures and phrases, and then put together vision boards.  

I enjoyed this exercise and am quite pleased with the result!

In the afternoon we made small photo quilts. This was SUCH fun!  I opted to not bring my sewing machine and enjoyed an afternoon of hand piecing my little quilt:

It's my cat Gwenevere, who died in 2009. This girl put the 'cat' in 'cattitude' and she's gone but not forgotten. I've shared this digitized photo of her before; putting in fabric seemed appropriate. It kinda looks like she's peeking through the flowers! I borrowed a friend's machine to put it together, pillowcase style.  Now it just needs to be quilted.  By hand. Today's handwork project, perhaps.

After the workshop was over, a group of us to Meg to dinner (she flew out early this morning) at Greenbrier, a local catfish/bbq establishment that's kinda legendary.  They are known far and wide for their hushpuppies!

It was a lot of fun ... the perfect ending to a great day!

Linking up with Sarah's Feline Friday and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. Y'all have a great day!

:)