stitchwitchsapprentice

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Not quite what you're talking about, but I'm reminded of one of my favorite worlds.

probably shitty worldbuilding idea: fantasy world that keeps going

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Thanks for your patience. After too many technical difficulties, our latest episode is finally out!

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

If you’re an adult, do the stuff you couldn’t as a kid.

Like, me and my sister went to a museum, and they had an extra exhibit of butterflies. But it cost £3. So we sighed, walked past, then stopped. We each had £3. We could see the butterflies. And we did it was great. We followed it up with an ice-cream as well because Mum and Dad weren’t there to say no.

I was driving back from a work trip with 2 other people in their early 20s, and we drove past a MacDonalds. One of the others went “Aww man, I’d love a McFlurry.” And the guy driving pulled in to the drive through. It was wild. But it was great.

I went to a park over the weekend and I was thinking “Man, I’d love to hire one of those bikes and cycle round the park.” It took me a few minutes to go “Wait, I can hire one of those bikes!”

I guess what I’m saying is, those impulsive things you wanted to do as a kid - see the dinosaur exhibit, play in the fountains with the other kids, lie in the shade for 2 hours - you can do when you’re an adult. You have to deal with a whole lot of other bull, but at least you can indulge your inner 8 year-old.

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Look if there is absolutely nothing else you take away from the nonsense I am posting, it's this: Make Art.

Make art, with whatever you have. Use scrap cardboard and tape and build something; doodle in your notebooks, make a beautiful dinner, grow a plant, write, paint your nails. Learn to whittle, to knit, to cut straight lines, to sew, to cook, to run at a problem and not solve it the first time. Learn to try again.

Make things the wrong way.

If it works, do it again, better. If it doesn't, do it again, different. Draw badly. Look at the way the light hits something and try to figure out the colors it makes. Watch the way strangers walk and how the weight of them shifts in motion.

Creating art--beautiful things, ugly things, silly things--is not something that you should be leaving to people who are better at it or can afford the expensive materials or have a deep message or whatever. Do it anyway. Do it worse, do it cheaply, do it just for the joy of doing it. The work itself has merit. The work itself is rewarding. Make art.

And pet your cat.

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Reblogging for later reference...

no more cold and calculating i want warm and calculating. i want characters who use deductive reasoning to figure out whether their friend would like a wool or cotton quilt based off of their lifestyle, career, hobbies, and habits. i want "your nails are often chipped because you work for a law firm as a typist for this company which notoriously underbudgets their IT department, so ive bought you a keyboard cover that will not only prevent manicure damage but is also sensory friendly because I know you dislike certain clicking noises". i want characters who figure out their friends entire schedules and social battery levels just by examining who only use that info to know when the best time is to hang out with them. i want characters who create elaborate, supervillain level schemes just to get their hands on some collectible they know their best friend wants. most of all i want characters who do not use intelligence and reasoning skills as a reason to be cruel but as a means to be kind

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Posting to have this later.

depression tips™

shower. not a bath, a shower. use water as hot or cold as u like. u dont even need to wash. just get in under the water and let it run over you for a while. sit on the floor if you gotta.

moisturize everything. use whatever lotion u like. unscented? dollar store lotion? fancy ass 48 hour lotion that makes u smell like a field of wildflowers? use whatever you want, and use it all over. 

put on clean, comfortable clothes. 

put on ur favorite underwear. cute black lacy panties? those ridiculous boxers u bought last christmas with candy cane hearts on the butt? put em on.

drink cold water. use ice. if u want, add some mint or lemon for an extra boost.

clean something. doesn’t have to be anything big. organize one drawer of ur desk. wash five dirty dishes. do a load of laundry. scrub the bathroom sink. 

blast music. listen to something upbeat and dancey and loud, something that’s got lots of energy. sing to it, dance to it, even if you suck at both.

make food. don’t just grab a granola bar to munch. take the time and make food. even if it’s ramen. add something special to it, like a hard boiled egg or some veggies. prepare food, it tastes way better, and you’ll feel like you accomplished something. 

