Thought

I love this thought: 
It's a broken world, but I can pick up the pieces and form a pattern with them.

Little Details

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

John Wooden

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnwooden384652.html

Patchwork

"We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork: now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/patchwork

Clouds and Rainbow

I only recently discovered this poet, and I like his lines very much!

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,

From the seas and the streams;

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid

In their noonday dreams.

~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Cloud"

http://www.quotegarden.com/sky-clouds.html

Crossroads

"Quilts are not just comfy ways to keep warm in the winter. They can also be like the pages of books, surfaces for telling stories, or notes sending coded messages....

One common motif in African American quilting was the cross, which had obvious religious connotations, but also pointed to the idea of a crossroads.

'For African Americans in the 19th Century, the crossroads is going to play a huge role,'... Slaves found themselves having to choose whether to stay where they were, or leave everything they knew and escape to freedom, she said." 

http://www.hopewellnews.com/article_3099.shtml

Light & Night

A sensitive plant in a garden grew,

And the young winds fed it with silver dew,

And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,

and closed them beneath the kisses of night.

~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant," 1820

http://www.quotegarden.com/light.html

Garden

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. 

Oscar Wilde
 

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/o/oscar_wilde_5.html

Buch - Libro - Book- Mark

Perhaps it is the language that chooses the writers it needs, making use of them so that each might express a tiny part of what it is. 

~ Jose Saramago

quotation from: http://www.finestquotes.com/select_quote-category-Language-page-1.htm

Bookmarks Can Bring a Smile

I like this quote here very much:

"Sometimes a bookmark can bring a smile, sometimes cause a pause for thought but it nearly always sparks off a memory and apart from a postcard or a photograph there are not many things that have the power to do that."

Simon Quicke | The Love of Bookmarks | Inside Books | insidebooks.blogspot.com

insidebooks.blogspot.com is an amazing blog!!!

(quote found on http://www.miragebookmark.ch/wb_bookmark_quotes.htm)

Bookmarked

One of my favourite books at the moment is "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen.

I also love the movie. Especially the two sentences spoken by the old man in the end:

"I'm not running away. I'm going home."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6MciMX39u4&feature=related

And I love Rosie, the elephant. Here is such a lovely elephant-picture from the book "Life and Love, A BOOK OF EMBRACES", 1995, the picture is by John Drysdale, it is called "Pachyderm Pal", and was taken 1986.

Lavender Bookmarks

At home I keep my quilted bookmarks in a lavender-scented bag. That means I have a linen bag for my collection of bookmarks. This bag contains another small linen bag which is filled with Lavender blossoms and leaves. I also put a small piece of cotton into my bookmarks-bag, on this scrap I have given a few drops of Provencal lavender oil.

That way, when I open one of my beautiful books, for example here the novel by Henry James "The Portrait of a Lady" (with the illustrations by John Singer Sargent, oh, how lovely is that book!), I not only perceive the nice, somewhat woodenly odor of the book but also a slight lavender fragrance coming from my bookmark, to accompany me while reading....

I absolutely love that! :-)

And: when I have finished a book I give the bookmark back into my bag to refresh the fragrance. Since I have a collection of quilted bookmarks I just take another one for my next book, fresh from my scented bag. 

I am not a rich person, but these things give me the feeling of abundance and luxury!!!

Bookmark

And you read your Emily Dickinson,

 And I, my Robert Frost,

  And we note our place with bookmarkers

   That measure what we've lost.

