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Sandstone

@quartzen.bsky.social
2.6K followers 1.8K following 9.3K posts

Programmer and SFF reader. Sega fan. Asexual and otherwise queer. She/her. 📚

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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Let's have an object that uses a control scheme different than anything else in the game and not explain it in the manual or the official strategy guide, but occasionally in very rare circumstances you can button mash and glitch through the wall to proceed..... good luck getting that to work again!!
Sonic and Tails in Carnival Night Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 standing beside a red and white barrel object
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sure! Here are some different swatches I've made in my watercolor journals in the past, the color wheel is a stencil (link below) but the rest are more free form or drawn with a ruler! 🙂 www.stencilgirlproducts.com/stencil-Comp...
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Browsing jasper beads online, I think jasper is my favorite semiprecious stone because there's just so much variety in the stone even within a single strand of beads (pictures from listings on limabeads.com)
Mexican Red Snowflake Jasper beads, black, white, red, and gold colorsRed Bend jasper, warm red with translucent white bandsRed Creek Jasper, red and green and white stones with veins of black or gold or each otherOcean Jasper beads- white, green, pink, brown, and gold stones
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Before we kick off ace discourse again... if you see a screenshot of an inflammatory post by a "liberal" account go see if it has the signifiers of "blue dot in a red state," "no DMs," only reposts political takes and memes, this one checks a lot of "just here to start discourse" boxes...
Profile for "Halo McCoy" with an Obama 2028 header and profile pic and a bio full of similar things you'll find in all of these questionable accounts:

"Progressive Liberal Socialist. Blue dot in a Southern red zone. I don't do DMs. I DO NOT DONATE $ TO ANYONE ONLINE SO STOP FOLLOWING ME. Have pitchfork; will travel. Race: Satan. ANTIFA AND PROUD!"
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Work in progress, two blocks complete 🙂 The runner pattern calls for five blocks but I think I am going to see how it looks with four! I found this interesting woodgrain-like batik remnant at the quilt store that I am thinking about using for the outside border ^^
Quilted bookshelf runner in progress, two blocks of five "books" in different shades of purple with a tan background are sat atop a large, uncut piece of brown batik fabric with a woodgrain-like pattern
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
#STL friends, Missouri Department of Health has shared information about potential measles exposures in our area September 11-14 Source (Instagram): www.instagram.com/p/DdkKW_-mlE...
POTENTIAL MEASLES EXPOSURES

Sept. 12 3:30 - 7:50 p.m.
The Cat's Meow-Soulard
2600 S. 11th St., St. Louis

Sept. 12 6 - 11:30 p.m.
Busch Stadium, Sect. 141
700 Clark Ave., St. Louis

Sept. 12 9:30 p.m. - close
Paddy O's
618 S. 7th St., St. Louis

Sept. 13
11:30 a.m. - ?
Little Ireland
125 N. 1st St., Pacific

Sept. 13
6:30 p.m. - ?
B & H Market
2244 W. Osage St., Pacific

Sept. 13
8 p.m. - close
Pacific Brew Haus
220 S. 1st. St., Pacific

Sept. 14
3 - 5:15 p.m.
Goodcents
173 Long Rd., Chesterfield

Sept. 14
5:30 - 7:45 p.m.
Bud's Market
312 E. Osage St., Pacific

Time frames provided include an additional 2 hours at the end to account for virality.
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Not exactly an all-time retro classic, this one, but I played it so much on my mom's Game Gear when I was little 😅 I think I might have beaten this boss once??
Screenshot of Sonic 2 for Game Gear, specifically the ant lion boss that is nearly impossible to defeat because of the cropped screen size compared to the Master System version
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Tentative fabric selection...
Purple quilting fabric with different patterns ranging from indigo to red-violet against a beige background
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
US stick butter is marked out in tablespoons and cups on the packaging of the stick so we just slice off the appropriate amount with that as a guide, no actual spoons involved 😅
Sticks of butter, one turned to show the tablespoon marking on the side
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Looks like Michael's is stocking some of the pride colorways from the formerly JoAnn store brand Big Twist line now, that's nice to see (This was at Chesterfield Michael's for STL local folks)
Rack of Big Twist acrylic yarn at Michael's with several solid colors and variegated yarns. In the colorways of the rainbow pride, lesbian, trans, pan, and ace flags
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
That one was here too, but I only saw it at full dark! It looks really cool in your photo
Five gold colored polygons with geometric patterns on the faces stacked, light shines through in a geometric pattern
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Went to @mobotgarden.bsky.social for the Japanese Festival and saw the HYBYCOZO sculptures all lit up walking back to leave in the evening, they're gorgeous! I believe they're lit up Thursday-Saturday evenings the rest of the month, I hope to make it back to see them :D
Golden polygon metal sculpture with a geometric pattern on each face, light shining through projects the geometric pattern onto the groundAn assortment of cubes in bright rainbow colors with the Climatron glowing red in the backgroundRed, yellow, and orange intricate geometric pattern of lights on the ground projected from the inside of a sculptureA cube sculpture with complex geometric patterns on each face, lit red inside
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
My favorite recent sewing project: a little pen case with mesh I made this weekend! I used these instructions and replaced the rectangle of vinyl for a rectangle of mesh, everything else according to instructions 123stitch.com/item/Atkinso...
Rectangular mesh pocket pen case in shades of brown with a few fountain pens in the pocket, the main fabric is a darker brown with an antique key pattern in white
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My blurry phone camera shot 😅
Blurry phone camera shot of lunar eclipse with most of the moon red
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Lunar eclipse just started and is visible in much of North America tonight, check it out if you've got clear weather!
Tiny piece of the moon covered by shadow as lunar eclipse begins, blurry phone camera photo
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
There's a lot I like about fantasy romance- the relationship-based stakes! the close character focus! the way these guide our lens on the fantasy world!- but I wish every one didn't seem obligated to have a "what do you think I am, some kind of asexual??" scene, even ones I otherwise like a lot
Thinking, too, of you: not as a symbol or a saint-pure, inviolate, beyond both desire and desiring-but as a human, with human appetites. I wondered a little wildly if you enjoyed men at all, or if you were like that army nurse I'd known.

