I'm Going to Texas

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Last things first

I still need to write a post about our return from St Louis, but more recent happenings call out to be written first.

Like these wonderful wee quilts ...

that were gifted by Sue McQuade ...

whose blog Blessings of Thread is among the Kindred Spirits

https://blessingsofthread.blogspot.com/

I spent some time gathering addresses for the peace pin giveaway (finding there are still some missing). Oddly, I feel a strange sense of inertia about stitching, so I'm limbering up with some mending of socks ...

and worn upholstery ...

and a repurposing of denim shirt sleeves into pockets for the knees of my jeans ...

into which I insert washcloths as padding to provide a cushion whilst weeding ...

And after weeding, I made time to ramble about, making note of spring's progress.

The arrival of golden eye phlox ...

bitterweed ...

Blackfoot daisies ...

blue-eyed grass (which oddly has golden eyes, but I guess that name was already taken) ...

prairie verbena ...

crow poison (sorry Mo) ...

and dewberry blossoms strewn like snowflakes ...

with their promise of sweet berries to come.

Likewise, the promise of more flowers in the graceful arch of nascent mealy blue sage ...

the star-like leaves of bluebonnets ...

and buds of antelope horn milkweed ...

Then last, but best, a heart of flint within a heart of stone ...

with thoughts of Dee at Pattern and Outrage

https://deemallon.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/blood-and-money/

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Peaceful easy feeling

My peace pin giveaway began the process of regaining some balance in my life and I'm looking forward to starting on making each pin. [Note: for those who have not yet done so, please send a mailing address to lizackert@gmail.com]

Anyway, I say "looking forward" because right now we're in the middle of a visit to ...

where we are immersing ourselves in simple joys, such as ...

a (cow)boy and his dog ...

and a Seussian wannabe (complete with "wig" on the far right side of the photo) ...

We also made a great stop on the way here... the Fred Jones Jr. Art Museum on the campus of Oklahoma University in Norman

http://www.ou.edu/content/fjjma.html

In addition to a substantial display of historic Native American art, I was impressed by this contemporary piece by Olinka Hrdy ...

so much so that I couldn't resist getting the exhibit catalog ...

We also spent a good deal of time looking at the Abbreviated Portraits of Poteet Victory ...

And contemporary Wyandot potter Jamie Zane Smith's work inspired us to look up his website ...

where we learned he is represented in a gallery that will enable us to see more of his work when we head home via Tulsa.

Too soon.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Echoes of peace giveaway

Note: The Peace Pin Project of 2017 reached more than 70 individuals in 19 states in the US, plus six other countries. What follows is the original post that launched the project.
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Barry Smith wrote a blog post on Rustnstuff calling for readers to leave words about hope and peace.

My response was: "The world's best hope for peace is that we find a way to love each other without pre-conditions. Time will tell (10)"

To the first ten commenters, Barry promised a pendant. Mine arrived yesterday. The note jolted me:
IT'S TIME ... MAY HOPE AND PEACE PREVAIL.

Call ...

and response ...

The peace pin I will send to Barry
Cochineal and tannin dyed linen from here

In the past month I have been wandering too far from things that bring me joy. Guilty of willfully entering the chaos of the current political arena. My daughter called me on it last night ... an intervention. Jude Hill reiterated the message in her post today.

My response was to wipe my Facebook and blog posts clean. Which I hasten to add does not mean I'm leaving the political world to others. Just that I will choose one activity that I think can make a difference, rather than the dozens of possibilities that have left my eye twitching. I will call my members of congress whenever I see something in the news that involves legislative action. But I will no longer haunt Facebook.

So here's my call to you (if you've gotten this far). Please leave words of peace in the comments. And if there is a color that brings you joy, please note that, too.

In response, I will reach out privately for contact information and send you a simple peace pin, like the one shown here or one that matches the color(s) that give you joy. It will give me great joy in turn to make each one for an intended recipient, spreading the joy that Barry Smith gave me. Bringing a measure of peace.

Rust dyed muslin made two years ago here

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Retro-active

First, I promised (and then forgot) to post a picture of Land of Flood and Drought once it was hanging. I ended up hanging the 2015 LoFaD on the left and the 2016 LoFaD on the right ...

I also have a belated response to Deb Sposa's "How did you do that?" comment on this post

http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2017/02/showing-up.html

where I made the beginnings of a flower out of repurposed vintage handkerchiefs ...

I started with directions I found on how to make flower petals in one of the many books and Internet sites I perused. Sadly, I neglected to note which one. Anyway, I started with a 5 1/2" square of cloth ...

folded it in half ...

then folded the top right corner down ...

and the top left corner down ...

This resulted in all raw edges being on the bottom (an important consideration as this will end up on a baby quilt, so loose threads need to be avoided as they are potential choking hazards).

A running stitch along the bottom edge (done in a contrasting color for the purposes of demonstration here) ...

was then gathered ...

and secured by running the needle back through the gathers in the opposite direction ...

At which point the "petal" was ready to be used with the opening visible (above), or not (below) ...

It wasn't too far a leap to see the resemblance between the folded triangle of cloth and the corner of a vintage handkerchief. So I made a cover stock template with a 2 1/2" altitude and marked it onto the corner of a handkerchief ...

then cut the corner off, leaving a 1/4" margin ...

I discovered that the petals worked best when I used two handkerchief corners stitched together with perle cotton ...

after which all that remained to do was a light spritzing to remove the erasable marker lines ...

The flower pictured above has 14 pairs of petals, but I've also experimented with some alternate petal shapes and sizes ... which I'll save for another day.

Agita

I have been vibrating with anxiety, far from my new year's resolve to "enjoy." Cloth making has been adversely affected as I spend far too much time feverishly following Facebook.

Still, I did manage to stitch two plain pillows for our new couch ...

They were made from thrifted cotton/linen shirts and I'm now considering how they might be embellished ...

so they can better fit in with the Triangulation pillow that was my first Jude-inspired cloth-weaving adventure.

Meantime, 0ur daughter (who is expecting in April) brought G to our house for a sleepover ...

In spite of a tornado warning in the middle of the night, we got enough rest to find the energy for a trip to a new-to-us playground where G learned the gentle arts of swinging ...