Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without words,
And never stops at all.

        Emily Dickinson

I just love this bit from Emily Dickinson which I saw on  Beverly's site howsweetthesound.typepad.com   I am going to be doing Pink Saturdays now.  You can go there if you want to join in too!

Progress in Pink

It has taken a while, but the first clothes from my "piles of pink" are here and even listed!  I absolutely am in love with the pants from the Vera scarves.  I hadn't realized back in the 60s that she did cotton scarves.  All my aunts had her other scarves and of course her table linens, but I saw little ruffle pants when I found these 2 scarves, and here they are!

I also have  a lot of the vintage cotton eyelet fabrics which I've been collecting for years.  I really like the peasant tops in it, and little ruffle pants too, but QUESTION!  For you moms with little ones, do you think the little girls prefer a top with or without elastic around the empire waist.  I could make the top more free flowing, but I am looking for feedback from moms!

On my table is a nearly finished Easter dress in froth of white embroidered dots on white and blue cotton and this amazing antique bird trim.  Then I woke up this morning and could barely walk because of some back spasm I have never had before!  Progress is slow.  This has been a real challenging few months for me with my health still.  But this morning in (IN)courage, I read "Come to me all you who are weary....and I will give you rest for your soul"  It immediately made me think of this adorable freebie pic that Dawn at thefeatherednest  had so graciously put out for us!  I wanted to share it with any of you who may also be feeling the need for a big wing around you to give comfort to your soul.  All is not as I had hoped and planned, but, as my friend Connie says, ALL IS WELL.

Observing those birds

I have been drawn to watching the birds for awhile now...actually wrestling with what those words of Jesus meant, to observe the birds, that we can live "carefree in the care of God" like them, free and unfettered to any job description/label (Matthew6:25,26. The Message Bible).
The chickadees came to visit us a couple weeks ago, in their standard flock of 8 - 12, and I watched them find food in the back yard, watching out for each other, sounding the alarm when our cat woke up from a nap on the fence! Then, the cat layed back down to sleep, and another sound was sounded, signalling safety, or "all is well" as my antique bird book says. And as my friend frequently tells me, "All is well" when I trust. Jesus said, if you choose a life of following God, you will be far more loved and cared for than even the birds! As I continue to choose trust, I will also keep embroidering the encouragements on to those daily things that I create to remind us.

Speaking of which, I realized as i photographed the nest a mama robin built outside my studio window, that their nests are also reimagined remnants!! They turn fallen pine needles, dryer lint, paper they found on the street, and even things out of my compost pile, into a nest, a home. I named my little business a couple years ago now, "Reimagined Remnants and Treasures" because I felt that God has reimagined me after a long series of events, into someone new and treasured, albeit made of remnants and leftovers!!! As I craft my purses or aprons out of old bits and pieces of somebody else' leftover creative stash or hard work, and add in my part, I watch the treasures emerge. and they are treasures when they take on meaning and create memories for someone else...they appear in new family photos, or they install themselves into another child's memories ("making cookies in the kitchen with mommy or grandma", "my mom's favorite purse was always that one...", or " remember the hat she wore on her first birthday!!??") These things are not treasures because they have such high monetary value; they are treasures because they were part of the special people and our life stories making a nest in our hearts