a "soft quilt for hard times" and.... notebooks

More about these notebooks at the end of this post. 

I'm starting a "soft quilt for hard times" - a concept I read on Barb Vedder's blog (Fun with Barb).  Just something easy and comforting.  This is turning out to be my year for log cabins.  

Courthouse steps, really square-in-square.   

My sister in law Dottie sent me some fabrics and I pulled things from my stash too: 

The white is white-white but that's what I have and I'm using some in every block.  

So I'm just piecing along, a few a day, meditative and easy.  Listening to Spotify, watching Netflix, and listening to books on Audible.  

From my safe and cozy apartment in Tokyo, so far away from the chaos in the U.S. but it's always on my mind. 

The times keep getting tougher.... especially for some folks.  I am currently listening to "How to be an Anti-Racist" by Ibram X. Kendi on Audible. 

A couple weeks ago I listened to Jacqueline Woodson's beautiful memoir in poem form, read by the author, and I can still hear her voice in my mind : 

I think it's a time for listening and learning.  White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo is next on my list.  

So, my quilting notebook....  I started it in January and it is very casual.  I'm using a Rollbahn notebook. The pages are thick enough and lightly gridded.  The cover is very rigid cardboard.  Love the spiral bound for a notebook like this.  

This is purely a "process" notebook, bullet journal style.  When I start a new notebook, I number all the pages (on front side only, making for a two-page spread per page number) and leave two pages for an index up front.  

The good the bad and the ugly.  

I usually make a fresh page at the start of the month, listing all my projects.  But I haven't done that since February... which melded into March.... mmmmm.... 

In true bullet journal form, everything is chronological.  I just indicate where an idea or project picks up again, like this with the page numbers: 

Other notebooks:  For my regular bullet journals (calendar, to dos, lists, notes of all kinds, an occasional "tracker" for something) I have used Moleskine, and currently I use Leuchtturm1917 notebooks.   They are fantastic - I love them. They hold up well, have a good pocket in the back, and like the Rollbahn, an elastic strap. 

And, and we haven't even talked about PENS!  ha ha).   

xo

Cynthia 

May mini - "I Remember"

For my May mini I made a little quilt study of this colorful, quirky 1960's eight-pointed star quilt by Native American and North Carolinian Elizabeth Graham Lee Jacobs.  Her quilt was part of a marvelous exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History last summer.

The exhibit book - Quilt Speak: Uncovering Women's Voices Through Quilts by Diana Bell-Kite is so special - I just love it.  You can find it here at the museum shop.


Elizabeth used sewing scraps and printed feed sacks to create the quilt for her daughter's wedding.  I have a limited stash here and did my best. 

I was so taken with her borders and tried to replicate them.

She is quoted in the book -  "I like them old-time quilts... old-time was what you knowed yourself.  You didn't have no paper and book kind of stuff.  You accumulate this with your own mind."  Very in sync with wabi sabi concepts.

Finished quilt taped to the window for no real reason except I guess I wanted a "I Remember" shot from this COVID social distancing time.  Let me out!  Actually the state of emergency was just lifted across Japan.  We are to still wear masks, avoid crowds, work from home, etc. but this does mean that shops and restaurants can open back up.  Hurray!  I'm trying to think.... when will I feel comfortable taking a train or trains... not yet. 

Another quote from Elizabeth:  "A quilt that's made and put together with many colors, seems like it's pretty to me.  The littler the scrap, the prettier the quilt."  After my own heart!

Wendy The Constant Quilter will link up lots of other minis on her blog here.  She keeps us going and motivated to make our minis;).

xo
Cynthia

Humble Quilts doll swap quilt - Birds in the Air... on a slow boat?

This is the quilt I sent over a month ago, and haven't heard whether it's arrived to its destination in Spokane, but I sort of doubt it has.  In my last post, I showed you the quilt I received from the swap - from Lori herself - and I love it!

The one I made was inspired by a quilt I saw in the book Hidden Treasures by Lori Lee Triplett and Kay Triplett:

I used good Nogawa indigo from the family-run indigo factory David and I visited two years ago.  It is the deepest deepest indigo!

I also wanted to use a wide variety of scraps in the quilt, so I used a lot of pinks and browns -

And attached the scrappy border, log cabin style:

See so many special little doll quilts here at Lori's blog. 

I don't *think* Robin reads my blog but on the off chance she does - Robin.... so sorry this quilt is late getting to you!  I thought it would fly airmail..... birds in the air and all - but instead I'm sure it's on a slow boat!

xo
Cynthia