Sunshine Sunflower

Day 313: Every year, my birdies grow a few of their own sunflowers. I never know exactly what to expect. Sometimes they're tall, sometimes short, sometimes large-flowered, sometimes almost as small as daisies. This one is about two feet tall with a 5" flower, and already the goldfinches are checking to see if the seeds are big enough to eat. They like them when they're small and soft, easy to open and still green. I support the stems when I can, driving stakes into the ground and wrapping them loosely with velcro tape, doing my best to help my avian farmers with their homegrown crop. Sometimes a heavy Steller's Jay takes a fancy for a sunflower seed snack and latches onto the flower, tipping it face down toward the ground as the bird enjoys upside-down dining.

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!

Working Over a Core

Day 305: When a friend saw my post about making bootlaces on my inkle loom, she asked if I would be willing to make curtain tie-backs for her. We exchanged several emails to settle on the specifics (colour, diameter, length), and I was ready to start experimenting. I put on a 60" warp (pretty close to the least this inkle loom will hold) with about 60 threads and began weaving. It became obvious early on that I needed to reduce the number, so I cut out half a dozen or so, but was not happy with the way the weft was beating. I tried adding in cores of several diameters to space out the threads, but still was not pleased with the result. After two more reductions, I settled on 45 threads around a 3mm core thread which gave just the right diameter and flexibility to the cord. Working around a core isn't as difficult as it sounds. Simply lay the core thread over the top peg, find some convenient spot to put the spool (in this case, on the end of a peg!), and weave as usual, taking the shuttle over the core thread as it is returned to the starting side (remember, when weaving a cord, the shuttle always passes through the shed from the same side). The weaving naturally draws the warp threads around the core. Bingo! And Bob's your uncle!

Ring Cycles

Day 304: I really wanted to start another quilt. I had a couple of designs in mind, both of which required a substantial amount of white/plain fabric, and that was going to be a problem with Joann's being a thing of the past. I will not shop at Cult Corner (i.e., Hobby Lobby), not if it means I never sew another stitch, and buying fabric on line is dicey. You have to be able to touch fabric to tell if it's suitable for a project, and much of the affordable muslin/broadcloth out there is cheaply made and thin. Walmart carries two-yard precuts of a decent quality, but the stores nearest me were all out of white. As I considered whether or not I wanted to cut up a bed sheet, I was still debating which design I most wanted to do: Double Wedding Ring (to replace the one I sold) or a variation of Jack's Chain called Ring Cycles. I'd already cut out several hundred pieces for DWR, but Ring Cycles was working on my head. I loved the way the big circles pop out of the design once a number of the rounds have been stitched together. Back off a few steps and look at the illustration on the right. Once the optical illusion resolves, you'll see what I mean.

I've spoken many times about how I prefer to sew by hand rather than with the machine, and the pinpoint accuracy of English paper piecing has always appealed to me, although I'd never done any of it. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy all the basting, but I decided to do a sample block of Jack's Chain as a trial run. I didn't want to use up my print fabrics on a test, so I pulled out the box labelled "quilt solids" and dived in. And what to my wondering eyes did appear in the very bottom of the box? Five freaking yards of good quality white broadcloth! Five yards! After making three of the 9-patches (that's nine one-inch squares for a 3" x 3" square), I'm sold on English paper piecing. Ring Cycles it is, although I'm still going to finish the sample block. Who knows? Maybe by the time I'm done sewing this quilt, we'll have a decent fabric store again.

An Inch Per Minute

 

Day 303: Of all the ways I know to make cord...finger-loop braiding, kumihimo, knitting dolly, i-cord maker, tablet weaving and half a dozen more...none is as fast as inkle weaving. The process is simple. Using an odd number of warp threads, the shuttle is always passed through from the same side, but must always be brought back to that position by passing either under or over the work consistently. I prefer to take it over the work because I can see the threads curling in to form the cord. If I want to add a core thread, this means I can see where it lays in the center. Because I am right-handed (ambidextrous, actually, but I inkle right-handed), I pass the shuttle through the shed from right to left, then take it over the work and back to the right side for the next pass. Just for giggles, I timed my progress. With this weight thread (8/2 cotton), it takes me one minute to make one inch. For that, there's no reason I can't have "designer" bootlaces! (Footnote: I will wax them for additional strength by running them across a bar of paraffin several times and leaving them to rest in a hot, sunny window for a few days.)