I adjusted my collar, which had grown tight and overwarm, and found you watching me with something like amusement. "Have I shocked you?"

"No," I lied. "It's just-well, one expects a
certain—from a saint—"

The amusement deepened. You said, "I promise you, I am no saint," in a low, wry voice which told me Morvain was neither your first nor your last such affair, and which cost me several hours of sleep that night.

From The Everlasting, Alix E. Harrow"I did see him naked at the baths at Orledder
Residency. Just between you and me, he has a very attractive body, no doubt from all that dancing and running up and down peaks."

"Elen!"

"Yes, it's disrespectful, but I have eyes, and I'm not dead. Anyway, the theurgist saw him, too, and she has eyes, and she's not dead either. So let's never mention it again."

From The Witch Roads, Kate Elliott"The great god, I fear, has no use for a man who cannot please a woman. Or a man, as he prefers.

She had to prop herself up on her elbows for that. "That's actually a tenet of your faith? Really?"

"Of course," he said, as if it was
obvious.

"Really."

"Failure to make the marriage bed glad is valid grounds for divorce in the Weeping
Lands."

From Swordheart, T. Kingfisher
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I got this night shot of Luhr interior when I went there for the Webster Arts fair earlier this summer :D
Tree-like column ominously visible through the window
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Surprised to see a Kobo eink device display at my local (US) Best Buy
Kobo Clara and Libra devices on display
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The runner up, I think I am the only person who liked Suikoden IV (it was the first one I played so I didn't have expectations for it to fail to live up to!)
Suikoden IV box art for the PS2
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
It's a terrible terrible game by pretty much any objective measure- the collision detection alone!- but I played it a lot as a kid and am still rather fond of it
Title screen of Awesome Possum™️ Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt! for the Sega Genesis
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Remembered I actually took a photo of the interior when I was on the Eden campus for the art fair earlier this summer!
Night view through the window of a concrete support column in the the Luhr building shaped something like a geometric tree, lit golden by the interior light
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
All finished!
Patchwork zipper pouch in shades of blue and beige
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Good work everyone!!
Missouri Amendments 4 and 5 getting stomped at the polls with over 80% of people voting NO
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Per the St. Louis County Board of Elections, fewer than one in four voters has voted as of 1PM today in St. Louis County! We've got some important ballot measures on the ballot today (especially NO on 4 and 5) and every vote really counts in low-turnout primary elections like this!
St. Louis County Board of Elections Instagram post

23.8% turnout
153,097 total check-ins
84,946 Election Day
55,726 Early
68,151 Absentee

