- You gotta ...

I was trying something new: sandwiching a very fine cotton between two fine linens, then stitching text through all three layers ...

Patch #95

Unlike my usual MO of printing words by hand, I used a word stamp, then back stitched it with a single strand of cotton floss. Unsure about how the open weave of the linen would hold the stitches, I ended up pleasantly surprised. So I'm now ready to move on with the project for which this was but a trial.  As for the word stamp that I grabbed out of the box? I guess it turned out to be the perfect word for today ...

Once again, I walked through wildflowers, taking more pictures than you probably care to see (so I'll reduce the size to make scrolling quicker) ...

Antelope horns (milkweed)

Texas bindweed

Wild Garlic

Prairie bishop's weed

Buffalo bur?

Texas vervain

Sand scorpion weed? or Lindheimer's milkvetch?

Rain lily

Prairie nymph

Texas flax

Texas star

Mealy blue sage

Lace cactus and bitterweed

Close up

But it gets better ... upon returning to the house, I found an email from the Newcomb Museum of Art at Tulane, home of the Newcomb Enterprise textile collection ...

announcing a Mother's Day brunch ...

complete with a behind the scenes tour of the Newcomb College pottery collection ...

Best cactus flowers ever?

"Hey Don, want to go to New Orleans next month?"

"Does the Hill Country have beef?"

Seen on the way to pick up our weekly CSA veggies

P.S. Recommendations on hotels, restaurants, and must-not-miss sights in New Orleans would be greatly appreciated since this will be a first-time visit for us.

- What were you doing in 1968?

In 1968 I was an awkward twelve year old growing up in the suburbs on Long Island.  My mom was forever telling me to "put down that book and go outside for some exercise." Somehow I didn't quite appreciate going out for a walk back then the way I do now.

In addition to books, I was also into needlework ...

Patch #94: crewel wool on coarse linen
(newly dated with one strand of DMC floss)

The patch is a bit of Erica Wilson crewel embroidery from this piece (yes, I cut into it), which lived in my parents' house on Shelter Island in the frame my father painted ...

until it didn't. I took it out of the frame a few years ago after my parents had both passed away. I couldn't bring myself to let it go, but neither did I want to look at it on the wall every day. 

Making today's patch I was struck by how crunchy the cloth was and how clumsy the crewel wool. Really, I did a pretty good job considering what I had to work with. As I recall, I quickly moved on to Elsa Williams' line of crewel kits during my teens. Then to counted cross stitch and finally my own designs. But that's another story.

Still, as cutesy as the lazy daisy stitches are, they do call the blue-eyed grass to mind ...

although the prairie verbena ...

and this new-to-me wildflower are arguably closer matches with the requisite five petals ...

Of course, nothing made by hand can touch the reality of a bank of Texas bluebonnets, so I just point my camera and shoot ...

Meanwhile, the dewberry flowers are  yielding fruit ...

and the live oaks continue their pollen production ...

coating everything ...

"Not pixie dust"

So I'm back inside, enjoying the view of Don's latest (he says the largest is still a WIP) ...

Funky fish found at an antique story during the Llano Earth Art Fest

I can almost smell the salt air ...

- Sail on silver girl

Another day ... another week ... another month ...

The weather patch cloth is getting too large to get into decent focus in its entirety. So, getting a little closer ...

Drat! The seam color still doesn't show, so you'll have to take my word that it's a pale green to commemorate the pollen that has blanketed our world. Pixie dust it's not! Indeed, today I awoke to a sinus headache of the sort I not-so-fondly refer to as frying pan face ... in tribute to those classic cartoons of yesteryear in which hapless characters had their profiles imprinted in cast iron cookware accompanied by a resounding "clang!" (Or maybe it was an anvil)

So, as beautiful as the day was, I hunkered down inside, dosed up on generic Claritin, Nasocort, and acetaminophen. Which wasn't all bad since I had some projects to do for a blog-friend, commemorated thusly as a helping hand  ...

Patch #93

Yep, that's my hand in miniature. More on that later.

Luckily for me, Don went out for the mail and brought back this lovely from Hazel (aka Cindy) Monte at Handstories ...

With some sky for a sail

I gasped when I saw it. Look closely and you can see bits of silver glinting in the waves ...

Not only that, there was also a delightful card and some indigo shibori (I think) ...

I love how the piece was signed, too ... gonna have to figure out a way to make that visible in the final mounting. By the way, the frame is one my dad painted 45 years ago. Long empty, it now has the perfect companion.

