I heard chickadees outside today. In the summer months, I realize I might not stop to appreciate their “fee-bee” whistle, but hearing this sound in the snowy quiet, was bright and clear.

Despite the birds, it’s very routine here in the studio, I’m up early working on art and I crank through the day with Maisey at my side. In this wet weather, Maisey and I have come to enjoy what we call a “suburban walk.” We walk on the cement pad from the front to the back deck so she doesn’t get her paws wet. She’s something else this one…. but it gets us out and breathing the fresh air.

I said on Instagram that we were not prepared to deal with the snow at our new place. Thankfully, thankfully, our neighbor with a John Deere plowed us out, not once but twice! We feel quite welcomed out here. I will say, I miss talks in the dark night chatting with our former neighbor - shout out to Martha!

As some of you know, Evan and I moved out of the suburbs and are building a small scale homestead, which begins with rehabbing a 1970s ranch. The ongoing construction inside the house is dirty, cluttered, and slightly dangerous… I feel like either Evan or I get a “it will be worth it” pep talk once a week. The cold is slowing us down as it’s hard to use saws even in the garage at these temperatures. We will hibernate for a little bit longer…. there’s certainly plenty to draw on my desk in the meantime.

I planned to put away my sewing machine for a bit while the dust settles, that’s until a friend of mine announced her pregnancy! Obviously, the Juki is coming out of storage and on to the kitchen counter - I’ve got a baby quilt to make! Even still, l need something fun and compact to work on in the evening when we are cooped up that won’t be too much of a mess … and so, I began a meditation scroll.

The mediation school, or snippet scroll concept is simple. Two layers of fabric: the bottom strip and the scraps on top. If you follow my projects you may recognize pieces of my mini quilt coral/purple ombre that Evan accidentally set on fire… It lives again! On the top layer, the little scraps can be basted down or stitched down on as you go. For the bottom strip, I’m using a jelly roll. It’s 2.5 inches wide but I don’t see why we could do a scroll at any size.

I love this as a way to keep meaningful fabric, clothes, or swatches. Some people use the scrolls to cut apart and use for journaling embellishments or decorations but I think it can be just for the act of stitching practice and play.

Stitching for stitching sake! Loving these meditation scrolls for sitting in front the t.v. at night, I can really fly down the strip! (Though that might not be the point… LOL)

Ideally, you’d fasten them onto to a spool and roll them up. I happen to have a few large wooden spools I want to use, where are they? What box? It could be a while friends…

If you have any bit of inspiration to make a scroll, I invite you to join me and please send pics!

I’m trying to keep the sewing explosion contained among the wreckage of the remodel. Whatever the heck I’m making on my Living Canvas is in its “ugly stage” no doubt. It’ll all be worth it. <3

More soon.

P.S. Seriously - consider joining me on the scrolls!

When I first saw the painting Lady Agnew of Lochnaw in my art history book I was hooked on John Singer Sargent but I didn’t know the significance this painting would have on me until I researched more. The painting was fairly small in my textbook and wouldn’t appear on our exam or in a big lecture but to me it became everything. I pulled images from different books in the library and compared different reproductions, to get a sense of the color (which is never quite reproduced the same way.)

At the end of the semester, I didn’t sell my textbook like most of my classmates because the reproduction of Lady Agnew was better than anything you could see online. My interest in Lady Agnew went deeper than my interest in color, brushstrokes, and composition. Much of what I’ve read about Lady Agnew is conflicting but one thing every historian agrees on - Lady Agnew was sick, throughout her life and in this portrait.

Her husband's diaries note malaise, long hospitalizations, carriage ride ambulances, and days recuperating in bed. Lady Agnew sat for Sargent over six sessions to complete the portrait. At that time, historians say she was sick with influenza, her doctor was present and she had to take many breaks. Despite her illness, she looks undoubtedly beautiful. Was this the way Sargent painted her? Or was this a reflection of life with an “invisible illness” as we call it today, an auto-immune disease before we had much of an understanding? The extensiveness of her illness and death point to this possibility.

I found out the painting lived in Scotland (a place I was sure I’d never visit.) You see, traveling with my own illness has proven tumultuous over the years. On occasions, I’ve ended up hospitalized in a foreign country or returned home in worse shape than when I started… and this was well before 2020. Needless to say, I don’t travel much and I quickly accepted this painting would be one I’d never see.

That’s until the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston announced: “Fashion By Sargent”. … and Lady Agnew would be there - a truly rare occasion.

When I bought the tickets to see Fashion By Sargent, I was a week out from surgery, but I pulled the trigger anyway and shot my hopes to the sky. We had some flight credit due to a previous trip that had to be canceled because of my health so we had little to lose!

I made it to meet Gertrude…. incredibly surreal. Because my illness is so concealed, I often feel isolated, like I’m living a double life. Next to Gertrude, interpreted by Sargent, together she and I stand, with grace and illness.

I was amazed how many people were there to see the show. It was loud with excitement for Sargent’s work! I struggled to stand throughout the show, I could tell that the Crohn’s complication I was dealing with was getting worse quickly and a fever was brewing. My doctor called in an emergency script of antibiotics when we got back to the hotel. My illness became much more visible as I vomited on the plane ride home and I was deemed a “biohazard.” Horrified, the person next to us was moved to a new seat…

I thought of Gertrude vomiting in front of John Singer Sargent. I thought of her hiding her symptoms at one of her big lavish parties at the Lochnaw Castle - the place she refurbished with her extensive skills for decorating and remodeling. I “cheers” to Gertrude with seltzer water.

