#french braid quilt

[rpepperpotshipssciencebros]

It's finished!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Susan Trevaskis-Owen (@rpepperpot)

Finished the table topper! It's reversible: this side is a pair of French braids, each done in three different fabrics. The other side (which can be viewed on Instagram) is "Itty Bitty Kitty Committee" by Missouri Star Quilt Co (free pattern is on their YouTube channel).

Several firsts for me on this one: half-hexies, braids, attic window framing, and piecework. While it's not perfect (my topstitching is probably the worst I've ever done, LOL) I love it so so much. It fits the table exactly how I wanted, which is a miracle since I never actually measured the table to see what size topper I needed to make.

[mushroomates]

pippin headcanons:

does not know how to tie shoes

this is because 1) hobbits don’t wear shoes and 2) he hasn’t put together that you can just tie shoes like you tie anything else

can do knots and makes friendship bracelets (albeit clunky ones)

they’re very bad and no one tells him this. they will just wear it until it falls off or he’s not looking

does not know how to put a duvet cover on- isn’t quite sure what a duvet is, either

he avoids this by sleeping under quilts. he acquires them by visiting grandma/great aunt/older relatives, acts cold, and then is generously given one. this has happened several times, all with great success. if you call him on this, he is delighted because he gets to use his favorite line: quilty as charged!

he sleeps under a mountain of pillows and blankets and then complains about being to warm at night.

wholeheartedly prides himself on being the Tallest Hobbit (thanks, treebeard)

before that, it was that he was the Fastest Hobbit according to one race he and merry did, once, at a cousins twelfth birthday party

he, very generously, offered to pass this title on to merry, who came in second (two person race) but merry maintains that Fastest Hobbit means nothing now that they both have longer legs. merry has challenged pippin to several rematches. pippin conveniently cannot make any of them

will intentionally and maliciously place things on the top shelf so you have to ask him

can french braid his toe hair. don’t ask him how he figured this out

cannot dutch braid. is bitter about this.

put chocolate chips in scrambled eggs and called it “chegs” and now he has that every thursday for first breakfast.

chegs, truly, are awful. imagine charred eggs with bits of shell. now add in the weirdly dry melted chocolate you get from microwaving it. okay, now put that in a pan and only cook (burn) 3/4th of it and also whatever’s left in the pan from whatever was cooked last

now you have chegs, a la pippin

loves to make this for company. gandalf and legolas are the only ones who will eat it.

frodo hates it but merry has put it in pippins head that frodo LOVES chegs and now pippin makes it for him everytime he comes over

one had a dandelion stuck in his ear for an estimated two weeks. pippin maintains he has no idea how it got there, so no one really knows how long it would have stayed had no one said anything

his mother thought it was a fashion statement- like when he went through his hat phase, in which pippin tried to wear a different hat each day of the week. then it escalated to a diffent color of hat, then type of hat-

merry finally broke the news to him that he does not look even remotely good in hats (his hair fills it out weirdly) and pippin had to be stopped because he was going to shave his hair off to commit to the bit-

then, one day, the hats kinda just disappeared and pippin will ignore you if you ask about it.

gandalf once in the heat of the moment told pippin that he put a wizard curse on him so that the hobbit will be struck down if he doesn’t stop talking. pippin asked “what do you mean by wizard curse” and now lives in fear of a wizards wrath everytime it storms. (gandalf did in fact, not put such a curse on pippin but pippin does not know that. if told he doesn’t believe you)

that being said he very much does not understand how lightning works. some of his common misconceptions:

lightning does not hit salt water. if it did, then all the fish would be dead. (there is a salt lake outside of bree that was struck three years ago, pippin says they’re liars)

lightning does not strike when you blink. if you eat a lot of beans, you won’t get struck by lightning. lightning changes color depending on where its going to hit. horses can’t be struck by lightning, they’re too fast. cats can’t be struck by lightning, because they’re small AND fast. if you sprinkle salt on your head, lightning will not hit you. (this stems from lighting doesn’t hit salt water)

also doesn’t not understand weather. all clouds are rain clouds. no exceptions. (if clouds are water then it must mean rain)

it cannot rain on wednesdays. weather resets for the day when the sun sets. legolas backs him up on the last one.

will put anything on toast. loves making up new combos. some favorites include: olives and butter, cheese and jam, (valid) anchovies and tomato sauce, (not valid) pickles and cream cheese, asparagus and peanut butter

has a shelf dedicated to wooden trinkets (see boromir post) that is very large and a fire hazard.

has an unknown number of pet cats. at least two but they filter in and out. they’re all named gandalf.

gandalf does not this this. everyone else thinks it’s hilarious.

sends various rocks in the post to gimli. gimli does not know why pippin does this but accepts the rocks gratefully. pippin also sends legolas leaves, which legolas is delighted about each time.

if he can cheat in a board/card game, he will. he will also deny this and get really upset if someone else cheats.

