Getting started on the festive season

Every year I think I should start making Christmas ornaments in January but that's never happened. It's usually a mad scramble sometime in late October to get things started.
This year on the 1st of September I decided I would make an ornament a day.
It's the 14th today and I'm averaging an ornament in three days. Not too bad.   

In search of the Neelakurinji

It's twelve years since the Kurinji flowered last.

People have been venturing out to view hillsides a purple hue and I wanted to see this phenomena too.

So on Tuesday along with a school friend and hubby dearest, we set out to find the hillside bathed in Kurinji blooms.

The Strobilanthes kunthiana grows in rocky outcrops 

After much driving around and huffing and puffing up through a tea garden we finally found the Kurinji blooming high up on a hill in Kil Kotagiri.  

 The tea pluckers told us the blooms were in full bloom two weeks back and are now withering and drying up.

 It was a great day and worth the trek up the hill through the tea.We got to know later that there are bears in the area. Good we didn't encounter any.

Progress on 1 Year of Stitches 2018 at the end of May

 It has been a busy month with guests at our B n B but there have been periods of quiet when I could put up my legs and take out One Year of Stitches and add a couple of lines of embroidery.

Doing embroidery has been a contemplative affair. Contemplating the attitude of people because it's been a month of interactions with so many different types of people.
The learning for me has been to be more like those who are appreciative of people and the service they provide, sensitive to the environment and the judicious use of resources. There are those who have come into our lives, luckily for a very brief period to remind us that your attitude and demeanour determines the response you recieve from other people. There is no excuse for high handedness. There's no free lunch, you have to pay. Don't blame people, the place, the traffic or the weather for choices you have made. Finally happiness and the creation of great memories aren't packaged goods, it's a state of your mind.
I'm off to make caramel custard for dessert tonight.
Remembering a childhood friend who passed on last year on the 1st of June. Miss your zest for life and brilliant smile Monisha.

Purple Haze

By the end of March the mountain side is dotted with hazy purple. The Jacaranda begin to bloom.  

Captured with my cellphone. 

Jacaranda trees line the mountain road which leads down to the plains.  

 

 The Jacaranda trees are in bloom for about a month. Purple gives way to the yellow blooms of the Laburnum or Amaltas by mid April, right around the time it's Vishu which is on April 14th each year  and then the orange of the Flame of the Forest. It's a pleasure driving down the ghat roads.
What's blooming in your neck of the woods? 

One Year of Stitches 2018 - At the end of March

 The One year of Stitches 2018 goes along with me in my bag when I travel. I worked on it when I was in Bhubaneshwar.

The kittens, Gin and Tonic, got their claws into the woven wheel which was meant to represent Tonic so it looks a bit ragged. I'm leaving it that way.

It's the end of March and as I type it's begun to rain and there's sunshine too. When there's sunshine and rain at the same time my mum will say 'it's the fox's wedding'.Sunshine and rain gave way to rain and hail. These must be the April showers which will bring May flowers. This year the fence should be up in the next two weeks and the bison will be kept out so we can hope the garden will be a riot of colours and blooms by the time it's May.

Happy Easter to all those celebrating. Hubby dearest and I observed Lent this year and we are going to have Easter dinner with friends and neighbours.

Bison Slumber Party

The Bison or Indian Gaur are frequent visitors to our property. They visit once every ten days.

Since the beginning of this year they've taken to spending the night on the lawn.    

This was the sight that greeted me this morning at 5.45 am. Five bison - a huge male, a calf, two juveniles and the mother of the calf. The calf was born on this lawn in late January.

They must find the lawn safe and secure.

The large male we have named Bhima. He's the one sitting down and stuck on one of his horns is a dried up tea bush if you please. A very curious sight.

Bhima sits unperturbed chewing the cud. Needless to say the lilies in the garden have been decimated. Bhima's weakness. 

At this time of year the Agapanthus lilies would have begun to bloom but what I'm left with are the bulbs with some short green stubs protruding from the bulbs.    

Bhima left with his tea bush crown.
I have a love hate relationship with the bison. Majestic creatures especially Bhima who is a fantstic specimen of an adult male bison with his black body rippling with muscles and distinctive white socks, one can't can't help but admire but I hate it that they come in and ruin my garden which I have been trying to develop for the past three years.
I hope the fence we're putting up will give the plants in my garden a chance to bloom and we'll still be able to see the bison when they graze on the opposite hill.
Welaro our home is truly a place where wild things wander.