The Mama Shirt

Day 302: Merry loves his Mama. He can't bear to have me out of his sight for even a minute, following me into every room, and if I seem to be going to stay there for any length of time, curling up in one of his various cat-nests so that he is close to me. His little weaver's box is one area I've talked about frequently, but out in the kitchen on a shelf near the back door is the Pretty-Kitty Box, a cardboard box which once held half-pint canning jars and is now lined with a cushy hand-woven cotton pad. If I'm taking a bath, he roosts on the bathroom counter until I'm done. Our weather has been rather warm of late, so he's not keen on sitting on my lap, and often as not, he is sleeping sunny-side-up in my desk chair or in the middle of the floor, tummy exposed to my predations. That said, sometimes he wants the close feeling of Mama without the actual physical contact. Such was the case when he pulled my flannel shirt off the a loom where I had tossed it, and claimed it for his own.

MR IIIIIIII!

Day 301: (I thought I had lost this verbal puzzle forever, but after three tries, I managed to boot up my ancient, retired laptop in the hopes that that's where it was. Enjoy!)

MR spiders.
MR not!
OSMR spiders...
CDBD iiiiiiii?
OSICDBD iiiiiiii!
SMR spiders!

In this case, the spider in question is Misumena vatia (Goldenrod Crab Spider), and UcanCDBD iiiiiiii...or at least the front two as little brown dots. Spiders have eight, and I'm not talking about legs. I'm talking about iiiiiiii..."eyes," the better to see you with, my dear. Now imagine a tiny spider with a tiny, tiny brain, processing information coming in from eight sides. You, human, only have to worry about two (and some of you have trouble with that, especially if you're using your cell phone while driving). A spider's peripheral vision is what makes it such a formidable hunter, and can be demonstrated by trying to sneak up on one from behind. You've probably noticed that they change position when they detect movement, bringing at least one more eye into play. You have to wonder if spiders ever feel smug about their abilities like humans do. In the visual game, spiders are definitely on top.

Podlings

Day 300: The milkweed pods are coming right along! I have two areas each supporting half a dozen plants, seed for which came from two different sources. The second area is a year or two younger, and I am fairly sure that group is only going to produce one pod this year. However, the older group may have as many as two dozen. I haven't really taken a count. Once a blossom has been pollinated, the pedicel (the stem of an individual flower in an inflorescence) begins to thicken and curl. Then the ovary starts to swell into a pod which will eventually dehisc (remember your botany vocabulary from a few days ago!) to release dozens of seeds, each attached to a silky pappus. The pappus (a parachute-like structure) aids in wind dispersal of the seeds...and trust me, when you open an envelope of them inside your kitchen without knowing what's inside, "wind dispersal" can apply to the gentle breeze conjured by the slightest physical motion on the part of the unsuspecting recipient. I will be confining these in net bags before they dehisc so that they don't populate the neighbourhood. I am truly excited to have grown my own milkweed pods at last!

Happy Faces

Day 299: The people who annually plant non-native flowers in an illegal "memorial" site in the Park once again contributed to my garden at some point between Mother's Day and Easter when they bedded in two pots of pansies (left and right). I'd love to catch them in the act, and have been tempted to stake out the site, but I do not have law enforcement capabilities, although I betcha I could make their ears burn. In any event, I have a spot in the front flower bed in which pansies do quite well, but even so, I'm surprised to see them flourishing despite several periods of hot, dry weather. They were refreshed by a good rain last night, and if they want to re-seed, they're welcome to try. On the other hand, the violas (aka Johnny-jump-ups) in the middle image are a pest, and as such, are remarkably persistent. Still, they're colour, and at this point in summer, I'll take all the happy faces I can get.

The Slicky-Cord Trick

Day 298: Say goodbye to sticks, cardboard inserts, waste yarn, toilet paper or whatever else you've been using to weave headers. Let me introduce you to the Slicky-Cord Trick! I have on hand several spools of nylon cord in various diameters to match the threads I most frequently use in my weaving. After tying on my warp, I make two passes without beating, leaving a tail on one side and a loop on the other. After the second pass, I draw the beater bar gently forward to separate the warp threads, and then pull on the active weft thread and tail until the loop disappears on the opposite side and the width of the weaving is roughly what I want it to be on the loom. There may still be gaps between warp bundles at this point, but don't worry. Make several more passes with the slicky-cord, beating and drawing up to the desired width of the piece. By the time you've made six to eight passes, the weaving will be evenly distributed, or if not quite, hemstitching will take care of any inequities. In the next step, gently remove the two rows of slicky-cord closest to the woven fabric. You'll have to coax the slicky-cord along every inch or so during this step. This will give you enough space to hemstitch. Do not cut the cord! You can use it again next time. Because the cord is nylon, it is slick and easy to pull out. That's why I call it "slicky-cord!" When you're done hemstitching, pull the remaining slicky-cord out one row at a time, roll it up and save it to use again. There is very little thread waste with this system, and having the weaving width already established means you're ready to go.