[old-stoneface]

some medieval outfits for morgan, dai, perry, gwen and gwaine :) notes under the cut 👇

morgan's outfit is scandinavian inspired, that kind of northern medieval period with a layered woolen dress and a tablet woven belt. i gave her no extra jewelry and no accessories because she would see no use in being dressed up, and i wanted to ensure a utilitarian vibe. her shoes would be made of variegated leather. she's wearing a very period appropriate head covering of a simple cotton or linen fabric, pinned into place over her hair, which would be braided and secured around her head.

dai's outfit is very much the typical sort of general british medieval peasant/artisan garb. i desperately wanted to give him the hood that defines the working man's silhouette from that time period, and of which we have archeological evidence of existing :) hes wearing a layered tunic, one with long sleeves underneath a sleeveless one, secured at the hip with a decorative belt, and tights underneath - this is a very distinctive medieval outfit, perhaps one that you would instantly recognize as mid to late dark period. his shoes would also be leather, but i made them more fashionable than morgan's, because he seems concerned with aesthetics.

perry has the honor of wearing on of my personal favorite items of medieval clothing: the quilted gambeson. this is based on an actual 14th century reconstruction, the sort of long, tunic type of padded armor that would typically go underneath chainmail, but i opted to give them a more freeing outfit for more agile movement. the hat is an accurate head covering too, but because they're an athletic youth, i made sure their hair was showing in some capacity. underneath, they have sturdy leather shoes and tights. what's interesting to me about this ensemble is that it looks androgynous on them, cementing their gender identity to the modern eye, but historically, this is a men's outfit. their spear is also referenced from an image of a 13th century weapon.

to be honest, i don't have much to say about gwen's outfit. this was referenced from an illustration of 13th century french fashion. i really wanted to give her a regal, subdued look, the kind of identity she would assume in order to sort of fly under the radar, as it were. nothing that grabs too much attention but it does accentuate her good posture and noble status. the head covering is a veil over a hat with a hair covering underneath, hiding where she would have braids pinned up in the back. her shoes would be probably a sturdy linen with a leather sole. her belt would either be embroidered fabric or fashioned out of cloth and metal ornamental discs.

gwaine has one of my other favorite outfits. to me, his identity as a rambling traveler is pretty important, so i gave him traveling clothes. he's got the wool cloak clasped at the shoulder with the typical brooch used in this time period, a simple, long sleeved tunic, trousers under that with tights beneath those, and leather/cloth shoes that are secured by leather strips. his hat - maybe my favorite part - is referenced from a reconstructed landsknecht hat. it is definitely a little silly in its color and construction, very eye catching as were most landsknecht adornments. it shades the eyes, its a statement piece, and with the mismatched nature of the rest of the outfit puts together an image of a well-traveled man who spends his days on the road. for accessories, he would also have a short sword on his belt, and a lute strung over his back.

thanks for reading :) hope u found it interesting!!

[tearsinthemist]

Want to learn something new

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

Jan 2, 2023

Want to learn something new in 2023??

Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)

Beekeeping 101

Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)

Video on learning to read music that actually helped me??

How to use and sew with a sewing machine

How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that's okay.)

How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece's black hair)

Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)

How to garden

Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)

How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)

Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game

Go (back) to school

Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Introduction to philosophy (free college course)

Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)

Learn a language

Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)

Ukrainian

Portuguese (Brazil)

American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)

Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified)

Quenya (LOTR fantasy elf language)

Dec 26, 2023

Want to learn something new in 2024??

Beginner-oriented video on how to sail

This guy has so many videos on baking different types of bread. SO very many.

Coding in Python - one of the most flexible and adaptable high-level programming languages out there - explained through projects making video games

Learn to swim! (for adult learners. I don’t care if you live in Kansas or Mali or wherever. LEARN TO SWIM.)

Learn how quantum mechanics works. Then read some more about it

[Learn about quantum mechanics again, but in a more advanced engineering/mathematics class. Then read more about the math and physics of it]

Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver

Something I learned this year: how to sew a quilt (Here’s a very easy beginning pattern that looks amazing and can be done with pre-cut fabric!)

How to hit the ball in softball

Tutorial video on what is under the hood of most (gas) cars + weird engine sounds and what they mean

Full beginner mechanics technical training, if you want to go more in depth

Playlist on how car engine physics work if you want to go ultra in depth

Lecture series on architecture design through study of buildings

How (American income) taxes & tax law work (choose “audit course” at checkout for free class)

Pickleball for beginners (so you can finally join your neighbor/friend/distant cousin who is always insisting you join their team)

+ Para-Pickleball for beginners (for mobility aid users!)

School is so much more fun when there’s no tests:

American Law - Contracts

Shakespeare’s Life and Plays

Fairy Tales: Meanings, Messages, and Morals

Modern Poetry

World History [Part 1, Part 2]

Learn a language:

Arabic + Resource Guide compiled from Reddit (includes info on different dialects)

Chinese (Cantonese) (audio)

Urdu (frequently recommended course on Reddit) + Resource Guide

Yucatec Maya

[cottonkhaleesi]

Four out of the five stained glass panels down and I think I’m ready to think about the space in between.

