sewing for school 1

so...at about 3am a few days ago...i had an epiphany...you know how understanding how an atom is structured...protons and neutrons in the nucleus and electrons around the outside? well, i have had students just NOT GET IT. that may not be too surprising to some of my readers, but others are saying "what is a atom, if not the big bomb-thing?" well...i thought of a way to present the information in a hands-on way...



ok...so after i woke fonda up looking for a pen...i went out and wrote what you see in black...she looked at me funny in the morning and asked if it made sense to *me* and i said "yup!" and proceeded to explain my logic...and it all started with her sending me a link
"http://www.thecheesethief.com/2011/11/how-to-weave-paper-ball-ornament.html"> so, really it is all her fault. this is how i am going to make the electrons! with a bell inside and silver because *they are electrons!*

she just looked at me like i was crazy...but there will be more to come soon...i got the chickens atoms made and we just went out and bought the material for some electrons and the snaps and the bells...i am SO excited...more later!

peace! (yay! - sewing for school!!!!!)

sew IIc

so...i made more 25-patch squares (total of 8x7 = 54) and now i have to make the 9-patches...while doing that...wren has made herself at home in my dark scrap box...



a bit later... (check out her nose-spot on the plastic-box)


and...a bit later...i wonder how she can breathe in this position...


so...that is what has been happening in our world...peace

sew...IIb

so...i did the math, finally...



and i decided that a quilt that was larger than an king-size quilt, would probably be a bit big...i decided to change it a bit to a 7x6 (it might still be increased) and now would be the size of a twin-size quilt.



we shall see what happens when i get more and start laying it out...i have not decided what to use as the *between* color yet. i want it to be all one color and white would just be too white. i think black would be nice, but i also am thinking that Splash "Pool" would be nice, too (my favorite color of blue) - we bought a bolt of it last year (a 13 yard bolt), and i only have a few yards left...lori bought another bolt and put it out to sell because we really can't afford it at this point - maybe when i (finally) get a full-time job (oh, and we want a bolt of Kona Black)...just $150-$200 for both...so, not yet : )

i have a phone interview after the first of the year - we shall see : )

peace.

sew...II

i was thinking about all the stupid scraps we have (a muck-bucket full)...so i started cutting them up - only got through three bags and got a wide variety of lights and darks



and



these are all 2" squares.

i then had to figure out what the heck to do with all these craps...and i saw in some magazine a quilt i really liked...a bunch of 25-patchs and 9-patches with some solids between. so, being the cheap poor PT professor - i chose to make it in my "glue book"



i decided that the above layout was going to be too small, so...the plan is to do it 10x8 squares of 25-patches (80 total 25-patches and 63 9-patches)



and trying to do the math:



so, then i started to make the 25-patches...





my helper supervisor: wren



finally - some things to iron - with the drink of champions (diet pepsi)



and the first few 25-patch blocks



this is just the first taste - more later as the progress continues : )

peace.

sew...

i have not had the opportunity to sew much this last semester - teaching three classes is a challenge - but i think i did OK and had many students really say they enjoyed the class - and BIO 112 for spring semester is FULL! (apparently this has not happened for a long time)...yikes! (big smile).

so, next semester should be "easier" with only two classes and having taught them both this semester...so i hope to have a chance to sew some more...

over the last semester, i had the chance to finish up something that i started a few years ago without the final product in mind...taking mom-scraps and putting them together willy-nilly...with thanks to Lori Richardson at Cotton Fields in Washington, NC (man, i miss her and the store/friends since we moved), i followed her lead and started to square up my pieces and put them together. i do not have progress pictures for this, but i have a bad picture of the finished top:



this is an applique Mom started and i finished and then added to the quilt:



this is the opposite corner that was just fun for color and some more Mom test-blocks:



this quilt will be backed with a dark blue star-patterned piece and i have no idea what pattern will be used to quilt it. i do know that i would like to get this done soon - it will be a office quilt - our office is way cold - in any season. it is about a twin size.

now...for a place to do the basting...still searching : ) may try to use some places at school - gotta ask the security guards when i might be able to access some of the larger spaces.

i will post it again after it is quilted...better pictures and all that : )

peace for now

oh, and franklynn...

his handlebar whiskers fell out soon after the last post of him with them featured...we were hoping they would grow back and it appears that they are; on his right is the longer one, the one on his left is growing back, too, but so far much shorter and not visible in this picture:



and a nod to the upcoming season - actually the picture was taken last year, but the idea is the same:



enjoy and peace...

