My first fall without you since you were born thirty years ago. 

The crickets sing

and the breeze makes the down-hanging maple branches sway.

The light is fading. Fall comes. Fall comes and you will not be in it. 

I sweep the patio, remembering the sound of your voice. A bird zooms 

past within inches of my head, an energetic thrumming. 

Was that you?

The indigo batch died. No flower or foam. No sheen. Maybe it could’ve been revived but I’m done for now — packed everything up and put it all away.

There’s relief in that, especially since we need to get the house ready for company — one week from today.

I used a piece of the purple-dyed cloth for a moody surround of an old quilted house. The plaid print strips I dyed in indigo maybe ten years ago? The red moon comes from some delicious cotton Nancy sent me a while back.

Mixing machine and hand stitching can be a challenge, mainly due to cloth bubbling. That middle section has six layers though— really tough to hand sew — so I’m gonna keep trying with the Bernina.

Old house, old moon with new roof, cat, and tree. I wanted to express something about chaos, but this comes across as domesticated, cute even.

Maybe this pinboard assemblage has more to say about forces beyond our control?

Not great pictures, but these final two pics reveal finished pieces.

The purple dog (top) is vintage linen dyed by Deb and the tiny moon in the Mountain Quilt is one of Jude’s.

Mountain Quilt includes: strips of the dress I wore to Ken’s sister’s wedding (pale purple with green and red floral), a swatch of one of my mother’s beach cover-ups (black with white dots), plus four other garments scraps.

The Two Bird Quilt includes: piece of hem from recently purchased dress, chunk of a cotton men’s shirt from Indonesia (roof), strips of two sheer garments purchased in Longmont the week Danny died (to create the tree).

I think it’s apt that I set out to appliqué a cat but it so obviously became a dog.

P.S. Because we finished re-watching all The Great British Baking Show seasons (aka TV Valium), we are now watching The Great British Sewing Bee (Project Runway has jumped the shark into Real Housewife’s territory. Such a shame. Enjoyed that show for many years). The Sewing Bee doesn’t have charming hilarious hosts or quite the engaging structure of the baking show, but it’s good enough.

All of this to say, it cracks me up to hear them say “appliqué.” They pronounce it “AH-PLEEK.”

Rest with the Angels, Wendell Berry.

A little fog showed up this morning. Now I’m in town meeting a friend for coffee. It’s warm enough to sit outside.

It is both efficient and pleasurable to stitch up a second quilt (above) with fabrics from a first quilt (below). And I’ve got a third on the boards that’s about four seams from completion!

The tree work happened. Things outside, therefore, look tidier. This morning, I’m having my couch upholstery cleaned professionally, something I’ve never had done. I got sick of the constant adjustment that a canvas couch cover requires, so this fabric has taken quite a beating. That’ll make things look tidier too.