[Jesus] has offered us the family as an example of an ideal setting in which we can learn how to love as he loves. That is because the greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. –Henry B. Eyring
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Favourite Things Friday: Blogging or Why I Owe My Blogging Career to Twilight
I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume. –Michael Arrington
It was with much trepidation that I made my first blog post on June 1, 2009. I wasn't sure what to say or how to say it {even now, I'm stumbling at how to word this post just right — not too wordy, not too formal, not too casual, and how do I convey my meaning without rambling on for hours? Not surprisingly, this post is going in a different direction than I'd intended}. Over the next seven months, as I posted more and more frequently on our group's blog, I realized that I kind of liked blogging, and probably ought to get my own space to blog about my Twilight quilt blocks. And that is how it all started.
My first posts were all business. I had a year's worth of Twilight quilting to document. It was 20 posts before I even broke pace and mentioned something besides Twilight. I stopped for a breath to mention plans for a Harry Potter quilt. Then did a fairly self-indulgent post on how sucky my birthday is and went right back to posting about Twilight. Out of the 37 posts I did between January 9 and January 31, 2010, 27 of them were about my Twilight quilt. As time passed and my obsession with Twilight found a quieter place in my life, my posts about Twilight also found a quieter place on my blog. Still, I'm completely committed to finishing that tedious paper-piecing nightmare of a quilt {said with the greatest affection} and you will hear about it
.
In the past year of blogging I've found a place where I can be myself. I loved this quote by Simon Dumenco, Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology. I love the ease and convenience with which I can catalog and illustrate my thoughts and achievements. And blogging allows me a place show off my achievements without being a complete show-off — because that is why all crafty bloggers blog — to show off their achievements in a socially accepted way. Somehow
, posting a picture of something you made and telling all about it is different than showing everybody you know the same thing. I know that when I browse blogs to see what other quilters have done, I'm not thinking, Oh my gosh. What such a show-off. It is exactly the opposite. I'm thinking, Wow! This person is really talented. I'm so glad I get a peek inside their life. I've made friends across the country, and even on the other side of the world, through blogging. I've found a place to be truly me.
While I was organizing this post, I came across a quote about blogging which stung just a little bit. Some anonymous person said: bloggers are boring, self obsessed narcissists who use their website mainly as a means to discuss the inconsequential minutiae of their day to day lives. First, I find it interesting that whoever this person is would hide behind the guise of anonymity to say something so spiteful. It shows great cowardice. The web is nifty that way, though. You can go around saying nasty things that you wouldn't say in ordinary society. But second, I have to disagree with whoever this person is. In the movie, Shall We Dance, Beverly Clark {played by Susan Sarandon} says, speaking about marriage, we need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean?
I think that is why so many people blog. Because we need witnesses to our lives. We need to know that the things we do matter, that we matter. The name of my blog, Such a Sew and Sew is a play on the term so-and-so. When you call someone a so-and-so, it means that you either don't know who they are or forgot their name {I realize the WWW is a big place and I don't make that big of a splash}, or you're using it in place of a epithet {I'm kind of a busy-body and I have a strong personality. Not everybody in the world is going to like me. I'm over it}. And more than anything, I like to sew. I sew nearly every day because it makes me happy. Blogging about it also makes me happy.
To the anonymous anti-blogger, I would say that the inconsequential minutiae of . . . day to day lives that so many blogs contain is not inconsequential to those who write it. Behind every blog is a person who does matter.
Today's post brought to you by:
It was with much trepidation that I made my first blog post on June 1, 2009. I wasn't sure what to say or how to say it {even now, I'm stumbling at how to word this post just right — not too wordy, not too formal, not too casual, and how do I convey my meaning without rambling on for hours? Not surprisingly, this post is going in a different direction than I'd intended}. Over the next seven months, as I posted more and more frequently on our group's blog, I realized that I kind of liked blogging, and probably ought to get my own space to blog about my Twilight quilt blocks. And that is how it all started.
