These last few months

Thank you all for bearing with me.  What a crazy 6 months this has been in my life.  We started our homeschooling year out with a big bang.  India began a school that she goes to one day a week and the rest of the week she works at home.  Turns out there was a tremendous amount of homework we were signing on for - more than we ever thought.  Kalib is continuing to do the Grey Fox Wild Intelligence program and between working, homeschooling, kid activities, something somewhere had to be let go of.  Unfortunately, quilting and blogging seems to have fallen into that space.  

Thankfully, with a lot of support from a wonderful husband and willing children, I am back on track and back to quilting and hopefully, working my way back towards blogging.  I'm not making any promises that I will get here every day.  I've been totally hit or miss since September, but what I AM promising is that I'm working on getting back here more and more often.

What have I been up to?  

Well... I believe in constantly reinventing myself, so that's what I have been doing.  Trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and what direction I want to take in the future.  

Many of you know I study homeopathy pretty consistently, so I explored going to school to do that "officially," but when I saw what it would take - like 8-10 years of schooling - I thought... well, I won't tell you what I thought because it would be inappropriate... so I kept having to dive in deeper to figure it out - and I still haven't, but what I do have is a clearer vision of where I want to be.

A few months ago, I had the great opportunity to see a movie called "Mother Nature's Child" and while watching it I found myself  coming full circle to many of my own childhood dreams of becoming a teacher.  The movie was the beginning of a workshop being held at Orange Twin, in the woods with writer and mentor Jon Young. He spoke about community building, nature connection, grief healing, transformation and the mentoring work he does. The lights began to come on inside of me and connections began to get made within my heart about my life.  The sparks really began to fly!

I had the opportunity offered to me to join in the Year of the Coyote Program through the Institute for Wild Intelligence (this is the adult version of what Kalib does weekly.)  Evan McGown is the director of this program and he was mentored by Jon Young and co-wrote the Coyote's Guide with Jon Young.  He took the lessons he learned at the 8 Shields Institute and has brought them to the South.  

In the coyote program, we go to the woods one weekend a month and immerse ourselves in community building, nature connection, and earth skills.  It IS the most transformative thing I have ever done in my life and I feel lucky to be sharing the experience with many dear friends and most of all Jason.  It is a mentor training program and through some seriously good fortune, I'm getting to put that training into practice with the Grey Fox program that Kalib attends each week.  

On Tuesday mornings I also get to go and spend my day tromping around in the woods learning with the children and learning from the other mentors how to be a better mentor.  It is a dream come true.  All day in the woods, playing, exploring, and learning... I'm not sure who learns more - me or the kids.  

And now... I'm looking forward again and seeing many options for my future and I'm excited to see where they take me...

So, what does all this have to do with quilting?  I've been busy working on myself.  Seeing myself as that swan I made so many months ago.  I gave a lot of thought to transformation and the story of the ugly duckling.  I wanted a new beginning - a new path.  I wanted to transform myself and do something different with my life and it has taken a lot of energy - more than I ever imagined it would - and it will continue to take a lot of energy, but I'm re-inspired and I'm ready to get back to quilting and creating works from the earth that inspires me so deeply and where I'm going.

The future is uncertain, but I'm not spinning in circles, I have direction and vision and that's all that matters...

Now, my vision is turning towards forgiveness and further opening of my heart... something I will get into another day...

For now, I'm a bit obsessed with this weaving one might say... I've woven a sky...

And I wanted ground, so I wove 3 different shades of brown and cut them up to create ground that has a little movement. I see this going somewhere in the future, but I just don't know where yet - future projects.  

And a close up... For those who are really curious about my insanity... Yes, this is only the background.  The strips are 1/4" in the two darker browns and the lighter shade I combined 1/2" and 1/4" strips. 

Until next time,

Sarah