make something. write a short story or a poem, draw a picture, color a picture, fold origami, crochet or knit, sculpt something out of clay, anything artistic. even if you don’t think you’re good at it.

go outside. take a walk. sit in the grass. look at the clouds. smell flowers. put your hands in the dirt and feel the soil against your skin.

call someone. call a loved one, a friend, a family member, call a chat service if you have no one else to call. talk to a stranger on the street. have a conversation and listen to someone’s voice. if you can’t, text or email or whatever, just have some social interaction with another person. even if you don’t say much, listen to them.

cuddle your pets if you have them/can cuddle them. take pictures of them. talk to them. tell them how u feel, about your favorite movie, a new game coming out.

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

I had a student use grammerly once on a paper because English is not their first language, and they know they make mistakes due to differences in their L1 and L2. Turns out that non-native English speaking teenagers have a better understanding of English than the software that's designed for the explicit purpose of understanding English grammar.

But I do think I'll start describing worms as demons from now on.

Me: I need to get some demons for our compost bin.

googledocs you are getting awfully uppity for something that can’t differentiate between “its” and “it’s” correctly

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Because I need to bookmark this.

site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

I'm starting to understand why my therapist keeps casually dropping the term ADHD in our sessions...

we have adhd 💬

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

My body hurts. And my brain rebels against me. But I thank my ears, for letting me hear music, and [my neices'] laughter. And I thank my voice because I speak for people who cannot. --ND Jones, Reading Circle Temple, Season 10, Episode 21

#sacred reading #book podcast #melting stones

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

"From Scratch" Quilting

Wanted any easy place to return to where I could showcase my quilting process, especially since I haven't made it to any quilt shows since COVID. So here it is!

For my "Mad Hatter Tea" quilt, I worked with my comisionee to design a pattern that really fit the theme.

Then I went through fabric swatches, and added color. Obviously, we wanted this one to be very bright and colorful.

And here's the final result.

Other Quilts

These are some other quilts I've made in the past, though they use fewer techniques.

Simple Quilts

And these are some much simpler designs. This is the type of thing we usually include in our "sacred reading kit" giveaway on Reading Circle Temple.

The so called "Crazy Quilt." No pattern at all, but a good way to use fabric scraps. (This is actually the first quilt I made!)

The "jelly roll quilt" (named after the rolls of strips you can buy in the store). Most quilters will be familiar with this very simple pattern.

And I had to show my friend my modeling the one I made for my husband.

And the hankie-butterfly quilt. This one is a common pattern too, with variation. You'll recognize I used this technique in the Mad Hatter Tea Party quilt as well.

Current Projects

I'm currently in the process of finishing up a quilt-as-you-go that I'm titling "Red, White, and Moo." (I guess I should set a July 4 goal!)

Quiltography

I've also developed a hobby of quilting maps, which I will likely make into a larger quilt, once I have made enough.

This is a top-down view of a theater stage. The black lines toward the bottom are the black curtains, and if you look closely, you can see lights embroidered at the top.

This is the tram system in one of my countries, which is a very mountainous area. Hopefully the cameo from my cat makes up for it being messy and upside down!

#quilting #stitch witchery #worldbuilding #nideon

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Found this reddit post. This kinda makes me feel better. And it’s something I think about sometimes because I always feel like regardless of how hard I work on something I don’t get anywhere.

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

L3: A Short Story

Hugo shielded the sun from his eyes as he watched the ship descend. It was coming from Rockmill, more commonly referred to as the Skrik by the people who actually had to worry about living there. Hugo somtimes wondered if that was why the Angelus Coorporation had built it at Lagrange Point 3, on the opposite side of the sun. They figured the further away it was, the less likely anyone was to think about it.

The door of the ship opened, and his new boss stepped out. He was a large man with thick black sideburns. "Hugo Fox?"

"Yessir." Hugo stepped forward and shook the man's hand.

