Good luck, Karen! You are always at the top of my "favorites".

How can you possibly bear to leave the kitchen?! So magnificently beautiful!

love the term "persistent vision". Have you ever worked with a silk buttonhole twist thread? I love it for sashiko work on silk.

A resounding "YES" on the brown and purple.

Now, this is fascinating! It will be interesting to see what happens.

I visit and am inspired daily though I don't often comment. But I must tell you that your sense of design sometimes stuns me. It is SO right on and perfect. Here's wishing you a most joyous holiday season and a creative and fulfilling new year!

I think the heart in the wreath is rather serendipitous--you seem to be a real sweetheart.

It's all been said better than I could so a simple Thank You will have to do.

If you were standing next to me at this moment I would take you by the shoulders and shake you! By all means, CONTINUE!!!!!

Very good questions about contentment. I've thought about it and for me, creativity brings contentment. I am at my happiest and most content when the muses are speaking, (so to speak) and all is coming together. And who in the world is that darling little guy/gal with the big ears? Much too precious!

I completely agree with Madame. Old linens are NOT meant to be put under glass domes. They are meant to be sensuously fondled, to be caressed gently with fingertips and yes, even wrapped seductively around one's warm naked body. But under glass domes? Non! Non! Non!

My email address is leilanibennett@kraemersw.com. Send me your mailing address so I can pop the article in the mail this weekend.

While reading a 20-year old copy of Threads magazine, I came across a very interesting article about dyeing with herbs. If you would like, I'd be happy to copy and mail to you.

Oh, we are all connected in so many wonderful ways--perhaps the strongest is our love of the feel of cloth between our fingers and our need to speak with cloth, needle and thread.

The nail head dots put me in mind of the corks in Mendofleur's floor in the Mendocino cottage. Perhaps we are all going dotty over dots?

he/she looks sweetly melancholy. If he/she were to visit me some night, I would make us a pot of hot chocolate and hold his/her paw.

hmmmm. . . . let me see. . . santons?

Oh. . . I am sorry our adventure with you is ending. It has been truly amazing! Blessings for a safe journey home.

Every one of your posts has been deliciously beautiful and interesting but this one is the very best--in every respect. I miss my Mother like you miss your Dad. Remembering and missing loved ones is one of life's most bittersweet moments.

Hi Corey! I the one who at the start of your trip said it sounded to me like the vacation from hell. At the time I didn't know you were staying in B&B's and small hotels. Thought you were really roughing it. That said, I still don't think my posterior, though amply padded would withstand hours and days on Willow. But now I hope it never ends. I am so enjoying seeing pictures of and hearing about places I've never been and likely won't get to visit. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for sharing!

This is a well deserved kudo. You have everything it takes to be successful: talent, perseverance and boundless energy. You are successful now and will only get more so!

You are rich and blessed in so many ways: Your energy and creativity, wonderful supportive friends and your lovely family. From your blog, I know you believe in God so you know he/she will help you take care of yourself. You're doing a hell-of-a bang up job of it so far!

You would enjoy a large quilt I recently saw at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. The museum holds a Sunday afternoon quilting session for children and they completed a group quilt that's quite wonderful. It's thousands of tiny pieces of fabric--glued or fused down I think. You can tell they were given some direction as to composition but you can also see the spontaneity that only children can create in their art. So yes, mosaics in fabric work quite well.

Oh Wow! You are a true soul sister. My entry floor is painted -- I was inspired by a Kandinsky painting and I've also got some red walls, blue walls, yellow walls, mustard yellow cabinets. It all sounds gosh-awful when I talk about it but it's gloriously alive and invigorating. A staycation--the best kind!