- Climbing to the moon

Patch #348 How kindred spirits might meet

Mo's ladders to the full moon have always made me smile, especially her most recent one ...

https://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/seasons-greetings-2/

So what better than to imagine ladders from the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere meeting?

And now that my Christmas ornaments are done, I had time for a few more retro patches.

November 17 Wishing

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016_11_17_archive.html

November 18 Paisley redux

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

and November 19 Peace bird

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-in-word.html

- One thing leads to another

Patch #347 One Hill Country Year

While I'm happy to be finishing two year-long projects, I did let go of the One Hill Country Year blog (again). Over the month or so that I worked on it, I created a patchwork of colors. When the blog closed down, so did the cloth.

However, I did end up using part of the cloth to create a framed quotation as a Christmas gift (which means I can't show it here quite yet). And as I finished that project today, I found I still had some patch cloth left ...

and decided to make it into today's memory.

- Ho Ho Ho

Patch #346 Hooked

I scored some great Christmas hooks and bells at Hobby Lobby and am now busily stitching this year's ornaments. Since I can hardly reveal the a-side, you'll have to settle for a peek at the b-side ...

P.S. I'm beyond delighted to learn that the new comment format is friendlier.  But for those who have been able to comment before, please let me know if you run into any problems.

- You don't say

Patch #345 The sound of silence

Over the 7+ years of writing this blog, I've been told from time to time that commenting can be challenging on the Blogger platform. But while I have encountered similar problems commenting on other blogs, I wasn't able to offer much help beyond, "Please keep trying."

Then I got emails within the past month from two kindred spirits whose voices I very much value. They said they were done trying. And a clue emerged: they both used Macs. Indeed, I've always had more problems when using my iPhone compared to my PC laptop.

Hmmmmm ...

So I went into the Blogger settings and gave up the commenting feature that enabled direct replies to comments, opting instead for a pop-up window option. Then I invited my Mac-based compadres to give it a try,

And wouldn't you know? That simple change made a positive difference.

The moral of the story is this: if you've tried to comment here in the past and had no luck, please try again someday when there's a post that grabs you. Because as much as I hate to admit it, comments are incredible motivators. I don't think I could keep this blog going without them.

And for those who have been commenting all along ... thank you! You're the reason I'm still here (and crazy) after all these years.

- 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