Labour Day~> a trio of UK Quilters: Alicia Merrett, Judith Wilson, and Ann Beech

Floating City - Daytime by Alicia Merrett of Wells, Somerset, UK

My fourth straight post honoring the labor of the amazing quilters that caught our eye at the Quilt Extravaganza last September in Oaks, PA. ending this run as I did the first night, with a trio.

On Green Pond by Judith Wilson of Wheathampstead, UK

Thunder Across the Beaches by Ann Beech of Daventry Northamptonshire, UK

 

A Labor of Love: an international octet of quilters

Tulips by Yemina Lavan of Modlin, Israel

Day three of my Labor Day celebration of quilters in honor of my grandmother continues. Enjoy the trip around the world.

It Started As A Doodle by Roz Rossiter of the UK

Shattered Face Quilt by Kathryn Harmer Fox of South Africa

Taras Garden by Valerie Giles of Australia

Ferns within the Grids by Margie Davidson of Canada

Chinese Coins by Petra Niermann of Germany

Lucky 4-Leaf by Anne Jolly of New Zealand

A Stormy Night At Sea by Maria Nunez of USA

 

On entering my newest year

In Buffalo. In a sculpture.

I celebrated 50 years with a jazz conert and a campaign to feed the hungry. But time marches on and so does my mind.

I was a decent letter writer back in the day. Over time it stopped. I hear that the post office still sends out such things. I imagine my friends have addresses they might share if I am lacking their current location.

So I had this thought, I will send a letter a week for the next year. Not a note, but a letter, hand written. I'm rusty. Beware my friends; I have memories of nearly getting straight A's in elementary school but being thwarted by some harsh C- marks for penmanship. Over time I developed a half cursive/ half printing scrawl. I think it can be deciphered.

Some letters may include a Stratozpheric card or maybe a suncatcher that seems to need a home. Some may be tucked inside a card that catches my eye or one of the cards sent recently by a friend. Maybe a commission will spark a letter. Some will fly solo inside an envelope. The goal is not to draw cards or give away art. I desire to return to writing letters.

Letter writing is a chance to reflect upon what is happening in my life. Like pizza making it may become a habit, something I am known for.

And who knows, if one of the letters gets a response, a life long correspondence may happen. That would be quite splendid.

 

Turning 50. Feeding the Hungry.

I am now 50 and it does do something to one's being. I am doing some big things to celebrate that has kept me from blogging. One is a private gig. The other is a very public campaign to help feed the hungry by raising money for Manna On Main Street. Details are here.

I am drawing cards and offering coupons to those who give at least 21 dollars. Any help by giving to or sharing of the cause would be appreciated. Here are the first three thank you doodles ~>

 

V is Voila! ~ the a to z of one word messages

Word by Wayne Stratz
background by Margaret Almon

This was originally commissioned to celebrate a house.  But considering this is our 26th anniversary of our first kiss (celebrated under the full moon of April!), all I can say is

Voila!

Nutmeg Designs celebrates their first baby mosaic with a video

a celebration of birth
by
Nutmeg Designs

This is the first time we placed a baby's name into one of our mosaics.  What a joyful thing to be asked to create. And how kind of the recipient of this commissioned gift to have given their child the name of one of the greatest sax players to ever play jazz.  Once I handed over the letters on a piece of slate to Mosaic Woman, she took lots of process photos. I took the photos of her grouting.  See it emerge here:

A Few of My Favorite Things 10 ~ starting afresh

Collaboration by
Margaret Almon andWayne Stratz

New years, new places I called home, new friends, new hopes, new colleges, new jobs, new faith, new glass, new students, new genres of music, new bird sightings, new types of food, new understanding, new color pencils, new ways to cope, new designs, new scientific discoveries ... 

to live an unfolding life is the best thing of all.

and really how better to end this string of posts, with a man who was hanging out in my parents' album collection when I emerged into this unfolding creation ~ 

Celebrating the old and the new

I was sitting and waiting to celebrate our new priest, Mother Amanda, when the young man in the striped shirt (far left) asked me if I was going to take photos for our church's website, a website I have helped to create in the past month.  So I walked home.

As I looked at the images, I was disheartened by the less than crisp images that showed up on my computer.  The one of the cake looked OK, the ones of the cheese were a disaster.  But then this one caught my eye.  There is one man who stands out.

