A new Goddess for this weeks challenge

Once again I have decided to stray from the path of the suggested theme for this weeks goddess and I chose to do the Cailleach her themes are balance, cycles, rebirth, overcoming and winter. Her symbols are snow and blue items. In Scottish traditions, this is a blue faced crone Goddess who blusters with power throughout the winter months. She brings the snow and cold until the wheel of time turns toward spring on Beltane (May Day)

hand embroidery done

The Cailleach Bheur was a blue hag, said to frequent parts of the Scottish Highlands. Associated with winter, she was reborn on every All Hallows Eve and returned to bring the winter and the winter snows. She carried a magical staff, which froze the ground with every tap. She was also guardian to animals throughout the winter, and returned to the earth by turning to stone on Beltane Eve. In other traditions she changes into a young maiden, suggesting the changing phases of an earth goddess. Her sacred trees were the holly and the gorse bush, under which she traditionally threw her staff before turning to stone.

Once again I chose a Celtic goddess deciding once again to hand embroider my goddess using a subtle blue for her skin, she is crayon tinted on 100% cotton fabric with embroidery done in 2 strands of cotton floss. Here she is crayon tinted before the hand embroidery was started.

crayon tinted

and here is the Cailleach right after she was removed from the light box waiting for the next step.

off the lightbox

You will notice I added the two spirals to the piece to represent the ever moving circle of season and the swirling snows of winter.

I will be posting this over at https://timelessrituals.blogspot.com/2016/06/13-goddesses-challenge-week-5-native.html  as part of the 13 Goddess in 13 Weeks challenge.

I am a day late but I am also linnking up over at http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/06/27/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-64/

Now I am off to the gym and hopefully as I was promised yesterday the new replacement mailbox will be put in this morning, but in all honesty I don't think it will happen let me be wrong.

One of those Weeks and slow stitching

It's been one of those weeks and I'm glad its behind me, it started off well with mild temps and dry air, my flowers were all blooming, I was in and out of the mechanics shop with an oil change and new wiper blades, I renewed my gym membership for another year and the newest branch of my bank opened five minutes from my house, so far pretty good until this:

Yes that's my mailbox, mangled and laying in the dirt thanks to one of my neighbors from the group home next door who once again decided to attack this time the mailbox and again his caretaker stood by and watched the entire incident without doing a thing unless talking on her cell phone counts.

The house next door is a group home and this one man has attacked 3 times in the last 3 months, the last incident had him punching and banging on my car, the first incident had him trying to force his way into the house, when he couldn't get in the door he punched my son in the stomach.  Being compassionate people we didn't press charges for assault as the man is mentally retarded we had hoped he would have been given a better caregiver. The second incident he was issued a tresspass warrant and we were told nothing more could be done because of his diminished mental capacity, well incident number three with the mailbox was the last straw.  I was told this same person forced himself into the house next door and still no arrest.

I called the state of Florida social services department to make a formal complaint with my concerns which made the criteria for endangered or neglected adult so an investigator should be out to check up on the home to make sure all is in order and this week I will see an attorney to inquire what more can be done or should have been done. I want to know what about my rights? I do know one thing for sure I will protect myself from physical attack at all cost, stuff like the mailbox can be replaced.

So this week I had great need to do some slow stitching, for this Slow Sunday Stitching I have my hand embroidery on block 8 started and I could feel some of the tension slipping away as I stitched.

Why don't  you click on the link for Kathy's Quilts and see what other bloggers are stitching this Sunday, https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/06/slow-sunday-stitching-anniversary.html Kathy is celebrating the 4th year of Slow Sunday Stitching, when I came across her site through another blog I couldn't wait to link up what I was working on. I find myself wanting to stitch more so I have some little tidbit to share each week.

What I am stitching this week.

Yesterday I was busy with Summer Solstice activities that I forgot all about posting my entry for the 13 Goddesses challenge found here:
 https://timelessrituals.blogspot.com/2016/06/13-goddesses-challenge-week-4-semitic.html

I have once again moved away from the suggested prompts for this week my muse wanted to go in this direction so I have chosen the Mother Goddess as my choice using a very simple drawing to portray her. (No she isn't the one I posted the other day).