reasons to be happy for the seasons

heading home about a week ago...some time after 5pm on a tuesday or thursday - pretty sunset that i wanted to share:



peace.

reasons to get up at o'dark in the morning

just wanted to share a photo with you-all...this is the only one i got after fussing about getting in the right place and right magnification, etc.



he flew away right after that...7am before an exam...

peace

thanksgiving...

this is the easiest year so far...still miss mom, but not as hard this year as in the past few years. not sure why, maybe a change in home-location, maybe it is just distance-in-time. maybe it is that we have discussed plans for when we are a bit more settled and can invite the "strays" like we did with mom...we were invited to go to my dean's house, but we are staying home and having meatloaf tonight and being grateful that we are here and all seems to be going well in our world.

the semester is almost over (i can't believe it) and things are wrapping up and coming together, mostly as planned - i need to rearrange some things for next semester, but that is fine - first semester is the learning semester and then 2nd would be the refining semester - hope fully 3rd will be smoother (snile - tip'o the keyboard to mom).

hand has healed and the boy is fine - still, he wants to go outside and roll around and bully the other cats in the area...still some issues with range-of-motion with some of the more precise motions of my pinkie, but all seems to be well and progressing. typing is no longer painful, yay!

ankle is better, but not 100% - guess that happens as you get older...it will improve, just as the hand is improving.

overall, i am happy and glad to be here/now. grateful to my sweety, without whom i think i would not have gotten this far and had as much fun; grateful for my mom, though she can no longer be with us for a meal; grateful for my mom, dad, sisters, brother, brother-in-laws, and sister(in-law) without whom i would not be the woman i am; grateful for all my friends, old and new, near and far, without whom i would not have survived to this point.

peace and love to all and safe journey through the day and your lives.

...and then...

so...my hand is getting better - still not 100%, but maybe 98% - having problems closing into a fist without pain, but i think it is a matter if using it, not permanent damage.

anyways...there i was, minding my own business - putting the gas into the shed for the guy who has been cutting our grass (LOVE HIM!) and then heading up to feed the neighbor's cats (she is having surgery and is not home) - like i said, i was minding my own business when "WHAM" and "CRACK" i fell flat on my face when the outside of my right foot went down much further than the inside and i heard it crack... flat out and clawing the ground at 6am, dew still around and cold and in my work clothes...i am sure i cursed very loud and colorfully and then had to assess my foot and see if i could go and feed the cats and then head out to work...man, that hurt. made it to the cats...not too bad...made it to school...OK...had a hard time driving home after standing on it for most of 8 hours... still not sure if i broke something, but it is better now than it was bruised and swelled up almost immediately, but i didn't take my shoe off, so it didn't have anywhere to go... one of my cohort told me that it is possible to break a "high" ankle bone (no clue, but he has more experience with anatomy than i do, so "whatever"). man, that was 5 days ago...still bruised and a bit sore.

fonda doesn't get how i just keep going...i am not sure how i keep going sometimes, but there is not much other options, so i do. if i don't work, i don't get paid. if i don't do it (whatever "it" may be), who will? no other options, i gotta do what i gotta do, and damn the pain that maybe along with it. so far, i have recovered fairly quickly and all has been well, so i will carry on with things the way the are going.

still looking for FT work...it will come when i am ready, i guess. i am getting ready to apply to about 10 or so positions along the east coast and back into the mid-west (sigh)...i would LOVE to stay down here! but...i will go to where the jobs are for now and see what happens from there. i think fonda is a bit homesick - we need to make arrangements for us/her to go up and see her mom and daughter...i wish she would feel able to go without me...she has much more flexibility with her time than i do. i understand not wanting to make that drive alone and all that, but i also understand the missing the family bits...oh, well no forcing the issue (not that she won't comment on this later [smile]) (lvoe you babe!)

anyways, here i am limping along and now i need to get back to school work so i can be ready for the last few weeks of school...not to mention it has been five years since mom died...but that is for another post (maybe).

peace for now.

