A Holiday Project

A dear friend of mine asked me if I knew of anyone who could make a custom holiday stocking for his new niece to hang upon the mantle at Christmas.  I'm sure my friend is quite proud of himself for being so clever as to not ask me directly, but, being so full of myself, I, of course, volunteered myself for the project.  An offer that he gladly accepted.  The games people who love one another play...

To be fair, I have not sewn anything of consequence for some years...maybe 5 to 7.  Since my quilting partner retired, I have just turned my energies in other directions.  But this project came at a good time, and it's reasonable in it's scope.  Also I greatly appreciate the freedom of creativity that he entrusted me with.  The recipient in just over one year old.  She hardly has any set preferences with it comes to design.  My friend also described the finished product as a keepsake that she would cherish throughout the years.  I agree.

Off the table were any "cutsie" little patterns or designs.  Equally nixed were any religious
images.  Also the child's name is Violet.  That was important to know.  So I began with an extensive search of Holiday fabrics both online and at local fabric shops.  My sense was to create a stocking that featured animals.  I love animals.  Kids love animals.  Little kids love to look at and imagine about animals.  And I wanted something traditional, too.

Imagine my joy when I discovered just such a print?  I immediately purchased it online and awaited it's arrival!  Imagine my initial disappointment when it arrived as seemed too large for the task at hand...  I look more.  I looked high.  I looked low.  I found nothing that inspired me like this print.  Ergo, it was time to get serious.  I considered the dimensions of the pattern and the area of the images on the print and devised a plan to reconfigure the image using appliqué techniques.

I completed the bulk of the front of the stocking today.  The images that follow trace the progress.

This is the print that I settle on and purchased online.  I love the blue motif and the choice of arctic animals that are also being critically threatened by global warming.

Here I centered the stocking pattern around St. Nicholas and added both toe and heal pads using an unrelated fabric featuring violets.  Additionally I cut out the Snow Owl, one of the Polar Bears and one of the Arctic Foxes from the original fabric and basted them to appliqué on the portion with Santa.  Further complicating the project, I also cut out around the bunny and basted it in preparation for a multi-layered collage of images from the original.

 PHASE 1: Appliqué in the Snow Owl and the then the bunny.

 PHASE 2: Appliqué in the Polar Bear with an extra layer of cotton banting to give it an elevated form.

 PHASE 3: Appliqué in the Arctic Fox with a layer of cotton banting for the same reason.

More to come!

CARE Package from Down Under

 Recently came home from work to discover a CARE Package of goodies from my Australian friend, Rod.  He's such a thoughtful and generous bloke.  the fact that he's straight doesn't even inhibit him from grabbing me some bling from the Darwin PRIDE festival.

And he includes Romeo, too!  I have a happy dog.  Cheers!

Surprise!

The true definition of up-side-down Day is coming home to discover a card from a friend complete with a little gift--AND it is HIS birthday!

Rosh Hashana Snap Shot

While I'm not Jewish, today is a blessing for me in that I have it off of work as a Holiday. To my dear Jewish friends, "G'mar Hatima Tova"! And know that you are sealed in the book of my heart, too.

Poor Romeo's been such a trooper with me in my present malaise. He can't possibly know that he's the vector of my distress--though I have taken to washing his paws! So we took a nice long walk today. The jingle of his harness makes him swoon. And in spite of his enthusiasm it would probably be easier to train a seal to leap through a hoop than get him to hold still while I slip the harness over his neck!

On the way down we ran into a fawn on the edge of the woods in the lot on the other side of my neighbor's house. It was covered in spots and seemed rather small to me for this late in the summer. There was no sign on a doe anywhere. Romeo finds these creatures uninteresting, but is patient while I stand a speak gently to it. The fawn looks up, flicks its tail, and returns to eating. Greets made, we continue on down the hill.

In the park I am amazed by the moisture in the ground. By this time of the year the creek is often a dribble, and the ground is parched and hard as slate. This year the soil remains dark and clearly moist--and it hasn't rained for about a week, which makes this even more unusual. It's owing to the constant rain we received throughout the end of July and especially into the latter weeks of August and early September. Another benefit is how lush and verdant the woods are. Trees that have normally started losing their foliage for want of water are still full. Notably the sycamores, which are always, a harbinger of early autumn stress.