[teresadownunder]

Two elegant quilt blocks

Two elegant quilt blocks

These are two of my favourite blocks: garden fence and windmill cathedral window block.

I love blocks with narrow white strips like this one. It’s a quick and fun block to make. I also love fabric manipulations and this windmill block is easy enough and quick enough. It can get a bit bulky.

How to make a Garden fence quilt block and a Windmill cathedral window block

Learn in no time:

[youtube=http…

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

(not necessarily written in August, but that's when I read 'em!)

🎀 - fluff ☔ - angst 🍑 - smut

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!! These fics. Brain EMPTY. ONLY THESE.

🍑The Eyeliner (Blue Jones X F!Reader) - @wysteria-clad

☔🍑Marriage Quilt (Mikael Boghosian x F!Reader) - @foxilayde

🍑 Yearning (Llewyn Davis x F!Reader) - @eyelessfaces

☔Not Allowed (Llewyn Davis X GN!Reader) - @eyelessfaces

🎀☔🍑 Hung The Moon Series (Moon Boys X F!Reader) - @pleasurebuttonwrites

🎀☔🍑Two Steps Forward (Moon Boys X F!Reader) - @howaboutcastiel

🎀 A Healthy Alternative for Melatonin (Marc Spector x GN! Reader) - @monsterwho

🍑French Lessons Series (Steven Grant X F!Reader) - @thot-of-khonshu

🎀Satellite (Jake Lockley x Reader) - @scarabgrant

🎀☔P.S. I love you! (Steven Grant X GN!Reader a little Marc Spector X GN!Reader) - @nowritingonthewall

🎀 A marriage headcanon for Steven (Steven Grant X GN!Reader) - @nowritingonthewall

🍑Dizzy, Drunk* (Jake Lockley X F!Reader) - @juneknight

🍑 Beautiful Boy (Steven Grant X GN!Reader) - @luvpedropascal

🎀☔🍑Hands Meant For Love (Marc Spector X GN!Reader) - @losermultifandomidiot

🎀☔Moon boys calling reader by their name prank (gone wrong) [Part 1] [Part 2] (Moon Boys X Reader) - @babylockley

🎀Prompt: Could you write one where Steven teaches Marc how to braid Layla’s hair? (Moon Boys X Layla El-Faouly) - @tiptapricot

🎀When they decided you are 'The one' (Moon Boys X Reader) - @wysteria-clad

🎀The Promotion (Steven Grant X Reader) - @runa-fallss

🍑Sharing is Caring 🍑💦 (Marc (Moon Bois) x Layla x F!Reader) - @missdictatorme

🍑 Get Lucky  (Poe Dameron X F!Reader) - @campingwiththecharmingss

☔Prompt: our muses shower together after something traumatic for comfort and emotional intimacy, bonus points if they aren’t even together romantically yet (Poe Dameron X Reader) - @stormkobra-5

🎀The Simulation (Poe Dameron X F!Reader) - @spctrsgf

🎀 Poe's Favorite Story (Poe Dameron X F!Reader) - @eyelessfaces

🎀Love is a Game (For Fools to Play) (Poe Dameron X Reader) - @campingwiththecharmings

They are all SO GOOD!

[mlink64]

✨TXT Vibes✨

WC ~372

Choi Yeonjun

Sunshine, the smell of the ocean, sweat, sharing clothes, thrift shops, shiny shoes, tanktops, wearing his boxers as shorts, skateboarding at sunset, choker necklaces, jelly bracelets, red wine, the smell of hair gel, peanut butter cookies, black coffee, back hugs, polaroids, faux freckles, septum piercings, aviator sunglasses, pepero, hand lotion, irises, hot tea, boxed hair dye, dark chocolate, PDA, mixed berries, navy blue and purple, glitter makeup, fingerless gloves, Redbull cans, sweet whispers in the middle of the night

Choi Soobin

Sweaters, the sound of book pages, cute bandaids, the smell of clean linen, baby blue, pixie stix, tangled earbuds, dry hands, messy hair, watermelon lip balm, the feel of an old t-shirt, caramel sauce, springtime, daisies, pet hair, soft instrumental music, mohair, afghans, gentle caresses, head kisses, back hugs, earmuffs, vanilla milkshakes, cookie dough, trying out new bakeries, sunblock, phone charms, Funko pop figurines, Harry Potter, diamond earrings, writing down notes on your hands, lazy days in bed 

Choi Beomgyu

Mismatched socks, long naps, laughter, quiet morning voices, berets, talking to plants, memes, the smell of cinnamon, colored pencils, 2 am snack runs, acoustic guitar chords, too many pillows, carpet burns, iced coffee, chasing butterflies, ugg boots, delicate jewelry, roses, the sounds of an arcade, falling asleep in class, graphic eyeliner, nerds candy, hopscotch, hard seltzer, chaste neck kisses, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carnival goldfish, karaoke, Spongebob, untied shoelaces, promise rings

