Tag: making

On the Mend

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

Day 320 of 365

I am on the mend–at least I am pretty sure I am. I feel my strength coming back a little each day, and though I have nowhere near the stamina I used to have for the daily chores of life, today, I managed to clean the chicken coop! It took me extra long, but I was so happy to do it. I love those chickens so much; it makes me happy to keep their coop clean.

I had some grading to do today, but I still went for a walk, practiced cello, and sewed a little. All of these things are treats to me and good for my soul, but the “sewing a little” was extra nice because I haven’t had time to sew for a long time. I love to make things out of fabric. I’m not super skilled, but I am getting better all the time.

My son always uses a grocery tote for carrying his music and rosin and pencils, so I made a bag for him out of scraps. He really liked it, but I love it. I have more scraps and hope to make myself one tomorrow.

The making helps me heal so much.

A New Jar, a New Candle

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 261 of 365

I feel like my love of both candles and jars is well documented in this blog, so I won’t ramble on about it. Still, I love candles and jars, and if I can have a candle in a jar, well, that’s a treat for sure.

A few weeks ago, when I was searching for a jar photograph, I came across a photo of a little beeswax jar candle, and it was both magical and beautiful to me. I knew I had to try to make one.

It took some work to find the perfect jar, but I have found the perfect jar. It took some research to determine if I would be able to use just one wick. And, after I made it, it took some study to make sure the candle would work well. It works so well!

Yesterday, I burned the candle for seven hours, and it barely budged. There is nothing better for a candle that beeswax. I used to buy cheap candles at the grocery store, and they would burn so quickly. On top of that, who knows what we were breathing? I wanted to make beeswax candles for their clean burn, but I had no idea that beeswax would last forever. That’s just such a bonus to me.

Anyway, I am over the moon with this candle. Sadly, the jars have been discontinued, but I got a small stash of old ones and found a friend who shared 8 more. I’m going to make these candles as gifts the year and will put them in the Etsy shop as well for the journal.

It’s such a good feeling when you want so badly to make something lovely and then you make something lovely. Right?

Quilt Making

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 41 of 365

It’s so chilly today Ron had to start a fire in the wood stove! The high was 48 degrees Fahrenheit, and I am pretty sure the strawberries and peppers were far too cold. I know the baby chickens were. They didn’t leave their mama’s wings all day. I know I was cold. We were in the 90s just a few weeks ago. Today, that wood stove felt wonderful.

It’s hard to imagine that, as we are shivering a few days before the Solstice, other parts of the country are experiencing record-breaking heat. I read about the cows dying from the heat in Kansas last week, and my heart was broken. The heat is so tough.

But here it’s so chilly that my quilting efforts make sense. I do not usually make quilts in the summer very much, but I have four quilts in progress right now. One is an order from our Etsy shop, and the other three are gifts. I love to make quilts. I can’t do anything fancy, so I have just embraced my primitive design skills and rolled with them. I have ideas all of the time about designing quilts, and it brings me so much joy to give a quilt as a gift.

My great grandmother on my mom’s side was a quilter. I still have the quilt that was given to me when she passed when I was a child. I treasure that quilt so much. I have repaired it a few times, as it is so old now, and when I make the repairs, I imagine her hands running over these stitches as mine do. It connects me to her.

When I quilt, I make wishes for goodness and warmth and well being. I quilt with intention and just hope it works. Maybe it does. I made my first quilt for my oldest child, my daughter, who is now 25, when she was just 5 years old. I was at my first full-time professor job, and my pay was so low we could barely afford food. I really couldn’t get her anything for Christmas that year, but I found a used Harry Potter Hogwarts train and made her a “starry night” quilt out of discount fabric. I even had to borrow the sewing machine. She still has that quilt and even wrote a poem about it for her creative writing class in college.

That seems like a good sign for my wishes I put into my quilts, right?

Wish me luck on these four quilts. I have to finish them pretty quickly, and I am also building the Summer Solstice issue of the journal. I hope you will read it. It’s going to be a beautiful issue.