"Come with me." He beckoned and Hugo jogged after him as they walked through the grounds of the estate. They passed field after field of trees about ten feet high, bearing orange and red teardrop shaped fruits. Hugo's mouth watered just to look at them. "I'm told you're the best gardener on the island," The boss told him.

"I don't know about that, sir."

"Heard you can grow things where no one else can."

"Well, I did help with the hydroponics unit on the southeast beach. The soil's too rocky there for much of anything to grow."

The boss paused and looked Hugo up and down. "You're not one of them eco-techies, are you?"

"No sir," Hugo lied, "I just go where the money takes me."

"Still, you don't seem to have any enhancements."

"Can't afford them, sir."

The boss laughed and clapped a hand on Hugo's back, steering him along the path again. "Yet. Can't afford them yet. Tell me, what is the first enhancement you'll get with the money you earn here?"

"I think it would be nice to have a second set of eyelids. Clear ones. Like birds have? I think they'd be great for swimming. Or winning a staring contest. Do you have enhancements, sir?"

He tapped his head. "Increased my memory space."

Hugo nodded. "I hear that one is popular," and useless, he thought, it's just as hackable as a normal memory.

"Ah, here we are." The boss stopped again. They had arrived at a house. It was far too small to be the main house, but it was still far too big for one person. "This is is the head gardener's cottage."

"It's.... great."

"Is it unsatisfactory?"

"Oh no! Let's put it this way. When I worked for eco-techies, I was sleeping on someone's floor."

The boss had a booming laugh. "Well, that's why you're here now. Come on, I'll show you the rest of the place."

The rest of the place, as he had put it included a three-story mansion and acres upon acres of fruit trees--Imla fruits. They returned to Hugo's new home, where he signed the contract and went straight to work, tending to the trees.

The imlas were native to the island, but the boss had bought their grove and turned it into an orchard so he could sell the fruits around the world. He had a tendency to pay off anyone who found one popping up elsewhere. Hugo's mission was simple in theory--take some seeds so the eco-techies could plant them in other areas of the island. In practice, it was more difficult. Most of the trees had been bred to produce seedless fruits. The claim was that consumers wouldn't want to eat fruits full of seeds, but selling seedless also helped him maintain his monopoly. Rumor had it the boss kept a couple of trees that still produced seeds, to make it easier to pollinate and grow new ones. It was the same reason he'd hired a head gardener instead of trying to automate the job, as others might. He had a head for plants, which made him dangerous.

Hugo's contact, had told him the seeded fruits were closest to the boss's house, so he would have to collect them at night or risk getting caught. In the meantime, he might as well do his job. He may not be able to end the exploitation of the trees, but he could make them as happy and healthy as possible. Hugo walked through the rows of trees, inspecting each of signs of disease or ill health and making careful notes for the boss, though it was clear the previous gardener had done well at the job.

As the sun was setting, Hugo returned to his new home. The boss had stocked the kitchen for him. There was a carton of eggs and a filet of fish in the fridge and an array of spices in the cupboard, as well as a basket of imlas on the table. Hugo bit into one. The outside was crisp, and the inside soft and tender. It tasted sweet, and creamy, like caramel. It was seedless, of course, but he savored it anyway. He hadn't eaten many imlas growing up. They were too expensive.

He cooked the fish and then he waited. Try to sleep, his contact had told him when they had discussed the mission, you'll want the rest. But the best he could do was lay in bed, trying to imagine the imlas repopulating the island.

His alarm went off at midnight. He got out of bed and walked cautiously up to the main house. The lights were all out. They're usually alseep by ten or eleven, he'd been told, and so far, the information was correct.

In the light of the moon, Hugo could see a small group of trees, not exactly growing in rows, a short distance from the house. They were separated from the rest of the orchard, but they were definitely imlas. He started across the yard, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be out. He was not watching his direct path and ran into something.