Weaving a Tube

Day 297: Some time back, I received a mispicked order for cotton thread,  and was sent 3/2 instead of 5/2. I contacted the supplier who told me they'd ship out the correct product, and that I was free to keep the cone already in my possession. Never one to pass up free thread, I thought, "Well, I'll find someplace to use it even though it's heavy." I tried it in an overshot against 8/2, but after wet-finishing, it fulled up so much that the pattern was almost lost. The remainder went back on the "some day" shelf until recently when a friend picked up a partial cone of pink 3/2 and sent it to me, sparking an instinct which said loudly and clearly, "I have GOT to get rid of this!" (If you've missed the memo, I hate pink, absolutely loathe it.) I decided to make "bag bags" with it as an accent against the blue of the same weight. What's a "bag bag?" It's a long skinny tube, open at both ends, serving as a dispenser for the produce bags which inevitably follow you home from the grocery store and deserve at least one more use before going in the trash (don't get me started on single-use plastics, people! That's dangerous ground). Anyway, I decided to warp my small rigid heddle loom for weaving a tube, intending to cut in half to make two "bag bags." It hasn't been a project I particularly enjoyed, what with that pink staring at me, but at least I've put the thread to good use. I still have more of each colour left, so I'll have to come up with another project to use it up, just maybe not any time soon. I'm tired of 3/2, and I never want to see pink again.

Summer and Winter Colourplay

Day 296: Since Max moved in, he has been assigned a series of long-term projects from coverlets to tablecloths, the last one being my tartan shawl. I decided it was time for him to work on something less demanding, but on the other hand, I didn't want it to be so simple that I got bored with it. When I came across "Summer and Winter Unit Treadlings" on p. 188 in "A Handweaver's Pattern Book" (green version), an idea started percolating in my brain. The blocks are units of 12 warp threads each, so it was easy to break the design for stripes. I used Brassard 8/2 for the warp, and am using a greyer green 8/2 Valley cotton for the tabby throws. The pattern throws are also 8/2 Valley cotton in a darker blue. I wasn't sure how the colours would play with each other where the grey-green crosses the light blue, and was prepared to use a similar blue instead, but I am so taken with this combination that I will probably weave six identical placemats from this warp. Of course, summer-and-winter weave does not give an exact opposite on the reverse, so it will be interesting to see how obvious the difference is when I get to the point that I can see the back side of the fabric on the roller. As experiments go, this one is a smashing success!

Fruit of the Red-Flowering Currant

Day 295: Here comes that question again: "Are they edible?" (What is it with this compulsion most humans have to put things in their mouths?) In this case, I can answer "yes," although I do so with reservation. The fruit of the Red-flowering Currant is edible, but to my way of thinking, not particularly desirable. For one thing, the taste is rather insipid, but first you have to get past the sensation of dustiness, as if you'd picked them alongside a dry gravel road and hadn't washed them before popping a handful into your mouth. And then there's the fact that the pale blue skin of the berry is dotted with tiny, sparse black hairs which add to the impression of having licked a piece of dirty, coarse cloth or a fragment of your cat's sisal scratching post. If you want to call that "edible," go right ahead, but I'll leave them for the birds, thank you very much.

Dehiscence

Day 294: Muppets. But seriously, your word for today is "dehiscence." That's what's going on here. The fuzzy-haired seed cases of Comptonia peregrina (Sweetfern) have begun to dehisc, i.e., they're splitting open to release their seeds. Each pod contains two to four hard nutlets, seen here poking out like shiny Muppet noses or beaks. Typically, very few of these nutlets will germinate naturally, and starting new plants from seed is challenging to say the least. Rather, the plant spreads by suckering, but even so, it is difficult to transplant, although I have done so successfully on several occasions. That said, I have had very little issue with unwanted suckers coming up from the parent plant. I keep my Comptonia pruned to a manageable size, and in so doing, the foliage is quite lush as opposed to the leggy appearance of Sweetfern in the wild. The leaves give off a wonderful scent on warm days, but unfortunately it is not sufficiently persistent to use in potpourri.

Allium Fireworks

Day 293: Ornamental Alliums have pretty flowers. They do well to give height to a planting, and last longer than I'd expected. However, given the latest development, I'm of a mind to say the blooming phase is less interesting than the seed-producing phase! My front flower bed is putting on a display of Allium fireworks! I don't know that they will self-sow to produce more plants from those little black seeds, but the bulbs will make more by division, and as far as I'm concerned, they can take over the bed if they are inclined to do so.