recovering

so...i am recovering - after i posted those pictures i went through the rest of the day...the pain got worse, as did the swelling, and it was starting to feel warm...this lead to a thursday night trip to the ER...tried to go to urgent care, but they had no x-ray (and it was time for them to go home) so, they sent us on to the ER, with the threat that there maybe i.v. antibiotics (add a few $$)...got there, quickly in and seen by a nurse. manipulated by a p.a. and x-rayed by someone else (both of the last two i wanted to sock, they hurt me as they manipulated my hand, but i guess it was for a good reason)...2 hours later, and no i.v. antibiotics (yay!), the p.a. and the nurse sent us home with a prescription for 2 wide-spectrum antibiotics and some hydrocodone for pain...three days later, the swelling is down, the pain is less and the cat is *still* purring...little shit! he makes up for it by being cute 95% of the time.

i have done no school-related work this weekend because it hurts to write and that is what i need to do...sigh. i guess i can type a bit (obviously) but even that is slower than it was - i have to move my left hand because my reach with my pinky is so restricted. guess the exam corrections will have to wait a bit longer (evil grin)...anyways...i am a lucky girl and glad i adheare to the idea of "better living through chemistry."

peace for now!

ow-y day

franklynn decided to let himself out on a walk last night...cold, damp, dark, windy...

found him in the woods, about 5-10 feet in (beyond a small raspberry cane, with thorns, of course). he just stood there, howling and he waited for me to crash through and then to pick him up. he hissed at me, batted at me a bit and growled...i was aware, but not worried - he has bitched like this before.

got him - walking back home, about half way there, he decides that he doesn't like being held and that i am the awful monster that he has to bite to death...



notice all four fang marks (the long ones are from his top fangs ripping out of my hand)



now i am sore, swollen and crabby. blood was just *dripping* off my hand last night - he got some on his neck, from where i grabbed him. fonda brought a quilt and we wrapped him up and took him the rest of the way with me dripping and crying back to the house.

he is fine - obviously a bit freaked out last night, but he was OK enough to come and sit next to me on the couch while i cried...little shit. he was all purrs this morning and i am sore...don't want to feel this without some pain meds on board (naproxin - only)...very glad he is up-to-date on the rabies shot! i guess i need a tetnus shot - last one in 2007 (bummer)...

i will recover (back of hand to forehead and all that, with a dramatic sigh)...the cat is fine and will live to bite another day.

enough complaining - peace

busy girl

so...i have been a busy girl...but, at school-stuff, not extracurricular. also, there have been two students from my first teaching experience who have died...right before classes started, one of my former students was shot in the back and died...no leads, as far as i know...very sad. he was a young father and had some good prospects towards basketball at a 4-year college in virginia. then, from the same class, another student was found to have killed himself just outside of his home - he was reported missing and then found a day or so later. he was a sweet kid who had just finished his first year at college. such a waste of life. i have heard people talking in the hall about "being gay is no reason for a 19-yo to take his life" but i am not sure if they were referring to that student or not - but it makes me want to be more out in class and be a role-model...i am just not sure how out i can be without jeopardizing my job/future jobs. it is a sad time when you cannot be yourself in a job for fear of losing that job. but, i also need to remember that i am in a fairly small-town county and i need to take it slowly. i hate not being able to talk about fonda openly - not like we haven't been together for 17+ years or anything like that. grrrr. frustrating that i am still talking about my "sweety" and not my "girlfriend" or my "wife" or just "fonda!" ok - enough bitching! i will do it as i may and be OK with it, eventually.

anyways - i finally took one day to sew and finished the main part of the scrappy quilt with mom's fabrics - it is a big conglomeration and is about 70x80 and it is likely to be an office quilt - we shall see - it needs a border and then, of course to be quilted...i need to find a good mom-fabric for the back. it has some good mom-fabrics and then some additional katie- and fonda-fabrics. i think she would have liked it. it is a sew and add and then add some more and then trim straight and then use the trimmed-off stuff for the base of the next piece...i think it will be a good office quilt (it is damn cold in the current office).

ok, i think it is time to start psyching myself up for teaching to a bunch of sleepy students, not all of whom want to be there, but they show up none-the-less because attendance is part of the grade : ) (evil that i can be). taking about meiosis and mitosis is hard - but easier than atoms, i think...i just asked doc how he does it (teaching, research, advising, personal life, sleep...) he hasn't gotten back to me yet - probably sleeping : )

peace for now.

