- On deadline

Patch #344 For Kindred Spirits

I love reading Deb Sposa's Artisun blog and was delighted beyond words by this post:

http://artisun.blogspot.com/2016/08/jen-mullen.html

As a result, I tried making my own teabag mini-quilt. And thinking the deadline was December 14, I got it done yesterday. Of course, now I see the deadline is actually December 22, but with the holiday mail rush, it's probably a good thing I'm getting it out early.

So, for the record (so I can remember it), here's the completed piece, front ...

and back ...

It was a true learning sampler, created by finding a trio of scallop shells that would fit inside a used tea bag ...

inserting them and then spritzing the bag with water so I could mold it onto the shells with a brush ...

Then lightly stroking Inktense pencil over each shell ...

and using the resulting design to guide my stitches.

At first I was afraid the tea bag would tear, so I spaced my stitches far apart ...

Seen from the back, it looks like I used a running stitch and a detached back stitch ...

I soon realized the tea bag was stronger than I expected, so I made the stitches closer on the second shell ...

using more tension to get more defined ridges with stacked running stitch ...

Then I went all out on the final shell ...

successfully piling on tons of split back stitches ...

The "batting" was a bit of cotton flannel that I tea-dyed. To create a hanger, I wrapped the end of the flannel over a bit of beachcombed twig from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If you look closely you can see one of the barbs ...

The bottom edge I worried with a pin, succeeding in getting a look like tangled flotsam ...

Then I made a memory patch of teabag over flannel stitched in the same variegated floss as the mini-quilt. I know the tea bag will tear and fall away eventually. Indeed, it already has started to let go ...

which seems a proper metaphor.

- Drinking the Kool-Aid

Patch #343 Moana's stone

Okay, I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for (some) Disney movies. Especially the ones I took my kids to ... Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King come to mind.

So with a windy, cold day in the forecast, we decided to take G to see ...

It dotted every "i" (it will make you cry), and crossed every "t" (eminently  marketable characters) and I didn't care a whit. Disney will make their money, but I will enjoy the memory of hearing a Disney heroine saying, "I'm not a princess!" and seeing a grandmother cast as a positive motivational character (who revels in her eccentricity). Were they shamelessly playing to the Boomer demographic? For sure. They could do worse.

Not that we saw the ending. G ran out of steam about 3/4 of the way in, so we headed home. Note to self: don't go to nap-time matinees.

Of course, by the time we got home, G was past the point of napping. So he played quietly while I stitched my memory of the green stone that was a major plot device in the movie. If I didn't quite get the design right it's no matter. I stitched my memory of it.

And in looking up the spiral design after the fact, I found this image ...

which had a wonderful link to related images ...

The sails made me think of Pojagi cloth and Hazel's boats. And that alone was well worth the price of admission.

- Starshine

Patch #342 Morning memory

This is what I remember from a week and a half ago ... waning crescent, morning star in an early morning sky. Recalled this morning by a song in my head ... Good Morning Starshine.

Ah well, not all memories are golden. I mean seriously, look at these lyrics ...

Of course, with my hearing, most lyrics sound like nonsense. Which got me thinking of this ...

which (inevitably?) led to ...

Apologies if I've left you with an unwanted song in your head. With me it's a chronic condition. For those of you new to the blog, you can learn a little more about it here:

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-own-personal-soundtrack.html

My afternoon star was just as silly ...

And just in case you missed it, the first week of December has already flown by ... 

and you know what that means.

- Here comes the sun

Patch #341 Sunflower

This was intended to be a sun, but it morphed into a sunflower. As I stitched I thought of Grace's sunflower and went seeking it on Windthread, looking first at last year. But no, it has been two years?! 

http://windthread.typepad.com/windthread/2014/11/a-single-thing.html

How is that possible?

In any case, as Grace was walking Tay's paths, I was walking our trails, checking to see how the east trail in particular weathered the four inches of rain over the past four days.  Fortunately, it was mostly slow, steady rain, so there were no washouts, but the anticipated wintergrasses were well underway ...

while the fall grasses were beaten down ...

Rosemary was in bloom, as is its wont at this time of year ...

and the cedar elms were displaying what passes for fall foliage in the Hill Country ...

The bird bath was full to the brim ...

and sunlight danced along the edge ...

shifting in the breeze ...

The sages weren't daunted by the chill in the air ...

and the yaupon promised lots of berries for Christmas decorating ...

even as the four-nerve daisy put up one last bloom ...

soon to be nipped by frost if the forecast holds.

- Peaceful protest wins the day

Patch #340 Honoring Standing Rock

After learning that the Army Corps of Engineers had effectively ended the stand-off at Standing Rock, I spent the morning reading more about the place and the people ...

