- Another day, another week

Retrospective (7/17/2016)

Patch #186 A new beach towel

Sometimes you find the perfect bit of cloth a bit too late ... but better late than never.

Original Post

I've been composting ideas, so patches are dropping from my hands as quickly as I can stitch them. Today, I finished up the patches for June 20-26 ...

although in truth, I actually made some of the patches at the beach ...

inspired by this shot (taken last year), of beach towels hanging over the railing ...

Today I tackled the Strawberry Moon patch, wanting to somehow replicate my memory of a pale pink moon rising over the sea and then, as the sky darkened, changing from orange to yellow to white, growing larger and larger as it rose ...

Of course, I took a page from the pojagi play book, stitching the layers of blue together by overcasting the seam with the right sides facing out ...

leaving pleasantly visible joins on the front ...

although I chose not to fell the seams ...

the better to minimize the thickness on the back ...

in order to stitch on the rising moon memories ...

Then this happened ...

Inspired by Grace's post about Inktense pencils and Sharon Tomlinson's online tutorial, I decided to try replicating Don's milk-paint-on-driftwood sunrise. Except I had more room at the top of the patch than I intended, so I started to freestyle and ended up surprising myself ...

quite pleasantly, I might add.

- 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

Original Post

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

Original Post 

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 ...