Merry Christmas!

 

If you like: Curl up with a warm quilt and listen to Rami Malek, who reads the story "The Empty Pot" by Demi for you, and he does it in an adorable way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrmAd2rZbI

                                        Merry Christmas!

Teddy Bear of the Month: December

and something nice to read to go with him:

“The rapid nightfall of mid-December had quite beset the little village as they approached it on soft feet over a first thin fall of powdery snow. Little was visible but squares of a dusky orange-red on either side of the street, where the firelight or lamplight of each cottage overflowed through the casements into the dark world without. Most of the low latticed windows were innocent of blinds, and to the lookers-in from outside, the inmates, gathered round the tea-table, absorbed in handiwork, or talking with laughter and gesture, had each that happy grace which is the last thing the skilled actor shall capture--the natural grace which goes with perfect unconsciousness of observation. Moving at will from one theatre to another, the two spectators, so far from home themselves, had something of wistfulness

in their eyes as they watched a cat being stroked, a sleepy child picked up and huddled off to bed, or a tired man stretch and knock out his pipe on the end of a smouldering log.” 

― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/december?page=2

Quilts by Bisa Butler

 

A friend told me about these, and I'm thrilled: 

Extraordinary, really fantastic quilts by Black artist Bisa Butler,

featured here, on this site by the Art Institute of Chicago, and there is some music, too, very wonderful:

https://www.artic.edu/highlights/31/bisa-butler-the-playlist

"Bisa Butler creates portraits that are singular and striking. Her works, intricately layered and vibrantly colored quilts, resurface and reimagine historical narratives of Black life." 

https://www.artic.edu/articles/858/the-people-of-bisa-butlers-portraits

 

... and here she talks about her work in a wonderful way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_4gD1K3mZA&feature=youtu.be

 

 

Teddy Bear of the Month: November

“November--with uncanny witchery in its changed trees. With murky red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills. With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes--days full of a fine, pale sunshine that sifted through the late, leafless gold of the juniper-trees and glimmered among the grey beeches, lighting up evergreen banks of moss and washing the colonnades of the pines. Days with a high-sprung sky of flawless turquoise. Days when an exquisite melancholy seemed to hang over the landscape and dream about the lake. But days, too, of the wild blackness of great autumn storms, followed by dank, wet, streaming nights when there was witch-laughter in the pines and fitful moans among the mainland trees. What cared they? Old Tom had built his roof well, and his chimney drew.” 

― L.M. Montgomery

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/november?page=2

Books & Quilts

 

Books and quilts, they go so well together. So there are some stories hidden in this small quilt here which covers a wicker chest, one topic here is - for example -  about where the fabric pieces come from : several old Levi's jeans (worn by different persons, including myself), pieces from a dress I bought at a wonderful second-hand-shop in Madison/Wisconsin several years ago and fabrics I received as a gift.  Plus, this quilt started as a totally different project before it turned into the object which can be seen in this picture. Plus, I always sew my quilts by hand, but this time I did all the sewing with a machine and only did the quilting by hand, and the reason why is a different story again.

Someone said, the universe is not made of atoms, but of tiny stories, I find that is very true.

Teddy Bear of the Month: October

... and here is a lovely October-quote which I just found:

“After the keen still days of September, the October sun filled the world with mellow warmth...The maple tree in front of the doorstep burned like a gigantic red torch. The oaks along the roadway glowed yellow and bronze. The fields stretched like a carpet of jewels, emerald and topaz and garnet. Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her...In October any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible.” 

― Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond 

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/october?page=3

 

International Children's Day in Germany Today

 

Die beste Entwicklung, die ein Mensch nehmen kann, ist, 

dass er das Kind bleibt, das er ist.

Peter Handke (*1942), österr. Schriftsteller  

- Quelle: Die Zeit, 3.5.2012

https://www.zitate.de/autor/Handke%2C+Peter

Teddy Bear of the Month: September

 

- a. patchwork teddy bear, some of these fabric pieces here had been in my collection for decades and now seem to fit in here ok, when I look at this bear he seems to be an "experienced" bear to me - 

International Cat Day

 

“If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat. Alone with the cat in the room where you work ... the cat will invariably get up on your desk and settle placidly under the desk lamp ... The cat will settle down and be serene, with a serenity that passes all understanding. And the tranquility of the cat will gradually come to affect you, sitting there at your desk, so that all the excitable qualities that impede your concentration compose themselves and give your mind back the self-command it has lost. You need not watch the cat all the time. Its presence alone is enough. The effect of a cat on your concentration is remarkable, very mysterious.” 

― Muriel Spark, A Far Cry from Kensington

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/cats?page=6

It's International Cat Day today, and yes:

Here are some more cats 

(they are here to accompany a person while going through the adventure of reading a book, as a bookmark):

Teddy Bear of the Month: August

“Once a bear has been loved by a human being, 

its expression is forever marked” 

– Jama Kim Rattigan 

 http://www.someonesentyouagreeting.com/?p=2814

“We stitch together quilts of meaning 

to keep us warm and safe, 

with whatever patches of beauty and utility 

we have on hand.” 

