International Soul Art Day

My first time exploring being an artist with fabric in this manner.

I realized that I was ready. There was no need to go out and buy supplies - everything required was already on hand. There was no need to learn a technique - I had taught myself all the different techniques I wanted to use. At one point in the process, when I was starting to 'build' my fabric feet and hands, I remembered 12 years ago in our little apartment in New Hamburg. I was trying to 'be' an artist and create a scene with fabric. It was torture. I was frustrated with not knowing how to do what I could see in my mind's eye. Not knowing what I needed or how to proceed, the pieces I did stitch together ended up stretched and folded up, travelling with me for many years as a visual reminder of my failed attempt as an artist.

Today I succeeded.

While my piece isn't finished, I know what's coming next and how to do it. I'll get back to it as soon as I can, probably Friday night.

Special thanks to Jamie Ridler who mentioned Soul Art Day in one of her posts that made me curious enough to click over and see what it was all about.
Jamie Ridler link

International Soul Art Day link

Laura Hollick, founder of International Soul Art Day is Canadian! She's in Hamilton, Ontario.
Laura Hollick link


With Joy,


Sarah Vee

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In Like a Lamb? Weekend Snippets

This week I managed to lump 3, 15 minute quilt sessions into one and ended up with this - all of my pieces cut out for February's Threads of Memory Block. This block of the month is hosted by Barbara Brackman over at Civil War Quilts. February's block is called Mercer County Star for Susan Lowe Wattles.   I'm really loving the funky green 'plaid' for the star points!

February's Threads of Memory Block - Mercer County Star for Susan Lowe Wattles

Remember, today is the last day to enter my 40 charm giveaway!
Comment on my belated birthday post to enter.


I receive Jamie Ridler's newsletter and this month includes a special e-book put out by various women bloggers on aging. I enjoyed reading a couple of the articles and plan to read more.

the (delicious) truth about getting older - linked from Susannah Conway's blog

My Aurifil quilt top is still waiting for me to add borders to it. I figured out what to cut the weekend I got home from Teachers College, but that's about it! 
I completely missed a February UFO - guess I will have to finish at least two one month this year.

This picture is perhaps a bad segue into a glimpse at Bonnie Hunter's Leader and Ender challenge for the  year!

Here's a better choice! I used last year's Leader and Ender mini spools with my Quilty Barns to get this happy wallhanging.

This year's Leader and Ender (drumroll!)

Lozenges- visit Bonnie Hunter's post to get started :)



Okay, time to get some quilting in this weekend.

I'll leave you with this final link to some  great selvage sheep - did March come in like a lamb for you?




With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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I See the Moon - and the Moon Sees Me

This month Jamie Ridler's prompt for the full  Strawberry moon dreamboard is

What delights are you dreaming of?

She also challenged us to collect our inspirations in different places and different ways.

Immediately I thought of making a Pinterest board, but I am still hesitant and leery of this photo heavy, misgiven or omitted credit of work haven. I do look occasionally, but I didn't think I wanted my dreamboard to be just online. The tactile nature of touching, finding, cutting, positioning and pasting my board is still a useful practice for me.

I did start a 'note' in Evernote - an online notebook of sorts. This helped me brainstorm in the moment lots of delights and I did paste some online photos here too, for my eyes only. But this was near the new moon. When the full moon arrived I had found some new print sources and not much time.

I discovered my board looked and felt a lot darker than I thought DELIGHTS should look!!!

I also found this great full size National Geographic photo of monarchs - a sight I have often thought would be an amazing delight. 

The woman - who is SHE? my husband asked - the woman is just a woman. Happy in her crochet poncho. She looks confident to me, dressed up and ready to go out and see some art, perhaps, or hang out at a cafe. She is smiling and I thought, briefly, about learning to crochet so I could make my own crochet poncho and look/feel like that!

Eventually this board made deep sense to me.

Alone. Together.

Two delights that I will be immersed in for the summer as my whole family will be home together, each wanting to find time and opportunity to explore their own interests.

We are also talking about a 'retro Summer' - pushing back from electronic toys just a little bit. More DVDs and less netflix, perhaps. More books and puzzles and beaches and board games. Less screen time.

