a cabin in maine

I am proud of my brother, Dave, for many reasons. Most recently, I am proud of him for this.This is his cabin in the Maine woods. It’s made of recycled materials, creativity, and guts.

This is the loft – and a view of the lovely roof work. See my mom up there? She scampered up that ladder like a teenager.

This is the room under the loft. That’s a large bunk bed under the mosquito netting.

You can see the quilt I made for the cabin in this view.  i am a quilter

(Here is the quilt, for those that requested a better view.) Thank you.

Here is the back porch with it’s reclaimed-from-an-old-dance-studio parquet floor.

And here is the kitchen. The cabin has electricity – and a refrigerator – but no running water.

So there is a composting toilet. That’s a bucket of sawdust to help the process along.

This is the shower room. You heat up some water (from the nearby spring) and go for it. The little plastic cup helps.

I was so awed to stand in this house and see the work and love and creativity that Dave and his family put into it. I hope you are as impressed as I am with this amazing creation.

creativity 5 – persistance

Do you remember this?This is a photo from my post creativity 2 – make mistakes , nearly two years ago. Despite heroic efforts on my part, I was never able to overcome the effects of gravity, and the plants kept falling out of the frame. But I liked the idea and I persisted.I replanted the succulents into the garden so they could growand thriveand establish roots.And then I tried again. I found this weird little box at Goodwill for $1. I thought it needed some succulents. So, far, it’s Gravity: 1,  Jodie: 1.

a hard year on the garden

About a year ago, my biggest (75% of my annual income) client retired without notice. What ensued was what I can only call “The Year of Work.” When I wasn’t working, I was searching for other clients, jobs, etc. I gardened and created very little, and I missed it terribly.

The garden missed me, as well. This is my vegetable garden today. Riley is quite disappointed in the weeds and the chaos. All I can do at this point is to dig up the good stuff (asparagus & strawberries) and start over. It’s mostly weeds and I don’t have the gumption to fight them.

And then there was the winter: The heavy, wet snowfall in March was too much for my evergreens.

Branches snapped right off.

And a whole tree toppled over.

It was a hard year on my garden, and, I have to admit, it was a hard year on me, as well. But no more.

This year I will continue to work hard on my business. But I will make the time for those things that make me happy. That means relaxing with my family, gardening, and creating. Thus begins The Year of Jodie.

Cozy Place

Ever since my kids started moving out, I’ve been thinking of ways to lure them back. Not permanently, I love that they are off living their own wonderful lives, but I do like lots and lots of visits.

My latest project has been a “guest room” in the space in the attic that was my former office. I cleaned it up and used what I had to try to make it cozy. I guess it worked; my daughter’s boyfriend liked it enough to take a picture.

Then my daughter put it on Reddit last night and almost 30,000 people liked it. Cozy Spaces

My grandmother’s rug anchors the space. It was a real treat hauling that up from the basement. Old pillows and pieced-together fabric scraps make comfy floor pillows. The sturdy felt bin is great for blanket storage.

I recovered a chair the cat had ruined. Then I layered on a quilt and another pillow.  I use the old shutter and clothespins to put up pictures and notes.

An old milk crate is the night stand.

I didn’t want to block any light with curtains, so I made a “valence” out of embroidery hoops and fabric scraps.

My husband built this bookshelf years ago. It’s great for storage and keeps people from plummeting down the steps.

 

creativity 4 – know yourself

Do not adjust your screen; there IS no color in this quilt.  When my son saw how my daughter’s quilt birthday quilt looked, he let me know that he’d like a similar one some day.  So, here is my third big quilt, and the only other color I ever used was yellow. i am a quilter

All the quilts have been unplanned and random. I used what I had and only bought fabric as needed. The quilting on all three is straight (ish) line and close. I know this kind of monotony would drive some people nuts, but I like it. I also like silence when I’m at a difficult point. I can watch TV or listen to music when I am quilting the straight lines, but I prefer quiet when I am piecing the front of the quilt. I tend to be supply driven; what do I have and what can I make from it? I’d rather not follow patterns; I prefer to stumble along on my own. This results in lots of failures, but it’s what works for me.

What works for you?

 

 

creativity 3 – make time

My niece made me a present years ago. It hangs in my office and makes me feel good every day.

So, for her birthday, I wanted to make her something special. I was giving her money, since that’s what teenagers want, so I decided to make a little purse to put it in.

I didn’t start sewing until the morning of the party. My machine wasn’t sewing just right, but I didn’t take the time to fix it because I was in  a hurry. The stitches around the zipper were crooked, but I didn’t rip them out because I didn’t have time. Eventually, I showed up late to the party: unshowered, empty-handed, and full of apologies.

I know better. I need to make mistakes as I go and have the time to fix them. My best work happens when I can enjoy the process and not just hurry to the finish.

I made this sign for my sewing room as a reminder to take time for creativity, and to have patience with myself as I learn and grow and improve.

Oh, and Gillian got a little package in the mail a few days later – with two purses.

creativity 2 – make mistakes

I never know where I’m headed when I create. Whether it’s a meal, a quilt, a garden, or a blog post, I just have to jump in and see where it takes me.

Sometimes I make something great that doesn’t work.Despite heroic measures on my part, I was unable to overcome the effects of gravity; the plants kept falling out of the frame. So I gave up.

Sometimes I make something bad that works.I wanted to try free motion quilting, but I knew I wouldn’t be very good at it. I did it on the back side of my daughters bolsters – the side that goes against the back of the couch – so no one sees it.

And sometimes, I just have to keep trying until I get it right.BEFORE – Here’s a little seating arrangement under a cherry tree. After years of cleaning up petals, pits, and poop (the birds LOVE those cherries), I took out the seats.AFTER – I used the pavers to make a little wall, filled the area with soil and made a cute little garden instead. Now all of the cherry tree debris just disappears.

creativity 1 – limits

I pay attention to what helps and hinders my creativity. Surprisingly, limits seem to help me. So when my younger daughter asked for bolsters for her futon, I decided to try to use only the fabrics (in her chosen colors) that I already owned. My first problem was that none of the fabric was big enough. So I decided to piece them together to make the pillows.

Isn’t this so cute? If I had just run out to the fabric store, I would have bought a print with blue, purple, and tan and that would have been it. But using what I had, I had to get creative. That lead to the stripes AND to the embroidery to make it seem cohesive.

It has happened before . . . My older daughter asked for a gray and white quilt, and instead of hating the limits of no color, I loved the result.

And this trellis? I didn’t have enough wood to make all the horizontal pieces go all the way across, so I got creative. Limits really bring out the best in me. Does anyone else feel like that?