Rayen

"New year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours." -- Alex Morritt For me 2021 has been a dark, bleak year with many challenges, losses and heartaches. Yet there have been many bright moments, too. I think I found my way through the darkness by looking toward the light. I'm ready to start a new chapter tomorrow in the book of my life. My wish for you is that you write something new and wonderful in 2022.

I had some housework to catch up on, so I haven't yet started on the quilt project I had planned for this week. Tomorrow I'm going to clean out my sewing room and make it puppy-friendly, and then I'll have the proper space to work on a larger piece. In the meantime, I'm still practicing my stitching on this cutter quilt piece. I've been thinking about 2022, and what I'd like to do for the next year. I wrote up my thoughts and ideas on that for work to be discussed at a virtual business meeting, which we will probably hold next week. After five years I still love my job, and I'm very grateful to be working. I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, and I don't think I need to change anything I do drastically. My guy and I already live a simple, healthy lifestyle. I have things I'd like to do, such as getting outdoors more frequently this year, perhaps by being more involved with the gardening. I'd also like to design mor

On Monday night I completed this project for work, which was the last part of a much larger project I was hoping to wrap up before the end of the year. Since I did that with four days to spare it feels very good. I've been working about eight to ten hours a day since early October on the last three projects I've done for work. What helped my productivity was splitting up my sessions to early mornings and early evenings rather than trying to do it all in one go. I discovered that I was able to get more done every day, and I didn't feel as pressured. I was also able to stick to my work plan 95% of the time. It's still been kind of a haul, as I've only taken two days off work (Thanksgiving and Christmas) since early October. I'm happy with the results, and now I'll be able to take a week off before I start on the next project.

I'm still learning to use a new photo editing program, so my collage is a little wonky, but here are all the major quilting and textile art projects I successfully completed this year. Some backstories: I was quite upset when I sewed the violet strip quilt top on Election Night 2020 -- I deal with very difficult things by sewing -- but I'm glad I finished making it into a quilt this year. I'm keeping this one for my personal collection. The violet silk crazy tote was supposed to be a Mother's Day gift; my mom died in April. I finished it and still have it, but I will probably give it to someone eventually. It's an emotional piece. My summer art quilt taught me a lot. It also helped me cope with grief and depression by keeping me busy. My Lake House runner was probably my first truly joyful project this year; I made it for myself, and really loved making the vintage patchwork into something useful and pretty. My recycled beach tote gave me a chance to bre

Along with taking me to the beach on Christmas Day my guy gave me a Ninja lovely air fryer as my Christmas gift this year. That will definitely be fun to play with and try some new healthy-for-us recipes. My best friend, who knows my creative side better than anyone, gave me this bundle. It turned out to be two bundles of hand-dyed recycled fabric, threads, buttons and ribbon for my art quilting. I love everything. Next year I will definitely be doing more textile art work, so it was the perfect gift for me.

Since this was our first Christmas alone in a very long time, and the weather was especially nice, we decided to go to the beach. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the temperature hovered around 72F with a light breeze blowing. My guy and I both grew up by the sea; he was an avid surfer, too. It's the one place we share in our happiest memories together. This guy was one of the few birds willing to pose for me. We brought our lunch with us, and had it while sitting on a bench by the boardwalk so we could watch the waves and the people. We couldn't leave the puppies for very long, so we walked about two miles down the beach (I wish my legs were this long) before we headed back home.

A very Merry Christmas from Rayen. Image credit: Hitcom from Pixabay

I have a quilt to start next week, but for now I'm practicing my embroidery stitches on this trio of cutter quilt pieces that I cobbled together. The vintage Balger thread is holding up better than some of my brand-new metallic embroidery threads; it never splits or unravels even when I use an 18" length. I learned that I have a new niece yesterday, which was a nice surprise. My mother would have been delighted, as there aren't that many girls in the family. Her parents named her Emma, which is one of my favorite names, too. Welcome to the world, baby girl.

Thanks to our humid subtropical climate here it seems like we may be able to garden year-round. This is the second season for our strawberry plants, who are loving the chillier weather. The potted herbs are also thriving. I've now harvested and dried enough chives, oregano and Italian parsley to last me well into the new year, so I'm going to make up some containers for my neighbors. Our broccoli plant grew so tall we had to tie it to a dowel for support. The brussel sprouts are smaller, but doing well, too. The just-sprouted radishes are probably our tenth planting; they grow very fast and we can harvest them every couple of weeks. There are a few pole beans left on the vines, but their season is definitely over now. We will plant them again in the spring. The bell peppers have just sprouted, too. I'm very hopeful they will stay healthy as I cook with peppers all the time. Three more brussel sprout plant in another pot. If we get a bumper crop I

I decided during the holidays to take the pressure off myself and play with some cutter quilt pieces. These two both appealed to me, but it was the piece on the left that ended up on my work table. The stitching on the piece is very nice, but the patchwork was threadbare in quite a few places, and shredding in one corner. To preserve the piece I needed to mend it first. For the shredded corner I layered a sturdy but airy lace over the patch to cover the damage but allow the color of the original patchwork to show through; this is a pretty common repair technique for old crazy quilts. Finished repairs. For some of the other threadbare patches I appliqued some metallic lace fabric over the damage. Tulle also works well in this type of repair. After I sewed the piece to the front of a plain canvas tote and covered the edges with some vintage gray lace I added a spray of ruffled lace and a vintage brooch over a split in one patchwork seam, which held it together and dis