Kang Taehyun

Mittens, people-watching, highlighters, hard kisses, the smell of rain, ink-stained hands, stolen glances, suncatchers, waking up to the sound of birds, post-it notes, art museums, sitting under trees, friendship bracelets, warm soup, the feeling of wind in your hair, train rides, french braids, scarves, documentaries, finding four-leaf clovers, digital cameras, poetry books, swimming laps at dawn, playing cards, peonies, movie posters, talking until 3 am, vintage sports jerseys, blushing, catching frogs, stretching together, quilts

Huening Kai

Playground dates, hot chocolate bombs, lilies, sharing plushies, always has snacks in his bag, cold hands and feet, feeding the ducks, arts and crafts, smoothies, the smell of lavender, piggyback rides, turtlenecks, constant snuggles, striped socks, eating cereal at midnight, striped socks, gel pens, butterfly kisses, tangerines, matching outfits, button bracelets, sharing nail polish, takeout boxes, big headphones, sweater paws, soft piano music, mood lighting, plastic barrettes, eskimo kisses        

[commander-spork]

planning a quilt rn and getting REAL EMOTIONAL abt fabric and color pallettes

[astoryisaloveaffair]

Sure Shot - Part 2: New Day Rising

Pairing: Clint Barton x BlackWidow!Reader, Yelena Belova x Kate Bishop

*Reader is ethnicity neutral and can originally come from anywhere in the world, but she does have hair long enough to braid/twist/dread, and she has an athletic body type considering the physicality Widows need to have

Fic Summary: Yelena frees you from your bonds and takes you to the best safehouse she knows. But there’s this Avenger...

Chapter Summary: You and Clint get to know each other better

A03

Inspo Playlist

Word Count: 3100

Rating: M for language

Warnings: Reader is an ex from the Red Room, so expect anything to deal with that. age gap, hand to hand combat, cussing, fluff

A/N: My brain wanted me to write chapter two of this. I hope you like it! Thank you to @musings-of-a-rose​ for help with Red Room knowledge, Clint’s personality, and being an overall awesome person and sounding board. This story is dedicated to her. As I said before, Laura and the kids do not exist in this universe, but everything else happened the same. I do what I want.

Suggested Song: Times Like These by Foo Fighters

You slept like the dead.

When you wake, you could tell it’s late. The sun is high and streams through the French country curtains in blotches on the quilt you’d thrown half off you in the middle of the night. It takes several minutes for your brain to catch up with your eyes, you forgot where you were and who you were with and why, your body moving just as slowly as you ungracefully stumble around the bed to the door.

The hallway is empty, the soft sunlight from open guestrooms leaking into the hallway making it unnecessary for you to turn on any lights as you pad down the creaking wooden staircase. The bottom floor is empty too, but you can hear a faint melody from beyond the back door, so you follow it.

When you get closer to the French doors at the back of the house you can see the source. Clint is sitting on the back porch stairs, an acoustic guitar in his lap with his back to you, the fabric of the white undershirt tank he’s wearing pulled across his broad shoulders as he strums absently, not focusing on any specific tune. 

The door is ajar and you push it open more to exit and join him on the porch, settling quietly in a cushioned chair to observe him as he continues to play. His hooded eyes are closed and turned away from you, but you can still tell from his furrowed brow he’s lost in whatever song he’s creating in his head. The tendons of his craggy fingers twitch as they slide from string to string, muscles flexing up his deliciously veiny forearms up to the biceps covered in patches of dirt or dust, and a fine layer of sweat gathers at the nape of his neck in the curled strands at the base of his slightly flopped mohawk.

You sigh and close your eyes too, taking in the sounds of him playing, the chirps of various birds, the wind, the distant chatter of Yelena and Kate from somewhere you can’t see from this vantage point. It’s been four days of scattered thoughts and rattled nerves, so you revel in the fact that everything is at peace. At least for now.

“Morning.” 

His raspy voice catches your attention, and when you look towards him he’s turned towards you with an easy smile, leaning against a railing column, his legs crossed at the ankle and hanging off the steps. 

You huff out a laugh. “Afternoon, you mean.”

He smiles again, looking back down at his guitar and absently strumming a few chords here and there. “No judgment here. You probably needed it. There’s a plate of pancakes and some coffee left for you inside if you want it.”

“Oh, thanks.”

You were starving, like you hadn’t eaten at all last night. You head back into the house and to the kitchen, finding a plate of sausage and pancakes in the microwave. You heat it up a bit and grab a mug to fix your coffee. The pot must have been recently made because it’s still warm, even though there’s just over a cup of it left. You consider sitting at the island and eating alone, but the resumed music being played outside draws you back out, and you settle back into the chair you were in before. 

