Making the cut

I wanted to save them ...

but their light was already fading ...

Not only had I failed to neutralize the bleach used to create the patch clouds, I had compounded the insult to the cloth by rinsing it in vinegar. Fortunately, Deb Lacativa saved me from myself by sending this informative link:

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/neutralizingdischarge.shtml

Likewise, I realized the clouds were obscuring the details of the sun's arc through the sky. And to get really down to it, I knew in my heart that the strip of patches would appliqué better if they were rotated 90 degrees before stitching them together. Three strikes ...

So I took a deep breath and cut ... and cut ... and cut ...

then stitched a whole new batch of patches. Which will be put together at the beach ... soon.

Removing the patch appliqués meant I likewise had to cut into several of the base cloths ...

of which there are now seven ...

with nine more to go. This too was a good thing, as my recent revisiting of Jude Hill's online classes opened my eyes to a better way to stitch appliqué.

Always I am learning ...

Stepping it up

I was originally going to title this post "Pieces of sky" ...

for the patches I made as a start to Moon Myth.

I even looked on Google to see if there were any songs titled Pieces of Sky. And there were (are), with lyrics and videos and everything ... but they also weren't (aren't) my creations, so the links got left on the cutting room floor. 

And then somehow along the way things got a little crazy ...

because an inadvertent blort of Soft Scrub on purple cloth led me to try tidying up the mess with a Q-tip which led to me realizing I could make clouds ...

on all those pieces of sky ...

which then had to be put into some kind of order ...

to make sense of them all ...

which wasn't easy, because ...

ALL of Deb Lacativa's threads are cosmic. But really, that's a good thing, because that means they all work ...

But then I realized some of the pieces weren't quite right. So I'm making more, stepping out of my comfort zone, trying to turn cloth into story in a new (to me) way.

Taking a risk ... 

it's how we learn to walk ...

how we learn to dance ...

how we learn to step it up a notch ...

Addendum:

About that learning thing ... you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. Like vinegar to neutralize bleach ... Not!

According to Deb Lacativa, who I trust absolutely, one way to neutralize bleach discharged cloth is to add 1 Tbs of Aquasafe to the rinse water (found in the pet aisle of the grocery store with aquarium supplies).

Always I am learning ...

How it happened

Last night, as we celebrated the anniversary of our meeting, the moon was full.  This morning, I woke to Marti's comment, "imagine love."

So I looked through my hand-dyed cloth box for a certain scrap of muslin, made with Logan at the Outer Banks. It is now green, which is Marti's favorite color, but it started out purple, as you can see here

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/search/label/Dyestuff%3A%20Blanket%20flower%20%28Galliarda%29

Having used this pale green cloth for Marti's peace pin, 

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2017/03/kindred-spirit.html

there was a tail left from tearing it ... a perfect cloth shred. 

I began stitching "imagine" in shades of wild Deb Lacativa green, but then it occurred to me that I could use Deb's wild purples for the word "love" to echo the original cloth.

Knowing that pale green doesn't photograph well against my usual black backdrop, I rooted around for something else and came up with a bit of bleach discharged denim. And even though the green still isn't true, it seemed like the best choice.

So that's how today's cloth shred emerged, thought by thought ...

imagine love

Thanks Marti!

The tipping point

Dana's word, shown here yesterday, was and is open.

Dana is a lover of words and the words she shared in this post ...

http://ravenandsparrow.typepad.com/raven_and_sparrow/2017/09/imagine-peace.html

speak volumes. And yes, her word is there, at the end.

Read it and read it again. Then vow to answer the call.

Because the world seems to be at a tipping point on this equinoctal day. We need to do all we can to tip it in the right direction ...

- Blue (agave) Christmas

Patch #354 Texas Christmas cactus

It's cold. The weather app said 22 ...

but Wimberley is down in the valley. We're about 300' higher and our thermometer had a slightly lower reading ...

But the ultimate indicator is the frost weed and it was in fine form, close ...

closer ...

closest ...

Last winter we didn't get a frost weed freeze until the end of January, which means it made it on to the Remember cloth ...

You'll notice it's just to the left of a sunny day patch ... and two more patches to the right is the memory of an 80 degree day at the end of January.

So yeah, don't feel too sorry for us. Here's our forecast for the next five days ...

Gotta love Texas. Which is why we decorate this way ...

The neighbors really appreciate it, too ...

I managed to finish a trio of retro patches today ...

If you look at the original post on November 28

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_11_28_archive.html

you'll notice there's no mention of an expected grandchild. But that was the day we received the news, so the secret is finally out ...

And knowing Meg would be getting the news on the 28th, we held off shopping for her birthday until November 29

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/one-more.html

Also knowing Meg to prefer more subtle colors, we were on the hunt for corals, peaches, or raspberries rather than the stereotypical pinky pink. This is what we got ... 

Hence the patch Pretty in not-quite pink ...

And so we made it to Meg's birthday on November 30 without spoiling the surprise

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/big-reveal.html

Process note: I was especially pleased when the bleach discharge on gray (Meg's favorite "color" long before it became trendy), turned a pale pink, because a little bit couldn't hurt.  

- The big reveal

Retrospective (12/19)

Patch #335 First girl

Original Post

We first got the news on August 19

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_08_19_archive.html

but I was asked not to say anything, so I just stitched pale pastels to remember the day.

Then this past Monday, official word was received. With Meg's birthday just two days away, she requested a special vanilla vanilla cake (her long-time favorite first documented here

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2009/08/double-pleasure-double-fun.html).

So the candles were carefully placed with G's assistance: 

"M" for Mommy/Meghan ...

then lit (with a serious flame-thrower) ...

sung over ...

and blown out. 

But it was G doing the wishing ...

because he had been told that the cake would reveal whether he will be having a baby brother or a baby sister ...

and he discovered ...

there was pink icing inside ...

Wish granted! A new baby sister will be arriving in April. 

- Happy Birthday G!

Patch #319 Super moon

Or maybe this ...

A new moon rose on November 14, 2012, but today a super moon is on the rise for G's fourth birthday, which we all celebrated yesterday. Even though he didn't get his first wish --a visit from cousin Jackson in Missouri-- G was consoled by the (temporary) appearance of an obstacle course bounce house in his backyard ...

Happy hugs for Mom ...

were followed by much merriment ...

all topped off by birthday cupcakes ...

and a first-time baby-holding experience with the newest friend on the block ...

Every day should be this happy ...