Waiting for Ruby

Wicked Garden

I told myself that I wouldn't post about anymore painted "patches" on my wall until one half of the wall was finished-but with everything I have on my plate right now,the wall is all I can do creatively, or I will never finish it! This one is a painting of a wallpaper,that I don't know the make of,that I saw on a design blog(just a tiny snippet so I had to copy and paste and make a whole square to reference from to paint it!)

And this "patch" is so appropriate for this post because it reminds me of a city garden.

My husband and I now rent two garden plots at a community garden nearby. They were dense with thick weeds so we have been quite busy there! We have been so busy,the only fun we have had lately is seeing Wicked in NYC this past weekend.But all the work is so worth it,and the plots have so much potential,there was already an apple tree,and gooseberry and blackberry bushes on the plots. We planted vegetables and strawberries.

Eating local is so important because it is one of the things that has the most impact on one's Earth footprint. Click the link to find your own footprint on this Earth.

We also now have a tumbler-composter and countertop composter so we will have compost for our plants,and we will be able to cut down our garbage even more! We often don't have to put our barrel out for collection because we throw out so little,now who knows how seldom it will be out there!

Collages

Using sample wallpaper pieces that I ordered from Louise Body(a long time ago-so I am glad to finally use them!),Liberty's mim and another purple ditsy print,buttons,ric rac, and my favorite part-purple dyed doilies,I made collage-pictures for our bathroom. I reused frames from old pictures,and just repainted them black. I was inspired to dye doilies to use in several projects after I saw pillows on Soulemama, onto which she attached green doilies.I never come across colorful doilies,so I started dying vintage cream-colored ones-It can become addicting! I would love to dye doilies in several colors and sew them onto a skirt-wouldn't that be so sweet? Forgive my pictures,as usual-there is a lot of glaring,but I did my best!

 

Little Red

I love so many different kinds of music,but one of my all time favorite albums is Joni Mitchell's Blue. Last year while listening to the song Little Green with my mother I told her the story behind the song,and she said "Oh you should sing it to Ruby,but change it to little red." Well,it took me a while to sit down and write it,but I did:

Little Red

Born with the moon in (Ruby's astrological sign)

Choose her a name she will answer to

Call her red,like ladybeetles and the little wagon we'll pull

Call her red,just like the crimson jewel

Little red,sometimes you can break the rules

EAT CAKE BEFORE DINNER AND DON'T WIPE YOUR SHOES! (Deviating from the tune original tune,this line will be more boisterous!)

Little red,be a gypsy dancer (my favorite line because to me it means-be free and do what makes you happy)

Just a little red,like the flame always burning in our hearts for you

There are so many things to share,with you,our little love,Ruby Claire

Just a little red,like scarlet begonias and the harvest sunset

There'll be strawberry cream,and life will be just a dream

And we'll be there,to comfort our little Ruby Claire

When your balloon floats away,and it just isn't your day

Little red,sometimes it will come down again

I wanted to keep the lyrics simple,and I didn't want to put sorrowful lines in it. For the end,where Joni's song says "sometimes there'll be sorrow" I wanted to come down to a child's level of "sorrow". I thought about what made me feel sad when I was small-I remembered the sinking feeling in my stomach when my Dad told me to hold on tight to my balloon so it wouldn't fly away,but I couldn't or wouldn't, so it did.

My illustration is very greatly inspired by an illustration from one of my favorite children's books for the very young,Emily's Balloon by Komako Sakai.

More "little red" posts to come....

I am glad I didn't strike out...

   

Yay! The lovely Nathalie from Innamorata left a comment on my post about French blogs, and I was able to contact her through her blog and order some of that wondrous fabric! She replied to my e-mails but for some reason(they didn't go to my spam folder) I didn't receive them. I have had this pillow design in my head for oh so long, ever since I saw the fabric on French blogs,and I have been working little by little for days, anxious to complete them!

   

I hand-stitched felt onto the corners of circles of fabric ,mimicking the design on the fabric.For the purple center circles,I embroidered a rustic flower design onto deep eggplant-colored felt.

My husband didn't even groan when I told him about the pillows because he knew how much I wanted to make them(although that doesn't mean he won't throw them onto the chair with the others when a game is on and he wants to lay on the couch!). When they were finished he said the hand-stitched circles reminded him of baseballs. I guess in that case these are pillows we both can enjoy!

Oilily Kimono Cushions

I have brass ones sometimes, I cut into fabrics that I have no business cutting into! Liberties,for sure, and this time-Oilily's Kimono. But I think the most beautiful fabrics can be the most forgiving when you have no idea what you are doing, because they are so pretty,the projects look nice just for that reason.

I was so looking forward to sewing my first article of clothing,but I can't find the fabric that I want anywhere. It has to be gray seersucker or something similar,I have my heart set on it!

Our dining chairs appealed to me because I think they look like hobbit chairs. I don't know why,probably because they are small. Well,the hobbit chairs got new cushions,and they are not what I think a hobbit would go for at all! I think a hobbit would prefer something a bit more traditional and neutral.

But there are no hobbits living here! Just a couple of crazy kids.

I used linen for the bottom. For the ties I used 2 different colors for a streamer-like look using raspberry and pale blue ribbons.

I took some advice from a favorite blog and ignored the housework today. I just pretended that those cat-hair tumbleweeds weren't there and sewed happily. Okay,not happily(I have a cold and didn't have my usual patience)but I did manage to complete them(I need to make 2 more when I receive more of this fabric in the mail),and when I was done,then I was happy!