The Great Mother Goddess  was considered a life-giving, creative, wise and protective Goddess who shaped the Earth, provided us with abundant food and gave birth to all things.  Around the world, the Goddess was called by countless names – Isis, Sarasvati, Venus, Athena, Inanna, Pele, Changing Woman, Corn Maiden, Pachamama, Ostara, Baba Yaga.  Her titles included Queen of Heaven, Mistress of the Animals, Our Lady, Holy Mother and Mother of God. She was celebrated as Queen Bee, Lioness, Swan and Owl; Wheat and Rice; Sun, Moon and Morning Star.
She was honored at sacred rivers, holy wells, mountains and deep within caves.  Her festivals were marked by the turning of the seasons.  Equinox.  Solstice.  Planting.  Harvest.  First snows.  First fruits and flowers.
 
Women held prominent roles in ancient society. Seen as the embodiment of the Goddess, women were honored as Priestess, Queen, Judge, Midwife, Medicine Woman and Warriors. Our crafts were held sacred and our work was highly regarded. Women created weaving, pottery, poetry, cave art and metalwork. Women preserved and prepared food as well as healing herbs, incense and perfumed oils.

Today our soul’s yearn to express and to be creative. The things we make with our own hands are sacred and vibrate with our personal energy.  Our creativity is needed. Our art is important. Every other part of life is healthier when our own creative life is fertile.

I'll share a favorite quote:  "To sew is to pray. Men don't understand this. They see the whole but they don't see the stitches. They don't see the speech of the creator in the work of the needle. We mend. We women turn things inside out and set things right. We salvage what we can of human garments and piece the rest into blankets. Sometimes our stitches stutter and slow. Only a woman's eyes can tell. Other times, the tension in the stitches might be too tight because of tears, but only we know what emotion went into the making. Only women can hear the prayer." ~ LOUISE ERDRICH, Four Souls

Moving on this week I finished block number seven and will begin number 8 for the Hocuspocusville Quilt, I have more blocks completed now than I have to complete and that gives me such a great

block 8

 feeling of accomplishment.  At times these blocks have been a real challenge on my physically with the bad circulation I have in my hands and fingers some days I just can't put in a single stitch and other days I sail right through, I take advantage of those days.  I will post at Supermom No Cape a day late for the linky party but I'll be there stop on over to see what other bloggers are working on this week.
http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/06/20/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-63/

This week will be a sit and wait week, today I am waiting for air conditioning service tech to come out, last week the AC fizzled out so after the repairs I set an appointment for maintenance,  tomorrow my car needs to have the oil changed and I have various other services I will be waiting to have done. It will be a great time to write a few letters, catch up on reading and put in a few more stitches in one of my projects.  I have two more goddesses in the works, my muse is working overtime this month and I get more ideas than I can sketch or note. 

Starting block 8 and Slow Sunday Stitching

I will be starting the hand embroidery today on block number eight of the Hocuspocusville Quilt, this has been a real labor of love, I look forward to the day when I put the last stitch in block number 12.

I will be adding my post over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching why don't you click on the link to see what Kathy and other bloggers are slowly stitching today:
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/06/slow-sunday-stitching-and-quilt-canada.html

Here is block 7 with the hand embroidery completed and a peek at number 8 before the stitching begins.

block 7 complete

Block 8 

Yesterday I posted the next goddess I would be working for the 13 Goddesses challenge I did some crayon tinting and now she is ready to be embroidered.

I finally snapped a photo of the elephant ear bulbs I  planted a few weeks ago, they will need a new pot fast  as do the caladiums behind them.

I attempted to snap a few other phots yesterday morning but the humid air didn't much agree I was

able to capture the gorund mist and hibiscus before the lens of my camera kept fogging up, so I'll try again on a clear morning.

It was clear enough to get a photo of my beautiful bamboo which has grown so much in the last few years.
Here is a shot of two of the new bamboo plants I added to the garden last year they are doing quite well As you can see the lens was still a bit foggy.