The words wanted to be alone. together. on this board too. Each making their own meaning and then more as I read them one after another. I am open to exploring "E- Retreat". Not sure if it is referring to retreating from electronics, or finding a group online to explore something together in depth. Alone. Together.

More Strawberry Dreamboards to view and enjoy at Jamie's link up here.

Sarah Vee

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Full Flower Moon Dreamboard - Lilacs

It was fun to take my dreamboard outside and add another layer to it with my lilac bush in bloom.

From Jamie Ridler the prompts are:

“How would you like to bloom?

 Who are you when you are in full bloom?”

More dreamboard inspiration at Jamie's post here.

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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Pink Full Moon Dreamboard

 

What Dream is it Time to Tend?

I almost feel like I am living my dream right now! Many of the elements of this post arrived over the last few weeks and I knew when they arrived they were for my dreamboard.

The pink hello kitty has been waiting for me to find a good use for her - and now I will be using her in a new pillow too. 

The purple leaf came from the alumni magazine of the university I attended - where I applied for teacher's college and didn't receive an offer of admission.

But that's okay because I got in somewhere else! AND this week I have been supply teaching on the First Nations Reserve near my home. Last month's dreamboard of Eagle medicine has been on my mind a lot the past few days.

I have been blessed to live my dream into reality. 

Did I mention yet my 2 new cats?!!

 

They are young males from a shelter. Still a little bit jittery, but anxious to show us love too.

As always, thanks to Jamie Ridler for hosting the dreamboard linkup.

 

Enjoying my PINK dreamboard,

Sarah Vee

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Howling - Full Wolf Moon Dreamboard

 

I knew it was time to work on my board yesterday when the moon peeked out over the trees. Glowing yellow in a blue winter sky.

The prompt for the Full Wolf Moon is 

What are you Hungry for?

I even managed to find some wolves howling for the board!

This one is still sinking in. 

Still warming me up.

Still

in its fullness and depth.

I feel the pendulum swinging. . .

More boards to reflect on at Jamie's link up.


With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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A Visual Project List Board

I came up with this idea for a way to keep track of what I'm working on. I was inspired by Jamie Ridler's board here Getting Things Done Creatively.
I'm also inspired by Pat Sloan revving up her UFO Busting Tips and Techniques again.


Soooo this is what I did:

I used a quilt page from an old quilt calendar as my board.
I made little cards, folded, with the name of the project on the outside.

 

Inside each project card, I have written down what things I still need to get and what steps are left to do for the project. 

Now instead of having to keep a mental list of what I should be finishing, or searching for a list of my priorities, OR jumping on board to start something new!!!, I can look at this board and SEE what I'm committed to completing!

Once the board is FULL so is my quilting plate, so to speak{grin}
There are a few more cards on the board now - some are gifts so I don't want to reveal them yet!

Let's just say I have a pretty plate of possibilities in front of me for the next few months.


with Joy,
Sarah Vee


p.s. This post has been so popular that I went and made an extra special pdf of
 How to Make a Visual Project List Board for you!

It includes templates of common types of quilt projects that need to get finished - like block of the months and quilts with borders. I included blank templates for you to customize for your own projects. It includes this colour photo of my Liberated Churn Dash QUILT that you can use as your board - so you can get started right after you print it out:)

Follow this link - sign up to my newsletter - and receive your pdf to start visually organizing your to make list! 

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Full Frost Dreamboard

This month's dream board has been stirring for a few days. Somehow simmering in the chilly temperatures of late November and the small bursts of snow.

The Full Frost Moon asks: 

“What is clear about your dreams? What further clarity do you seek?”

Right now I have very few magazines in my house for culling. Advertisements, Sears catalogues and old address books seem to be sufficient!

I feel the ripening right now. The connection to the space between wanting and knowing, seeking and receiving. It's like what your lungs feel like when you breathe in and hold your breath just a little bit longer before you exhale.

I think it's what growth feels like.

I'm holding my heart open, gently, squeezing it to test for ripeness. Like a fresh peach, or a fragile petal, holding the space for the sweetness of my dreams to escape. My dreams are growing a voice, a presence in my everyday life. I am learning to embrace them without drowning them.