My first posts were all business. I had a year's worth of Twilight quilting to document. It was 20 posts before I even broke pace and mentioned something besides Twilight. I stopped for a breath to mention plans for a Harry Potter quilt. Then did a fairly self-indulgent post on how sucky my birthday is and went right back to posting about Twilight. Out of the 37 posts I did between January 9 and January 31, 2010, 27 of them were about my Twilight quilt. As time passed and my obsession with Twilight found a quieter place in my life, my posts about Twilight also found a quieter place on my blog. Still, I'm completely committed to finishing that tedious paper-piecing nightmare of a quilt {said with the greatest affection} and you will hear about it
.In the past year of blogging I've found a place where I can be myself. I loved this quote by Simon Dumenco, Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology. I love the ease and convenience with which I can catalog and illustrate my thoughts and achievements. And blogging allows me a place show off my achievements without being a complete show-off — because that is why all crafty bloggers blog — to show off their achievements in a socially accepted way. Somehow
, posting a picture of something you made and telling all about it is different than showing everybody you know the same thing. I know that when I browse blogs to see what other quilters have done, I'm not thinking, Oh my gosh. What such a show-off. It is exactly the opposite. I'm thinking, Wow! This person is really talented. I'm so glad I get a peek inside their life. I've made friends across the country, and even on the other side of the world, through blogging. I've found a place to be truly me.While I was organizing this post, I came across a quote about blogging which stung just a little bit. Some anonymous person said: bloggers are boring, self obsessed narcissists who use their website mainly as a means to discuss the inconsequential minutiae of their day to day lives. First, I find it interesting that whoever this person is would hide behind the guise of anonymity to say something so spiteful. It shows great cowardice. The web is nifty that way, though. You can go around saying nasty things that you wouldn't say in ordinary society. But second, I have to disagree with whoever this person is. In the movie, Shall We Dance, Beverly Clark {played by Susan Sarandon} says, speaking about marriage, we need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean?
I think that is why so many people blog. Because we need witnesses to our lives. We need to know that the things we do matter, that we matter. The name of my blog, Such a Sew and Sew is a play on the term so-and-so. When you call someone a so-and-so, it means that you either don't know who they are or forgot their name {I realize the WWW is a big place and I don't make that big of a splash}, or you're using it in place of a epithet {I'm kind of a busy-body and I have a strong personality. Not everybody in the world is going to like me. I'm over it}. And more than anything, I like to sew. I sew nearly every day because it makes me happy. Blogging about it also makes me happy.
To the anonymous anti-blogger, I would say that the inconsequential minutiae of . . . day to day lives that so many blogs contain is not inconsequential to those who write it. Behind every blog is a person who does matter.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday Hodgepodge: Unillustrated
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.–Chili Davis
I have to be at work in exactly 1 hour. It is probably a little bit nuts of me to start a post now, because once I've started, I'll have to finish and finished means that I'll read and edit and re-read and edit some more until every sentence is exactly right. Which probably means I'll be late for work. I could get the framework done and then tweak it after I get in, but did you know that you can get fired for blogging at or about work? I don't have time when I'm there anyway. I think you could probably be fired for being late to work because you had to get your blog post done before you came in too. Work just cuts into too many of my 'me time' activities
.
}. Before I investigated, I thought it was a weekly thing and was all excited to tuck in tomorrow night and do a little quilting. I finished my Grandpa's quilt top on Tuesday and it is all pin-basted and ready for machine quilting. I'm still going to do that tomorrow night because I'm really excited to get it finished and sent off to him. But I'm left wondering what fabulous project I'll work on next Friday night for the sew-in . If you'd like to join in too, click on the button for details.
And while we're on the subject of Angie, she's awarded me the Leibster Blog award. While I'm flattered, I've decided not to pass the award along to anyone else. Instead, I thought I'd start a game of no-pressure Blog Tag. One of my favorite things about blog awards is the 'random bits of information' section. You get to know some really interesting things about people. I'm not going to tag anyone specific — I hate to play favorites and have anyone feel left out. So everyone is invited to play along. If you want to join in {i.e., you're out of interesting things to post about}, make a list of six random things about yourself and invite others to play along. Easy as that. Here are my bits of randomness {and if I hurry, I'll still make it to work on time}.
