Grandmothers Flower Garden Is Growing

This is a great travel project.

I baste these little hexagons on the go, and then stitch them together when I have enough.

#1 Block Of The Month

I enjoy visiting stitcher's blogs, but I felt the need to get out and socialize in person with other hand stitchers.

I am participating in my first Block of The Month quilt with a group of ladies from a local quilt shop.

Block #1 is finished.

Gluten Free Bread

It's been 6 weeks since I've been on a gluten free diet. I feel good, but I miss having a slice of bread with jelly.

I've been spending a lot of time cooking and baking gluten free recipes, and I want to give this one a "thumbs up." This bread is very good. The recipe is from Elana Amsterdam's cookbook.

One thing I have noticed is that the bread recipes make just one loaf, which is a good thing.

The Beginnings Of A Story

Here is the state of mind I was in when these two pieces came together.

I have several projects going right now, but they just weren't stimulating enough at the moment. It's like my creative soul needed a challenge or something. Do you ever feel like this? 

 Some may call it bored. I can't explain it. Anyway, when I feel like this, I look through unfinished pieces.

These caught my attention.

 I'm not sure where I was going with this woven cloth piece.

I gave these little English paper pieced sailboats a scenic background a while ago.

I joined the two pieces, added a few more blue fabric scraps.

Added some wave stitching, and……

Now, I see sand. 

Maybe a few seashells?

11-12-13

We got our first snow fall last night.

It always seems weird bundling up for that first snow fall walk…..

Checking my boots for spiders that have made them their home and sorting through the hats and gloves that I only put away a few short months ago.

What I love about Winter walks: 

the fresh, cool, crisp air

the bare trees

sounds of nature

the birds seem to sing in a different tone

the sky is a deeper blue when the sun is out

i feel more at peace

they are my favorite 

Time For Healing Mixed With Tradition

It seems the days pass by so quickly, yet when one is dealing with a health issue, time seems to slow down.

My 8 month battle with an off and on severe skin rash is due to a wheat/gluten sensitivity. During that period, I saw three conventional doctors who insisted I had contact dermatitis or didn't really know what was causing the flare ups, and thought there was nothing wrong with me being on steroids for the rest of my life. That was not going to happen! 

Then finally, I went to see an alternative doctor, and he muscle tested for a food allergy which turned out to be wheat/gluten. Since I have been on a gluten free diet for the last three weeks, my rash has gone away.

 Finally! A doctor that was able to help me. 

You will probably hear more about my new gluten free lifestyle in the future.

Meanwhile…...

During this time I became depressed and crazy at the same time. My mind wasn't clear enough to allow creativity to take place, yet I still needed to keep my hands busy. 

I started this quilt piece…...Grandmother's Flower Garden.

I'm always drawn to traditional quilt patterns every time I see them in person or in magazines. I even have several in my quilt collection. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll ever finish this as I will probably get tired of doing this tedious pattern over and over and over again, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time I started it.  

I chose to do this in reproduction fabrics. Below are a few antique quilts from my collection.