so...here we are

in leland, nc. f hates the house (because of issues, not space) and i like the house, even if there are issues (leak @ kitchen sink, tub and toilet in craft-area to name just the beginning of the list)...we have had such trauma getting settled here for some of the things - let alone the stealing of a box (150) of checks out of our new mailbox and someone having a good time spending our money with them...we have been here just over one week and just yesterday got internet access at the house (YAY!) and a phone (mixed). boxes are not where we wanted - things are scattered around the house, but all seems to have made it here in one piece. the cats are here and fonda and i are figuring out where things are, physically - we haven't ventured into Wilmington yet, but that is only a matter of time.

the movers were sneaky and ended up charging us almost twice what they had quoted - bass-turds. anyways - we lived through the experience and if you ever need to move get a "not to exceed" quote rather than an oral quote just to save yourself a bit of shock and anger - and the guys said they want us to give them another chance when we move out of here, yeah, right. that is not going to happen - i tell you this now - they will never get another chance to dick us over. the helpers were great, but the boss sucked - bud brooks - wanted fonda to sign for a brochure he never had for us (which explained the difference between the move he did for us and the "not to exceed" move) and said "my business card could be the brochure" and i just wanted to smack him. anyways - we are settling in and working out what goes where and moving a box 5+ times and still, we have "too much" room here - not that *i* am complaining (smile) - i am happy to have too much room, but i would like a bit more storage space in the kitchen and maybe some rods and/or doors on the closets...not that i am complaining (much)...

anyways - classes started on wednesday and i have "miss thing" in my class again - if i don't kick her butt by the end of the semester, i should get a metal. classes are PACKED not enough $$ to pay a teacher and allow another section to be opened, so...i have 34 students in a class that is supposed to have 32 (not too bad, unless they all stay until the end of the semester). i am teaching 3 classes and therefore have a total of about 65 students in BIO 111 and 16 students in BIO 112 - multiply that by four exams and one paper and 10 labs and 10 quizes per class and you begin to see what i am going to be doing this semester. i will live and i will (mostly) enjoy it and it is a great place to be (my co-workers are awesome). i have to keep in mind that this is a good/safe place to be teaching and learning the ropes.

ok - today is fonda's birthday and i am going to go and help her with her room so she can get some crafting done soon.

peace.

moving...

wow, i do not like packing things to move to other places...and it just seems to never end...you know..."oh, don't forget to pack...(some thing you will not be able to fit into the car and you NEED on the other end)" and all that stuff...and then the cost to the movers (yeah, we are using movers, can't see me and fonda unloading the truck at the other end by ourselves) and the costs of the deposits and all that jazz to hook up things on the other end before we get the deposits back on this end...jez-e-cow! and then the cost to drug the kitties before we drag them 2.5 hrs and submit them to crazyness on the other end...wish we could make it easier for them...

and THEN...fonda wants to have a yard sale (which i love by the way (NOT!))...it will be good and may pay for cleaning the carpeting in two rooms and maybe pay the woman who has been cleaning for us (yes, we have someone clean the kitchen/floor/bathrooms - and i am VERY happy for this) - and she is coming to do a full clean of the house after all is moved out, YAY! but the people down here are CRAZY about yard sales - they gear up at like, 6am to start the tour - CRAZY! gotta remember to post "no early birds" but it will not stop them, i know it! sigh.

all i wanna do is teach, and this is crazy...but long-distance is crazier - besides the $$ for rent @ two places and the "fun" of roomies...sigh...(oh, and i have ALREADY heard from my "favorite" student, who will be in my 112 class - oh, joy - classes do not start for another 17 days and she emailed me a week ago or so - eye roll).

"...and all shall be well..." and "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger" (though sometimes it would be nice to have it kill you - smile).

peace for now - sleep and then dr. appts and errands tomorrow then MORE PACKING!!! yay! (not!) peace. enjoy the cat (franklynn) video... :)

wow, long time no postings

wow, hard to believe it has been six weeks since my last posting...we have been busy little campers - packing to move 125 miles from Greenville to Leland, NC. i will be teaching at Brunswick Community College again this fall/spring. we are all moving - including the kitties and it has been a challenge to get things packed and ready to move. this is an expensive adventure ($2000 for moving, deposits at the "new" house, deposits at the utilities...) it never ends... well, i guess it will, eventually, but then we are likely to have to move again, as i will continue to apply for full-time positions around the SE. i am thinking that we may be keeping the boxes and packing supplies for the next move that i hope will be more permanent.

we can't believe that we have so much *stuff* AND WE GOT RID OF SO MUCH already! wow.

i have not been sleeping well with the worries about the moves and the new semester/classes. i will be teaching BIO 111 and 112 - i may have a second section of 111, but that is TBD still...i will welcome the money, but not necessarily the stress, but i also have to get "used" to the idea of teaching more than 1 or 2 classes concurrently...wow...ch-ch-ch-changes : )

more later, but likely not until after the move = august 10! we shall see.

peace.

