I should have posted this before, but time keeps on slipping through my fingers. Here's the result of weeks of some loving labor by 66 talented artists. When I saw this, it brought some tears of joy to my eyes... Ain't I a softie?
I know that everyone says this but, music plays a really important part in my life. Each time I think of a certain part of my life, some times a song pops into my mind even before the "images" of the certain memory. I heard this on the radio today and it just sends chills down my spine, so I decided to share it with you lovely people. Enjoy!
"O primeiro dia" (the first day) by Sergio Godinho
A principio é simples, anda-se sózinho at first its simple, we're walking alone passa-se nas ruas bem devagarinho slowly down the street está-se bem no silêncio e no borborinho enjoying the silence and murmur bebe-se as certezas num copo de vinho drinking certainty in a glass of wine e vem-nos à memória uma frase batida and then an old cliche comes to our mind hoje é o primeiro dia do resto da tua vida today is the first day of the rest of you life
Pouco a pouco o passo faz-se vagabundo bit by bit steps become vagabonds dá-se a volta ao medo, dá-se a volta ao mundo going around fear, going around the world diz-se do passado, que está moribundo someone says that the past is dying bebe-se o alento num copo sem fundo drinking spirit from a bottomless glass e vem-nos à memória uma frase batida and then an old cliche comes to our mind hoje é o primeiro dia do resto da tua vida today is the first day of the rest of you life
E é então que amigos nos oferecem leito and it is then that friends offer us a bed entra-se cansado e sai-se refeito we go in tired and come out refreshed luta-se por tudo o que se leva a peito fighting for all that is close to our hearts bebe-se, come-se e alguém nos diz: bom proveito drinking, eating and someone says: enjoy e vem-nos à memória uma frase batida and then an old cliche comes to our mind hoje é o primeiro dia do resto da tua vida today is the first day of the rest of you life
Depois vêm cansaços e o corpo fraqueja then comes tiredness and the body falters olha-se para dentro e já pouco sobeja looking inside and there's little left pede-se o descanso, por curto que seja asking for a rest, no matter how short it might be apagam-se dúvidas num mar de cerveja erasing doubts in a sea of bear e vem-nos à memória uma frase batida and then an old cliche comes to our mind hoje é o primeiro dia do resto da tua vida today is the first day of the rest of you life
Enfim duma escolha faz-se um desafio finally from a decision comes a challenge enfrenta-se a vida de fio a pavio facing life from beginning to end navega-se sem mar, sem vela ou navio sailing without sea, sail or boat bebe-se a coragem até dum copo vazio drinking courage from a empty glass e vem-nos à memória uma frase batida and then an old cliche comes to our mind hoje é o primeiro dia do resto da tua vida today is the first day of the rest of you life
E entretanto o tempo fez cinza da brasa and meanwhile time turned hot coals into ash e outra maré cheia virá da maré vazia and another high tide will become a low one nasce um novo dia e no braço outra asa a new day is born and from an arm another wing brinda-se aos amores com o vinho da casa toasting to lovers with house wine e vem-nos à memória uma frase batida and then an old cliche comes to our mind hoje é o primeiro dia do resto da tua vida today is the first day of the rest of you life
I apologize for the crappy translation, it is near impossible to translate the feeling behind this song
I'm so excited! The Quilt will be displayed for one night only on Friday 23rd of October from 6-8pm at the Abbotsford Convent's community room in Melbourne and the site will be live on Saturday... oooh, feeling so envious!!
No, no, I haven't been dragged away to the ends of the world, I'm still around... Always the same excuses, too little time and always the same promise, I'll be better next time!!
Here's a little summary about what I've been up to since... well, I'm almost ashamed to say it, since August.
Firstly, I would like to apologise to the lovely Kim for taking all this time to write about the amazing package that she sent me for the Summer Swap (yes, I said Summer...) which I mentioned in this post. Just look how lucky I was, honestly I don't deserve all this goodness!!
The package included:
- a personalized needle book and tutorial on how to make it. - 3 very cute strawberry pincushions. - sewing notions, including a handmade bag filled with buttons, ribbon, a flower shaped patch and ribbons. - Japanese "hankies" (I'm so spoiled!!) - fabrics from her personal stash (no, really, I'm really spoiled!!) - paper, envelopes, stickers, stamp pad, postcard all for writing letters (and feeding my obsession with all things paper related) - a book... (again, feeding my obsessions) If you want to see what she got, here's her post about it, written at the right time like the lovely person that she is :)
After being totally spoiled, I was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the Quilt Project organized by the very talented Kirsty from Kootoyo. You can find the project's flickr group here and just allow yourself to gawk at the loveliness!! To honest, I cannot wait to see the whole quilt together, I just wish that I could be in Melbourne to see it life, it is going to be wonderful!! When I started my square, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I always wanted to do something going back to my Portuguese roots, based on a really traditional style of embroidery called "Lenco dos Namorados" (Lover's Kerchief, already mentioned in this post). The only think that I wasn't too sure about was the verse always included in this kerchiefs, for awhile I thought of using an English verse, but, it just kept nagging me. It just didn't fit!! So, I decided to go for a very traditional Portuguese verse but, without the spelling mistakes... It was just a bit too much for me.
the verse
Se o Amor tivesse asas (If Love had wings) Voava que nem um passarinho (It would fly like a little bird) Entrava pela janela (It would come in through the window) Para te dar um beijinho (to give you a kiss)
I also mentioned in a previous post that I was going to make a U softie for the Plush You exhibition at the Bluebottle Art Gallery in Seattle. I was able to finish it surprisingly quickly, I guess that unlike most of my softies, this one never went through the computer stage where I usually create my patterns in freehand, it was all drawn by hand on tracing paper then glued onto cardboard and cut. I tend to freak out when things don't look perfect during the pattern stage but, for some reason this just felt right made this way. Also, it was too big to be printed at home!!
