Category Archives: Only the Short

Short Posts

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Be Kind to Yourself

As the big crafting season begins, I have been thinking about one of the most important lessons life and aging teaches. Be Kind to Yourself – it is such an important thing to do all year long, but as crafters, it is something we often neglect to do as we scramble to make just one more item before the holiday deadline.

In my latest video, I talk a bit about how bad I am with this lesson life keeps teaching me. After showing of few of my latest projects, I change gears (around the 20:57 mark). Even when I am trying to be kind to myself and not over-do it, the unexpected can happen and force me to slow down even more. Learning to find peace and joy when the brain and body war against each other is not always an easy lesson to learn. It is, however, a worthy lesson to learn.

I hope you enjoy my video – pieces or the whole – I have enjoyed sharing it.

The free pdf pattern for the placemat I share in the video is here for your enjoyment if you wish to download it.

court-house-steps-placematDownload
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Liberty: Joy and Sorrow

Liberty, even when it allows for the foolishness of mankind to flourish, is better than bondage.

We must be cautious not to forget that personal liberty should not come at the cost of the liberty of another. The wise understands that liberty, responsibility, and compassion are intrinsically intertwined. Without all three, it is easy for liberty to become nothing more than a mask for self-interest, greed, and apathy.  

Once liberty loses its meaning due to the foolishness of mankind, it becomes easier to convince the unwise to give up liberty in hopes of preventing the sorrow generated by foolish behavior.

Rather than rejecting liberty, it is better that we learn to find joy even when surrounded by the sorrow mankind generates through its foolishness. Liberty with foolishness and sorrow will always be better than bondage.  

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A Full Year

It has been one year since I began making and sharing videos, and it has been a year full of so many wonderful adventures. Now with the beginning of another Tour de Fleece at hand, I took some time to select the fiber I hope to spin and reflect on the stories that accompany most of my fiber. Like many other spinners, I enjoy purchasing fiber from the breeders who know and love their animals. It is such a joy to learn of the animals, and in some cases meet the animals that provide me with such lovely fiber.

It has been a joyful year of fiber, filming, and fun. I look forward to another year yet to come, and anticipate all the new challenges I will give myself in order to keep growing as I unwind with fiber and fabric.

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Keeping Things Simple

Every year when Tour de Fleece nears, the chatter includes discussion of challenges and goals. Tour de Fleece (TdF) is a wonderful opportunity for personal challenge, and for growth as a spinner. In years past, I have spun through large quantities of fiber and tackled challenging spinning techniques. This year I plan to take a different approach – to go Wild & Free – to keep it simple.

In its own way, this will be the challenge.

The only prep for this year’s fiber has already been completed – everything has been through a bath (except for some of the alpaca which may or may not get spun this TdF). I have Angora, Pygora, Cashmere, Alpaca, Bison, Mohair, and many different sheep breeds to choose from. Each day I will spin 1 ounce of fiber (different animal every couple days), and will ply the singles every 4-5 days. Certain fibers will spin up fast and others will take longer – 1 ounce of fiber can take a long while to spin when it is ultra fine Angora, but is a breeze to spin when it it Leicester Longwool.

No carding, no combing, no dye, and maybe some time spent spinning in nature – 23 days of keeping things simple.

I put together a short video of my sample spin. This sample helped me decide that 1 ounce rather than 2 was wiser if I hoped to get anything else done each day. Plus it reminded me of just how much I do enjoy spinning Wild & Free.

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All in Due Time

A creative splash of inspiration can be shoved aside when stress dominates. It is easy for creativity to be subdued by lack of energy, health issues, worries, and demands on our time. Yet if we think of those splashes of inspiration as miniature pieces of art unto themselves, we can treasure them up until the right moment allows us to develop them into something much larger.

This week a couple of my splashes of inspiration finally found their way into completed items. A pattern designed, a technique tried, a task completed – all in their due time.

You can follow me on Facebook – Pithyponderings https://www.facebook.com/Pithyponderings

On Instagram pioneerlady_at_pithyponderings https://www.instagram.com/pioneerlady_at_pithyponderings/

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Liberty and the Absence of Internalized Fear

As we liberate ourselves from the expectations of man, and from our own internalized fears, we can truly embrace our potential to serve mankind in a way that brings peace.

Brings peace to our own souls, and hopefully aids others in finding their own peace.

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A Most Magical Patch

In the world of patchwork quilting, there is one patch that works a bit of magic. A simple block can completely transform when the Half-Square Triangle replaces a square or two.

Basic Half-Square Triangle InstructionsDownload
Simple Pinwheel or Friendship Star PatternDownload
ShooFly Pattern and Nine Patch Illusions Quilt Download
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Demystifying Quilt Layouts

In patchwork quilting, as in life, something might look more complicated than it really is. Taken as a whole, a problem or a quilt, might intimidate us and cause us to doubt our ability. However with a bit of deconstruction, a simple solution is often revealed.

In this video, I will show what happens when you mix two simple blocks. This particular pattern is basic and may not trick the eye as much as other combinations will. That is why I chose it. It changes the way our eyes see the blocks, but it doesn’t play tricks on our eyes (I will have one of those to share soon).

I have made this quilt pattern such that any combination of 12″ blocks could be substituted. Calculations for fabric would be slightly different depending on the designs chosen, but the calculations should be good estimates for other blocks. Over the next weeks/months, I will be adding more basic blocks to the collection. While the patchwork pieces will get ever-so-slightly more challenging, the use of the blocks in a quilt top will stay basic.

Meander Around The BlockDownload
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Embracing the Good

Embracing the good things of the past does not require for us to embrace the less good things as well. It is possible to cherish the good, and leave the bad as a remnant to gather dust rather than a relic to invite worship.

Learn from History rather than Ingest the Myth

It is not erasing history or rewriting history when we acknowledge that history if full of imperfect people. Nor is it protecting history when we whitewash over the sorrowful things imperfect people did or wrote before better practices and choices were available.

What we should strive not to do is to celebrate the bad as well as the good. We should carefully evaluate what history teaches rather than simply ingest the tale that we call history.