koru #366

Somehow I knew that 365 wouldn't be the end.

Chinese iron tea pot, Hotel Sofitel, Redwood City, CA.

koru #365

koru #364

Wall decoration, Chipotle, Foster City, CA.







Bonus Pier 1 votive holder.

koru #361 - 363

#361 (12/23): Garden ornament, office of Dr. John Edwards, DDS extraordinaire.




#362 (12/24): Dried thistle.




#362b (12/24): Tiny gecko drawing.




#363 (12/25): Leather koru bracelet with teeny, tiny house charm -- Christmas present from my sister.




#363b (12/25): Sister-in-law's Maori tattoo.

koru #360

Eternal water, New Zealand.

koru #359

Chamomile tea with honey at the Petaluma Factory Outlet Mall.

koru #358

Ported German advent calendar by Richard Sellmer Verlag.

koru #357 (plus bonus koru)

This morning I noticed a very cool koru in the very same shower curtain that I've been using for years. Funny how they can sneak up on you. Even better, my friend David sent me a very appropriately holiday-themed koru submission. Yum!

koru #356

At the risk of giving holiday secrets away, here is today's submission.

koru #355

So I was in the Common House, mopping up after the Monday evening meal when I saw this amazing koru painting on the wall. So I snapped a couple of shots to post here. Thing is, I feel weird now about posting without asking the artist, so instead I give you one I took a couple of days ago but didn't post. Unfortunately, I failed to write down the title or the name of the artist. Will try and hunt that down and share when I have it.

Mural, Oliver La Farge Library, Santa Fe, NM.

koru #354

Pushpins in cork board.

koru #353

Mrs. Field's cookie tin.

koru #352

Cinny's koru spiral necklace.

koru #351

Okay, so it's probably a little shady to use the same item twice, but I just looked over and got a glimpse of the side of the TJ's Rice Stick bag and, wow. Just had to include it.

Koru #350

From today, 12/14: Trader Joe's Rice Sticks, which should be cooking right now, but I got distracted trying to catch up on these posts. I guess the ginger-lemon chicken will have to settle for being served over regular rice.

And on a different note... I can't believe I have only fifteen korus left to post Where has the year gone? And what will I do next?

koru #349

From 12/13: Pueblo Advent Calendar, day 13.

koru # 348

From 12/12: 'Tis the season for koru-printed Christmas cards. Special thanks to my friend Lise who stamped and sent me this one.

koru # 347

From 12/ 11: Double Pinwheel quilt from More Template-Free Quiltmaking by Trudie Hughes. I bought most of the fabric for this quilt more than 20 years ago. A few days before I came down with the flu I bought the rest of the fabric I'll need. I haven't been able to work on it yet, but I have been thinking a lot about it. It's turn will come, very soon.

koru #346

Trader Joe's holiday shopping bags, complete with cut-out gift tags.

koru #345

Sketch for Green Man art quilt.

koru #344

Thank goodness Trader Joe's is right next to the pharmacy or I'd be starving and koru-less.

koru #339 - 343

So yes, as usual, I have still been taking my koru photos, but being laid low by a nasty cold/flu/whatever has made it tough to post. These catch us up through today, so I can go back to sleep.

#339 -- Saturday 12/3: Wallpaper, Courtyard Marriott Bathroom, Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM.

#340 -- Sunday, 12/4: Focal floral fabric from Norther New Mexico Quilters Guild pizza box challenge.

#341 -- Monday, 12/5: Rubber gloves used for mopping the community kitchen (which thankfully someone else did for me since it was snowing like mad and so cold that even the fire engine red burning in my throat couldn't warm me up).

#342 -- Tuesday, 12/6: Quilter's Koru, measuring tape on cutting board (wishful quilting).

#343 -- Wednesday, 12/7: FIMO gift heart from one of my writing retreat comrades. Yes, she gave it to me in Taos last month, but I only just really looked at it now. It's sitting in the lap of baby Jesus in the arms of Saint Anthony. What can I say, Saint Anthony has never let me down when it comes to finding lost things. And I lose a lot of things.

koru #338

A few months ago, my writing teacher assigned a book about Rwanda. Even the title was brutal: We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families. I knew next to nothing about the Rwandan genocide before reading this book. Now I know more than I probably ever wanted to, but to my teacher's credit, I will never look away again.

These days, the Rwandan "reconciliation" is tenuous at best, but giving what happened over there, it seems like nothing short of a miracle. We can help them along their path of peace by supporting their devastated economy. This Christmas, consider a gift of Rwandan crafts. Shop Azizi Life, The Peace Company, or Macy's.

Fair Winds Trading Rwanda Basket, 12" Spring Swirl Fruit Bowl, available from Macys.com.

koru #336 and 337

I've been working on a quilt. I featured the sketch in post #324. It's a donation quilt I'm making for the Quilts of Valor program, destined to comfort an injured soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The requirements are pretty minimal. You can use any fabric (as long as it's quality) and any pattern. Their one request (aside from the size), is that we use patriotic colors -- red, white, blue, gold. When I purchased the fabrics I was so focused on color that I completely missed the patterns. Until I started cutting. Lo and behold, I find korus even when I don't know they are there. Like this one, which I notice while cutting (look at the larger picture to see how easy it might have been for me to miss it).

And this one which I noticed while rearranging the pieces on a felt-board (you can see the edge of another fabric filling up the bottom left corner).

Sometimes it takes getting up close and personal to really notice what's right in front of you.

koru #335

Argentinian Amalaya wine. Unfortunately, I didn't have any it so I can't vouch for the taste, but the label is really beautiful.