1. I would love to go to a Masquerade Ball.
2. I would love to live in England for a few years, just so I can listen to that dreamy accent all day long.
3. We have two fire-bellied toads in an aquarium at our house. They eat live crickets. Somehow, a cricket or two always manages to escape from their little holding pen {it would be a huge mess in the aquarium if I were to throw in 50 crickets at a time}. When a cricket escapee is found roaming about the house, everyone {including Mr. Bug} comes to get me so that I can catch it. I do it with my bare hands. I'm brave like that img alt=":cool:" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfBIEgwI1juRuevKJoEUymQsq0KdDPKM6Ck7hgsU1n6_-YxRbi09T5_3C4rON3dqmbqHFXs8rVKtkOrSegVQMAsRsjtjdqMz-pQPXNNaDl8y3-31zTZE7f-eQBKizbtCT-60v5HAwfO_l/s17/Cool.gif" title="Cool" />.
4. I think I'll make Sweetie Pies for Valentine's day {thanks, Pink}. I'm thinking of using homemade raspberry jam, or maybe cherry pie filling and I'll probably try out and new pie crust recipe that uses butter instead of shortening {thanks Iris }. I'll let you know how it turns out.
5. My favorite thing about winter is that it is eventually over and then the tulips start to bloom.
6. There are 21 pairs of scissors with known locations at my house: there is one pair with my gardening tools, three pairs in my kitchen, seven pairs on my sewing table, three pairs in my office, three pairs in my bathroom, on pair in LadyBug's room with her art supplies and one pair in Grasshopper's room, with his art supplies. And there are two more pair somewhere that I can't account for.
It turns out that I'm going to be about 9 minutes late for work. I need to do one final proof-read and I got held up because although I'd made the list of random things in my head while I was drying my hair earlier, when it came time to write it out, two of the things disappeared off the list. #5 is a pinch-hitter. Fortunately, I remembered one of the two things I'd forgotten. #6 turned out to be a pretty good ending.
Happy Thursday!
xo –Elizabeth
I have to be at work in exactly 1 hour. It is probably a little bit nuts of me to start a post now, because once I've started, I'll have to finish and finished means that I'll read and edit and re-read and edit some more until every sentence is exactly right. Which probably means I'll be late for work. I could get the framework done and then tweak it after I get in, but did you know that you can get fired for blogging at or about work? I don't have time when I'm there anyway. I think you could probably be fired for being late to work because you had to get your blog post done before you came in too. Work just cuts into too many of my 'me time' activities
.}. Before I investigated, I thought it was a weekly thing and was all excited to tuck in tomorrow night and do a little quilting. I finished my Grandpa's quilt top on Tuesday and it is all pin-basted and ready for machine quilting. I'm still going to do that tomorrow night because I'm really excited to get it finished and sent off to him. But I'm left wondering what fabulous project I'll work on next Friday night for the sew-in . If you'd like to join in too, click on the button for details.And while we're on the subject of Angie, she's awarded me the Leibster Blog award. While I'm flattered, I've decided not to pass the award along to anyone else. Instead, I thought I'd start a game of no-pressure Blog Tag. One of my favorite things about blog awards is the 'random bits of information' section. You get to know some really interesting things about people. I'm not going to tag anyone specific — I hate to play favorites and have anyone feel left out. So everyone is invited to play along. If you want to join in {i.e., you're out of interesting things to post about}, make a list of six random things about yourself and invite others to play along. Easy as that. Here are my bits of randomness {and if I hurry, I'll still make it to work on time}.
