Stitching and Mending

Hello Gentle Readers. Today the sun shines and warms the day. The weekend was another story. As a rancher friend of my husband used to say, "the frost was on the pumpkin." The autumn colors peaked beautifully before the weekend cold snap. Now the ash trees are bare and the other trees are rapidly letting go of their leaves. Into November we go, being grateful for all the wool. 

Today I'm linking to Kat and the Unravelers. Over the weekend, I finished the stitch journal pages for October. I'm a little behind but no matter. The first page was a sunflower worked in the chain stitch and french knots. I wanted to represent some of the bright colors of autumn and I do love the wild sunflowers.   

The flowers remind me of my Grandfather Dewey who was a veteran of WWI. Several of his letters from France were addressed to his mother at Sunflower Farm, Cozad, Nebraska. I thought that was a name that someone in the family gave to the farm. Later a distant second cousin remarked that my Grandfather and his brothers had to chop wild sunflowers from fields with a hoe. It was hard tedious work for those boys. Likely, my Grandfather was showing his sense of humor, poking a little fun.

In the book American Wildflowers: A Literary Guide edited by Suan Barba and illustrated by Leanne Shapton, I read the short piece, "The Exile and the Holy Anomaly: Wild American Sunflowers by Gary Paul Nabhan. He wrote about the natural history of some of the 70 species of sunflowers. As is often the case in this country, Native Americans and scientists are joining efforts to preserve the diversity of these wildflowers. I know sunflowers don't grow on a vine but I wanted a dramatic flower with some green. I drew the shapes freehand so I'm chalking up the proportions to artistic license. And I use the word artistic loosely. I copied part of the poem, "Oh Giant Flowers," by Jill Bialosky (p.68 of the book mentioned earlier) under the flower.  

When Kate and Norah visited in early October, I traced Norah's seven year old hand. Of course, the page had to feature pink as that is her favorite color - for now. Stitching this page was a lovely way to preserve and remember the fun of those days. 

I also spent a good ten days mending the basket quilt, again. I used the eyelet stitch on small holes of worn fabric and feather stitch on fraying seams. I patched larger areas with fabrics and old linens. The white cotton fabric in this quilt has not held up well. I haven't had nearly so much damage in any other of my handmade quilts. Of course, I have no idea where I bought the fabric years ago. Generally I shopped at two local quilt shops but it could have come from a big box craft store. 

This week I read The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things by Nikki Giovanni. Although it is a small volume, the writing is filled with emotion and joy. Giovanni was articulate, witty, and able to see beauty in the world. At the same time, she didn't shy away from the political turmoil and inequalities of our time. There is a short prose piece, "Toni Morrison," that references and pays tribute to Morrison's novels. It is delightful and heartfelt. Ms. Giovanni died in December 2024 and this book was published in 2025. I have to think she helped with the editing and knew it would be published. I hope so. I happened onto this book at the library proving that libraries are indeed wonderful places. 

And so, this is more than enough from me. What will you savor these rich November days?