Asiatic Daylily

Knotweed

The flowers are also in full glory like I've never remembered before. The Asiatic Daylilies and Knotweed are snaking there way up through the tall grass in a veritable battle for pathway supremacy. But the jewel of the trail is my favorite autumn wildflower, the Trefoil Tickseed. And all together the three make a lovely boarder to the path.

Trefoil Tickseed

On the way back we pass a neighbor working in the flowerbeds that frame the walk to her front door. She remembers my desire to start a patch of Cleomes in my own gardens and has shred the seeds of hers with me in the past. "Did they ever take?" she asks.

"No," I report.

"Would you like some more seeds?" she asks.

"If I thought they'd grow, I would. But I don't think I have the right conditions," I say.

"You might need a sunnier spot," she offers.

"That's true," I say, "So I think I'll just have to settle for enjoying yours."

She smiles and we leave it at that.

Back home I drop Romeo off and drive over to a nearby grocery for some odds and ends for super. When I drive back onto my street, I notice my neighbor standing in his front door, and I wave. 

Once I get out of my truck, I see what has captured his attention. The fawn is now grazing in our neighbor's yard across from us. With relief I see her mother is with her, but to my surprise, she is scarcely larger that her offspring--and this in a year of such abundance.

Summer Vacation Redux #24: The Total Eclipse of the Sun

The morning has arrived--the day of the Total Eclipse, and we are off to an Alpine meadow and a spot on the line of totality that my friend has scoped out for us ahead of time. The map shows the path through Wyoming. The dark swath is area that will experience some amount of Totality, if even fleeting on the edges. The blue line in the middle is the line of greatest of totality. For us that means 1 minute and 54 seconds.

 Another amazing sunrise on the Wind River and the sky seems relatively clear--a good thing!

 Looking in the direction of our viewing destination. We will be somewhere to the right of the center right mountain, which I believe is
 

 One the way, which will take us about an hour, we happen upon this herd of Bighorn Sheep gleaning from this recently bailed field of hay.

 Almost there and you can just see the Tetons in the distance.

 To kill some time as we waited for the main event, I went exploring some of the wildflowers. Abundant still owing to the atypically wet summer.

 At this point, I was TOLD by the gentleman in the SUV that I was "blocking his shot". I was nice about it.

 It was a bi-coastal expeditionary force. Myself and my friend Joey from Maryland and members of Greg & Pamela's extended family and friends of theirs from San Diego.

 I did kind of want a moose to raise up and surprise us...

 Our nearest co-observers.

 And this quite surprised me--by this time we were a mere few seconds away from the totality (my camera compensating for the darkening sky! Ugh!!) and it was quite cold at this point. Around 50-45 with a steady wind chill. I know I had gone into it thinking how much I wanted to experience the temperature change, but by now my ears and hands were chilled enough, thank you. Some people are just more intrepid than I...

 BAM! Best my little camera could do...

What I was able to see with my naked eye.  Even now I am covered in the proverbial goose bumps just thinking about it.

Summer Vacation Redux #23: Dubois, Wyoming

After coming into Dubois, we visited the local shops and stopped at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church. The service was over and the crew gone, but I have an odd connection to this little parish. When I was on the vestry at St. Margaret's in Washington, D.C., one of our assistant priests was Lynn Cunningham. He retired from DC and moved to Wyoming to take on the priesthood at this little church. Circumstances did work out to meet up, but it was interesting to be a place that he has come to serve. Good man. Another highlight was visiting the Rustic Pine Tavern with Greg. His father was a carpenter plus! and worked on the latest renovation--which I think like goes back to the 1930's. What a beautiful structure.

 Downtown, Dubois! Not even one stoplight...

 Dubois Post Office 82513

 St. Thomas Episcopal Church

 The Wyoming Wildlife window at St. Thomas church.

 Greg and Barney on Main Street.

 Barney's butt on the boardwalk with the names of contributors to the town's infrastructure.

 Greg happy to show us some of his father's handiwork.

 Dubois city park on the Wind River.

 Dubois, Wyoming in one shot!

The view on the other side of the road!