2011 QWAC challenge quilt

OK, so we had a challenge - using the first letter of both your first and last name, come up with two colors and use them as the dominant colors in a quilted object - what ever size you please, whatever form you please... due today (June 3, 2011). We had 3 months to come up with it and make it so...this is my answer:

Kumquat and Kiwi (orange and green) - about 32" square



and of course, there is a fish...


my plan is for this to hang in my office when, i get one... (i have another interview next week with yet another place...)

peace.

i finally got my blue hydrangea!

YAY!




they start out white and go to blue...

well, no one loves me, i guess

well, here i sit...waiting for news from all the plethra of applications i have submitted...i am waiting for up-thumb or down-thumb for the next step at Francis Marion University, but we shall see...then i need to make some kind of decision about *when* do i stop trying for this fall and just decide to go back to BCC and how do we do that (fonda, et al. moving down, or just renting again - but NOT with the old roomies) and by what date to i need to make these decisions - AND, if we make the decision to move down to brunswick, do we buy or rent? and what the heck do we do with all our *stuff*?

feeling a bit lost and like no one loves me...oh, well. it could always be worse, i guess. i just need to keep breathing...

and now for a bit of recent photos around the house...

we have some nice stinky flowers on the corners of the house - very attractive to bees - this kind and honey bees and, i think, maybe another kind of bee (and butterflies, but i haven't gotten photos yet)


a wasp has decided that one of our large snail shells makes a good place for a nest - i am not so sure...


and webster hiding in his "man-cave" (aka: my quilt into which he has burrowed)


enough for now...enjoy and peace.

skype

ok, so i have joined the skype-gang. now i have talked with my sister (pi) and my dad...now, if we can just get fonda to hookup and andy/tracey too...then we would be in bussiness...and a job...i'm just saying...i have applied for several more jobs and still i wait...i really don't want to go back to living at sheri's and fred's i think they would make me crazy in another month or two - just want to be safe and sane and sober.

ok...enough rambling...peace.

well...yet another rejection (x2)

well, i finally heard from polk college in winter haven, fl. of course i knew what the news was - thank you, but no thank you. now if they would just send the reembursement check...

another rejection letter came in the mail - also not too surprising...butt...i also have a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow (monday)! also, i am meeting up with terri to talk about the division of the paper into two...this has had us stumped for a while now...i am not sure how to ask her to reduce the amount of information she wants in this paper and maybe keeping it for the next one - soon?

we shall see what happens - i will report about the phone interview later. it is with francis marion university in florance, SC - about 3.5 hrs from here...sounds like a good place to be - it is a one-year contract, with the option to extend up to two more years - it would be a great "foot in the door" and it seems like a really neat group of people, too. more later.

peace.

a bit of disapointment

sigh. i received a "down-thumb" from the as-close-to-dream-job (in PA) as i have found so far...they are keeping my application active until they make the final choice/choice is accepted...but i am disapointed.

not only would this have been the close-to-dream-job...but it also would have been closer to ohio and fonda's family - we do miss them and part of me (and fonda, too) would like to be closer to them. but it is also nice to live in NC and near the beach...

ok, so i am still waiting to hear from FL and i have sent out 5 more applications, so it is just a game of sit and wait, i guess...but i am getting tired of this and would really like to be settled, but you-all have heard this old song from me before, so i will shut up now.

peace. sigh.

on my way to work today...

i saw this big bird (black vulture)... he was just hanging out and sunning himself on top top of the power poles...


he did look at me, but he was not concerned (he was too far away for me to be a threat)... but the power-company people were gearing up to go back to work on the lines in that area - glad he had a place to hang out and get warm


i am so happy that i had my camera with me!

peace

so...

i had another phone interview - sounds like a great place to be, minus the fact that it will be much colder in the winter than here - potential bonuses: a job that is close to what i have been envisioning as my "ideal" job; closer to columbus-family; chance of a basement; and lilacs : )

we shall see - i will post an update as i hear - they suggested that i would hear thumbs-up or thumbs down within the next week or so...

