Obi Sash Purse

Obi sash purse is finished. I'm very pleased with the outcome.

I have enough fabric to make two more. Next time, I'll probably mix the fabric with leather for a different look.

Obi Sash

I bought this beautiful piece of fabric from an etsy seller in Japan, Old Textile.

It is a piece of an obi sash which would have been tied around the waist of a kimono wearer. It will become purses.

It was love at first sight.

Large Koi Purse

I finished the third bag today. This one is larger than the previous two. Looking at it reminds me to be at peace.

Koi Fish

I found this fabric at Ann's Fabrics where I go each Thursday to sew with a group of beautiful ladies. We range in age from fifty-five to eighty. I am learning so much from them. We share ideas, techniques, fabric, books and other resources.

I made these two purses while I was there today. I have one more in the works.
For many, koi fish represent strength, courage and determination. That happens to be what I find when I'm sewing. I feel so peaceful and focused every Thursday evening for having been sewing there during the day. It's like meditating in a very sacred space. Whenever I'm at loose ends, if I take it to my machine, I can always pull it back together.

Next

These are the two fabric cuts I intend to use for my next bag. The black and gold cowrie shell fabric picks up on the black and gold coloring in the koi fabric. I call the combination of the African and the Asian fabric "Afrasian."

Sewing Room

This room has had many lives. It has served as my daughter's bedroom, my study, my bedroom, a den and our dining room.

It is now where I sew. I enjoy the morning light. Outside of one of my windows is the Japanese Maple that my mother, daughter and I planted twenty-two years ago. Its leaves provide a brilliant red curtain during the summer and early fall months.

My Birthday

Fifty-nine years of trying my best.

I received birthday greetings and gifts today from all who matter in my life. I couldn't ask for more.

Bits and Pieces

I finished this clutch today.

The front is made from two pieces of leather sewn together with a zig-zag stitch. It is like those of us whose bodies and minds have become landscapes of scars and healing. We have learned to sew the pieces of our lives back together, somehow becoming something better than we were before.

February Second

As my 59th birthday approaches, I hold in my hands my very first "birth" day gift. I received it on or near the actual day of my birth. It is a yellow baby bunting, handmade for me by my mother.

I can feel my mother slipping my little body into the silky yellow cocoon like a heartfelt love letter into a perfumed envelope.

I can hear the swish of the satin ribbon as her hands close me inside.

Soft satin. Warm hands. Her gift. My day.