November in a Nutshell

 
 

Bits and pieces of November. It’s one of my favorite months. I like the slowness of it all. The buzz of summer is over, winter’s lethargy hasn’t yet set in. It’s dark early and dark late, but there’s still bursts of rust and bronze on the trees. And Thanksgiving, which of course means tangentially, pies.

  • It doesn’t look like Open Studios will be a go this year, having been cancelled again. I spend most of the year prepping work for the weekend event (like the embroidered pin above). I thought about stashing things for next year, but instead will be slowly listing things in my online shop. I’m not doing commissions per se, but am planning to have a custom offering here in the next week or two (more on that later).

  • Speaking of Open Studios, my studio neighbors are the incomparable Joy Lane Farm. They make some of the most amazing soap and they ship near and far. They’re good people, doing good things, so have a gander.

  • I love the activity sheets Tundra puts together for its books and there’s a new one out for Anne’s Tragical Tea Party, the next book in the Anne of Green Gables inspired series I’ve been illustrating.

Leaving Exams

 
 

Here’s the finished version of the illustration I teased out back in September. As the year winds down, it feels good to slowly be crossing things off my to do list. And bonus points if you can identify the album sitting behind the record player.

Seeing Stars

 
 

I started cutting out the pieces for this quilt right before my niece was born and just finished sewing the last seam this past summer. Said niece turns two next month. Oops. Better late than never?

I used prints from Eloise’s Garden for this, mostly pinks. The polka dot fabric I found years ago for free and had been holding onto for the right project. And the whole thing was hand quilted, because it’s a wonderfully slow process that allows me to binge boxsets without any accompanying guilt. Also, as a quilting neophyte, I can’t rave enough about the tutorials over on Suzy Quilts, especially her Reverse Sawtooth tips. I referenced her notes repeatedly and they’re terrific.

And said niece is enjoying the quilt, mostly because it lets her pretend to be the The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt.

The Arboretum

 
 

I’ve moved about a half dozen houseplants indoors, after having them spend the summer out of doors. They always come back in infinitely healthier and larger after spending a few months in the elements. The extra greenery around here has me painting more botanical things as of late.

Three Things:

*This crochet blanket pattern by designer Lisa van Klaveren, inspired by the quilt I illustrated in Anne’s Arrives, is amazing.

*I’m about 2/3 of the way through Brooklyn: The Once and Future City, reading it for research. The story of the Globe Tower that never was deserves a movie, for sure.

*Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin is a 2021 Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year selection.

Due North

 
 

I disappeared for a few days up North. Here’s some of what I saw and sketched. Drawing the birch tree, I realized it had been eons since I’d just sat and been still. It’s been a year. Sometimes it feels like twenty. It seems that way for everyone? But there’s nothing like complete silence all around you, to regain your bearings. Bacon and egg sandwiches from this place don’t hurt, either.

Also, I’m pretty sure I saw a UFO. But that’s a story for another day.