You roll your eyes as you take a bite. Even re-heated, the pancakes are delicious. You wait for him to take a pause again, catching the way he tries to sneakily check you out. It’s more admiration than lechery, so you say nothing and don’t acknowledge the harmless glance, considering you’d seen him almost naked just last night. He notices you caught him and looks away again, twitching his lips as he instead stares out into the sky, his ice blue eyes squinting from the sun’s glare. 

“Where’s Yelena? I should thank her for the food.” You break the silence.

“She’s round front showing Kate some hand to hand. I made the pancakes.”

“Oh! Well thank you. It was really good.”

“Thanks.”

The silence returns, you sigh and lean back in your chair, not noticing as he turns to look at you again, at how beautiful you look in the midday sun on his porch in a vintage AC/DC tee that had belonged to Stark, large enough to almost completely cover the tiny little sleep shorts you had on underneath it. He meets your gaze as you open your eyes again.

“I didn’t know you played anything. You sound good.” He looks down and chuffs softly at the praise, you can tell he is weird about taking compliments and you find it incredibly endearing. Do you sing too?”

“On special occasions.”

You take the last sip of coffee and stand, gathering your dishes to take them back to the kitchen. “Well then, I can’t wait for one of those.”

You turn without another glance and slip through the back door.

Clint sighs, setting aside his guitar and stands, stretching his shoulders and back. It had been a nice break, but he really wanted to try and finish up this repair. He circles round to the front of the house, a rare happy feeling blossoming in his chest as he notices Lucky on the front porch lying on his back basking in the sun. He gives Kate and Yelena a small wave on his way to the post light in front of the house, noting how much Kate has already improved in one hour.

He’d been struggling with the damn lantern all morning, his frustration building as he couldn’t get the electrical connections to spark, allowing the lantern to light up. There was seemingly no reason for it, and the concept that he couldn’t fix it was driving him crazy.

He watches Kate and Yelena as he pulls the pieces apart again to inspect the wiring, smiling to himself at Yelena’s tone, both warm and cold at the same time. Kate is an impulsive fighter. Spastic, a little ungraceful, and he was pleased Yelena had taken over hand-to-hand combat training. There was no one he’d trust more for Kate’s improvement. He was good, but not as good as a Widow. 

There were flickers of something else in Kate’s expression as Yelena would make her pause and hold a position, adjusting her form with her hands or grabbing her close to show her how to break a hold. Clint suspected Kate’s nervous energy might have more to do with who was around her rather than lack of skill. He’d have to tease her about it later. 

His attention switches to the front of the house as you exit and jog down the porch stairs, and he almost snaps his neck in half when he gives you a second look, your frame hugged by a tight strappy red sports bra and a pair of incredibly tight, high waisted black leggings. 

You don’t notice, continuing as you meet up with the others and join in, taking some time to stretch out your muscles while Clint does his best not to openly gawk at you, fixing his attention back on his work. He doesn’t even notice when you’re right in front of him until he sees your feet stop.

“What’re you doing?”

He looks up, squinting up at your face in the sun, straining slightly as he tries not to let his gaze dip down to the curves of your breasts visible over the bra, the shape of your waist, the skin of your exposed stomach, the strength of your hips and thighs. “Trying to figure out why this piece of crap isn’t lighting up. I re-wired the entire thing underground and I’m pretty much done but for some reason the connections aren’t lighting. It’s pissing me off.” He huffs a breath with impatience, his incredibly toned forearm wiping the sweat off his brow.

“Mmmhmmm. Come on.” You reach your hand down to him. “Come spar with us. You can do this later. Get some of that frustration out.”

He sighs dramatically as he allows you to pull him up, tugging him towards Kate and Yelena. The four of you spar and goof off with each other, you’re surprised to find that both Yelena and Clint have a dry and sarcastic sense of humor that bounce off each other well. Yelena performs a dramatic reenactment of her first fight with Clint, then you switch partners for a bit until you are paired up with Clint. 

He’s impressed with your skill, once again. You know all the standard styles a Widow should, but you have your own acrobatic flair to it that reminds Clint of capoeira. You rely more on your legs than your arms, the reason for your thick thighs evident in the sheer power you deal him when you hit him with a queixada spin kick to the shoulder. Your hand movements are similar to tai-chi, except sped up, the skill you have in deflecting and rolling off blows is better than Clint has ever seen. It’s like you turn your body into the very shuriken you specialize in, sharp jabs, powerful kicks, push hands, and disorienting spins.

It’s an even match, he’s not a bad fighter himself, and he meets you blow to blow until he finds one weak spot that shoves you back with a gasp as the air explodes out of your chest. The momentum carries him through, leaving his back vulnerable for long enough that you can get up and charge towards him, catapulting yourself from a handspring up and wrapping your legs around his neck just as he turns to you, the momentum allowing you to drag him to the ground with an ‘oof’.

But you aren’t as good at it as Natasha, you land unsteady and with his remaining energy he kicks your legs out from under you, pouncing on top of your thighs as he holds your wrists to the ground.