so, we had a power outage for about an hour this evening with threat of huge storms - we didn't get much here in leland, but the loss of power - after the rain and during the power out sera went out to investigate her favorite part of the back yard and i got the picture of her "brains" =


we also had some WAY-COOL clouds going on:




and then as the light left (still before the power came back on) some cool moon pics:



enjoy the pics and keep looking for updates re: jobs : )

peace

and the newest quilt (6 years in the process)

this is the quilt for donna - started while we still lived in ohio.



the fabric is more bright than it looks in this picture, but...this is the pattern "simply squares" that i got from quilt beginnings in ohio. and a mixture of fabric bought for the project and some fishy fabric.

i had to unquilt a bit - well, more than a bit - about half quilted but not well quilted by me. so i just unquilted the damn thing and then had to requilt it. i am still picking out some threads, but i decided to emphasize the squares and quilted it on the diagnal then went around the edge and then a few inches away from the edge. then used the backing fabric for the binding - matches - the fabric on the front. looks good, wonder if donna 1) still lives in ohio, 2) still wants the quilt 3) wants the $50 she gave us for the quilt 6 years ago...

i guess i need to contact her soon...will send a card and see what she has to say.

peace.

wating to hear...

so, during spring break this february, i traveled down the winter haven, florida. this was not for Spring Break! - this was for a job interview...i flew in on thursday night and left on friday evening, but it was a ton of fun and i think it went well - i had a chance to look around town a bit and it really seems like a neat little town


and a very nice college (2-year).


i think i would have a ton of fun working there and maybe even setting up some limnology stuff there - they have a degree offering for ecology (limnology) but no limnology class (how crazy is that?) i would love to develop a limnology class for them, but i would have to learn more about alligators, too - i was told that there is at least one alligator per water body (and some cool water-type birds)...


i remembered to send them a thank you card (thank you to fonda for actually sending it to me so that i could send it to them - i am a dork and forgot to get it while i was at home [eye roll to self]). and then last week-monday i called them to see what the progress was...now i am just feeling impatient...i want to know thumb-up/thumb-down so i can continue my life...it has been frustrating because all i have gotten to date (minus this one) has been "thank you, but, no thank you" kind of letters and i am ready for some good news regarding a full-time job.

i know i can work at brunswick in the fall, but i really don't want to.
yes, i have been having a great time working there.
yes, it has been a tremendous learning experience.
yes, i have enjoyed the people i have been working with in terms of my new cohort of teachers and the great support staff...but - i really would like to have benefits, better pay (adjunct teachers aren't paid worth shit), and fonda and all the kitties together in the same place. i really miss living with fonda. just the normal everyday stuff.

i wish there were no sounds of NASCAR going on in the next room (god, save me!).
i wish the washer didn't smell like someones idea of "mountain fresh" (yuck).
i wish there was no dishwasher and the dishes were all clean to MY specifications (ewww).
i wish for no alcohol in the house again, unless it is for beer-batterd food (yum).
i wish for a sober roommate (god, save me!).

i want go home.
i want a full-time teaching job so that fonda and i can afford to live together again.
i want to go to CA to visit with the family and see Tracey graduate
i want fonda to go with me to CA
i want to hear from florida so i can make plans...

i need to keep breathing and relax. peace for now.

the newest addition to the quilt family

the fish lasagna quilt: mixture of machine and hand-quilting - background is machine quilted - this quilt started as a fun quilt for lasagna and then i felt like it was just a good background...decided that because all of the fabrics were "asian" fabrics, that i needed a good "asian" theme - a koi and moon...



a bit closer to the head: you can see some of the hand-quilting



and the eye...i messed with the eye...using #8 Pearle cotton with some sparkly stuff with it woven (satin stitch) and then back-stitched to define the eye...if you know me, you might have expected to see two eyes on the same side of the head, but i just couldn't do it and make the fish still look more real...sigh.



around the bottom edge are hand-stitched symbols for "water" and "koi fish" and the elemental symbol for "water" (not pictured, but think of an upside-down triangle)





around the top edge are symbols for "air" and "wind" and then the elemental symbol for "air" (not pictured, but it is a triangle with a horizontal line through the top)


the following should be turned 90-degrees clockwise, but couldn't get it to happen at this point...oh, well, you get the idea


i am really happy with how this turned out and i am proud that this is my work.

peace.