Half of a half

May 28, 2023May 29, 2023 ~ Liz A ~ 19 Comments

I’m halfway through quilting one side of My Heart’s Compass … of which this is about half … so I guess that makes it a quarter-side of cloth …

Not exactly a fascinating reveal, but I continue to enjoy the simplicity of the going … even the circular shadow stitching, which I had been apprehensive about.

Here’s the other side, which I’ve managed to keep knot-free …

I don’t plan to put it on the bed “other side up” when it’s done, but I do enjoy looking at the other side when I take a break from stitching.

In the “life happens” category, we went to update our wills, last done ten years ago. A mundane exercise, but our lawyer advised adding a provision that will allow our executor to access our online accounts (who knew?) and we now have everything set up to “transfer on death” which will avoid probate. So we celebrated by getting new shoes, going out to lunch, and buying a small oil painting from our favorite Wimberley gallery, Art on 12 …

And for those of you who enjoy such things, here are some more end-of-school-year pictures of our grandkiddos (click to see full images) …

Parker’s journal about our visit to her class

Suh-weet …

Undone

May 21, 2023May 21, 2023 ~ Liz A ~ 12 Comments

There hasn’t been much to show stitch-wise as I’ve been quilting …

Valdani 12 O31 (that’s an “o” not a zero) is listed as “tealish blue” … but I think “ocean” would be a better description as it shifts between gray and blue and green depending on the light and the color of the cloth it’s stitched onto. Which is to say, it’s perfect.

Unfortunately, I didn’t figure that out earlier. I actually started quilting with a strand of white and a strand of black DMC floss …

And honestly, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t right. I ended up unstitching three days worth of quilting in about three hours. So it goes.

I also took the time to watch a few of Kate Ward’s Zen Stitching video workshops and took copious notes and screenshots of Ellie Beck’s excellent instructions on how to handsew a zippered pouch …

There has been lots of other fun stuff happening … a gallery opening for Billy Keen, whose No Path graces our walls (gotta love those boots) …

Much excitement in St Louis at Jackson and Jace’s year-end concerts and art show (which we visited virtually) …

Not to mention their new backyard pool, complete with neighborhood friends …

Parker and Ellis still come over every week, P on Mondays and E on Thursdays …

Plus we got to go in person to see Griffin portray William Travis at the 4th grade wax museum (step on the display board and the wax figure comes to life, reading a self-written “autobiography” … so now I know about Travis’ “line in the sand” challenge at the Alamo) … Parker was also there with her Kindergarten class …

Yesterday was the girls’ turn to perform, dancing in their end-of-year ballet recital, complete with stage makeup, ballerina updos, and great smiles (minus one front tooth) …

And last, which is always not least, our oldest granddaughter Logan just completed her freshman year at James Madison University …

How is that possible when this seems like it was only yesterday?

Making meaning

May 4, 2023May 4, 2023 ~ Liz A ~ 24 Comments

I’ve been reading Katherine May’s Enchantment and Sharon Blackie’s If Women Rose Rooted and an archeological book on Rock Art and Ritual …

All by way of learning more about cup-and-ring marks and other rock art in the British Isles …

while making my own meaning out of the marks I am stitching (meantime trying to unsee the dots as Girl Scout badges 😉) …

I do love making up stories … as I did with Moon Myth …

which Don and I, aka NanaPopPop, read to Parker’s Kindergarten class this morning …

As the latest of the weekly Mystery Readers, we sent clues to be read to the students each day so they could try to guess who was coming. I can’t imagine how Parker figured out it was going to be us …