Life is a journey.
Always taking the scenic route--and sewing along the way
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Mahanaim
From my front window in Colorado
Mahanaim--it's a Hebrew word meaning Double Camp. What a journey I've traveled since this word, Mahanaim, came my way! This is a long blog, I know; and I have no idea if anyone will take the time to read it. However, I do need to write it.
From my front window in UB, Mongolia
A year ago I was agonizing over what I should do with myself and where in the world I should do it. I was frustrated. I am a nester at heart. My home in Colorado was soon to be empty what with my daughter and family moving into their own place and my husband was/is happily consumed with his work in Mongolia. Barb, a dear Aussie sister in Mongolia, looked at me during a verbal spew and said, "Well, it sounds like you just need to make two homes." Stunned silence. Of course! Bless you, Barb, wherever you are. Days later, I came across Mahanaim in Gen 32:2 --it seemed to reinforce Barb's counsel. Now, I am basically an either/or - all/or nothing person, so this idea was appealing yet scary. How God has stretched me way beyond this kind of thinking!
So, last summer I set to updating the house in Colorado. It was very consuming, very challenging; and very, very good for me in so many ways. After some furniture and belongings returned from Mongolia, I was on a plane back to Mongolia. Hmm. It seemed to be a law of nature that wherever my stuff was, I was somewhere else.
Fast forward to January, 2011. I am HOME. I'll still be doing lots of travel to meet up with Randy in Mongolia and other places, but my base will be here in Colorado. ...and I am enjoying a foretaste of what heaven surely must be in the form of home.
Is it the Stuff? Yes, but only in that there are so many memories and so much good family history in the things that have survived my many purges of the last 7 years. Before I went to Mongolia, I had accumulated waaay too much Stuff. Now what is left is Meaningful and/or Useful --or simply Beautiful--and I am enjoying it all with a grateful heart. Stuff is only important because of the people dear to us, past and present, who have used and enjoyed it--and continue to do so. I love it when my grandchildren make themselves at home here and that they are making memories here, too.
4 generations of Myers have been rocked in this chair :) The little table was brought from Japan by my Aunt in the 1950's
My Home and Heart now seem to reflect many places but especially the US and Mongolia. But you know what? Ultimately, my dwelling place is in the Lord--and I believe that He puts the longing for home in our hearts, wanting us to realize that our hearts are only at home in Him.
LORD, You have been our dwelling place
for all generations.
Ps 90:1
So, I am living in Mahanaim. In December we took a 2-week trip to Israel; and lo and behold, Mahanaim was mentioned in the guidebook--it's actually a place on the map! It was a reminder and confirmation to me. My home is certainly in 2 places; UB and Colorado. With lots of travel to places in between. I hope you will stay tuned for updates along the Scenic Route that God is guiding me along.
I'm so tickled to be a part of this year's Bloggers' Quilt Festival ! My entry was done in Outer Mongolia (literally! --read on). This quilt is one of my favorite recent projects that I named "Renegade Geisha's" --renegade because two of the geisha's don't conform to the rest (mainly because I ran out of coordinating fabrics!). Can you find the two renegades? ;) The quilt incorporates fabric origami and the quilt itself is from Fantastic Fabric Folding --many projects from this book were a big hit with the Mongolian class pictured below. Due to my husband's work, we live in Mongolia; and I was privileged to teach classes at a local quilting studio. I've included a picture of the class where we were working on the geisha blocks. The students spoke almost no English and I speak what I call Monglish--a lot of English sprinkled with Mongolian. Regardless, we all had a blast! ...and, I'm very pleased with this quilt of mine!
Last spring I chucked my 20-year-old bathrobe, giving me no choice but to replace it come winter. Granted, I never took it to Mongolia, so it only got worn when I was home in the US. But still. For summer I made several light weight robes, but I knew I liked the style of my old RTW one. When I saw reviews for Vogue 9232--on PR (all 3 of them), I knew I'd found my pattern. Interestingly enough, the pattern is actually for a caftan-type dress; but all 3 reviews were done up as a robe. Sham's review in particular had great tips. On a trip to Colorado Fabrics in early summer I spotted a beeeuuutiful pink sweatshirt type fabric. The outside is more like a thick knit and inside is dreamy soft. And it's baby pink! Which is hard to tell in the pics as we in Colorado have had lots of rain and no sunshine. And OK, I'm no photographer. But seriously, this is like stepping into a pink cloud. I made a small through the neck, shoulders and sleeves
My husband had meetings come up quick in Dubai and of course I tagged along! We were going to be there a week and I wanted a lightweight kimono-type pullover for the pool and getting out of the shower. I had snagged a gorgeous white linen/cotton (guessing on this) here in UB that was perfect. My inspiration came from Lisa's over at Lisa's Carolina | Handmade . I'm not good at pattern drafting and this was a quick FREE measure and cut tutorial of Stitch Sisters--find their Patternless Pattern Link here . I'm so happy with this! It basically took me an afternoon. The directions are great--and they include 5/8" seam allowances--yay!--as I wanted to turn under and top stitch them since I don't have a serger here. I left off the ties. Shapeless worked for this. I also raised the neckline by about 1.5" The neckline was a little trickier as I didn't have any bias on hand and there is no "running out" anywhere here. So, I used
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