carrot cupcakes

I've always been intimidated by making frosting from scratch, I'm not sure why it's simply butter and sugar. I set my fears aside and made carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Carrot cupcakes are messy business.


They turned out really well and I think it's because Vishy was overseeing the operation.

meditation

I read a lot of magazines and some of the information sticks with me. For some reason an article about how a woman finally got in the habit of flossing her teeth pops into my head regularly. she finally got in the habit by putting floss everywhere, in her car, in her bedroom, in her office, lunch box etc. She let go of the idea that the only time she could floss her teeth was after she had brushed her teeth and suddenly she was flossing every day.

I am trying to do this with my meditation practice. Take a deep breath in my car before going into work, meditating for 10 minutes after dinner. If I can't go back to sleep sit for a few minutes before starting my day. The goal is to be mindful at all times. The intentional sitting and focusing on your breath is a tool, a way of letting go and just being so that you can see life more clearly. We'll see how this works.



Here I am taking a moment in my new apartment!

borders

It was a good thing I had written a post about appreciating the moment on Thursday, I might have otherwise been caught unaware and locked myself in my apartment for the next 6 months last night when I saw the first snow. Instead I took a deep breath and appreciated the stillness then snuggled under my favorite quilt with my kitties and watched season two of the mentalist. There is nothing a little Simon Baker can't cure.
This morning I woke up bright and early (5:30am thanks Shiva) and browsed boots online, made coffee, hot cereal and finished Christy's top quilt. So it is ready to go to the quilter. What a great feeling though a month and a half after her wedding. oops.



Here Shiva is helping my measure the width of the quilt so I can cut the border fabric.

Bon Hiver

According to Wikipedia Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) wrote "For Emma, Forever Ago" during a Wisconsin winter living in a cabin and trying to recover from a bout of mono, he managed to come out with a beautiful CD and one would assume his sanity.
Winter is not the easiest time of year for me, I am a summer creature and seem to just kind of shut down in the winter, anything below 50 degrees and I'm in full winter attire hat, gloves, scarf. My first instinct in reaction to the colder temperatures is to put on depressing music, become very good friends with my flannel pajamas, and not see anyone until spring. Which still sounds very appealing but I'm going to fight it this year. I'm not independently wealthy so I have to get out and go work! I'm going to train for a 10k which means I'll have to go to the gym. it's really hard to run outside in cold temps, when anything below 50 degrees is too cold to be out.
In meditation you appreciate the moment and the moment isn't always 90 degrees and sunny. My life seems to be full of meditation lessons lately, letting go of expectations and imaginary things, and learning to appreciate cold temps.
Back to Bon Iver and Wiki...
It says that he also watched Northern Exposure and in one episode people came out of their homes at the first snowfall and wished their neighbors a Bon Hiver (good winter in French).
So Bon Hiver everyone, appreciate the slowing down of the season and drink lots of chai with homemade bread on the counter and good music on the radio.

photo update

baking

Last night after getting off work and before heading to omaha I put together no knead dough and left it to rise for 12-18 hours on the stove. This morning I woke up to a bubbly mess of flour, yeast and water! I dumped it on a floured counter and then went to meditation. When I got home it had risen beautifully and now I have a golden loaf of bread on my counter!
My plan for the day was to stay home and cook, after the bread I put apples in the slow cooker and am making applesauce.
i like the process of putting ingredients together and watching them take a different shape.

yay

New lap top, new photos, and in theory more regular updates!

new space, new quilts and sadly no photos

Well, the kittens and I are settled, somewhat, into our new space. It's lovely and perfect for me. I was worried about how furniture would fit and if I would have to make a bunch of trips back to the old place. After weeks of emotional upheaval I wanted things to just fall into place. They did... thanks to amazing friends, family and two men and a truck. It was HOT on August 1st and there was no air in my place. Despite all of that people still helped me move.
I started a new quilt in my sewing studio and have been lighting a candle to smudge the space and make it my own full of good energy. I'm on the look out for a lat top (hence the no photos).

I'm moving

The kittens and I have been packing recently... which explains the lack of frequent posting. So GreenQuilt is taking a hiatus and will be back mid August. See you in the new space!

a finished project

This is a quilt pattern that I found at the most recent Mooseketeers at Quilted Moose. I used the Authentic Sweetwater line from Moda.

Right now I am watching my favorite episodes of the X-Files, it turns out they are all on the same disc. If you ever get a chance to watch All Things and Hollywood A.D. I would strongly recommend you do so.

A Challenge Complete

I used the imporvesational quilting style that I learned in Denyse Schmidt's Workshop.




This is our quilts laid out at work it wasn't the best angle but you can see them side by side.


I can't speak for Katie's inspiration or process but it looks amazing and I'm looking forward to the next part of the challenge... were we exchange our finished quilts.

Katie and I challenged ourselves to make a top quilt by July 1st inspired by the Rothko stamp. We both finished our top quilts by the deadline and they turned out beautiful.

Breath by Breath

I have been thinking a lot about impermanence and suffering lately. Life changing news will do that to a person. I came across this passage while reading "Breath by Breath the Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation" last night.
"In the tradition of Jewish Mysticism, the Hassids believe that each person has been given a certain corner of the universe to take care of. What is in your life at a given moment is your world." What is my world and am I caring for it with compassion, right mindfulness, right speech, right action?
There are no coincidences and this passage was reminding me that I am only in charge of my corner of the universe. I want my corner to be filled with love and compassion, awareness of self and putting good out there in the world. I can't control that the person I considered my life partner breaks up with me and days later is dating someone else but I can control my corner. I can continue to let it be a bad time or I can take the sadness when it comes and celebrate the positive. The positive has been in abundance at this time balancing out the sorrow and hurt. I found it in passages that speak to me, running into seldom seen friends and beers out in a beautiful back yard with amazing conversation.

a current project

Stepping out of my comfort zone i'm making a Rothko inspired quilt in yellows and oranges...

A Big Trip

Last week I went to New York and Connecticut for the first time. My reason for this sojourn... a Denyse Schmidt Workshop. I was overwhelmed and motion sick through most of NYC the Metropolitan Museum of Art was the highlight of the trip.
After NYC I traveled to Bridgeport and was met by beauty and inspiration.