He’s panting hard, his warm breath fanning out above you. “Yield?” You wriggle under him with a growl but it’s fruitless, he’s too heavy and and too strong, and he’s using all his weight to keep you pinned to the soft grass below you. 

“Fine. Yea.” 

He releases your arms with a triumphant smile, sitting up on his knees, legs still firmly straddling your thighs. You hate how much you like that smile, the way his eyes sparkle before crinkling  into little half moons. He is annoyingly cute. And annoyingly hot you remind yourself, as you take in his heaving chest, slightly softened tummy, biceps bulging with a sheen of sweat, the cords of his neck bobbing as he pants. 

At least you’d given him a run for his money. And you always have to have the last word. Or move. You smile up at him sweetly before sitting up and slamming both palms to his chest. He falls back over your legs and onto his ass with a grunt as you swivel and land back on your knees in a low lunge pose.

“Very good, Lisichka, I was going to be disappointed.” Yelena teases, smirking at Clint as he sits up. “Do not let this old one win.”

“She yielded.” Clint observes.

Yelena shrugs, turning back to Kate and complimenting her on her work. You stand and reach for Clint once more, he takes your hand as you pull him back up. He’s close enough you can smell the tang of his perspiration, and you feel yourself responding as it swirls around you, jamming up your thoughts. You don’t even realize he’s asking you a question until he just barely pinches your waist to gain your attention. You were too busy staring at him. 

“You okay?”

You swallow. “Yea, I’m good. Just…went somewhere else. What did you say?”

“Where’d you learn your form?”

“Oh. My first mission was in Brazil and in my spare time I learned capoeira.”

“I’ve never seen anyone do that before.” He marvels, and you can feel your cheeks burn under the praise.

It pissed you off. You nodded shortly and turned away.

After another round of coaching Kate altogether, Yelena was satisfied enough to release her, and the four of you head back to the house. Clint had taken your advice, putting the post light back together to try again tomorrow, and you angle yourself towards it as you follow everyone to the house.    

Certain no one can see you, you place your hand against the lantern post and close your eyes, feeling the energy softly burn through you. When you enter the house the lantern is lit.

Exhausted from the vigorous workout, the four of you collapse onto the living room couches, arguing over what to get for dinner. You’re content to just sink into the couch with your legs stretched out. You tilt your head up, observing Yelena slightly leaning against Kate’s bent legs on the other couch. Kate looks absolutely smitten with her. 

It makes you think about yourself and your own attachments. Romantic affection had never been a consideration for you, there was never time or opportunity for it and you questioned whether or not you were even capable of it. A familial type of love, yes. Yelena, like all the others, was your sister, and you loved them deeply. And Natasha…you loved her even though you hadn’t known her well. She’d saved all of you. Your eyes flick back to Yelena and hope that maybe it’s a possibility for her, especially after losing someone who had meant everything to her. As for you, you didn’t even know anymore. You’d been outside of your own body for so long it felt like you didn’t even know your feelings worked. 

A light slap on your feet regains your attention, and you sit up to jokingly glare at Clint. 

“What kind of pizza do you want?”

You blink. “What?”

“Do you know what kind of pizza you want?”

“Um, what is everyone else having?”

“We got a pepperoni, a veggie supreme, and a request for a Hawaiian.”

“Um…” Your voice trails off as your brain becomes completely blank, quickly shifting to panic as you realize everyone is staring at you. You can feel tears starting to form and you pinch the bridge of your nose to stop it, once again cursing how haywire your emotions have been since coming back to yourself.

“Lisichka.” Yelena murmurs, and you turn to her as she comes to sit next to you with her phone displaying the menu. “It is okay. Come, let us look and see. Just read one by one and pick one that sounds the most exciting.” You nod and lean over her, scrolling through the menu slowly. She lifts her head and looks at Kate, then Clint. “We never get asked to make choices before. It is a lot at first.” She explains. “This happened to me too. It will get better. Ah, have you found something?”

You hum, leaning against her shoulder, grateful for the support and comfort she gives you. “Yea, I think I want to try this white pizza. It looks interesting, and I remember seeing people eating a white pizza before and wanting to try it, but I never did.”

Order placed, everyone relaxes into the cushy furniture to watch some true crime. You excuse yourself, stepping outside to get some air. It’s a beautiful evening, stars bright and just cool enough. You focus on your breathing as you look from star to star like a connect the dots.

“You alright?”

Clint’s voice is soft and doesn’t startle you. You turn to him, leaning against a porch column. “Yes, thank you. I just…got a little overwhelmed.” You look away as you feel the tears prickling back in your eyes and you huff out in annoyance as they crest over your lids and down your cheeks. You cover your face with your hands.

“Hey. Don’t do that. C’mere.” He steps into your space cautiously, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you in for a casual hug. You heave a shuddering sigh and fold into him fully, wrapping your arms around the small of his back. He tightens his grip on you, cupping the back of your head with one large palm.