Hugo tried not to cry out as he massaged his shin. He looked down. He had run into one of several fruit crates at the edge of the orchard. They were probably waiting to be shipped out the next day. He stepped around them and went to the trees. He picked one and bit into it. Seeds. He tried not to cheer, so he wouldn't be heard. He picked two more, but as he turned to go back, he saw someone moving in the orchard tree line. Hugo froze.

There were two men, speaking to one another. Hugo took a step back, to be better hidden by the trees while he listened to the conversation.

"you think she could be in one of those crates?"

"Eh, they're not big enough for a person."

"I'm thinking that if she stowed away on the boss's ship, she can fit in a pretty tight space. Let's check 'em."

The two men lifted the lids off the crates one at a time. "Food, food, food. Clothes."

"Clothes?"

"Yeah, they look like new uniforms for Rockmill." One of the men reached into the crate and held up a jumpsuit.

"Can't blame her. Escaping the skrik?"

"Well, we'd better find her, or those will be our uniforms." The man dropped the jumpsuit back into the crate and put the lid on.

Hugo waited for the men to leave and then hurried back toward his house. He wasn't an escapee from Rockmill, but he wasn't supposed to be out this late in the orchard either, especially not near the boss's house. Keeping to the shadows, he made it back to his home, but when he walked inside, she was there.

She was about Hugo's height. Her jumpsuit was halfway unzipped and tied around her waist. Underneath she wore a sleeveless shirt that revealed muscular arms. She stopped when she saw him, an imla halfway to her mouth. "The door was unlocked," she said before he could speak.

"There are guards looking for you."

"Why do you think I'm hiding in here?" She looked around the kitchen, "in the room with no windows?"

"You need to go."

She stuffed the last piece of the imla into her mouth. "Please, I just don't want to go back there."

A knock sounded at the door. Hugo looked over his shoulder at it.

"Please," she begged again, "I was born there. There aren't even windows. I've never gotten to see the sun until today."

Hugo set his imlas on the table and opened the door. The two guards he had seen earlier were standing just outside. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

"We noticed you had a light on, and wanted to know if everything was okay."

"I've been finishing some work for the boss. Lost track of time." He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to look tired, hoping to prove his story.

"I know what you mean. Have you seen anyone?"

"Should I have?"

"No, seems the boss had a stowaway from Rockmill on his ship this afternoon. We're looking for her."

Hugo furrowed his brow and tried to look upset. "She's not dangerous, is she?"

"No, sir. Let us know if you see her."

"I will, thank you." Hugo wished the guards well and closed the door. Then he whirled around with the intention of asking the woman to explain herself when he noticed she was eating one of his imla fruits.

"You know, these are the most amazing thing I've ever eaten? We don't have anything that tastes like this on the skrik. We don't have anything that tastes..."

"Don't eat that!"

She paused. "What, are they poisonous?"

"No."

"Oh. You wanted to eat them." She handed Hugo the other one, which he shoved in his pocket.

"I need the seeds," he told her.

"Oh, sorry." She spit the seeds into her hand, and brandished them at him. Hugo eyed them, not wanting to touch her saliva. She figured this out because when he didn't take them, she shrugged and put them in her own pocket.

"Okay, who are you?"

"Tara Nabi, hydroponics unit, Rockmill."

"Green thumb?"

Tara shrugged again. "Better than most. Don't grow anything like this though."

"No one does." Hugo continued with the subject at hand. "How did you get here?"

"Snuck on board a ship, a guy who calls himself the Broker helped me out. Gave me a passcode to get out of the orchard." Hugo knew at once she was talking about the alarm system that would go off if anyone entered the property at night. Nothing like that came without a price.

"What'd you pay him?"

"He said he had a job for me on the outside."

"And you didn't ask for details?!"

Tara's small green eyes met his own brown ones. "I wanted to see the world. I wanted to see animals. Do you know what otters are?"