The day ended with my first-ever bamboo steamer cooked dumplings (up until now I've made potsticker dumplings). Please bear with me (or just stop reading) while I jot down the recipe so I can remember what I did!

Steamed Pork Dumplings (makes 32 small)

Filling

1 lb ground pork (do not precook)
1/3 pound shredded mushrooms (uncooked)
Handful of Asian slaw mix with cabbage (put dressing on the remainder and use as a side)
Some sliced scallions
Tamari sauce
Sesame oil
Grated ginger
Grated garlic
1 egg white

Combine ingredients (yes, I know there are no quantities ... that's how I roll).

Wrappers (mix up an hour or so before cooking)


I cup bread flour
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp safflower oil
pinch of salt

Combine in food processor and process until ragged, adding a bit more water as needed until it almost, but not quite masses into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest on the counter for 1/2 hour (or more)

Divide into 32 portions (fourths, then each fourth into eighths ... try using a scale next time)

Run through pasta roller #3, then #5, then #7. Dust lightly with flour as needed

Scoop pork filling with a tablespoon measure, pinch wrapper edges together and put in parchment paper lined steamer baskets (16 per basket)
Steam for 8 minutes or until barely pink in the middle (check after 6)

Serve with warm chicken broth and soy for dipping, plus that Asian slaw on the side

- No foolin'

Patch #92: Blue skies over hailstones

We awoke to the sound of thunder close at hand, but within minutes there were clear patches in the pre-dawn sky.

By the time breakfast was over, the wind had picked up and Don got the new car in the garage just minutes ahead of the next storm.

Hail the size of small marbles rattled off the roof, bouncing like popcorn off the rocks before coating the ground. Then minutes later, the sun came out. I'm not kidding.

One of the sotols became a snow cone writ large ...

holding ample evidence of the storm ...

while a single hailstone floated in the rain gauge ...

0.2"

And look at this, from yesterday evening's picture walk ...

tiny white flowers strewn like hail over the floodplain ...

This spring there are more flowers on the floodplain than we have ever seen before ...

relics of last year's floods ...

cloaking the fields in gold ...

I'm taking this all as a good omen for a renewed commitment: every day a patch of memory ...

January Patches #1-31
February Patches #32-60
March Patches #61-91
April Patch #92

- Use your words

I remember the first time I heard a Kindergarten teacher tell an out-of-control child to "use your words."

My reaction was something along the lines of "well of course, what a great idea."

Which still holds true today, as I managed to pull off an 11th hour finish to the March patches ...

Patches 87-91

including a green calendar (for spring or St. Pat's, take your pick)  ...

Patch #91

I looked back on the rest of the month and realized the blank patches meant nothing to me. So I scrolled back to the original posts and thought, "You know, I could use some words."

And really, it didn't take all that long to do. Soon the completed month was flying in the breezeway ...

Rather than show you all the additions here, I'm going to re-visit the original posts and add updated images. With thanks to Dee Mallon for this post about back-filling journals that inspired my turnaround today.

For now, I'll leave you with these brave cactus flowers (twice the diameter of the arms that support them) ...

and the hackberry that we had given up for lost only a week ago ...

Hope springs eternal ... and yes, I'm going back to daily patches and posts.

- Vintage composting

Retrospective (4/29/2016)

Patch #90: vintage embroidered handkerchief ...

Original Post 

I haven't disappeared exactly, but I find myself in need of some fallow time. So, the daily posts have been put aside for now. And while I still intend to make a patch for each day, the idea of presenting them as series rather than individual pieces is forming in my mind.

So, I'm reading ...

and considering how I might repurpose my small collection of vintage handkerchiefs among other things.

- Holding patch

Retrospective (4/29/2016)

Patch #89: a small patch to mark a simple day of play with G ...

- Revival

Retrospective (4/29/2016)

We were sure the tree was a goner, since the other hackberry was already in full leaf. The branches were bare, barren ... no swelling of leaf buds could be seen.

Looking online, we discovered hackberries to be only somewhat tolerant of flooding. This poor thing had gotten its feet wet not once, but twice in 2015. Time to call in the arborist, we decided.

But we were wrong. Literally overnight the tree pushed out a few hopeful leaves. And then more and more, until it was clear it not only survived, but was thriving.

In full leaf (4/29/2016)

And so this is Patch #88: a tree stitch study that never got used from the Kitchen Towel series ...