Marsbarn Designs...

Beauty in the details

 

 

 

Two different dragonflies found stranded in the surf.

lovely jellies

What I miss most about being at the beach, is beginning
each day with a walk along the ocean. 

Each day is new and different, and we never know 
what we'll find.  Some days the sand is flat, some days
there are valleys and ridges.  

And some days even the jellyfish are new and lovely.

 

a girl in her natural element

If there was one place, above all else, my older girl
would like to be, it is the beach. 

If we could only do one thing each summer, it would 
be to come here.

Just to walk and be, with open days ahead and sand
underfoot.

It is a joyous thing, indeed. 

Introducing: the divided, square bottom dice bag

Sometimes, a dice bag is more than just a dice bag.

Sometimes, there is a surprise inside.

Introducing, the divided dice bag.  This is a new design I've
been working on.  All of the seams are enclosed, with no
raw edges.  The four dividers go all the way to the bottom. 

The exterior of the bag will be a bit taller, say 2 inches
taller, than my traditional dice bag, but in other respects,
it is the same construction as my regular, square bottomed
dice bag.  This bag is not, however, reversible. 

The beach, where we meet lovely friends, we hope not to see again

We've returned from our annual two weeks at the 
beach.  Oh, the beach.

We saw invertebrates

of different kinds, colors, and shapes.

We saw at least three different kinds of sandpipers,
bald eagles, golden eagles, song birds, and pelicans.

But it was the mammals that were the real treat this
visit.  There was the grey whale, the harbor seals,
deer (both fawns and does), and what was either a
drunk backpacker or a bear.

But the most unusual mammal we met was a baby
harbor porpoise.  I was walking with my Mom and sister
O, when I saw something in the surf.   It was small, 
and had a dorsal fin.  We watched for a while, as the
dark grey creature was rolled by the surf.  It would
start to swim out to sea, and then get barrel rolled
back toward shore, until he started to swim straight
toward us, toward the beach.  O and I cautiously moved 
forward it, both of us wanting to be sure it wasn't a 
shark before we tried to help.  Once the waves had
left it on dry sand, we could clearly see the blow hole.
When we knew it was stranded, O picked it up.  It was
small, less than three feet long, and light enough that
she could carry it alone.  He went still and relaxed in
her hands.  I walked with her into the water, to be sure
she wouldn't need help.  O said he felt like a baby.  Soft,
but muscular, fat around the middle, with a blunted
forehead, and dark grey all around.  He remained calm
and relaxed until she'd walked beyond the breakers,
but once she pushed him into the water, toward open
sea, he started to swim with vigor and quickly disappeared
from sight.

We watched from shore for a long time, but we didn't
see him again.  That evening, Big E saw a pod of porpoises
swimming past.   Since we didn't find our little friend on
the beach again, and we didn't hear of anyone else
finding him, I'm hopeful he found his momma again and
is living well.  

Looking on the internet at baby sea mammals, the harbor
porpoise seems most likely.  He was small, slightly chunky,
and solid dark grey.  Harbor porpoises are rare enough
here, that we would have heard if a baby had been found. 

And of course, I did not have my camera with me, so I 
have no photos.  Of course, if I'd had my camera, it might
not have survived my wade into the sea.  

My sweet girl

Sweetheart G.

I know I do not say often enough how much I am 
enjoying this age with Miss G.  I've realized that I
actually avoid mentioning it, because I fear that by
recoginzing it, it will end.  But now that 6th grade is
over, I feel safe in saying I loved having a 6th grader,
and I am thrilled beyond words to see how strong and
vibrant she is. 

making room for other things, sort of.

Busy, busy.  I've taken a bit of a mini break from 
sewing.  When I'm sewing, it's hard to stop and make
time for other interests.  With the machine turned 
off, I've been able to get the wax out and do some
batiking. Oh batiking, I've missed you during the
winter! 

Although, now that I think about it, batiking is really
just prep for more sewing.. so perhaps I haven't really
taken a break from sewing after all. 

Sewing with Little e and a friend

Last week, Little e and a friend did a three day project
with me.  The first day of the project was spent
painting a piece of cotton.  These artworks used fabric
paints and a waterbased resist.  

The next two sessions were sewing classes for two
first time sewists.  We practiced sewing in straight lines
and talked about seam allowances.  There was lots of
practice pinning and learning about the parts of the
sewing machines. 

 

The girls worked hard.  Nine is such a good age for this
kind of project.  To accent their original painted art,
the girls were able to choose fabrics from my stash.

In the first class, they made the outside of their bags.
In the second class they were able to assemble the
insides of the bag, the strap, and to put the pieces
together.  I'm thrilled to say that they each sewed 
their bags entirely themselves, even the top stitching.

I love how well the fabric they choose accented their
art, and how functional their final project is.

The backside of Little e's bag, the other side is her elephant.

Little e's already been using her bag, and she's looking
forward to practicing more with the machine.

Mr Fuzzypants: cat in a box

What?  You had plans for this box that didn't involve me?
How could that be? 

 

Let me some up, June.

June has flown by. 

Birthday cakes have come and gone, as have birthday 
tarts and sweets. 

Projects were made. (Thank you and Birthday cards 
made with washi tape decorations.  Very addictive!) 

And flowers have bloomed for the first time.  (This lovely dahlia was planted last year, but with the cool damp summer last summer, never bloomed.  It was worth the delay.)

There were also workshops, dice bags were made (and
sold), and summer vacation has begun.  Phew.