Friday 24 November 2023

Appliqued Needlebook, Music, What Could Have Been?

 I'm not the only one who likes whimsy...We found this little item at the base of a very large tree on one of the public trails back in October. I thought -wish I knew who put this here...perhaps I'm missing out on a friend.

Still enjoying playing around with what I would like to stitch for the Bramble Blooms QAL. I got out several of my books to look through for inspiration and to settle myself down to a colour theme as well. For instance, I love Tilda's Fan Flowers and wonder if I could make my own improv version of them. 
Then I realized I had run out of freezer paper which I never let happen and put in an order to Amazon...I've tried needleturn applique and it isn't for me. I need the paper which arrived promptly the next day.  Of course I put my hand right on the remnants of the last roll as I was storing away the new roll...isn't that always the way!  I'm getting closer to what I will begin with.

And I found this small scrap of winter fabric while scrap sorting and knew it would work perfectly for a little pocket in my winter needlebook. A slightly squished size but I left it like that. 
Early morning is when I listen to music while I'm doing chores. I found this piano rendition of Ed Sheeran's Perfect from The Piano Guys who are wonderful. This is so beautiful and moving. It really revs up at about the 3 minute mark. 

Though so many of you spied it, I'm still getting questions about what was hiding in this photo.  

It was a Blue Heron moving ever so slowly. Taken with my phone which ranks pretty low for quality amongst phones.

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about getting three meals from one ham. Yes, I do like the challenge of using leftovers in food for sure-hate waste and also in my stitching. Tony has said a couple of times that I would have made a good Farmer's wife with my frugal ways, the recycling and especially the gardening and animal interests. I think the first time he said it to me was because I am such an early riser...and he is not. Anyway, those were his notions of what farmers and their partners are like. Considering where I grew up, I could have been a fisherman's wife I suppose. What about you? Is there a path not taken, one where the skills you figured out you had later in life would have been better suited to you than what you wound up doing?

I'm going out to lunch today and looking forward to that. It is quite cool- windchill minus 20C when I walked this morning, but warming up with a sun shining brightly. Counting my blessings this morning including all of you with your kind words of encouragement to me. 💞 

12 comments :

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

my older sisters have said that I could have survived in the 1800's as I know so many crafts and can garden. I know how to make candles, quilts,I can sew (without a machine), can etc - and enjoy it - but if I had to do it every day would I - that is a good question!
I didn't spot the heron and I looked and looked. I always keep freezer paper on hand also - I like in the sheets not the rolls, I like it nice and flat and it is a little heavier I think then the rolls which makes it easier to work with for applique - I do like needle turn though

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I love the Piano Guys - they do amazing renditions of many pieces of music! I see the heron in your photo now. Previously I was looking up in the tree, thinking a bird was hiding there! They are always a beautiful treat to see. Good luck with your Bramble Blooms design!

Nancy J said...

Minus 20C ??? Phew, wrap up well. Yes, I often have thoughts about what I would have liked to do when I left High School, in a small country area there were limited choices, university was out, too far to travel each day or too expensive to stay in Auckland or Wellington or even Otago.As I love numbers and words, maybe a statistician? A librarian? I did look at something in a botany related factory, categorising plant leaves?? Then I chose pharmacy. Too late, I realised I had definitely bitten off a bigger chunk than I could chew , then a very dear friend ( Walter Drake) some years ago suggested I write a book. He sent me " Jonathon Livingston Seagull" and his letter I have saved gave me the way to lay out a plot or plan and get to it!! He will be waiting in Heaven when we meet again, and I will have bad news for him. No book, but so many wonderful blog friends who inspire me the same way he did all those years ago. Dream on, dear Walter.There you are Jocelyn, my essay for the day !!!! p.s. I, too am an early bird .

Jackie said...

Most of Harvey's family said I should have been the one to marry one of the farmers in the family. However in this day and age what works for one also works for those who married others.

Like you I hate waste, and Harvey after seeing the cost of food is right onboard with that bit of frugality.

God bless.

Quilting Babcia said...

I was taken with your photo that included the heron (which I didn't see). That photo would make a beautiful inspiration for your Bramble fabric pull.

Brian's Home Blog said...

I do like that little fairy house! Goodness, that scene with the blue heron is beautiful and most frame worthy!

Linda said...

Love the way herons so carefully place their feet. We had them in south Texas but mostly saw egrets, which look so similar to me. Ah Jocelyn, you pose such a good question. I've loved cooking and baking and entertaining since my early 20s but didn't figure out until I was in my 60s that catering was my jam. My husband and I graduated from a small northeastern Oklahoma college, where I got a degree in math, but now I wish I would go back and attend Oklahoma University and major in meteorology, since weather has been my love since I was a little girl.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I spied the heron earlier although it took me a minute!
Getting multitudes of meals from one ham is a given in our household. We usually only have one meal of it and then it morphs into soup or a casserole (or most times, both) which then lasts for another number of meals.
I sometimes wonder if I could have pursued more in the way of art rather than coming to what I'm doing now via knitting, crocheting and crazy quilting (all self-taught). Having some training in art/painting would help me now but, as usual, I'm muddling through on my own.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

The heron picture is not an easy one to find the bird. They fit in the surroundings so well, even in person they are difficult to see until they move.

Interesting question. I think I might have been a pilot or a sculpter if I had thought to go that way from the start. The first time on a jet out of Newark New Jersey, I felt the awe of flight and was sure I wanted to be a pilot. Alas, it takes math. :)

LA Paylor said...

love your photos and I'm also against food waste... I squeeze every leftover to use it all especially an animal who gave his all... I need to check out the bramble QAL as despite having so much in supplies I am standing around wondering what to make.
Music was lovely
LeeAnna

Robin said...

I love the whimsey of that little house. Tilda would be good choice, I admire her work and her colors. I don't know that I would do anything different. I quit college (Art major) to get married and become a mother. I had 7 children which kept me and still keeps me busy. Sewing has always been my artistic outlet.

quiltingbydawn said...

What a cute find in your scraps! That little house is a perfect fussy cut pocket for needles!