Anne Lamott

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/quilt

Cushions with Knitted Squares

Teddy Bears of the Month: July

Bookmarks with Knitted Parts

Bookmarks with knitted parts -

I had been trying to find out whether my hand-knitted pieces can add a touch of welcomed unruliness to the order which is commonly found in a patchwork-pattern,

and I think, yes, they do.

And, I feel that this goes well with writing and reading a book.

These bookmarks lie in a book I'm reading at the moment,

it's the very VERY fascinating book by Deepak Chopra

with the title

"Metahuman", 

Penguin Random House, 2019

Teddy Bears of the Month: June

Small Treasure Chest

My treasure chest is filled with gold.

Gold . . . gold . . . gold . . .

Vagabond's gold and drifter's gold . . .

Worthless, priceless, dreamer's gold . . .

Gold of the sunset . . . gold of the dawn . . .

Gold of the showertrees on my lawn . . .

Poet's gold and artist's gold . . .

Gold that can not be bought or sold -

Gold.

Don Blanding (poet and artist, 1894 - 1957)

https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/treasure-chests.html

handmade patchwork-box with a lid, quilted,

the top shows a traditional nine-patch-quilt-pattern,

filled with cotton fleece and synthetic fibers,

the inner surface of the lid is reinforced with a blend of wood glue and water,

about 11 x 11 cm,  4,3" x 4,3"

one of my larger baskets

like the other, smaller ones, this is a handmade, soft basket,

made like a quilt (2 layers of fabrics, here the fabrics go together with knitted and crocheted parts, plus a layer of cotton fleece in between, all layers are hand-quilted),

this basket is 15 cm/ 5,9" high and on top 21 cm/ 8,2" wide

these larger baskets have an inner and outer patchwork pattern 

the smaller ones have an inner patchwork pattern

Teddy Bear of the Month: May

baskets, handmade

they are 13 cm /5,1'' in diameter and 6,5 cm /2,5'' high

four different kinds of fabrics are used for each basket,

they are filled with cotton fleece,

careful washing by hand is possible,

more to come :-)

World Book Day

It's World Book Day today!

"Read ... so you never feel alone"

says the Unesco here:

https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldbookday

Here is a lovely quote from the book "The Distant Hours" (2010) by Kate Morton 
(I do like all her books, very much so):

"I don't have many friends, not the living, breathing sort at any rate. And I don’t mean that in a sad and lonely way; I’m just not the type of person who accumulates friends or enjoys crowds. I’m good with words, but not spoken kind; I’ve often thought what a marvelous thing it would be if I could only conduct relationships on paper. And I suppose, in a sense, that’s what I do, for I’ve hundreds of the other sort, the friends contained within bindings, pages after glorious pages of ink, stories that unfold the same way every time but never lose their joy, that take me by the hand and lead me through doorways into worlds of great terror and rapturous delight. Exciting, worthy, reliable companions - full of wise counsel, some of them - but sadly ill-equipped to offer the use of a spare bedroom for a month or two.”

- Kate Morton, The Distant Hours

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/kate-morton
                

Earth Day's 50th Anniversary

(detail with the words
"Love the World"
of my Literary Quilt / wallhanging with the title 
"Siddhartha" 
after the novel by Hermann Hesse)

...  "love the world" ...

We celebrate Earth Day today, 
an annual day devoted to environmental protection.
For actual information on the state of our planet I think it's a good idea to turn to scientists 
writing here for example:

https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/

or here:

https://e360.yale.edu

and especially these days I am delighted 

by articles like this one by 

Jim Robbins:

" Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health"

https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health

"But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect."

Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Teddy Bear of the Month: April

Maybe you would like to take a few minutes and visit

 another world, 

one Bing Crosby sings about in his song from 1950: 

The Teddy Bear's Picnic.

Enjoy, and yes, there still is spring outside and Easter is coming up, 

so, enjoy the season and the sunlight, as much as you can!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrvkHAxnjzI

Teddy Bear of the Month: March

“In a world gone bad, a bear – even a bear standing on its head – is a comforting, uncomplicated, dependable hunk of sanity.” 

– Pam Brown 

http://www.someonesentyouagreeting.com/teddy-bear-quotes-images/

Teddy Bear of the Month: February

"Anyone who has looked a teddy bear in the face will recognize the friendly twinkle in his knowing look."

Harold Nadolny

http://www.someonesentyouagreeting.com/teddy-bear-quotes-images/

I try to give my teddy bears everything they need in life: so they are carefully stuffed and stitched and patched, and they receive hand-knitted/crocheted pants and a scarf, ... and also a warm sleeping bag (quilted)...

Teddy Bear of the Month: January

“It is astonishing, really, how many thoroughly mature, well-adjusted grown-ups harbor a Teddy bear – which is perhaps why they are thoroughly mature and well-adjusted.” 

– Joseph Lempa

 http://www.someonesentyouagreeting.com/?p=2814

Happy New Year!

They come, they go, they change, they do not die.

So the Old Year—that fond and formal name,

Is with us yet, another and the same.

And are the thoughts, that ever more are fleeing,

The moments that make up our being's being...

Are these less vital than the wave or wind.

Or snow that melts and leaves no trace behind?

Oh! let them perish all, or pass away,

And let our spirits feel a New Year's day.

They come, they go, they change, they do not die.

~Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849), "New-Year's Day," 

Poems, 1833

http://www.quotegarden.com/new-year.html