When he hears your voice vibrating against his chest, it’s so faint he can barely hear it. “You’re gonna have to speak up.” You look up at him and he taps a tiny hearing aid in his left ear.

“Oh. I just said I’m not usually like this.” You speak louder against his chest.

 “It’ll get easier. Don’t worry about it.”

“I just feel…confused and my emotions are all out of sync or something…”

He takes you by the shoulders and steps back from you, your hands don’t leave their position on his waist and they slide forward to gather around his pelvis. He taps you under the chin so you look at him from beneath your watery lashes. “I get it. It’s not easy to have something else in your head, and then suddenly it’s not there. And you had it longer than me.”

“What happened?”

“Loki was in my head for a little bit. Made me turn on my friends. But Nat got me out of it. She bonked me on the head pretty good, then I had to go fight a horde of aliens almost immediately. It was insanity.”

You hum, backing up and wiping your face. “Well not many people can say they got mind controlled by the god of mischief.” He laughs at that and you can’t help but start giggling in between your sniffles too. “And the hearing aid? Is it okay if I ask about that?”

He taps his finger to his left temple. “I can’t hear mostly out of this ear. No idea how it happened, though I have some ideas.”

“Maybe you need to stop being around so much exploding shit.”

“Well that’s what I’m trying to do here.” He gripes. “Hey…what’s that name Yelena calls you?”

“‘Lisichka’? I think it’s like a Russian pet name. It means ‘little fox.’ She was only a little ahead of me in training, so I was with her a lot. She just started calling me that, I’m not really sure why.”

He nods, you see the flash of something cross his face like he wants to ask something else but changed his mind, interrupted by the reflection of the headlights of a car pulling up to the front of the house. He pats your shoulder and steps off the porch. “Pizza’s here. I’ll meet you inside.”

He heads to the front of the house and pays the delivery kid and is almost back in the house when he halts and turns back around.

The post light was on.

It’s late when you wake up, the fluorescent glare of the TV is the only light in the living room. You tilt your head to the other couch and smile when you see Yelena and Kate passed out on the same couch, legs intertwined and Lucky at the foot of the couch. 

You close your eyes and consider for a moment heading up to bed, but the couch is so comfy, and you are so tired, you can’t find the motivation to get up. Just as you are about to slip back into sleep you hear the faintest rustle and the weight of something soft and warm covering your body. By the time you open your eyes, he’s gone. 

Clint had tucked you in with a blanket.

Post A/N: Reader is lightly inspired by an actual Marvel character. Do you know who it is? 

Let me know if you want to be on this taglist!

[blinkngone]

Belle Laide.

There is only one way to describe the year 1998: belle laide. Beautiful ugly.

Harry isn't sure where he's heard the twisted, meaningless phrase, and a French one at that. Maybe at Bill's wedding from one of Fluer's simpering Veela cousins; maybe from Fluer herself during their brief stay at Shell Cottage where French omelets were a piece of warm sunshine, the pumpkin juice molten gold after months of digesting utterly undigestive food. Wherever he may have heard it, the phrase best describes the lulling of time that they call summer.

Belle Laide. Beautiful ugly.

Because nothing, not their grief, not Fred's death, not a hundred other deaths, not even his guilt, stops the summer from unfurling in all it's glory in front of their naked, bloodshot eyes. The passage of time is only marked by the blooming of wild flowers in the Burrow's garden, by the wilting of tall grasses under the glare of the sun, by the paling of the moon. If it weren't for the smell of forget-me-nots in the air, if it weren't for the stultifying heat, Harry thinks, he would've never believed he was alive. The funerals are behind them now, but the ghosts lurk in the closet, between sheets, behind eyelids. Like the moon, they are pearly; like the moon they pale into something weak when he visits Teddy or looks at Ginny, but they never disappear.

He remembers seeing Ginny the day after the battle, remembers her soft body wrapped in a quilt that smelled of smoke. Her beautiful face swollen and distorted. Her cheeks streaked with blood on her pale skin, not under. The sweet smell of her hair assaulted by war debris. Her long, graceful neck, unfathombaly unharmed, but also incredibly vulnerable. Looking back on it now, he thinks, belle laide. Beautiful ugly. In years to come, as her partner, he will see many sides of Ginny, but none so breathtaking as the Ginny from summer '98.

He doesn't remember how they got back together, he just knows that they did. Their reunion has braided itself and coalesced with the billion other events after the war; has lost itself in a curent like some priceless wine. Sometimes, when he watches her cook with Mrs.Weasley, he cannot believe that after everything, that after the end, she has chosen to be his. When she could have anybody, literally anybody in the world, she chooses to creep into his room at night, chooses to love him in the platinum moonlight, chooses to eat leftover pie from his plate. In a world of angst-free, media-assaults-free, not-crappy blokes she brightens at the sight of him.