 Visit more dreamboards here.

A warm winter embrace to Jamie for this wonderful monthly gathering! Jamie Ridler Studios

With Ripening Joy,

Sarah Vee

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Full Harvest Moon Dreamboard

When I opened my box where I collect images and words for my dreamboards I discovered that I had nothing sitting there waiting for me.

Which is ironic because when I first read at the new moon what this month's prompt is,

"What would I like an abundance of?"

my immediate response was

SUPPORT

So I looked deeper into the box and my surrounding creative space

{perhaps a CLUE as to where I will find/discover/embrace my SUPPORT this month}

I pulled out an old phone number directory with glossy images of Monet paintings.

I reached into a pile of old quilting magazines and cut into one.

I found that the colour palette of this board surprised me. I am generally not a pastel seeking person, and have started to notice this minty green coming back into fashion {or at least getting slathered onto consumable goods}

Thanks to Jamie for keeping this ritual going. I am already surprised at what I have found and the direction I have started to head.

 The path less taken, covered in castoffs and unpleasantries.

 Acknowledging hidden support systems, inspiring and informative. 

Opening my eyes to the subtleties that I prejudged and pushed aside.

I am going within afterall.

more dreamers sharing at Jamie Ridler Studios

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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Dreamboard - Full Corn Moon

This month the surprise came for me as I was gluing the pieces onto my dreamboard.

I had *planned* to glue the word DIG and the word ESCAPE with the other side showing. Both were long phrases - one about finding self expression, one with a vision of a houseful of people gathering. Instead the single, succinct words made it to the front. 

As I sit with this board already things are coming up for me. Sitting on the front porch drinking my coffee this morning the word DIG brought up some Ani DiFranco lyrics from her song, Fuel:

"Am i headed for the same brick wall
is there anything i can do about
anything at all?
except go back to that corner in Manhattan
and dig deeper, dig deeper this time
down beneath the impossible pain of our history
beneath unknown bones
beneath the bedrock of the mystery
beneath the sewage systems and the path drain
beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
beneath everything i can think of to think about
beneath it all, beneath all get out
beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
there's a fire just waiting for fuel"

{lyrics found online here:http://www.lyricstime.com/ani-difranco-fuel-lyrics.html}

I know that in the front of my mind I am thinking about settling back into my home since we didn't move. . . But I know that in the back of mind there has been a lot of thinking about 

shifting

raising my vibration

getting back to writing

 and with the synchronicities from Naomi Dunford {of ittybiz}, Danielle LaPorte, and SARK, I am feeling grateful for this monthly process - and searching for an empty notebook!

Jamie Ridler hosts this wonderful monthly dreaming. Check out the other dreamboards this month.

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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Blue Moon Dreamboard

Two full moons in August means that this a BLUE moon.

Jamie has an extra special prompt for this special moon:

What extra-super-special dream do you want to invite in?

I really felt myself resist the process this time. Sometimes the dream would be right there, beneath the surface and I would smile to myself.

 

I know my extra-super-special dreams involve using my hands to create my life work.

 To sustain my life. 

Reiki and quilting are both passions that I enjoy - with my hands at the center.

So I traced my hands and painted the background of my dreamboard.

I'm pretty happy with the 'pointers' and prompts gracing my fingertips!

This should be a fun month as my family gets back into school routine and the moon energy is focussed on my extra-super-special dreams!

Enjoy, and support some more dreamers through Jamie's links.

Sarah Vee

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Full Sturgeon Dreamboard

a blurry photo this month from my daughter's iPod.

Full Sturgeon Moon and Jamie prompts:

“What is your intuition telling you about your dreams?”

my own artwork as a backdrop

words scroll down the page like a website

floating thoughts and an hourglass

still travel

expanding again 

feeling lost/stuck/exposed

our house has not sold

we are not moving

any time soon

plans are out the window

dreams perhaps left to be unfulfiilled

transformed

regrouping

rearranging priorities

refocusing on values

relearning trust

the moon is full 

and my heart is in it

more dreamboards linked up at Jamie's blog

Sarah Vee

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July Dreamboard

My dreamboard happened in a flurry this afternoon. Forty minutes before my daughter had piano lessons the box came out with my supplies in it.  