Simon and Garfunkel | The Dangling Conversation | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme | 1966

 http://www.miragebookmark.ch/wb_bookmark_quotes.htm

Independence Day

"You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence."
Abraham Lincoln




I came back from the US yesterday and miss the Independence Day celebrations now, but I found this beautiful quilt on the internet:

blog.fabshophop.com/blog/?p=1309

Lovely Garden Quotes

Right now I'm at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, where I can use the internet for a while. Behind me at the tables over there is a man laughing out loud again and again, maybe he received some funny e-mails or something, this is contagious... lots of smiling persons around me suddenly... :-)

And... at one of the wonderful wonderful Anthropologie shops here I found a tiny leaflet with the title: On Gardens and Gardening. It fell right into my arms right at the perfect moment as I'm thinking about gardening a lot... so here are some lovely quotes:

"My garden of pots is like some living diary, a collection of occasions, memories, places and friendships. Flowers exchanged, a fig tree given, campanula from a country garden, seeds from far-off places, morning glory from a neighbour, your own geranium cuttings, and a clematis for a special day."
Sara Midda

"Go make thy garden as fair as thou canst,
thou workest never alone;
Perchance he whose plot is next to thine
will see it, and mend his own."
Elizabeth Rundle Charles

"I'd leave all the hurry, the noise, and the fray,
For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers."
Andrew Lang

And here is one for lovers:

"I have a garden of my own,
shining with flowers of every hue.
I loved it dearly while alone,
but shall love it more with you."
Thomas Moore

Harvest

I love to bring together the fruit of different kinds of "gardens", as you see here: bread, gifts, something that makes you feel warm inside, like tea, and the fruit of my work, for example: bags!

                                            So, here is a bag to keep rolls warm on the table:

This is a bag to keep bread fresh in the kitchen:

These are bags for gifts during Christmas time:

A little bag for little things to keep:

...and a tea warmer

"Gardening is not a rational act." Margaret Atwood



Working In The Garden

"Working in the garden ... gives me a profound feeling of inner peace. Nothing here is in a hurry. There is no rush toward accomplishment, no blowing of trumpets. Here is the great mystery of life and growth. Everything is changing, growing, aiming at something, but silently, unboastfully, taking its time."
Ruth Stout

Ruth Stout (June 14, 1884-August 22, 1980) was an American author best known for her "No-Work" gardening books and techniques.(wikipedia)

"Weeds"

I have been thinking about "weeds" in my work and I came to the conclusion that there is no such thing.

Sometimes something does not "grow" at the right place, however. Well, in that case I "plant" it elsewhere in my "garden". Or I give it away.

Sometimes I have to wait what becomes of a "plant" in my work, maybe it's just a new flower that waits to be discovered? I love wild things and surprises! (well, sometimes that is.)

And sometimes it's just fun to pull a plant which, as it turns out, shouldn't grow in my garden (I remove a particular patch in my quilt) and give it to my beautiful pile of "compost", which is, in the context of my work, my scrapbag! So many great new things can grow on good soil, enriched by compost! And how often did I find great scraps in my pile, scraps which were just needed right at this time for this particular purpose!

Pulling Weeds, And a Place to Rest Afterwards

Pulling weeds is so important also for a good gardener! This is not my strong suit, because I think everything has a right and a reason to exist, but I'm willing to learn more about that.
So, probably I won"t have any place for something like that here in my "garden" any more!

But when this is done, I'll enjoy some time of rest with a good book on my bench here! :-)

Gardening

I wish to create a "garden" with my items here, just like a gardener who creates a landscape (small or large) with a variety of things, such as water, trees, flowerpots or -beds, a vegetable garden, a meadow, maybe a vineyard, and a bench to rest. 
Such a garden can be a fabulous place to nourish and feed body and soul of all beings, how many legs or wings they might ever have....!

I also wish to give encouragement and maybe some idea or inspiration, for everyone who wishes to be creative, who wishes to design some sort of garden by himself or herself.
Whatever it might be, small or large, it is fine as soon as the "garden"  is a place where some good things are planted, a place where fun and trust are at home, as well as diligent work, some sweat & tears & blisters - but no exhaustion, patience, respect of nature and all beings in it... a "garden" as a place to rest, a place where deep satisfaction can be found and where sharing and exchanging of whatever fruit is growing there is a beloved rule.

Something Good

Sometimes we all just need something that does us good. I am so grateful for all kinds of gardeners who help that something as beautiful as a flower can grow.