And a shot of the Sycamore tree with a bit of the bamboo showing next to it she's a beauty too and gives nice shade throughout the day, I do have to cut back the new growth at the bottom.

The last photo is of the crepe myrtle trees starting to bloom I don't know if you can see the flowers but I need to fertilize better for next year, that is if I am still living here.

I started looking for a house closer to the beach, the ocean calls to me often and its time for me to finally answer the call. I don't need to be on the beach but thirty minutes away would be nice.  I am drawn to the east coast and love the Flagler beach area as much as the Ormond beach area, and the St. Augustine area is nice too.  Then again there are so many other cities I haven't touched on yet.

The DMC Coloris Has Arrived

Months ago I was on the DMC Commonthread website  when I first read about the coming of the Coloris embroidery floss line, saw photos of all those glorious colors and knew I would eventually have them. I waited and waited to no avail none of the local shops hand them yet.  So I watched and waited and one day I found myself lucky enough to find them on Etsy, today they arrived, well worth the wait. 

DMC Coloris is a multi-coloured thread with 4 shades in each skein the colors within each skein change about every 1.9 inches or 5cm gradually changing to a new color every few inches. 

The color combinations are very different than what you would  typically find in hand-dyed threads or other non-hand-dyed variegated threads. They are bright and harmonious contrasts rather than tonal variations of one color

all 24 Coloris skeins

There are 24 flosses in the DMC Coloris line:

4500 Columbine Gardens	4501 Wildflowers	4502 Camellia
4503 Wisteria	4504 Hydrangea	4505 Heather
4506 Spring	4507 Bougainvillea	4508 Frosted Countryside
4509 Granite Coast	4510 Maple	4511 Indian Summer
4512 States	4513 London	4514 Venice
4515 Paris	4516 Black Forest	4517 Elves
4518 Cottage	4519 Jingle Bells	4520 Christmas Story
4521 Wide Open Spaces	4522 Canadian Night	4523 North Wind

close up

I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened the package containing my new flosses I couldn’t help letting out a few oohs and ahhhs.  These thread combinations are just bursting with color and vibrancy now to find the perfect project to try them out.

http://commonthread.us/dmc-coloris-thread-kit.html

I included the link above to the Commonthread site for the Coloris thread kit if you can't find the threads locally. 

I wonder if  DMC will come up with a line of Coloris Pearl cotton, hey it could happen.   I have the next Goddess getting to prep for crayon tinting, 

And the Hocuspocusville quilt block eight is being prepped for stitching I use a spray adhesive to bond the fabric backing to stabilize the stitches more about that tomorrow.

Another Goddess, and a few link ups for today

It was one of those rainy lazy weekends where I had a dull headache and didn't want to do much so I spent the weekend stitching away on my third goddess for the 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks challenge.

I will be linking up over at  https://timelessrituals.blogspot.com/  where you can see more goddesses from other bloggers.

I chose Tatsuta-hime as my third hand embroidery piece, I was trying to get the effect of winds blowing the fabric of her dress into autumn leaves. Tatsuta-Hime (pronounced tat-SUE-tah HEE-may) is a minor wind Goddess, It is said that each year Tatsuta-Hime, Goddess of dyeing and weaving, dyes silk yarn and weaves a beautiful multicolored tapestry of yellow, orange, russet, crimson and gold.  She then incarnated Herself as wind and blew Her own work to shreds, the scattering cloth resembling the blowing leaves of autumn.

Tatsuta-Hime

Her symbols are Fall leaves. Her themes are health, luck, thankfulness, autumn, blessings, abundance and protection. This windy Japanese Goddess blows into our lives today offering blessings and abundance for all our efforts. Tradition tells us that She weaves the Fall leaves into a montage of color, then sweeps them away along with any late-fall maladies. Sailors often wear an amulet bearing Her name to weather difficult storms at sea safely.

A poem by Prince Kanemi:
Tatsutahime
must have offerings to make
to gods on her way:
so the autumn leaves
scatter like fragments of cloth.

