Creative Life Sampler

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols."  Thomas Mann (1875-1955) -  The Magic Mountain

 Decorations in Southern California T h i s i s h o w C a l i f o r n i a   d o e s  i t ! ! ! ! There is no sparkle of light on the snow here in Southern California, so people create their own sparkle. We have whole neighborhoods covered in lights.  One generous neighbor on this street provided each home with the gadget to project falling snow on the front of every house- both sides of the street!  Even when neighbors work in concert to create some holiday cheer, (and there are multiple homes that share music with the pedestrians who travel to see this celebration in lights), it is interesting to note that the individuality of different households "shines through." Some home owners go with a theme, . . . And some displays are carefully staged. There is the "cover every inch" technique, . . . And the "pull out all the stops" approach. I personally give credit to the home owner who thought of lining up all these blow ups in front of the house to fill up t

 Christmas Tree Skirt As I was pulling out all the Christmas decorations, it occurred to me that our tree skirt comes straight from the linen closet! It's an early quilting project that takes me down memory lane this time of year. The points are the traditional log cabin block. It was machine pieced and quilted, but the gold cording along the edge and the tassels were sewn on by hand. The opening has a flap of extra fabric on one side which falls to the back when the edges are overlapped. Velcro along the opening edges keep it in place around the base of the tree.  This skirt was made for an average sized tree. It looked a bit small when we replaced that early marriage tree with a larger one years ago. I briefly considered retiring it, but my family does treasure its holiday traditions.  The problem was solved by putting a circle of complementary fabric under it. This extended its circumference and made it feel more proportionate to the new tree.  Gotta love the shimmer of gold in

 Reusable Gift Bags  Two different options for the drawstring on a holiday gift bag The challenge was to pack up a skateboard that was on the wish list of someone special. It's a heavy object, and an awkward shape. A paper gift bag would not work and I didn't trust an extra large holiday plastic bag. I knew this package would change hands several times before it reached the recipient. Hmmm, . . . What did I have in my fabric stash?  As it turns out, lots of holiday fabric! So I made a festive fabric gift bag. And I couldn't stop! Especially when I found a box of scraps and small pieced strips from old projects. That pile transformed itself into these... This is a great way to get rid of all those left overs that you can't bring yourself to toss out. It's called foundation piecing and is the technique used in crazy quilts.  It starts with a length of fabric which will be the "foundation" to build on. I used a light weight cotton muslin, so the interior of t

 Rock Garden on the Beach Made a trip to Ventura for a beach walk recently. Along a certain stretch of our usual route, there seemed to be a different creative energy. The familiar rock structures were present, but they had multiplied in groups and they were joined by a scattering of large painted rocks at the base of several trees.  Moving on, we found the newest addition to my blank canvas series. A "Memorial and Kindness Rock Garden" had been carefully arranged in a raised planter along the sidewalk. This elevates the garden, so you can't walk by the area without noticing these colorful little gems.  On the kindness garden side, beach goers are invited to take a rock that speaks to them or to brighten someone's day by sharing one and spreading kindness.   At the other end, memorial rocks have been lovingly displayed to honor those who are no longer with us. In this section the rocks are meant to be a lasting tribute; the surfaces have been designed to include names