Bright Spots

This morning when I basted another block for Palace of the Soul, I included a bright spot of red, which is not really as bright as in this photo, but echoes the colour of another part of the cloth. And then I went to get the mail and experienced another bright spot in my day: the arrival of a bobbin lace pouch from Deanna that I won last month on her blog at: http://eclectic-meanderings.blogspot.com/. Thank you Deanna! I love the fine lace and the colour

matched the ocean today

where I saw more bright spots like this arbutus bark and a chartreuse golf ball in the sea froth

and then there was this creature buried and emerging from the sand,

which I missed at first, as I walked by, because it was covered with water, but then I went back for a look when several seagulls circled above me and one dived to inspect what it may have thought were crab legs but are actually rope. I was fooled, too.

Turning A Corner

I'm pleased with how my woven corner turned out and the piece is increasing in size, with the addition of a dark purple ikat. I have 18 four inch woven blocks, now - not sewn, yet - and I've been combining them in different ways, thinking about whether I'd like to make them into two 12 inch blocks and surround the centre block with them and others - or - I could add a band of solid fabric or try more ideas for small blocks that I have. But one step at a time! I am enjoying this process, and this way of working by expanding from the inside out is a return to the very first thing I sewed when I got my machine about 3 1/2 years ago, when I knew nothing about sewing but googled 'art quilter', as I wanted to make an art quilt and was led to a book on the internet that was available quite geographically close to me - and I couldn't wait to have it: The Careless Quilter by Kristin Miller http://www.kristinmillerquilts.com/Careless_Quilter/CQexcerpts.htm . I was too impatient to get sewing to actually read far into the book, but it was an inspiration and got me started. I just took some scraps of all different kinds of fabrics and began with a square in the middle, turned it on its point and then added corners, strips, etc. I have noticed before that I prefer to start pieces from the centre and work out - or - to lay a ground quickly and then collage or stitch on top of that.