A Colorful Thread: November 2024
Weaving together my life as a maker and other spheres of life.
BEST OF STITCHED IN COLOR {November}
On My Mind
Experimenting:: with sewing silk patchwork. I am not using interfacing or starch. The raw silk fabric isn’t as shifty and difficult as linen or voile, for example. Still, it does take more patience than quilting cotton. My biggest gripe is that the wrinkles from washing and drying the silk are so difficult to press out!
Reading:: Hoax: Waarom mensen in complottheorieën geloven by Jan-Willem van Prooijen. This Dutch book is about why people believe in conspiracies. It is certainly an interesting topic and pertinent in today’s social media landscape, but the writing is rather dry.
Celebrating:: a finished Positivities quilt top by Lisa McGriff!
Anticipating:: next year’s Sew-alongs! I have mapped out a schedule of sew-alongs for 2025, featuring quilts for which you have requested patterns, once upon a time. I am looking forward to sewing these short-term projects with you - starting with a super fun scrap quilt in January! Details coming soon. Yay!
Featured Freebie
Love Note Bookmarks
Stitched in Color includes a library of free tutorials, more than 10 years in the making. Each month I’ll feature one to spread the good news.
Stitch up these thoughtful bookmarks to celebrate what you treasure most about dear family and friends. They are sweet in stockings for older kids and pair perfectly with a new book.
I have just finished packing the last box for our big move tomorrow. It’s late, and I am about to ride my bicycle to my new house, where we are sleeping tonight. Before I go, I wanted to sit one last time at this desk and type a blog post to you, dear reader.
Today I felt the weight of endings. I packed my things in boxes that we had once used to leave the United States for The Netherlands, about six years ago. I thought about the end of my marriage in 2023 and the end of our traditional family life. Nowadays it’s mostly just Elora and Aart and I, since my oldest two have become young adults. And on some weekends, like this one, Elora goes to her father’s.
It is shocking how things that once seemed so permanent and self-evident can end. Our anchors lift and shift, bringing uncertainty and even anxiety. But also, freedom. New possibility. New horizons of choice and becoming.
We are capable of so much transformation.
with love,
Rachel
I too have experienced all these things- a lift and shift of my anchor-which brought hand in hand, uncertainty, anxiety, freedom and opened me to new possibilities and transformation.
You are brave Rachel. Brava!
Hamba kahle, as the Zulu say. “Go well”. So many of us wishing all good things to you on your way, having shared the journey from afar 😊