https://extcontent.stlouisco.com/BOE/eDay/
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
This is the light pinky-purple one at the store I'd like to check for the background, but I'm uncertain if it would clash with the red- blue might be a safer choice!
Pinkish purple quilting cotton store listing- Northcott Premium Wild Orchid
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I've been looking through my fabric to see what I have might work! I have a couple of patterned beige fabrics for the stone I think with possibly a purple for the windows and red for the roof triangles (or swap those), maybe either a light purple or blue for the sky?
Fabric laid out, red and purple with geometric line patterns and beige with teardrops and lines of hexagonal patterns
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Enamored with this castle tote by Mallory Hill in the Fall 2026 issue of McCall's Quilting I picked up at B&N the other day, might be my next big sewing project (although I will change the colors I think!)
Quilted tote bag with patchwork arranged into a coral castle with five towers and triangle roofs against a gray background
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Working on a new patchwork project with some blue and beige fat quarters, this will be a little zipper pouch when I'm done with it ^^
Two sides of a blue and white patchwork pouch in progress with a beige zipper placed between them as a mock-up, the fabrics contain different patterns like teardrops, stripes, and leaves
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
(Random photo from Google) A covered porch like this with a railing is what I'd picture
Front covered porch of a house with a railing and rocking chairs sitting out front
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
I sewed my first vinyl zipper pouch! It wasn't too difficult with the right equipment (Teflon presser foot and microtex needle) ^^ The pattern is the Comet Case by Sew Hungry Hippie, although I accidentally cut the vinyl pieces an inch and a half short I'm quite happy with the size of it ^^
A vinyl pouch with a row of black fabric with tiny white stars on it at the top and a lavender zipper, filled with sewing notions: a rotary cutter, pins, a point turner and hot hem ruler, and a small ziploc bag of sewing machine accessories
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Always watching
A smiley face balloon looks down from the grocery store rafters onto the candy aisle
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Also this from the next (and sadly last published) volume www.publishersweekly.com/9780061050596
This volume is a notable improvement over Blackmantle, with a less convoluted plot, faster pacing and more passages rich in lyric prose and Celtic folklore. It also doesn't demand that one swallow the portrayal of the late rocker Jim Morrison (the Celtic-rites husband of the author) as a bard of almost godlike gifts, cruelly done to death by treachery.
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
The food was really good too ^^
Gouda mac and cheese bitesChurros with miso fudge saucePineapple and birthday cake soft serveChicken tenders with gochujang aioli and miso honey mustard
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I went to the Sonic cafe :D
Exterior of the Nudo House restaurant in Delmar Loop which has been converted to a Sonic cafe with decals in the windowsSonic 35th anniversary T-shirt and kitchen with Sonic themed food traysInterior of restaurant, tables with checkerboard tops and red chairs and gold rings hanging from the ceilingPalm tree decor with a gold ring hanging and a wall wrap with Sonic and Knuckles on the back wall
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I got a half-letter-size binder and some sheet protectors to keep my sewing patterns in, perfect fit and will be a lot easier than keeping track of the individual ziploc bags they come in ^^
Small three-ring binder with purse and zipper pouch sewing patterns in plastic sleeves
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Oh, this is displayed on the Kobo store website, you don't need an account or Kobo device to see it! e.g. this is from the page for The Witch Roads on Kobo US, it shows just below the blurb www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
About this book
448 pages
13-14 hours to read
169k total words
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
And the finished Willow Pouch!
Small batik zipper pouch with shades of orange, blue, pink, and purple and a navy bottomSmall batik zipper pouch with shades of orange, blue, pink, and purple and a navy bottom, other side showing variation in the batik
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
A couple of progress pictures from last night...
Topstitching on both sides near the zipper of the batik pouch!Seams sewn together across the perimeter, leaving space to turn it inside out at the bottom (the zipper is unzipped inside too!)
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
There we go, topstitching! A denim needle, a longer stitch length, and some furious handwheel action on the thickest parts got it done 😂
Batik section of pouch with zipper attached, now with topstitching near the zipper
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
One side is attached! And then I was foiled because this seam is too thick to topstitch, the needle just gets stuck in the same place and the fabric won't advance... hoping maybe a heavier duty denim needle might help, I will try to pick one up this long weekend!
Batik patchwork pouch, outside half attached to a zipper at the top
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Garlic knots before and after :) I use store-bought dough and let the dough ball rest in a bowl with a little olive oil, then divide and roll each piece in a mix of semolina and garlic powder, knot, sprinkle a little salt, and bake on pizza stone until browned and add a little butter, parsley, parm
Unbaked garlic knots ready to goFinished garlic knots, browned with a sprinkle of Parmesan
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Prepared the zipper! Next is to start to sew it all together, but I'm finding the instructions a bit hard to follow tonight so I'll wait and look at them fresh next time!
Trimmed zipper with navy fabric sewn on the ends sits atop assembled batik sides ready to show together
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
It feels so irrevocable to cut out the notch for the flat bag bottom 😥 I am reminding myself I can always unpick and remove the solid blue part from the laborious patchwork if I mess it up...
Stack of batik bag sides with a 1" square cut out of each bottom corner
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
All quilted! Not pictured: pulling out and redoing most of the quilting lines at least once 😅 I'm glad to put in the extra effort though because I think it came out nice and neat!
Two sides of a batik zipper pouch with pink, yellow, purple, and blue vertical strips of patchwork, quilted "in the ditch" between each column with navy blue thread
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Half the quilting done! (Bottom half in the photo!) It's difficult to keep my stitching even on the seam...
Two sides of a zipper pouch in progress, half batik patchwork and half solid navy blue- the bottom side is quilted vertically between columns of patchwork
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
This was fun! I did better than I expected ^^
Anthropeum game results
Final tally of points: 65,445
Current streak: 1 day
Games played: 1

Today's players: 18,054
You placed: Top 25%
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Coming along!
Batik patchwork in shades of blue, pink, purple, and orange attached to solid navy blue accent
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Ah, just the physical book experience I was missing having switched mostly over to ebook: one (1) volume of a series having an inexplicably different trim size from the others, thanks Kobo
The three volumes of William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy (in reverse order right to left), for some inexplicable reason Mona Lisa Overdrive is several pixels taller than the other two in the Kobo app library listing
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Oh, so that's what that knob is for on the sewing machine
The tail of a black and white cat is curled around and resting atop the stitch selection knob on a sewing machine
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Sandstone @quartzen.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Two of them! Almost seems a shame to trim them down to size as the pattern requires...! 😔
Two rectangles of batik patchwork in shades of blue, pink, purple, and orange
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