monkey hands

Mongolian Quilt Center

This is the facade of the small shop and workshop where I spent some lovely days teaching skilled quilters how to make two types of small dolls from mostly upcycled materials (photos of inside the shop coming soon).

Doll-makers in action! Clothes will be made from silk scraps donated by a supportive local tailor. The quilts and quilted items--pillow-covers, bags, wall-hangings--are also made from donated materials.

Delight as dolls gain personality and "come to life"  with hair, eyes, nose, mouth! 

view from room in Ulaanbaatar

another view from room

Itinerant Doll-Maker

I've made dolls with people in the U.S., in India, in China, and now, in Mongolia. It seems to me that people are drawn to dolls and doll-making because dolls are made in our own human image. Creating a doll in a mixed-language group helps create a common language -- two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two arms, and so on.  We are so much more alike than we are different. 

                            These are just a few of the talented quilters I worked with in Ulaanbaatar. 

I brought this doll, upcycled from a sock and scraps of fabric, as a model for one of the dolls I'd be teaching the group to make. It was met with sighs of, "Oh, how Chinese!" and "That is a Chinese doll."  Yes, that makes sense, as she was made by me in China with Chinese materials.

                                                                       Newly made Mongolian dolls! 

 

A Few More

a little community on the hill--folks stay here through late September or early October, then it gets so cold they move a few kilometers to a larger village where the gers (what we call yurts) and small houses are closer together to survive the winter.  Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world. Here is a site with more info and pictures: Gers

Even in mid-August, the day was fairly cool and rain threatened, hence the greyer than usual skies in "Blue Sky" country (taking photos with my phone didn't add to the image quality).

I am fond of horses. At one point we had five in our little New Hampshire barn, but now we have none.

Basically the same image as above, but I was creeping closer, trying to get a better shot without spooking the horses.

Moonstone

plucked from this field

in the Mongolian countryside

with some amazing women 

stories and images will be coming here and there

 

Maybe Some Moss

(under my tush) when it comes to reading blogs and posting here...  Taking time and space, I guess (thanks Jude, for words). 

Stone figure in Bangkok temple garden

Temple grounds in Bangkok_orchids wrapped around trees

I'm getting my groove back on, with lots of catching up to do, although probably at a slower pace given my new found freedom now that I'm back on my feet.  Things shift again, as always.   

 

 

No moss here

under my tush. Call me crazy--I'm in Bangkok for two days (four-day trip, a day each way for travel).

An opportunity presented itself, and even though I'd only been back on the ground in Beijing for three days, travel weary and jet-lagged, I grabbed the gold ring and went for it.

95% of the population in Thailand is Buddhist, and temples abound. Amazing place.

More on this later. Or sooner, who knows?

On the road again…with a new quilt top in tow

Well, not really the road...

I'm about nine hours into the 30 hour (door-to-door) trip home to NYC and New Hampshire for my mother-in-law's 90th birthdya celebration, and a son's (monor) surgery.  

Mostly Australian fabrics, about 56" x 90". More in a couple days.  Or maybe in a few.

Beautiful Beijing

I'm back in Beijing, jet-lagged and loopy, but wonder of wonders, the air has cleared upon my return, with big blue skies and floating white clouds. What a welcome change from the typical smoggy gray sky and thick, dirty air I'm used to seeing and breathing here. The times, it seems, they just may be a'changing here in the capitol. 

In another reminder that progress is possible here, U-Tube is unblocked, at least for the moment. Proof is in this picture of Jude Hill's hands showing a "paperless piecing" technique. It's a terrific method for piecing, especially for  squares and rectangles. See her blog, Spirit Cloth, for inspiration and online courses.

Blogger and Wordpress are also fully accessible (at least for now), complete with pictures and the ability to comment. My virtual world in China has grown exponentially!

Meanwhile, because life is a mixed bag no matter what, construction on the block-sized mega builting continues below the apartment windows, and it's rising daily, getting closer and closer, bringing noise and dust 24/7. 

It's amazing to watch the techniques and progress, especially at night when workers toil at welding stations, fusing rusty steel rebar at welding stations, and moving back and forth in unison like a well choreographed dance. 

Photos taken at dawn during a rare quiet lull between night and day shifts.

A lone tenacious tree hangs on between newly erected construction site buildings. 

I have several projects in mind, so tomorrow, after some rest, I shall return to the sewing table with focus and renewed zest. Just putting out that positive intention in the hopes it comes to pass.

Touching Down in Paris

~ a very brief two days in Paris to celebrate my oldest daughter's birthday and graduation. She's been studying there for the past year, and I haven't been able to visit her until now. This is a bad picture, but the only non-family photo I took, so here it is, the narrow street where the hotel is located:

In spite of the cold and rain, it really is beautiful. The trees are beginning to leaf and bloom, and so many apartments and commercial buildings have beautiful flowers and greens in window boxes.

I haven't taken pictures (hard to do in the rain on crutches), but the storefronts are full of inspiring modern French designs and colors.  Citron and Melon seem to be "the" colors in France this season. I am ready to land somewhere (back in Beijing for now) and start stitching once again!

New Bird, New Vista

I made this bird from two swatches of hand-dyed fabric as a surprise gift for the dyer herself; she's battling a serious illness and this little critter brought some cheer. I saw the yellow into white into teal fabric and immediately envisioned a bird's natural markings. 

I'm in New York City for a couple days visiting  family -- my sons and my almost 90 year old mother-in-law. From lush green country to concrete everywhere, this is my new view from the hotel window: 

It is a lovely blue sky, and as Grace of Wind Thread has reminded me, it's all the same sky where ever we are. As my foot heals from surgery, I find myself spending lots of time sitting inside looking out--I think that's why I seem to be captivated by whatever view is at hand on any given day. There are so many stories behind all these windows.