My Tatsuta-Hime is done on white cotton muslin fabric using DMC variegated embroidery floss for the leaves and dress, solid floss for skin and hair. The piece is completely hand embroidered.

I have also made progress on block seven of  Hocuspocusville and I should have it completed in the next day or two. I am linking up at http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/06/13/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-62/  for this weeks linky party and I forgot to post my progress yesterday at Kathy's quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching since I was so busy stitching so I will do that today too.  https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/06/slow-sunday-stitching.html

Click a link and take in the wonderful works other bloggers are doing.

Week Two Goddess and other stitching news

The first Monday of a new month and not one appointment or event jotted down on my calendar which is nice for a change. It rain late last night and continues through the morning which will make it a great day for stitching, reading and writing a few reply letters while drinking cups of tea. Well those things will come  after my drop off at the post office and my time at the gym.

First I have some stitchery pieces to post, for the second week of 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks challenge I have my Baba Yaga, she is hand embroidered and crayon tinted on white on white tone print cotton fabric.

Baba Yaga tinted and stitched

before embroidering

Baba Yaga the ‘old woman’ of autumn was called Baba by the Slavic inhabitants of eastern Europe, Boba by the Lithuanians. This seasonal divinity lived in the last sheaf of grain harvested in a year, and the woman who bound it would bear a child that year. Baba passed into Russian folk legend as the awesome Baba Yaga, a witchlike woman who rowed through the air in a mortar, using a pestle for Her oar, sweeping the traces of Her flight from the air with a broom.

Baba Yaga’s themes are the harvest, rest, providence, thankfulness and cycles. Her symbols are corn sheafs, wreaths of wheat, corn, rye and wild flowers.  This Lithuanian/Russian Goddess of regeneration reawakens in us an awareness of time’s ever-moving wheel of seasons.

I had planned to post her as my first Goddess last week but my iron decided at that moment to stop heating so I located my older iron packed up in the garage. I am so glad I decided to keep my trusty old weighs a tone iron and didn't have to shop for a replacement.

Here is a link to the challenge which has all the guidelines and more bloggers Goddesses to view, this isn't a stitchers challenge you can choose the medium you want to create and its open till December 2016, check back next Monday for my next Goddess.

https://timelessrituals.blogspot.com/

My other stitchery is an update on block seven of Hocuspocusville Quilt

stitched in the morning

stitched in the evening

I posted the progress I made throughout the day between yesterday between reading, doing laundry and printing labels and packing items to drop off at the post office today. If you look close enough you can see the needle poking through where I stopped to snap the photo.  I am linking up at Supermom No Cape today too.  Here is the link stop on over and have a peek what other bloggers are working on and the free vintage embroidery pattern with a sports theme.http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/06/06/vintage-embroidery-monday-and-stitchery-link-party-61/

On Thursday after meeting with the Thread Therapy group at the library I picked up something new to read so yesterday while I was resting my fingers after a few hours of stitching I started reading the newest Susan Wittig Albert mystery.

While reading one of the chapters yesterday I noticed how much the books along with the characters have evolved, no longer the cozy mystery silly antics you can usually expect, the story holds more interests and the characters have more depth to them and always there is the herbal information that is usually spot on.

I also picked up some summer crochet magazines for some light and airy shawl patterns with the idea to use up some of the yarn stash I have and really would like to make a dent in using up this year.

I don't normally like to crochet in the warm weather but lately I have the urge so what the heck I'll give it a try. 

 I found this shawl pattern which uses bamboo I have quite a bit of just sitting in the bin, I like the light open pattern but not the color.  Any way I need to check the pattern for yarn quanity and my stash.

Now I am off to the post office and then the gym.

June TUSAL, Slow Sunday Stitching and more

June started off on a good note for me and if the winds keep blowing favorable it can only get better. My health continues to improve with my energy increasing almost daily, my garden plants are blooming and on the creative front I have been happily stitching away.

For the June TUSAL report I have quite a few orts to add to my jar, most of the threads are predominately black from the Hocuspocusville quilt blocks but I have done a few other project along the way so my mix is getting colorful. (May's orts are included too some how I missed last month) http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/ I added the link but noticed there hasn't been any TUSAL posting since April but since I enjoy making these post on the new moon I'll keep doing it and check back at Its Daffy Cat blog when I can.