Speaking in Cursive

A little something I finished yesterday. Between seeking inspiration and speaking in cursive I've participated in a travel writing scholarship.
I see travel writing becoming my alternate career.
I'm off on a small trip, work and some time with the family.
I'm going to be on the lookout for things to write about which I come across during this week.
Will have to wait until Easter before I start speaking in cursive.
Have a great weekend. Everyone in India will be celebrating the Spring festival of Holi starting this evening.

One Year of Stitches 2018

I've decided to take up the One Year of Stitches 2018 challenge and combine it with Take a Stitch Tuesday. 

 I've begun with multiple rows of embroidery around the circle to create a border of sorts as well as to increase the size of the circle. Couldn't find a lid or anything else which is a 12" diameter circle.

I've decided to explore circles this year. So all the embroidery stitches or events I want to represent will have to take on a circular form. First to be represented are the kittens Gin and Tonic who we got in January. 

Gin is a white kitten with smudges of black and fawn on it's tail and ears. Tonic is a black and white  chap who reminds me of Socks. Gin and Tonic are brother and sister.

 Next to be embroidered is the Blue Moon, Blood Moon and Lunar eclipse which occurred on January 31st. What a spectacular sight. I used Blanket Stitch - Stitch #2 in TAST, to create the Blood Moon.

 Running stitch. My favourite stitch and Stitch #1 to explore in TAST this year.

 TAST Stitch # 7 - Feather Stitch. Another of my favourites.

Herringbone Stitch. TAST - Stitch #5

TAST - Stitch #6 is Chain Stitch. There's a circle of chain stitch around one of herringbone Stitch and TAST - Stitch #4 is Detached chain. I've embroidered a circle of Detached Chain stitches around the circle created with running stitch.

I'm pretty upto date with TAST.

Have a great weekend. I have to do some writing this weekend.

Seeking Inspiration

I can't sit silently and listen but I can sit silently, do embroidery and listen. Embroidery in my opinion is meditative and I'm hoping that will be sufficient for inspiration to dawn. 

1 Year of Stitches - 2017 - Completed!

 1 Year of Stitches - completed.

 An unusual journal, a departure from the fabric journals I've been making.

 Spontaneous and kind of all over the place but I think the year was a bit like that.

 I've been listening to a lot of Reggaeton as I work and I turned fifty this year.Don't feel any different but it's been a good life.So much to be grateful for.

Learnt that life is so uncertain, one has to live in the moment and love and cherish family and friends.

I'm considering taking up 1 Year of Stitches 2018 and combining it with Take a Stitch Tuesday.
Will get 1 year of stitches 2017 framed.

Any other exciting challenges around?
Hope 2018 has been treating you well. Have a good week.

2018

Polar Bear Ornaments

 I've been embroidering these little Christmas ornaments for my sister's class children.

It's become a bit of a tradition.Last year was the first time I made an ornament for each child.

I made twenty one ornaments this year. I hope the package reaches on time.
Hope your plans for Christmas are coming together nicely.
The weather is beautiful, typical December weather - bright warm days and chilly cold nights. Had to start using hot water bottles last night.
Have a great weekend. 

New Beginnings

Three weeks of October our routine was thrown off course when the caretakers simply upped and left one fine day, after getting their Diwali bonus. It was a nightmare to deal with guests, cooking, washing,cleaning and taking care of the dogs.

There was no time to update my blog or work on any of my projects.

There's so much truth to the quote

'New Beginnings are often disguised as painful endings...'  Lao Tzu  

There were days when I would despair and wonder if we would find good trustworthy people who would love the dogs and I must say I have to learn from the dear husband's 'can do and everything is going to be fine attitude'. He sure was a pillar of strength and support. 

Since the 1st of November we have got good help and I can sit down and try to complete some of my projects. 

The image above shows where I've got to in the 1 year of Stitches Challenge. The end of 2017 is fast approaching and there's still considerable amounts of blank fabric waiting to be filled  with stitches but I can do something about that. I'm saying that from a stress free position unlike the three weeks where I was like a headless chicken. The three weeks taught me some valuable lessons.