Hugo put a hand up to stop her. "We need to get you out tonight. Tomorrow this place will be crawling with people, and it will be almost impossible for you to leave." Tara nodded. Hugo didn't have the heart to turn her over to the guards. He could only imagine what it would be like to live on the skrik. But he also couldn't have her spoiling his plan and getting him caught. He looked her up and down, and sighed. Then he went to his closet, and pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt. He laid them on the table. "You look about my size. You're not getting anywhere in that jumpsuit." He directed her to the bathroom, and after a couple of minutes, she came out looking much like a normal person from Bolyra.

"What do I do with this?" she asked, holding up her jumpsuit.

"Bring it with. I know a good place to hide it." Hugo led Tara back to the crates at the front. They moved as quickly as they could but did their best to keep to the shadows. Tara chattered, quietly, the entire time about how beautiful the island looked--how blue the sky was, how green the trees were. Hugo was pretty sure she snagged another imla off a branch. When they reached the treeline, he looked both ways for the guards, and then hurried forward. He remembered the crate with the jumpsuits was on the end. He opened it, and sure enough, underneath was another, identical to the one he held. Hugo folded Tara's and placed it on top, replaced the lid, and hurried back.

After a short break for breath, and another look to see that the coast was clear, Hugo led Tara toward the gate near the house, which was also where the control panel for the alarm system was located. She keyed in the code. Then she waited a moment. "Is is supposed to do something?" she asked.

"How would I know? It's my first day. Do you trust your friend?" She nodded. Hugo heard branches moving and tried to peer toward the trees. There wasn't much cover where they stood. "You need to go," he hissed, "I think those guards are coming."

Tara went through the gate. As soon as she opened it, alarms blared. Hugo put his hands over his ears to block out the noise. The guards appeared a moment later. Hugo looked back, but Tara had apparently run without turning back. One of the guards grabbed Hugo's arms and hauled him toward the front of the house, where the boss stood in the doorway. At a nod to someone inside, the alarms shut off, and Hugo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Check his pockets," the boss said. One guard held his hands behind his back while the other rifled through Hugo's pockets. He pulled out the imla fruit and handed it to the boss. The boss took a bite and spit it out. "I'd heard the eco-techies were trying to steal from me. That's why I changed the locks. See, I heard they had an inside man, but I didn't expect it was you."

"You caught me," Hugo sneered, "arrest me."

"Oh no," the boss said, "You signed a contract. And as it turns out, we have an opening in Rockmill." He smiled slowly. "It's your lucky day, Hugo. You're not getting arrested. You're getting transferred." To the guards, he barked, "There's a crate waiting to be loaded with clothes. Get him properly attired. I have a call to make."

The guards manhandled Hugo back to the edge of the orchard, toward the row of crates. Each had a grip like a vice. He had a feeling they had had enhancements to make them particularly strong, which would also explain why neither carried a weapon.

When they reached the crates, one opened the crate with the jumpsuits, grabbed the one on top, and tossed it to Hugo. "Put it on."

"You're not going to give me any privacy?"

"The other guard tightened his grip around Hugo's arm. "In a minute, I'm going to let you go, and you're going to put on the jumpsuit," he said. His demeanor had changed entirely from what he had seen of the men who knocked on his door. They'd alread lost Tara, if they lost Hugo too, their jobs would be on the line. "If you don't, I'll put it on for you. If you try to run, I'll do something much worse." Hugo nodded and decided to comply.

Once he was in the jumpsuit, one guard shuffled him toward a cargo cart while the other loaded the crates of imlas into the same cart. Then they drove the cart to the hanger, on the other side of the property. When they arrived, the boss was waiting for them. Next to him stood a short woman with angled eyes and a tight mouth. Coming out of her back, Hugo could see a set of black feathered wings, like those of a crow. Without saying anything, she walked over and tilted his head back. Hugo tried to fight it, but one of the guards held him still. She opened his eye and dropped something into it. Then she did the same with the other eye. Hugo screamed. His eyes felt like someone had jabbed needles into them. The pain spread across his face and up to his head, as if something was trying to break out of his skull.

