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Mod Mood Quilt Along
Keepsake Quilt Along
I Ching Modern Quilt-along
For years I have turned to the I Ching as an oracle and aid for making decisions during times of transition, challenge, and growth – posing personal questions about love, work, creativity, relationships, and more.
The I Ching (Chinese pronunciation: ‘Ee Jeeng’) also known as the Book of Changes is perhaps the oldest of civilizations’ wisdom literature dating to the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC. It is at the heart of early Chinese philosophical thought influencing both Taoism’s emphasis on effortless effort and the flow of nature, and Confucianism’s emphasis on ethics and relationships.
The I Ching is both simple and complex. The oracle divines through eight trigrams based on the attributes of nature – earth, water, wind, thunder, lake, mountain, fire and heaven.
These eight trigrams combine in pairs to make 64 hexagrams representing the energy of human life divided into 64 situations, dilemmas and relationships.
The I Ching reflects the universe in miniature. It is also mathematical and geometrical, a book of patterns and space. As such I have fancied for years to make a quilt based on my I Ching readings.
Join me over the next several weeks on this two-fold journey – 1) of creative self-discovery and 2) exploring randomness, synchronicity and improvisation – through the process of making your unique I Ching Modern Quilt.
Your assignment this week is to become more familiar with the I Ching. Skim the Wikipedia entry, the Introduction to the I Ching by Richard Wilhelm, and the other links scattered on this page. Google the I Ching and see what you discover. There’s a lot of info out there – some of it pop culture, some of it scholarly. You don’t have to understand it all. Just have fun!
I’ll be posting new segments of the quilt-along on Mondays. Subscribe to the RSS feed here: I Ching Modern Quilt-along.
New Year’s Day Black-eyed Peas
Here are Allyn’s tips for a Southern New Year’s Day plate of blessings. She serves up Black-eyed peas for good luck.
Next up: collard greens & cabbage for money & prosperity.
Black-eyed Peas for Good Luck
Soak dried black-eyed peas overnight.
Add a ham hock and bay leaves to simmer.
Saute chopped carrots celery, red pepper, onion, garlic and ginger.
Add basil, salt & pepper.
Stir in sauted veggies & spices, continue to simmer for 2 to 3 hours.
Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi Book Review
I recently bought Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi: More Than 40 Itty-Bitty Minis to Knit, Wear, and Give
These teeny-tiny creatures are hard to resist and the the book is filled with them. Most are no bigger than an inch and take an hour to knit. The patterns are simple and shouldn’t be difficult for an experienced beginner if you have experience with double pointed needles. If the small size is a stumbling block for less experienced knitters, it’s simple to knit larger toys by using larger needles with thicker yarn.
I’ve already been knitting them for friends & family. They are so much fun to give.
Check out the author’s Anna Hrachovec’s flicker set of Tiny Things or her blog Mochimochi Land.
Posted in Knitting, Reviews
3 Comments
A New Year’s Day Traditional Southern Meal
Over the New Year holiday I visited my dear old friends in Durham, North Carolina. I stayed with my friend Allyn and helped her prepare her traditional Hoppin’ John New Year’s Day Celebration.
We began our preparations the day before with a visit to King’s Red & White, an old school family run grocery in East Durham.
Shopping at King`s Red & White in Durham, NC.
Home grown collard greens...
Moss`s yellow corn meal...
Checking out with plenty of black-eyed peas...
King`s Red & White is an old school classic!
On the first day of the year Allyn likes to serve up a plate full of New Year’s Day blessings to over 40 of her friends & neighbors… black-eyed peas for good luck, collard greens for prosperity, corn bread for down home comfort, stewed tomatoes for passion or compassion, and a cranberry gin punch for fun! Recipes to follow…
Allyn with a plate full of New Year`s Day blessings...
Black-eyed peas, collard greens, corn bread, and stewed tomatoes.
Allyn & I tasting the cranberry gin punch...
and toasting in the New Year!
Love Bomb ~ Four Hundred Entries
I visited family and friends in North Carolina over the holiday, without computer or smart phone. I had a fantastic two weeks, but at the end of my trip I came down with a horrible cold and cough that put me out of commission for a week. I felt too sick to blog, too sick to work, too sick to knit and even too sick to attend my weekly knitting group last night.
However I did take some time on my sick-bed to write out all the names for the Year Of Stash Sock Giveaway. After a year of people following and commenting on these posts there are more entries than I expected – almost 400!
Only two people commented on every single post, Linda & Christina – so they received an extra 24 entries into the drawing. There were three people who only missed one post, so I gave Beth T, Amber, and Anna an extra 12 entries into the drawing. There were plenty of folks who commented on more than half the posts and many who only commented once, but of course it only takes one lucky entry to win.
Thanks and good fortune to everyone who entered.
Because I was sick this week, I postponed the live drawing until my Alameda Knitting group meets again next Thursday. Besides the grand prize of a pair of hand knit socks or mitts, there will be two mystery runner-up prizes. I’m working on those this week.
I’m feeling better today and am looking forward to a fantastic 2012, with lots of quilting, knitting, fellowship, healthy living, and love! May your 2012 be a year of joy and prosperity!
Posted in Current Giveaways, Knitting
8 Comments
Year Of Stash Socks 2011 ~ DEC 21&22/24
December 2011 This month I was very sick with the flu. Got my first CAT scan (an awful experience) but thankfully I’m ok. It was a busy month at St. Gregory’s getting ready for the Christmas season, but when Christmas finally arrived it was wonderful! I decorated my tree for the first time since 2006 and went ice skating on Christmas Day at the Little Ice Rink at Alameda Station…
and I knitted my twenty-first & twenty-second sock of 2011.
Win a pair of hand knit socks! Comment on this post with a memorable personal event for December to enter the giveaway.
Knitting Notes
This is the final YOSS post for 2011! Since accepting the Ravelry YOSS challenge last January I’ve knitted 22 socks or mitts, that’s 11 pairs. Notice that I’m one pair short? Well I’ll custom knit the final pair in January 2012 for the lucky person who wins this giveaway.
The giveaway will remain open until January 9, 2012. If you comment on EVERY YOSS post you will double your chances to win. So if you’ve been following all year now is the time to fill in any gaps. You can find all the YOSS posts here. Or simply comment on this post and you will be entered in the giveaway twice – once for each sock!
At the close of the giveaway I will fill out entry slips for all comments and put them in a hat. I’ll post a video of the live drawing to announce the winner on January 15!
Thanks for all your support in my sock knitting adventure!
Putnam-Hauser Linen Quilt, November 2011
Putnam-Hauser Linen Quilt, 2011, 98″ x 110″, machine pieced, hand quilted, linen.
The Putnam-Hauser family commissioned this king-sized, modern-improv quilt, made from 100% linen. They live in the Sunset district of San Francisco. We worked together to pick a subtle color palette reminiscent of their coastal, fog-drenched environment. I improvised the pattern using simple horizontal bands of color.
The quilt took 49 hours to complete. The cost of materials, including linen for the front and back of the quilt, one cotton batting and one polyester batting, and thread came to $550.
The Putnam-Hauser family in front of their quilt-in-progress at my Oakland studio.
View the process archive to see how this quilt evolved.
Posted in 2011 Quilts, Modern Improv, The Modern Quilt
Tagged improvisation, putnamhauser
17 Comments