There's always scope to simplify our lives further.

Learn new skills and be more self reliant.

Angels exist.

Help comes from unexpected sources.

There is so much to be grateful for.

To New Beginnings. Cheers!

I hope you have a good week.     

Cooler or Hotter?

Progress on the Stamp Quilt

Harsha's contribution. Harsha is a letter writer and these stamps came from her stash of letters and cards. 

 Here's what I got from Deena in Washington DC.Deena got to know about my project from a friend who  sent her the link to my post about the postage stamp quilt. I'm so touched Deena, by your generosity.
Deena must have an impressive stamp collection because she inherited her great grandmother's stamp album which was published in the United States in 1920. Deena herself started collecting stamps and adding to her collection in 2012 and friends and family have been sending her stamps.
She's also the recipient of a stamp collection which a friend gave her. It belonged to missionaries who lived in Taiwan and the Philippines.
Deena I'd love to see your stamp collection some day and hear all the stories associated with the stamps which are so fascinating.
Deena has sent me stamps from Canada, the USA,Philippines,Hong Kong, France and China.
Like a quilt which began as a thrift activity and there would be stories associated with each piece of fabric , this stamp quilt or quilts which I make is not going to be just stamps joined together to create a pretty pattern but a collection of stories as well.

I've managed to remount and stitch around all the stamps Harsha donated. Since they were multiple Gandhi stamps and  few others I've started arranging them - in a nine patch. Should I make a block of a certain size? and then stitch the blocks together? Or should it be like a crazy quilt, different sizes together? So many questions.
In the mean time I have to start with Deena's stamps this week.
Not sure when I'll start 'piecing' the quilt together.

Project 105

During one of my blog hops I came across Project 105.  

I forget the actual route of my blog hop but the discovery of P.M. Neist and Project 105  was well worth the meander.

P.M. Neist says of the project 'Art is meant to connect us to each other. It is a privilege and honor to share my art.'

Giveaway #10 - The Seer's Dog.
The Seer's Dog reminded me of my own pet, Blackie and I requested P. M. Neist to consider me for this particular piece of art. She was generous enough to send it half way across the world to Coonoor.
I particularly like the way embroidery is incorporated into the original artwork.

The illustration of Gus came carefully sandwiched between sheets of paper and cardboard and wrapped in a map with a card and a handmade gift tag. Absolutely delightful, did you know I'm partial to maps P. M. Neist?
Thank you for your generosity. It's wonderful to have met you. I'll be framing your illustration and placing it where all those who visit our home will get a chance to admire it.

A New Project - Postage Stamp Quilts

One of those days while browsing the images on Pinterest I happened to come across postage stamp quilts and this got me thinking. 

I like to work with paper as much as I like to work with fabric and with my tiny collection of postage stamps I decided to use them to make an actual postage stamp quilt.   

.First Step: Sort through stamps. I found stamps to be clustered together and it was just a couple which were individual stamps which had sufficient paper of the envelope on all four sides.

So with one stamp I just tore the paper away so I had this uneven edge and did a simple blanket stitch all around.

With two others I used a metal scale as a guide and tore the envelope paper away on all four sides. I got a frayed edge but it was a straight edge rather than an uneven edge.

For the sake of symmetry and else of joining the stamps together I decided to go along with the second method.  

Step 2 : Soak  all stamps clustered together or with insufficient paper on all four sides in water. 

 

Step 3 : Remount dried stamps on discarded envelopes. Stitch around each stamp with blanket stitch and I put the name of the person from whom I got a card or letter. I've decided I'll put down the country as well.

A wealth of inspiration on Pinterest. 

There are so many ideas I'd like to try but unfortunately I don't have sufficient stamps to try them out with.

I've put the word out to family to collect any and every stamp that they or their friends and colleagues get and can spare and send them to me.

Would you like to contribute postage stamps to my project? Leave a comment and I'll share my postal address with you.

I'll put your name and the country you are from on the reverse. It will be very interesting to see the reverse of the finished quilt. A patchwork pattern of colours. 

I'll wait until the end of October to lay out all that I receive before I start the composition of my first quilt.A small baby quilt. It would be great to make one with flowers, or birds. 

In the meantime I'll be working on the stamps I have and what I can gather locally.

A long weekend here in India. Have a great week.