May/June Orts

On June 1^st I signed up for the 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks challenge and posted my first goddess last Wednesday, the next goddess will post on Monday as will the remainder for the challenge. 

First Goddess

Here is the link for more information on this challenge and a chance to see the wonderful and imaginative art the creator of the challenge makes. You can even sign up to take part. https://timelessrituals.blogspot.com/

I met up with the Thread Therapy stitchers group last Thursday at the new location in our local public library. The brick and mortar store closed its doors recently happily the group continues on, I didn't attend while I was ill so it was good to be back, they also meet up Saturdays at a local coffee shop.

During the weeks while I was sick the idea of painting with watercolors kept popping in and out of my head, though truth to tell it could have been a mild dilerium do to the fever, anyway, I purchased a small set of watercolor paints a few days ago to try my hand at another painting medium other then acrylics.

As I said at the beginning of my post June started on a good note as luck would have it one of the local art galleries, Gallery East, is offering a watercolor paint-a-long, among other interesting classes and workshops several of which I'd like to take, I was too sick to take the silk scarf painting so I'd like to try that one in July.

Here is my progress on the Hocuspocusville block 7 not too much done since last weeks post but a few other projects gave me the much needed break from the monotony of black thread. 

I'm linking up today with Kathys Quilts for Slow Sunday stitching, why don't you click the link and check out what other talented bloggers are slowly stitching today. 

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/06/slow-sunday-stitching-needles.html

 Stop back on Monday when I will be linking up to Supermom No Cape and the 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks challenge with a new goddess to reveal.

I'm taking part in a new challenge 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks

It's a brand new month filled with endless possibility, summer is a few weeks away, my garden is in bloom and I am finally feeling myself again.

Since I was ill through March and most of April I put off doing a few new things I wanted to try, I didn't attend the groups I belong to or take new classes for fear of getting everyone sick. Now feeling my old self I can back to doing things for pleasure.

The first new thing I'm planning to do is take part in the 13 Goddesses in 13 Weeks Challenge I don't even have to leave the house for this new adventure. Here is the link to find out what its all about, perhaps you will decide this sounds like a challenge you might like to try as well.

https://timelessrituals.blogspot.it/p/blog-page_22.html

For my first Goddess I decided to do the simple basic Goddess figure I love making, I use this shape or one similar quite often for dolls and bead pendants, painting, crochet and embroidery, which is the medium I chose for my first weeks challenge.

I love using Celtic motifs in many of my creations for this I used the Triquetra symbol to represent the 3 aspects of the triple Goddess rather than a Triskele or figures.

In keeping in the spirit of creativity and Celtic tradition my Goddess is like the Celtic Brigid as the triple goddess representing some aspects of my own life: Art, Healing, Creativity, rather than the more traditional stages of a womans life: Maiden, Mother, Crone.

Originally I was going to do Baba Yaga for the first week Goddess suggestion but she isn't ready yet. Wouldn't you know it I was planning to crayon tint my piece and the iron decided it was too old to heat. I need to check my garage for my other iron, so I decided to go ahead, move outside my comfort zone and not follow the list. 

For my Goddess I used a green varigated embroidery thread and solid yellow for the triquetra, I used 2 strands of thread. The fabric is all cotton white on white print.

I don't know whether I will be able to keep up with this challenge but I sure am going to give it a try. My biggest stumbling block is the darn numbing and tingling in my hands but as long as my hands hold out I am going to give it my all. I haven't decided if I am going to do all the Goddesses as embroidered works you will just have to check back each week to have a look.

Another new thing I want to try is painting with watercolors, for weeks now this has been on my mind so I think I need to give it a shot, perhaps then one of my Goddesses will be a painting.

And I think its time to pick up my knitting again too, its been over a year since I held my needles I think I forget how to cast on so tomorrow at the stitchery group I am going to ask for a little help. Some days crocheting isn't what I want from my yarn.