I'M SEWING!! I'M SEWING!!

Can you believe it? I actually got to make two blocks today. Of course, that was after running errands this morning, but all the same, I got some sewing time in. At this rate, I'll never get caught up to my other blogfriends and all the quilts they've inspired me to make!

These two gems are nothing more than blocks I owe some groups who are making quilts.

The first is a 9" is my on-line friendship group's monthly lotto block. I've included the fabric that was sent in this one. Not necessarily my cup-o-tea, but I think the Big T block looks pretty good with it.



The second 12" Martha Washington Star for a friend's graduation shower.

I like the way both of them turned out, and I was able to cut and stitch them up without having to change a bobbin, change a need, unsew anything at all, and I even was able to find everything I needed! LOL!

The following is a definition for those of you who have asked about Wabi-sabi.

Wabi-sabi (in Kanji: ??) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic. It is difficult to explain wabi-sabi in Western terms, but the aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, or incomplete. A concept derived from the Buddhist assertion of the first noble truth - Dukkha.

Wabi-sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of what we think of as traditional Japanese beauty and it "occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West." "If an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi sabi." "It (wabi-sabi) nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."

Examining the meanings of the component words wabi and sabi, we find sentiments of solitude and desolation. In a Zen view of the universe, these may be viewed as positive characteristics, representing liberation from a material world and transcendence to a simpler life. Zen philosophy itself, however, warns that genuine understanding cannot be achieved through words or language, so accepting wabi-sabi on nonverbal terms may be the most appropriate approach.