Monthly Archives: June 2012

Free Motion Quilt Challenge – June

Posted on June 29, 2012 | 30 comments

The June Free Motion Quilting Challenge at SewCalGal is a tutorial by Cindy Needham.  Cindy is a talented and professional quilter who travels all over the world.  She is also an author, a designer, and hostess of retreats.  Be sure to visit her website to see her fabulous quilts!

Cindy gave us so much useful information and lots of practice!  I loved this month!  Cindy suggested the ‘divide and conquer’ method.  In other words, divide the work into sections and then fill in the sections.  Instead of an entire blank canvas (or fat quarter, as in my case) to fill, I could simply concentrate on a section at a time.  Baby steps.

Here’s my piece:

Cindy suggested using a contrasting thread.  Obviously, I didn’t pay any attention to that.  Don’t be like me. 

The only time I changed threads was when the spool I was using ran out.  Yup…I was using up thread, and I emptied three spools.

Do you see the Jester hat in the quilting above?  Wendy, over at Ivory Spring,  does it much, much better!  She has a tutorial on how to quilt the Jester hat.  I need more practice!  I was confused frequently while trying to change directions.

More close-ups:

Thank you so much Cindy!

30 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Not Without My Daughter – Book Review

Posted on June 27, 2012 | 6 comments

“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.” -Mother Theresa

Every once in a while, a retreat from the demands of everyday living is in order.  Especially if the retreat is accompanied by a steady downpour.  It feels good to cuddle up with a book…to caress and smell the pages.  It feels good to enjoy reading while savoring a hot cup of tea.

No phone, no computer, no appointments…. Oh, to be sure, there are deadlines.  I’ve simply chosen to ignore them.  For now.

And what book has so captured my attention?  My daughter loaned to me her copy of Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody, first published in 1987.  Many of you know about this controversial book, but it is new to me.  I have never seen the movie version, nor do I want to, since it departs from the truth of the book.  The differences can be seen here.

From the back cover, “In August 1984, Michigan housewife Betty Mahmoody accompanied her husband to his native Iran for a two-week vacation. To her horror, she found herself and her four-year-old daughter, Mahtob, virtual prisoners of a man rededicated to his Shiite Moslem faith, in a land where women are near-slaves and Americans are despised. Their only hope for escape lay in a dangerous underground that would not take her child… “

I have found this book riveting.  It is intense, and I didn’t want to put it down until I finished.  I do not see this as an attack on Iranians as a whole, as some have suggested.  Indeed, Betty describes the kindness of many.  This story is Betty’s story.   While Betty tells her testimony, on another level she brings human rights issues to the forefront.   We all need to be vigilant about human rights and learn to treat one another with respect.

6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on June 22, 2012 | 10 comments

What a fun surprise when Marjorie informed me that she had nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award!  You can read about it over on her blog,  i dye every day .  I consider myself a ‘baby blogger’, so thank you for the encouragement Marjorie!

Marjorie shares her surface design and dyeing adventures on her blog and I am inspired by her.  It is always fun to see what her fabric is going to look like when she is through playing with it!

I’ve copied the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award from the VBA blog:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

  • Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
  • Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
  • Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
  • Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
  • Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.
So, here’s the 7 things about myself:
  1. I’m a night owl.
  2. I’m a dark chocolate fiend.
  3. I love to photograph fungi and lichen.
  4. I listen to classical music but I don’t know anything about it…I simply appreciate it.
  5.  I love the smell of Crayola crayons and dirt.
  6. I used to be efficient and organized.
  7.  I was nicknamed ‘Grandma’ by my family when I was a child.  I’ve always been a dawdler. 
15 bloggers that I nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award:
  1. Sewn
  2. Stof genoeg
  3. Virtual Quilter
  4. Ivory Spring
  5. Quilt Skipper
  6. Living in Heroic Faith
  7. My Real Estate Blog
  8. FrugalFeeding
  9. Inklingo
  10. Where Creativity Blossoms
  11. Sew Many Ways
  12. Quilts + Color
  13. ItsaFiberLife
  14. Living and Dyeing Under the Big Sky
  15. Shibori Girl

Have fun exploring these bloggers!

10 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,