He was at the church long before I arrived and has been one of those people I have met along my journey who calls out for the church to help those in need.  A man to follow into a life of reaching out to the poor.

An hour before the service I had dropped off some cheese and some Nanaimo bars and headed out of the church to the farmers market.  When I emerged from the church, it was he who offered me a ride.  I needed the walk, so I passed on the offer, but my heart was lifted up be his presence.  Attendance has been difficult for him over the past year, but how important to have a man, who had witnessed so many rectors at Holy Trinity be there for today's Celebration of New Ministry.

So I am glad that of all the people to shine forth in my photos, it was the man, who had offered me a ride.

Hafiz on our 20th

on our 20th anniversary

Last night I took the photo above and a break from Mystical Mondays.

Mosaic Woman and I were out and about celebrating our 20th anniversary.

But we did not take a break from our nightly habit of reading a translation by Daniel Ladinsky and the last poem by Hafiz ended this way ...

"I am made whole by your life. Each soul,

each soul completes

me."

and here we are on the day we got married

2012, the year of the pizza

This is not from tonight, but from the
land of pizza past

tonight the 16th and 17th friends came over for pizza

This is a celebration.

shooting for 50, a family tradition

My sister flew home to celebrate my parents big year. Turning 75 this spring, they are within a few months of reaching 50 years of marriage.

Not that long ago I thought, music, we must have music from 1958. I found lists of number 1 hits, best jazz, best country, top 100 songs, and then I went through my jazz Cd's. Let me say that there were a bunch of folk sounding like Elvis back then. I put together 50 songs from that year. My dad, sitting to my right, was heard singing a line here and there. But my youngest aunt proved to be the music lover in the group. My one aunt and uncle were appreciative of the country hits including Johnny Cash and Kitty Wells.

50 years... I celebrated when both sets of grandparents made it that far. At the dinner, the aunts and uncles who had survived to see the day had already celebrated 48, 48, and 54 years of marriage. Though my sisters are older, I am the closest to 50 as Mosaic Woman and I have celebrated 16 anniversaries. In the year 2042... at age 78, I hope to be listening to 50 tunes from 1992. Wonder what I will remember?

As for the big hits of 1958, The Everly Brothers competed with Elvis and the Chipmunks hit #1 twice, but I left the Chipmunks off the Cd's, which allowed room for some 1958 music I own, including Lets Fall In Love by Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges. A tune I once listened to as I drew a card for the one I love.

... and Since I-tunes had no 1958 Elvis tunes which I could burn as an audio file, I pulled out my one Elvis CD, which meant the evening had one gospel tune... Praise be to Elvis for being a man of faith, may that wondering spirit find some peace.

Don't know if this is the exact version, but here it is.


Peace

waves of energy

Central Moravian Church
Originally uploaded by toddheft

sounds like I am going to teach physics, but instead this is about baseball and Easter. I grew up a big sports fan with my dad taking me to see all the major teams in Philadelphia. I rarely watch sports anymore, and did not make it to a game this year, but I follow the Phillies and so I too felt the communal boost of joy when the Phillies emerged at the top of their division. The joy and hope have taken a big hit after two playoff losses, but before that happened thoughts of Easter came into my head.

Margaret grew up Moravian. A few Easters back we decided to go to Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, which is not far from my parents. I grew up thinking that Moravians were a major denomination, but they are not. But Central is a large church and I would say they pack in over a 1000 folk with ease, which is is huge for keep in mind my Episcopal church is packed at just over 100 folk. So there we were standing to sing a hymn, and I can tell you, there is not much better in my life than being part of a congregation which is familiar with a hymn. I was singing Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, the joy and celebration of Easter.

So why does the Phillies making it into the playoffs bring up Easter. In 1980 I went with my dad to see the Phillies win the world series. I would love to tell you who knocked in the winning run, but I can't. I can tell you that I remember Tug McGraw flinging himself into the air and thus began the celebration.... the team, the 60,000 fans, and even the police on horses lining the field to keep the crowd controlled. My dad had started driving home from games by driving north on some road that ran parallel to Broad Street which took us through various neighborhoods. That night the city was different. People were everywhere. Celebrating.

I know that as an introvert, these mass celebrations of God and Phillies should have frightened me, but they didn't. All of this tells me that a celebratory event, that brings people together, provides hope that gets us through times of doubt and losing seasons.