Rusty emailed me this photo taken this afternoon.

Subject line: WELL, LOOK AT THIS!

We flew out of Milwaukee yesterday and landed in Las Vegas, where we rented a car and drove south to to Laughlin, NV.

Today, we'll get together with Rusty's brother, Dave, and take a look at the old photos and documents he found since Rusty visited last summer.

This is Dave, ca. 1960, with their cat, Speedy.

--- Posting from my tablet, not ideal but it's all I have right now! I hope it isn't wonky. And YAY to the other NaBloPoMoers! I won't have much time while we're away, but I will catch up with you all when we return!!

Meet me in St. Louis! << Wouldn't that be fun??

Kate & I are headed south this evening, with an overnight at an as-yet undetermined location in Illinois. We've tended to do St. Louis in whirlwind fashion and this trip will be no exception, as we'll be back home by Saturday.

The main reason for the trip is Ruth Asawa: Life's Work at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. I've been interested in Ruth Asawa's work because:

How could I not be? I saw just this very small installation at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in 2010 and was positively smitten from that very moment. So intriguing.

Kate's familiar because her Master's thesis at Edinburgh was about Black Mountain College, where Ruth Asawa lived/worked/studied with the likes of Josef Albers (another favorite) and Buckminster Fuller for a few years.

I mean... REALLY!

It's just amazing. I'm very excited to see much, much more of her work. And since we won't likely meet in St. Louis and enjoy this show together, here is a pretty cool link to View an Asawa Installation at ruthasawa.com (and a million other fascinating things to click on there).

We will also visit the St. Louis Art Museum to see Kehinde Wiley: Saint Louis, and have tickets to The Hip Hop Nutcracker, and hope to get over to see the Christmas display at Anheuser-Busch (which is walking distance from our Airbnb, so very likely!). It would be interesting to see how the holiday display at the Botanical Garden has changed from last year, and it would be great to catch some jazz/blues somewhere... we'll see. Whirlwind.

_ _ _ _ _

I can't let this day pass, it seems, without acknowledging this accomplishment...

Happy EIGHTH Birthday, Parcheesi! You're still my favorite project, and still looking beautiful.

On Memorial Day, another men's 4X t-shirt was on the block (aka, my new worktable). I used a favorite Eileen Fisher tunic to make a pattern template, drew some chalk lines, and started cutting!

The length was perfect, so I kept the already finished t-shirt hem.

I sewed the new side and shoulder seams by machine, using a regular presser foot (since my walking foot blew apart) and Maxi-Lock thread. The thread cone doesn't fit on the machine's spool holder, but it worked just fine to set it on the table right below; I think I knocked it over only once. I felled the machine-sewn seams by hand, a la Alabama Chanin.

It's a "pretty simple" tunic -- square neck, two main pieces, front and back exactly the same.

I finished the cap-sleeve armhole edges with binding attached using a plain parallel stitch.

Then, there was that "simple" square neck to finish. I probably spent twice as much time working on that neckline as I did on everything else! I decided to finish it with a mitered edge and used the instructions given by Nancy Snell, "Miter Corners for a Smooth Finish," included in A Primer on Sewing Knits on the Threads magazine site.

I sewed the corners and attached the binding to the body by machine

Mitered corner neckline detail.

Then I smoothed and basted -- very loosely, because I was flying by the seat of my pants and the possibility of a re-do was looming large -- on the right side, about 1/4" or maybe 3/8" from the edge, hoping for it to nicely curl. And it did.

Very loose basting!

My eldest (rather fashionable and stylish) daughter has coveted my new tunic, so I know it's a good one! It's been washed and worn a few times already (we did not depart for NC until the dryer buzzed)! I love it and will definitely make another one or two.

It's black, so terrible to photograph -- I doctored every single one of the photos above in order to actually be able to see something!

Trust that I'm wearing it here, last Friday, at an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway at sunset.

I am still working on my Endless Summer Tunic! I brought it along to NC, and even worked on it... it won't be long. I love that thing!