- Line 'em up

Retrospective (7/8/2016)

Patch #185 Painted bunting

I almost didn't include these pictures because they're hard to make out through the window, but the first is a painted bunting leaning down to take a drink on the edge of the bird bath ...

after which he sits up to show his red breast ...

Original Post

Today I got to stitch together a week's worth of patches (June 13-19) ...

And while my "Retrospective" process of posting patches on the day they commemorate as well as the day they are actually made may be confusing, it works for me. 

Did I really just write that? Oh heck, just click "Retrospective" in the Index to see what I mean (there are 50+ and counting).

In any case, my first patch today was a take on the Shark Attack, which is the Outer Banks version of the Shirley Temple cocktail. Just take one rubber shark, fill with grenadine, then pour into lemonade (see the June 17 post for action shots) ...

I thought this appliqué would be a cinch after yesterday's fiddle-y creek map, but it turned out that the fine cotton cloth and long smooth lines were challenging. I ended up outlining the edges in Jude Hill's split backstitch, which restored a semblance of smooth line-ness.

Next up was my birthday patch, which I originally envisioned as a take on the "Food is love" t-shirts Don got for the whole family. But as I cruised through the pictures on my phone, I came to this one taken on June 18 as we drove the last few miles to the beach house ...

I had taken the picture as James Taylor sang Line 'em up on our mix CD, imagining the poles as ever so many candles. Not that I was fixated on my 60th birthday. Ha!

Anyway, with thoughts of bojagi/pojagi playing in my head, I stitched some blue and green linen together and then did a felled seam in the middle. Sadly, it's hard to see on the back due to all the subsequent stitching ...

but once I learn a technique, I do have a tendency to look for opportunities to use it (and if you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail, right?)

And when you're turning over a decade, everything looks like a candle ...

One last thought (well, two actually).  As I looked at the birthday patch finally stitched to its neighboring patches, my mind went punny on me.  First, how the patch had ended up between a shark and a heart place ...  

and second, that I loved how the rubber (shark) met the road.

- One Way revisited

Retrospective (7/8/2016)

Patch #184 Pojagi patch

Original Post

Today I tackled a reverse appliqué that almost did me in ...

A retro patch for June 16th, it's a map of  Urbanna Creek at our friends' home on One Way Lane. 

Based on satellite images ...

and terrain maps ...

it was a good way to learn how much detail is possible versus how much is advisable on a patch that is only 1.75" high. And yes, the right side is really far off, but I'm not "going there" again (ha!)

I also spent some time browsing on Pinterest and discovered a Korean patchwork technique variously called bojagi or pojagi. Intrigued, I played with some scraps and ended up with a respectable square that showed off b/pojagi's characteristic seams when backlit ... 

For the record, here's the front ...

and the back (which has one seam in the upper left that was a particularly useful learning experience) ...

I love that there are no loose ends (except on the as-yet unfinished edges). So ... great, another project in the making. Right?

Last, but not least, I started looking through the 275 photographs from our family photo shoot at the beach. While there are some truly lovely ones, my favorites turned out to be the ones depicting the craziness that comes of trying to wrangle 8 adults and 4 kids at bedtime and high tide (a volatile combination) ...

Thanks Meg and Meliss, it was the perfect gift ...

- July

Retrospective (7/8/2026)

Patch #183 The way it was

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Summertime and it's hot, hot, hot in Texas. The perfect time to sit and stitch, resulting in this retro patch for June 15, a shout out to our favorite airline, Southwest ...

I also made some tentative sketches for the June 16-18 patches ...

and got to see the beginnings of a repair to our neighborhood's iconic windmill ...

- Backing up

Retrospective (7/7/2016)

Patch #182 Newcomb College sampler

Original Post

I finally started work on some retrospective patches now that I don't have the happy distraction of our grandkids. Sure is quiet around here.

But there were clouds to watch as I pondered ...

And in good time I completed patches for June 13, 14, and 25 ...

As always, I got a kick out of the similarities between the Texas and North Carolina state flags. Because really, North Carolina is my second home more than Williamsburg ever was.

And Jude Hill's post with its video about easing patches together brought a smile. I do love how my wonky patches all seem to square up when they are stitched together ... if only I had realized sooner.

- Taking a ride

Retrospective (7/5/2016)

Patch #181 Through the looking glass

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There are times when you can't quite believe your eyes ...

When colors seem otherworldly and even the camera can't mess them up.

We're fortunate to live near the headwaters of the San Marcos River, where Texas State University runs glass-bottom boats ...

the better to show the wonders of the natural springs ...

Fish and turtles swim below ...

and limestone sand bubbles like Cream of Wheat as the crystal clear water flows out of the Edwards Aquifer ...

thirty feet below the boat.  

It's really quite amazing ...

and not a bad way to spend part of a summer's day ...

especially if it's topped off by lunch at Torchy's Tacos ...

- Can't help myself

Retrospective (7/4/2016)

Patch #180 Blanket flower

Playing with complementary colors (red/green and purple/yellow) in this whimsical riff on the blanket flowers that were blooming at the beach (see June 23).

P.S. Can you tell I'm having a hard time letting go of beach week?

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On the way to Austin I stopped at the thrift store, where I am totally helpless in the face of anything linen ...

especially when it's marked down to $1. 

This time I won't mix colors in the wash ... and I'm intrigued to find myself leaning toward brighter colors with no intention of toning them down.

- Catching up

Retrospective (7/4/2016)

Patch #179 Sunbow

While it was sunny in Texas, it was overcast at the beach, which had its advantages: no sunburns and two sunbow spottings.

Original Post

Two more weeks added to the rain patch cloth after checking timeanddate.com for the time we were out of town ...

Plus some belated blog and news reading, which revealed there is currently an exhibit of 27 prayer quilts out of the 400 that were donated to Emanuel AME Church in Charleston:  http://counton2.com/2016/06/16/prayer-quilts-for-mother-emanuel-exhibit-on-display-until-june-30/

And even though I had planned to work on patches, I ended up playing with a t-shirt I started working on at the beach ...

I think I'll launder it before going much further since I have no clue how the stitches will respond to agitation. I'm also realizing (anew) that stitching into cotton knit is tough going, so this will probably be a one-off.

- Home

Retrospective (7/4/2016)

Patch #178 Sunrise

Original Post

What is home really?

Is it where your loved ones are?

Where your heart is happy?

Where time flies by?

We are home, back in Texas, but in my heart the Outer Banks will always be home, too.

This week I'll stitch memories of the past week into patches. 

But Don already created his memory-holder while we were in Avon ...

It's a slat of weathered wind fencing, designed to hold the dunes, reduced to driftwood by wind and tide.

Don calls it paint by numbers ...

milk paint layered onto the wood.

I call it art ...

This piece seems destined to end up framed by an old shuttle ...

its new home away from home.

- Bye bye bye beach

Retrospective (6/30/2016)

Patch #177 North Carolina flag

James Taylor sang as we drove off the Outer Banks "In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina" but we were going, going, gone again. Flags fluttered in the breeze as we flew by. Already gone.

Original Post

- The view

Retrospective (7/4/2016)

Patch #176 Beach towel 4

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This has been my view for the last week, sometimes sunny ...

sometimes not ...

Today was the last day for the kids to get sand between their toes ...

and play together ...

As an added treat, I noticed on Facebook that my cousin's granddaughter was at Hatteras lighthouse yesterday. We've never met, but I sent her a message and invited her over. Bless her heart, she accepted the invitation and came to meet us all after dinner. Three generations of cousins ...

and one last look at the sea.