Pouches!!

I've been absent from the blog for a month - wow!  It's not that I haven't been creating, it's just that I've been more moved to knit lately than to sew.  The funny thing is, I'm knitting a blanket called the "Excavation Blanket," using up all my bits and bobs of leftover yarn from previous projects.  It appears I go scrappy no matter the medium!

I like to take knitting with me wherever I go.  Coffeeshops are great!

There will be fringe on two ends of the blanket - no hiding ends for me!

The other thing that has been taking up my time - please don't freak out and stop reading - is tarot.  I've always been curious about tarot cards, but never really knew much about them.  Besides, I thought you had to be a psychic in order to use them.  But then, while traveling back from Minnesota earlier this month, a colleague shared her cards with me and told me how she uses them to give her insight into what she should be focusing on in her life.  While I always figured people used them for divination purposes, I saw that they could be used for personal development and reflection, too.  I was intrigued, so I came home and started doing a little research.

I ended up buying a deck for myself, The Wildwood Tarot.  The imagery on the cards really appealed to me, and I liked the nature theme of the cards - there's lots of animals and waterfalls and trees.  I've enjoyed learning the cards, using them to try to tap into my subconscious, to not just go through the daily motions of my life, but to really reflect on what I am doing and why.

Since I've been studying the cards a bit every day, I wanted a way to keep them protected, but something more accessible than the lovely box that they came in.  I have fabric, so naturally, I thought I'd sew something.  I settled on a drawstring pouch.

While I like the pouch I made, the fabric choices and the design - lined with boxed corners - I wasn't able to find any thin cording to fit, so I have a thicker trim for the drawstring.  I wanted a double drawstring, but the trim I have is just not right for that.  Oh well, I still love it.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I've realized that the deck I bought is a bit beyond my novice card reading ability.  The book that accompanied the cards is a bit obscure, so it is hard for me to get a sense of what the cards signify.  I came to the conclusion that I need a more beginner-friendly deck to ease me into tarot card reading.  And what I found was the Everyday Witch Tarot.  True confessions time: as a child, I always wanted to be a witch - a good, friendly, helpful, tuned in to nature witch.  I wanted to make friends with faeries and tree nymphs and whatnot.  I loved the Piers Anthony Xanth series because of all the mystical, magical beings in them (not to mention, all the puns!).  But alas, I am a mere mortal, no special powers here.

But this deck makes me smile, brings back all those whimsical longings of my youth.  The artwork is fun and colorful, very different from the Wildwood deck, but they both appeal to me in different ways.  So, I bought it!  It arrives tomorrow, and in preparation, I've made a pouch for those cards as well.  This time, I found a thinner cording, so I've got the double drawstring that I wanted.  I love it!

I LOVE this dragonfly fabric!

I used the Wildwood deck to guide my construction since the decks are virtually the same size.

And in the meantime, since I am a leaders and enders kind of gal at all times, I squeezed in a couple more blocks on my Sew Many Strips quilt, along with a number of border units.  Bonus!

More than a quarter of the way pieced! 

Border units that don't fit on my design wall (I need a bigger design wall)

Sewing, knitting, reading my cozy mystery books and now tarot cards - I need to not have a job so I can do all the things I love to do!  (Just kidding - it is my job that allows me to afford doing all the things I love to do, and I find my work fulfilling to boot!  But my son was lobbying for 4-day school weeks yesterday, and I can totally get behind that suggestion!)