These are the washable homemade masks I wear every time I go out in public; they're almost two years old now. I wash them after each time I wear them, so the elastic is starting to stretch and some of the seams are ready to pop. Definitely time to make some new masks. Over the course of the pandemic I've made many of these for my family, friends and neighbors, including custom-sized masks with ties instead of elastic for a neighbor with sensitive ears, and pocket masks for a friend who wanted to add filter inserts for her and her husband. I had some extra on hand and sent them to a school in need, too. I carry a disposable mask in my purse to give to someone who forgets theirs, but I prefer to wear the washable kind I make myself. They're nothing fancy, but they fit my face and I can wear them with my glasses and small ears and they don't pop off. Now that we're heading into the third year of the pandemic I think I might make a couple of embroidered crazy

Bernina's holiday video this year is really cute.

For more than a few years now I've been making an effort to recycle everything and anything I can. I have the most success with fabric; I've found ways to use up my scraps to make gift bags, coasters and crumb patchwork. 99% of the materials I use for my sewing and quilting are vintage or repurposed as well. I'm not looking down on anyone who uses new fabric, by the way. I know professional sewers and quilters have to use new materials in order to create the best products for their customers; I don't sell my work so it doesn't really matter what I use. Paper is really the biggest recycling problem for me. Junk mail and printing out work for my day job create a lot of paper waste. Junk mail is really tough to recycle because I can't write or print on most of it. I might try making that into some pockets and pages for junk journals. Printed paper is my major recycling headache (the photo above is from a bin at the recycling plant where I take my waste

When you use vintage cutter quilt pieces for a project it's sometimes best to mend any threadbare spots before you sew them. This makes the piece stronger and also helps prevent more damage. Whenver possible I try to use lace to do this rather than cover it with new fabic. For this patch I used an airy lace that will allow some of the color of the original patchwork to show through, which is a pretty effect. It's basically sewing the lace down on top of the threadbare area. You can use flat lace cut to fit the entire area, or layer ribbon-width lace like I do here. Most of this piece is intact, so I only have to do this in a few spots.

I finally got to see all twelve episodes of the apocalyptic SF k-drama Happiness , and it is definitely the best Korean TV series I've watched this year. The story kicks off in the past, when the two lead actors are high school students. Yoon Sae Bom (Han Hyo-Joo) wants to get out of class, but the school is in lockdown because injured baseball player Jung Yi Hyun (Park Hyung-Sik) is sitting on the edge of the roof and everyone thinks he's going to jump. Sae Bom sneaks up to deal with the situation by first talking to Yi Hyun, and then finally pushing him off the roof when even he leasts expects it (he falls safely onto a big inflated cushion below.) I didn't realize why Sae Bom did this at first, but then it made sense when she's taken away in handcuffs: Yi Hyun can't get into any trouble because she pushed him. At this point Yi Hyun also falls for Sae Bom, and asks her to be his girlfriend. We don't find out until later that she refused. From th

Let's see what kind of trouble I can get into with these old quilt pieces this week, I thought this afternoon. Then a package from my favorite vintage textile seller arrived. I don't have much yardage on hand, and what I do is all promised to specific projects, so I invested in seven yards of two interesting prints. Then there was this piece of ombre silk crepe I couldn't resist. The silk is whisper-thin and in new condition. It's so dreamy I just want to look at it for a while and imagine what I can make with it. This 90's Cranston print will make great backing fabric for one of my lap quilts. I don't have many dark prints, but I liked this 80's bamboo on black a lot. I have an Asian fan quilt to make, and I think it will be the perfect backing fabric.

May nothing burst your bubbles. Image credit: ulleo from Pixabay

I've finally got my Christmas gift for my guy and our pups; today I'll be sending online gifts to my favorite person and closest friends. This weekend I'll bring my food gifts to the neighbors; I'm making both families a German chocolate cake, and by Sunday I should be completely done. I don't buy many gifts any more, but I don't miss shopping during the holiday season. I'd rather give things that are handmade, or gift cards that allow my loved ones to shop for themselves. I also keep one ready-to-give gift on hand in the event we get a surprise gift from someone and want to reciprocate. Gift cards are especially great for that. Once I'm done I'm spending the rest of the holidays sewing and reading. I've earned it. Image credit: JESHOOTs-com

I grew up by the sea, and I always go back there in my thoughts when I needed to clear my head and calm myself. It's my safe place. I think everyone has a place like this in their memory that reminds them that not everything in life is terrible. I lost a mentor over the weekend, which was very hard news to hear, but I also had the chance to reflect on how fortunate I was to have known her. Despite having a very difficult life she was a wonderful teacher, and inspired me in countless ways. I will never forget her. Even when we can't go to our safe places, we can visit them in our hearts. The same is true of those who help us along the way. I hope that she is at peace now.

Today I decided to start making a cover for my new desk journal out of some cutter quilt pieces. Book covers are a good way to use vintage textiles that are too old or fragile to withstand repeated washings. I like keeping quilted jackets on my journals, too, especially when they have pretty art on the original covers. While I was piecing together the journal I also handwashed the 70-ish-year-old patchwork I removed from the top of the hidden quilt to see if it would hold together. It looks a bit shredded, but there are still some patches I can reuse.