An unexpected highlight of our trip was staying at the VERB. When we arrived at our hotel, our wonderful host upgraded us unexpectedly to stay in an airstream stream fit for a rock star. As some of you know, Evan and I planned to buy an airstream last Spring and take to the road but with my illness, plans fell through… but here we got to live a bit of that dream …Another God wink.

Some more pictures from the show…

Many of the textiles were on display themselves, like this bird hat below, and silk top hat above.

Sargent was a master of hands…

It was fascinating to see the dresses and compare the colors. Here I noticed for the highlights, rather than painting them on top, (wet into wet we artists say) like Sargent usually might, he allowed the canvas to show through and created the effect of the highlights that look just like the velvet this dress was made of.

Compared to these highlights below, which are assumed to be painted alla prima style and took on a lovely blue hue in person.

The painting of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth was a show-stopper. I especially enjoyed the note about Ellen who felt she wasn’t accomplished enough to be worthy of being painted by Sargent and wanted to postpone her painting. Artists!

Can you tell it was Evan’s favorite?

I was always taught to utilize perspective when I can, like, using eclipses, bracelets or stripes to describe the form. I would have been keen to capture those stripes on the dress’s sleeve. Not Sargent. Guess some masters don’t need the tricks!

No one ever told me Taylor Swift modeled for Sargent!?

Just kidding, but you do see the resemblance, don’t you? His niece modeled for each figure here, which I admire because I also use the same models over and over as I have access to - like many commercial artists do.

As always, thanks for reading about glimmers. Have a wonderful Christmas and whatever you are dreaming of doing, I hope you don’t write it off just yet…

When I received the news a special friend was expecting I couldn’t get to the quilt store fast enough. My inspiration came from my friend’s vision for her nursery - classic Winnie the Pooh colors.

For this quilt, I finished with silk edges for snug-able, chewable binding. I attempted for the first time a diagonal orientation for the squares. To me, this is an extra wow factor and something I haven’t tried before. It does mean losing some fabric on the edges.

I did have to pace around the house a few times before I made this cut. Creative risks pay off. It certainly adds a bit of interest on an otherwise classic design

When I make a baby quilt, one of my goals is to create a heirloom quality blanket so it can be loved for a long time or passed down. Because of this, I choose fabrics that have a timeless quality. (Can’t go wrong with gingham.)

The meandering stitching is abstract and one of my favorite things to do on a quilt. I don’t use a long arm, just my standard juke machine, patience, and a bit of arm strength.

I have this habit of making a quilt for someone I love and then deciding it’s not good enough to give. Perfectionism gets the best of us! This plus quilt below is the first one I made, its color is a little brighter.

I love the plus design, which I find both classic and modern. Unfortunately, I don’t have a full picture of it completely finished. (Some baby’s timeline do not line up with mine ;) I ended up adding straight stitching in stripes with the meandering in stripes running in another direction. The look came out almost plaid-inspired and worthy of snuggles. Will use this idea again.

Both quilts are being loved on now by friends I love so much. Until next time.

Fox News recently did a segment on the morning mix celebrating A Horse Named Sky success on the New York Times Bestsellers list! Thanks for having me Fox! A Horse Named Sky is available wherever you buy books and a great fift idea for your animal-loving 4th-7th grader.

Hello from our new place we have lovingly named, “The Lil’ Acre.”

It was a crash landing to our new home and I don’t say that lightly but we are here. While the timing never seems right, we do feel right at home here.

Friends know I’m a winter girl in my soul, but my growing passion for gardening has me planting my spring garden in my head. Oddly, (or perhaps not so oddly) Michigan gave us some higher temperatures in November so while our new home needs a lot of rehab on the inside, we put it aside for the day to do some projects outside.

Which mostly includes exploring and starting our composting system. I’ve taken to country life very well so far, you should have seen the grin on my face at the Trackor Supply when I asked where the “Hog Wire” is.

We inherited this apple tree and it introduced itself by pelting us with dozens of apples. It needs some attention. The apples grow very high up, which makes it difficult to pick. We’ve already begun rehabbing this tree and are hoping we can get at least a few years out of it. If you know my husband, he will be delighted to scale the branches for harvest… (I will do my best to stop him.) For now, the birds are still enjoying the fruit.

I’m enjoying the many trinkets and stories that is coming (literally) out the walls here.

One of my favorite finds has been these dried curly vines that edge some of the property, which I now know is poke vine. This fall, I’ve been very limited in what creative tools I have on hand because of the move. The poke vine immediately inspired me and without any access to my art supplies at the time, I was itching to do anything with my hands.

I started making wreaths out them. The first one was a bit of a puzzle, the flexibility of the vine dictated its shape and the curls easily hook around each other as if they were just looking for something to hold on to. I filled in holes with vine that was a bit drier and stiffer, pushing and pulling the tension to round out the circle.

Having enjoyed the experience so much, I felt the urge to run inside and google how to preserve the vines, how to sculpt and weave with them. I stopped myself mid-step, imagining myself going inside, pulling out my iPad, only to find out I didn’t have the cool tools or the knowledge to make these. This is not the country life I’m working toward.

Ah, perfectionism, the anti-fun voice that’s so hard to turn off. I can remember quite clearly in elementary school making brooms and baskets under a willow tree at recess — all without a YouTube tutorial. Sometimes we were witches, sometimes we were Cinderella. Friends, I didn’t go Google. I just kept making.

In fact I can’t stop…

My root cellar is filling up and I fear I may run out of space if I don’t slow my roll! I think I have enough to make a natural arch for my future garden or maybe even a bespoke-style fence. When spring comes I’ll know for sure.

I’m looking forward to sharing with you in the spring what I end up doing with these. I hope this finds you inspired to take on a project… and do it YOUR way.