When the moon streams in from the window in his room, bathing them in it's light, making them look strangely fragile, her hands and mouth and nails and body seek him out. Ginny assualts his body with the most inconceivable form of tenderness and ferocity. After, when they're both wrapped around each other, she looks at him like he's the most beautiful thing in the world. She thinks she's sneaky, but she isn't. Even with his eyes closed, Harry is aware of the way her eyes map his features into her retina. She thinks he's beautiful. But he's just a scrawny, specky git with wobbly knees. She thinks he's beautiful; all his life he's felt ugly. Belle laide, he thinks, belle laide.

[lostjulys]

giving c!beeduo all of my traditions & superstitions actually. they make stollen every christmas & portugese sweet bread every lammas/lughnasadh & keep dried flowers in their kitchen & salt on their windowsills & every spring they plant new primroses in their window boxes & every may day they make eachother lilac flower crowns and whenever they clean the house they put on crackly old french jazz and on sundays mornings tommy comes over (he's over all the time anyway but this is Proper and Official) and they have coffee and almond cookies & michael collects pretty leaves in fall and they have bells hung on all the doors so tubbo knows if someone's really coming in or not & they have braided garlic wreaths in the kitchen drying & suncatchers hanging in the windows & they light candles every candlemas & tubbo has the best squash soup recipe that michael loves & they have a big heavy quilt with patches from michael's baby clothes and ranboo's first suit and tubbo's favorite green shirt and tommy's bandanna and wool embroidery with friend's wool and everything is good and kind!!!

[spookylittletownhq]

An ADA LEE ALSOP has arrived in Albion. While they may seem FAMILIAR, they are connected to the ALBION PROPER ALSOPS. Their passport was stamped at Falls’ Inn and shows that they are 32, 5'4", with BLONDE HAIR and BLUE EYES. Mrs. Kuiper at the Inn said that they seemed STEADFAST AND THOUGHTFUL, though they were seen MAKING EYES AT A MARRIED MAN as they departed St. Catharine’s Depot. Be wary, and report any sightings to Madame Lange’s Tea Room.

INTRODUCING ADA LEE ALSOP

Momma prepared me for the practicalities of what I do. The procedure. Things passed down from woman to woman, hand to hand, like the fussiest of stitches, like the strictest of rules. A french knot is best wrapped once, not twice, never thrice. Don’t prick a finger or you’ll bleed into someone else’s life. And never, not ever, come to the loom with a selfish heart, for the strings will know and the magic will come unstitched before you can even baste it down.

But what she never told me about this job, this gift, was the way it tangles you up inside of it. The way that once you’ve held the threads of someone else’s life in your hands, really examined it for integrity and weight and design, you can never truly let those threads go. They knot into the fiber of you. Become a part of your patterning–little snipped bits of people, golden and shining, red and frayed at the ends.

For twenty-seven years, I carried them around in the jar of my heart, collecting them like cut floss. But even the best glass can only take so much stress before it breaks. Maybe that’s what happened to me. Maybe I just got too full. But I left, and took the broken bits with me, with my best dresses and books and not much else. Boston was less a choice and more an accidental harbor, and I rested safe in it for five years. I put my hands to work, making jam and pulling sodas and to the shape of a soft body and never once to the needle. But the threads found their ways in anyway, stuck in the wax of my canning, stopping a good seal, or else stark on the collar of a handsome patron’s shirt, glaring green on gray cotton, begging, begging to be plucked.

But quilts always have a way of coming back to their makers, in the end, like the art of them is too hard, too precious for any one else to carry alone for too long, and in much the same way, I suppose, I find myself coming back to Albion. Momma and Daddy, five sisters and Baby James, and a fate sewn into my veins wait for me. And I’ll fall back into place, like I am expected to. Like I should. The same old same old.

Only this morning, before I slipped into my coat and out the door, I snipped a few pieces of my life: a clip of the gold velvet curtain, a triangle of cotton blue floral sheets, a verdant piece of deepest green suit wool clipped carefully from a garment in the closet. I brought them with me on the train, pinned them into place–Four Winds, a quilt every woman should make for herself in her lifetime. I will let it carry me back, rumbling familiar and slow like the train that takes me, but the woman who arrives at St. Catherine’s won’t be the same one who left it. She will be dutiful, yes, and she will do work, and she will wear the same dress, the same braids, but at the center of herself is someone different now: an Ada of my own.

I cut a triangle of taunt, crisp cotton from the lining of my skirt, and I sew myself firmly into my own truth.

---

Welcome to the valley! Please send in your account within 24 hours. 💚

[cottonkhaleesi]

Playing with 'garbage'

I've finally got enough for my fifth stained glass panel, so today I took a break to mop up all the extraneous scraps. Might make this a trivet for my dad's birthday as I've been really struggling to find him something he'd like.

[teresadownunder]

Two strip quilt blocks - video tutorial

Two strip quilt blocks – video tutorial

I never throw away any fabric scraps left over from other projects.

I put them together by shape and colour and from time to time I get them out and make something with them. Usually the projects I make are just for fun. So here you have 2 such blocks. Quick and easy and very colourful and a pleasure to make.

How to make 2 strip quilt…