Ring Cycles - Two Motifs

Day 312: Ring Cycles (a variation of Jack's Chain) is going more quickly than expected, especially considering the fact that I'm working on other projects as well. Admittedly, my fingers are a little sore, and my bum is kinda chair-shaped! There were two challenges in figuring out how to "grow" this design. The first was how to piece the outer edges so that it followed a gentle curve. That was relatively easy, given that I'd drawn the design out with PaintShop Pro and had shapes to play with. The second was more challenging: how to join the large motifs without having to stitch the apex of a triangle into a deep ditch. That proved to be a matter of assembly order, putting on all the "filler" triangles until the edges created the shape where the next hexagon would fit in. Already, if I stand back and look at the pattern slaunchwise, I can see the arcs of the optical-illusion rings beginning to form. Two down, and only 30 to go!

Leucistic Junco

Day 311: Leucism is the result of mutations in the genes producing melanocytes. In birds, it manifests as washed-out colouration, blotchy patches and/or white feathers. Unlike albinism, a leucistic bird's eyes keep their normal colour. The predisposition can be and often is passed on genetically to subsequent generations, so I am left wondering if this youngster is kin to Snowflake, a visitor at my feeders in the winter of 2010 (Snowflake in the Filbert). In the years since, I have almost always had one leucistic Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) in my flock. Some had white tails, some white wing feathers. Some, like Snowflake, had white on their faces or heads. One was a "watercolour" version, as if someone had bleached every feather. At first, I thought this was a juvenile in moult, but the overall lightness and abnormally pale beak convinced me otherwise. Strikingly obvious when he flies, the central two feathers of his tail are dark.

Hammock

Day 310: He's had it for six months, never showed the slightest interest in it, and suddenly, here's Merry in his hammock. He doesn't stay long, maybe ten minutes at most, but at least it's finally getting some use. You never know about cats. What interests them one day may be ignored for the following six months, only to suddenly rise to the top of the list again. It required some strong telepathy and a session of pointed staring to get the message through to the dense Mama that he wants to play with Cat Dancer again because it had been on the "ignore" list for weeks and I'd more or less forgotten about it. I can't fault him for his attitude. I'm the same way. I'll dedicate myself to a particular fiber art for weeks or months (quilting, for example), only to lay it aside and not touch it again for a year or more. We get bored with things easily, Merry and I, but man, when we're focused, we're intense.

Celebrate Figginess!

Day 309: Celebrate the figginess! The first two didn't even make it into the house. I ate them while I was standing next to the tree, pinching others which weren't quite ripe yet. There are lots! And by "lots," I mean at least two dozen which will come to full maturity, the first real crop my Desert King has produced. Pruning note: these grew exclusively on last year's wood. I had thought this variety produced on new wood, but every fig is on year-old twigs. That means when I prune it to keep figs within easy reach, I should leave some current growth (i.e., this year's new wood) because it will bear fruit next year. Pruning is a fine science; not all plants can be pruned the same way (and I have to admit I have never mastered the fine art of grape pruning). In any event, I won't prune this year because the tree is only about six feet tall. Maybe next year, I'll have enough to make fig butter. These, I'm just going to eat fresh off the tree.

9-Patch Addiction

Day 308: English paper piecing has earned a spot on the list of "Things I Wish I'd Learned Earlier." I'd always thought of it as being too fussy, too much work with all that basting, too wasteful, too much trouble having to pick all the little paper pieces out when a quilt was finished. As it turns out, the fussiness is automatic (i.e., corners match up perfectly because the fabric is wrapped over same-size pieces). The basting goes much more quickly than expected and doesn't have to be pulled out. There is virtually no waste because the papers can be reused until the edges become too worn. As for pulling them out, they can be removed as soon as all the sides of a given piece are stitched to another piece, and they come out easily, even those glue-basted to the larger pieces. These 9-patches are utterly addictive! After basting 5 prints and 4 whites, I select the print I want for the middle and stitch a white to either end of it. Then I make two more strips with prints on the ends and a white in the middle, and apply them to either side of the center strip. The paper in the middle print can then be removed because it is entirely surrounded. The pinpoint accuracy of EPP is what appeals to me the most. Any variation in the length of the sides of the shapes is minor, very minor, and can be eased when stitching the pieces together. My husband was a faceter, and was meticulous about "meets," i.e., the points made when the cut faces of a stone come together. "Meets" applies to quilting in the same way. EPP makes meets foolproof! If only I had known about EPP fifty years ago. I might never have made a quilt any other way.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Day 307: The history of the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) in the United States is fascinating and a bit disturbing. They were unknown in this country until the early 1980s when, following a burglary of a pet shop in the Bahamas in the mid-70s, a number of the birds escaped. The store owner subsequently released the remainder of the flock (about 50 birds), and by the mid-80s, they were showing up in Florida. In the 35-40 years following, they spread throughout the United States and into Canada, an astonishingly rapid spread. While they are most commonly seen in cities, I have one or two which mingle with the Mourning Doves, and at first glance, one might mistake a Collared-Dove for a washed-out Mourning Dove, however, when the bird extends its neck, a dark "collar" appears, the feature which gives the species its common name.

My First EPP

Day 306: Well, here it is: my first adventure into English paper piecing (aka "EPP" in the quilting world). This was only a trial run, but I am so pleased with the results that I will probably appliqué this block to a background and stitch it up to be a pillow top or a mat. I have already begun working on a new block, the initial phase of a full-sized quilt using patterned fabrics for the 9-patch units. Just to put this in perspective, the hexagon quilts I've stitched recently have an average of 6-7 stitches per inch. With EPP, I'm averaging 13. Even so, the pieces go together fairly quickly. It took me three days to make this block. The proposed quilt required 33 blocks. The good news is that the various pieces can be cut in multiples, as opposed to the "fussy-cutting" of individual pieces I would normally do. I suspect there will be a few to fussy-cut...cat faces, a bug or two...but by and large, I am using calico prints. This oughtta keep me busy for a year or so!