When the idea of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Sketchbook was first proposed, Viv was one of the first to jump on board with gusto.
Before the Sketchbook reached her, however, we lost her in July 2016. This was a great sadness on two counts; first for those who loved her and miss her still, and secondly because the Sketchbook also needs words as well as the beautiful images which have been contributed. Viv’s great skill was with words, and the lack of her contribution left something of a void.
Viv’s daughter Sally has kindly consented to allow us to feature one of Viv’s poems to amend this lack. The piece which has been selected is called ‘Conjunctions’, and discusses the importance of building and maintaining the connections between us, a sentiment particularly appropriate for the far-flung Sisterhood.
I was asked to letter and insert Viv’s poem. I have done this in a connected way, with each verse linked to the next with paper and thread. I thought about adding some pieces of patchwork, another of Viv’s passions, but ultimately felt that her words were splendid as they stood, and needed no other adornment or distraction. I’m happy with the simplicity of the execution.
You can see my own page about the Sketchbook project by clicking the link at the start of this post. Alternatively, go to the blog created for this project by Sandra, for a different perspective.
So, I give you Viv’s contribution. She’s with us after all…
talltalesfromchiconia 
A lovely final touch, beautifully executed.
Thanks, Cathy. It was an honour to be allowed to include it on her behalf.
Kate – we burdened you with a big responsibility to choose one of Viv’s many excellent poems and to add it to the Sketchbook in a complementary manner. I know you and Viv were close cyber friends so I’m sure you didn’t consider it a burden at all but your choice of poem and your beautiful handwriting (and just a teensy piece of gorgeous fabric) form a lovely tribute to a lovely lady – she would have been proud of you 🙂
I had all sorts of fancy ideas for executing this, but in the end, it was about Viv’s words and I kept it simple. Most of the concern I had about doing this was to make sure I did the poem, and Viv, justice.
Well, have no more concern 🙂
How beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.
It’s such a great poem, and it seemed perfect for the Sketchbook and what it’s about.
Beautiful in every way. ❤
The whole Sketchbook is an amazing piece of work, and it’s been such fun to be part of it.
Oh Kate, what a lovely way to add Viv’s thoughts to the sketchbook. I am with mum at the moment and we both love how you have added it.
I’m so glad! I think Viv would have approved…
I love how you have presented this – the focus is on the words, but the little embellishments make this extra-special. Plus it meant that you got to see all the contributions for real, having been the first stop on the book’s original tour.
I really appreciated that opportunity! The Sketchbook is becoming a little fragile after her travels, her seams are loosening, so the snug jacket you made is doing an excellent job. I was glad of the chance to do this last service for Viv, and I think she’d be happy about the result.
You did a WONDERFUL job! How ingenious! Paper and thread, I love it. I’m sure Viv would too. She was not a fussy kind of person so simple would be perfect. I do miss seeing her here. It’s lovely when she keeps popping up like this in little ways. That was one amazing book.
I miss her too, I keep her blog up in the list of the ones I follow, and I still have her Skype contact live. She had such a lively and robust sense of humour, a rich laugh and a huge and insatiable interest in the world and its marvels. It was a privilege to do this for her.
How beautiful! Everything about it!
She was a wonderful wordsmith…
Kate – how beautiful and timely for this planet we inhabit. I hope it’s okay if I saved it to Pinterest, if not I will delete. She sounds like she was a very smart woman.
She was, and she was generous about sharing her words so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being Pinned!
Thank you, I think the message is important and I didn’t want to forget it. I think it would make a wonderful cross stitch piece to be framed. I haven’t done any stitchery in a while but I think if I put it to some graph paper it could be done – with author’s name.
Oh, do make it! I’d love to see a cross stitch piece incorporating the word ‘kerflooey’! There’s a cross-stitch pattern-maker for text at this link: (http://www.stitchpoint.com/eng/tool/alph/cross-stitch-writing-tool.php)
Thanks for the link. I had a good belly laugh when I read that, I use the word at least once a week!
🙂
Beautiful writing for a beautiful poem, I love the message in the poem, very apt for the Travelling Sketchbook. You did a wonderful job 🙂
Thanks, Margaret. I’ve tried to keep the lettering nice and simple so as not to distract from the meaning 🙂
A fabulous and fitting conclusion to the sketchbook, it’s perfectly in context for Viv’s words and the project
Thank you, Sandra. I really feel as if the Sketchbook is complete now. I’m just waiting for Anne to return from her travels and then I’ll mail it back to her for its next adventure, whatever that may be.
The words are wonderful and the lettering sets them off beautifully. Curly enough to be special without being overly fussy. Exactly right!
So glad you like it!
So sad and so beautiful!
She was very skilled with words. I’m so glad we were able to include this.
Oh Kate, it’s wonderful. I love the way you stretched out the verses and then connected them. Perfect, simply perfect.
Thank you! I kept seeing the word ‘connected’ and thinking that the words had to be connected too, and here was a simple way of keeping the individual verses large enough to read but small enough to go into the book.
Kate, this is perfect. Beautifully executed and a lovely tribute to Viv’s words. Thank you for completing the entry.
My pleasure, and I’m glad to have had the chance to do this for a dear friend.