After a couple of minutes, the pain subsided and he slumped forward in relief. He blinked his eyes, trying to figure out what she had put in them. Everything seemed normal again. Then it slowly dawned on him. He blinked slowly, once. His vision did not go dark, but slightly hazy. He looked up at the boss.

"I thought I would give you a parting gift before you go off to your new assignment," he said, "and really, it's good you're getting transferred to Rockmill. Your eco-techie friends would be so disappointed to see you sell out like this." After that, Hugo couldn't contain himself anymore. He jumped forward, to lash out at the boss, and someone hit him over the head. His world went black.

When Hugo awoke, he blinked open first his real eyelids, and then the enhanced ones he'd been given. He was strapped into a seat on a spaceship. Frantically, he looked out the window. He could no longer see Bolyra. It was on the other side of the sun. Instead, looming ahead of them was the skrik. Tara was right. The space station has no windows. Instead, every inch of the outside was covered in solar panels to power the inside. As they drew closer, a hanger door open, like a giant maw. Hugo turned and caught once last glimpse of the sun before it swallowed him.

#original fiction #worldbuilding #short story #sci-fi fiction

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Reposting this in the hope to make it easier to find later.

figured out a way you can search for posts that are tagged TWO things on a blog!!! feeling clever

for anyone else who didn’t know, this is the format!:

https://[blogURL].tumblr.com/search/%23[tag1]%2C%20%23[tag2]

remove the [brackets] when using it!

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

I’m very tired. you probably heard that Russia destroyed the Kakhovka Dam to slow Ukraine’s counter offensive. here’s something I didn’t quite realize: since this February, the Russians operated the dam in juuuuust the right way so that as much water would build up as possible when the snow melted and spring showers started. and then they blew the whole thing up.

40,000 people may need to be evacuated. I don’t really have the energy to say anything else right now.

Hospitallers Medical Battalion: actual angels can confirm. they’re combat-zone medical services - you know how humanitarian groups like MFS and Red Cross have to pause operations due to the Russians fucking shooting at humanitarian zones? yeah, these guys don’t pause for bullets, they fucking walk into them and they bring out anyone they can.

Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation: you can choose from a number of various fundraiser projects here, if you’re feeling particularly picky. for those of you who balk at the idea of supporting anything military just please remember that things like vehicles and drones aren’t just for military use, they’re also for evacuation and finding the wounded and they’re fucking vital.

KSE Foundation: similar to the above, KSE has multiple projects you can choose from to donate to. looking at it right now, one of the projects with the lowest amounts of money raised thus far - despite being started in April - is Seeds for Ukraine, which will help Ukraine recover from the ecological devastation Russia has been wreaking (and with Ukraine, the countries that rely on Ukraine’s grain exports that Russia keeps trying to steal).

Come Back Alive: do these guys even need the introduction? they’re Come Back Alive. I’m kissing all of them.

United24: Zelenskyy’s brain child, and the official fundraising platform of Ukraine. Mark Hamill recommends the fundraisers for drones in particular.

UAnimals: Nova Kakhovka’s zoo got… pretty much completely swept away. all zoo residents except the birds have drowned. UAnimals has tried throughout the occupation to keep the animals safe, and they’ve been reporting on the status of the zoo. I don’t really know what to say except that I hope they’re able to save the pets and strays in the towns along the river.

You can find NGOs specific to evacuation efforts in this post; please signal boost it as well. I’ve listed them but am leaving the links for the op post.

Ukrainian FireFighters Foundation

Helping To Leave

VOSTOK SOS

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

Parents Supporting Their LGBT Kids During Pride Month.

[stitchwitchsapprentice]

At looonnngggg lassstt!! Natural Magic Chapter 18 is finally available on audio! Mat goes to the movies for time!

Apologies for the impromptu hiatus. The next episodes will definitely not take so long.

#original fiction #nideon #fantasyfictiorn #audiobook #multicast audio #Faraday Five #Natural Magic #coming of age #young adult #slice of life #Spotify