The prompts this month from Jamie are:

“What are your most powerful dreams?

 Who are you when you are powerful?”

The above picture is my board before everything is glued down. When I got home later I finished gluing and came out with this configuration

Subtle differences but meaningful to me because I always look in the centre first. Now the Reiki Training is in focus, something I am working at bringing into my life.

There's also the little challenge of 50 Luxuries with the words 'an experiment' now beneath it. . .

This month I also felt more at ease in the process, cutting up phrases, overlapping images, putting words and pictures together to reveal more.

More dreamboard sightings through the links at Jamie's!

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

                                                                                          

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What Delights are you Dreaming Of?

The Full Strawberry Moon today.

 Venus in transit on Wednesday. 

Jamie Ridler asks the prompt: 

What Delights are you Dreaming of?

Looks like as I prepare one house for sale and search for new one, I am dreaming of making a place a home! In transition with white walls, I am craving some colour and patterns to spark my creativity. I see rest, retreat and adventure this month. Sounds exciting!

You can check out more dreamboards through the link at Jamie's blog.

My local quilt shop had its 5th anniversary sale on Friday. I was delighted to find this beautiful water lily batik, the Monet fan that I am. I also brought home a half metre of a Woodland Bloom print for my daughter's Joy quilt, which for the moment has been packed away to work on in my new space.

The best thing about the sale?

I won a door prize!

 A beautiful fat quarter bundle of Abigail by Red Rooster Fabrics. I had spied this line in an ad in a recent quilt magazine so I am really delighted to have some to play with now. I even have a few ideas for it. We'll see when those make it into fabric reality!

What delights are you dreaming of?

Sarah Vee

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May Dreamboard - Blooming

Jamie had two prompts for this month's Full Flower Moon:

How would you like to bloom?

Who are you when you're in full bloom?

I think my board answers the second question. 

 I'm still searching for the right environment to bloom fully. 

 I have started to take better care of my inner garden - 

pulling weeds {thoughts} 

and adding nutrients {chewing bubblegum and some Danielle LaPorte!}.

Lots of favourite images in this one and some discoveries to await.

The phrase "Playful Modern" was on the back of a magazine page that I had pulled with different paint colours on it. Needless to say, the phrase - in orange, no less! - made it to the front of my board.

See how other dreamers are blooming this month through the comments in this post at Jamie's blog.

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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More Than Quilts

 March's full moon dream board, complete with flash glare!

This month's prompt from Jamie Ridler is

"What dreams are emerging? What's stirring?"

 I'm enjoying all of the images and ideas surfacing in this board, but especially those on the right hand side. Looks like some gifts are coming my way from the universe.

I cannot find the words to explain the way these boards have brought things into my life. I find this month's sayings especially appealing. The one "It's good to have a helping hand" was just going to be that line. Until I went to cut it out and discovered the rest of the text. You can click on the photo to make it easier to read. The one on the left was all one line. I cut it up after applying the glue and think it formed a heart center in the middle of my board - the part the flash blurred out!

view more dreamboards at Jamie's linkup

I'm busy in the background writing quilt patterns and now planning crafts for my daughter's birthday party next weekend. 

 I also found myself lost in this opportunity and really enjoying it . . .

sneak peek at a birthday gift

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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Full Harvest Moon Dreamboard

 This is my dreamboard. I follow Jamie Ridler and she does one of these each month. Here's a link to Jamie's dreamboard this month. I do it occasionally, although I am more likely to do it at this time of year when I love all the inspiration of the autumn colours.

I won't interpret it too much, I try just to cut and paste and reflect on one until I make a new one:) 

In this one I see:

• an upright bass and the words "Give Voice to Your Heart" - this is the instrument I would learn how to play if I had time

• all the new furniture! we are moving stuff around at my house and I can't but think that these chairs would be really comfy in my house!

• loft window and the word "when" - I am curious about what this means and will be even more curious if these views show up again.

I always have lots of words when I do these things. Words prompt me as much as pretty photos I guess.

I tack my dream board up behind my sewing machine, beneath my lovely mini quilt from Cherri House. My favourite dreaming spot.

Do you make space for your dreams?

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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