I was intrigued by the eight-pointed star in the seal, having recently encountered a description of a similar star as a Native  American symbol for hope. Looking in to that, I was also unable to verify another theory that four of the points represented north, south, east and west, while the other four respresented the sun's rising and setting points during solstices. Don't believe everything you read!

Instead, the eight points actually represent the regional districts of the tribe, as well as being a Lakota symbol for the morning star.

I learned much more, reading articles, theses, and websites, particularly those with .edu URLs. But what I also noticed as I looked at the Standing Rock website pictured above was a "Donate" link ... so I did.

One other thought ... could it be possible that the change in the stalemate was triggered by the movement of veterans to stand with the people? We may never know, but after hearing an eloquent explanation of the motivations behind the movement by one of the organizers, I'd like to believe they made a difference.

And in a wonderful bit of synchronicity, I found today's retro patches to be fitting.

November 13 Don't follow the herd

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_11_13_archive.html

November 15 The essence of fairy tales

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/allegory.html

November 16 Wearing my heart on my sleeve

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/symbolic.html

- What rain will do

Patch #339 Texas wintergrass

No, it's not botanically correct, but what I wanted to remember is what the 3" of rain over the past 48 hours will do. Looking out the window today, the land seemed to be getting greener by the hour. And when we first moved here, I assumed the clumps of green that grew after such late-fall and early-winter rains were sedges.

Until early spring came and the low lying clumps of Texas wintergrass (for that's what they actually were) became long and leggy. They also set long, sharp seed heads, giving rise to their other common name: Texas needlegrass.

We have a book of all (or most) Texas grasses ...

At 1000+ pages, it's a wonderful resource, but for quick reference I also keep this more modest tome handy ...

Since the aforementioned 3" of rain fell throughout the day, I did manage a few more retro-patches.

November 10 Reaching out (for Dee)

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_11_10_archive.html

using my hand as a model ...

Honestly, when did all those extra lines show up?

November 11 Like a river

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/self-soothing.html

for the second of two posts I managed to write that day.

And November 12 Don's (first) longhorn

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/seek-and-ye-shall-find.html

but definitely not his last!

- On a roll

Patch #338 Moon-cast

Just before Griffin's birthday on November 14, it came to my attention that a super moon was in the offing. Not surprisingly, I was delighted to learn that G was born under a new moon four years earlier.

Then, a few days before Meg's birthday on November 30, I saw one of my favorite configurations in the early morning sky: a waning crescent hanging from the morning star. When was the next new moon? I wondered.

Well I'm not quite sure how I ever survived without the instant gratification of the Internet. Suffice it to say upon learning the new moon was falling on Meg's birthday, I looked to see what phase the moon was in when she was born in 1982. If you guessed it was full, you can imagine my glee.

So I stitched two full moons and two new moons (drawn by hand because circles never stitch perfectly round even when I trace them) to remember what else I learned ...

The new moon in April is the same day as Meg's baby girl is due. So mark your calendars: April 26, 2017!

And because today is rainy and cold, I'm taking full advantage of the inside time to catch up on a few more patches.

November 2 Reading, 'Riting and Retired

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_11_02_archive.html

November 3 Ka-ching

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/inertia.html

November 4 Two floods too many

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_11_04_archive.html

November 6 Hope is the thing with feathers

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/back-on-track.html

and November 7 Sign of the apocalypse

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/election-eve.html

- Won't get fooled again?

Patch #337 How a day might get better

It didn't start out well ... another breakfast spent dodging endless articles about Trump in The New York Times. I had already written one letter to the editors (which they chose not to publish) admonishing them for their excessive coverage of Trump versus Clinton.

Finding an echo of my sentiments that actually did get published in the Letters ...

I realized things weren't apt to change, because "Trump" sells newspapers. Indeed, not only was the Times bragging about its surge in subscriptions, they sent an email blast that they were about to raise their rates.

Enough was enough. As I sat on hold for twenty minutes waiting to cancel my subscription, I wrote yet another letter to the editors. Since it too is most likely destined for oblivion, I'll self-publish it here ...

After which I made a contribution to my local PBS station to support The News Hour.

The day got much better after that. Having received an email out of the blue the day before, I headed out to rendezvous with a Kindred Spirit blogger at the Hays County BBQ (our restaurant of choice for first-time visitors to Texas).  

While she and her delightful spouse shall remain unnamed until they return safely  home, suffice it to say that we spent two wonderful hours getting to know each other and took the obligatory selfie to commemorate the occasion ...

Note to self: work on finding more flattering angles for selfies ... and hope that another meet-up lies in the future.