1. I would love to go to a Masquerade Ball.
2. I would love to live in England for a few years, just so I can listen to that dreamy accent all day long.
3. We have two fire-bellied toads in an aquarium at our house. They eat live crickets. Somehow, a cricket or two always manages to escape from their little holding pen {it would be a huge mess in the aquarium if I were to throw in 50 crickets at a time}. When a cricket escapee is found roaming about the house, everyone {including Mr. Bug} comes to get me so that I can catch it. I do it with my bare hands. I'm brave like that img alt=":cool:" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfBIEgwI1juRuevKJoEUymQsq0KdDPKM6Ck7hgsU1n6_-YxRbi09T5_3C4rON3dqmbqHFXs8rVKtkOrSegVQMAsRsjtjdqMz-pQPXNNaDl8y3-31zTZE7f-eQBKizbtCT-60v5HAwfO_l/s17/Cool.gif" title="Cool" />.
4. I think I'll make Sweetie Pies for Valentine's day {thanks, Pink
}. I'm thinking of using homemade raspberry jam, or maybe cherry pie filling and I'll probably try out and new pie crust recipe that uses butter instead of shortening {thanks Iris }. I'll let you know how it turns out.5. My favorite thing about winter is that it is eventually over and then the tulips start to bloom.
6. There are 21 pairs of scissors with known locations at my house: there is one pair with my gardening tools, three pairs in my kitchen, seven pairs on my sewing table, three pairs in my office, three pairs in my bathroom, on pair in LadyBug's room with her art supplies and one pair in Grasshopper's room, with his art supplies. And there are two more pair somewhere that I can't account for.
It turns out that I'm going to be about 9 minutes late for work. I need to do one final proof-read and I got held up because although I'd made the list of random things in my head while I was drying my hair earlier, when it came time to write it out, two of the things disappeared off the list. #5 is a pinch-hitter. Fortunately, I remembered one of the two things I'd forgotten. #6 turned out to be a pretty good ending.
Happy Thursday!
xo –Elizabeth
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Bradbury 13: The Wind
A man who is "of sound mind" is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key. –Paul Valéry, Mauvaises pensées et autres, 1942
Bradbury's short story, The Wind was first published in the March 1943 edition of Weird Tales and was included in The October Country in 1955.
The Wind
It was a huge cloud of vapors; a big sniffing hound trying to smell him out. It pushed its wet cold nose up to the house, taking air, trying to get in the windows and doors, following him from room to room, watching him from all the windows. Waiting.
My Rating:
Of all the episodes, I think this is the most timeless. This story has provoked some deep thinking on my part. There is a lot of great symbolism going on. I couldn't help comparing the Wind to life. Sometimes life is calm and beautiful, like a spring day with a gentle breeze. And sometimes there is foot of snow on the ground, with more coming down and an icy draft blowing at the eaves and in under the door. That's just the way life is. You take the good with the bad and do the best you can. Sometimes the icy winds of winter aren't hard to weather. But sometimes it seems like those beautiful days of spring will never come and you can't stand one more minute of the storm that is blowing around you.
I think that very often people reach out from the middle of those hard to bear storms, at the end of their rope and looking for help. Those on the outside may not understand how bad the storm is from the inside and not be able to offer the help that is needed. I think a lot of people in this world feel very alone in the trials they are going through, even though they know there are many people around them who care for them. Sometimes all you can do is hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. Like I said, lots of deep thinking about this one.
Air Date: June 4, 1984
Narrator:
Paul Frees
Cast:
Bob Nelson
Charlotte Nelson
Jesse Bennett
Mike Flynn
Janet Swenson
Music:
Roger Hoffman
Greg Hansen
Production Assistant:
Patrick Mead
Associate Producer:
Jeff Raider
Created, Produced, Directed:
Mike McDonough
Executive Producer:
Dean Van Uitert
The Wind
It was a huge cloud of vapors; a big sniffing hound trying to smell him out. It pushed its wet cold nose up to the house, taking air, trying to get in the windows and doors, following him from room to room, watching him from all the windows. Waiting.
My Rating:
Of all the episodes, I think this is the most timeless. This story has provoked some deep thinking on my part. There is a lot of great symbolism going on. I couldn't help comparing the Wind to life. Sometimes life is calm and beautiful, like a spring day with a gentle breeze. And sometimes there is foot of snow on the ground, with more coming down and an icy draft blowing at the eaves and in under the door. That's just the way life is. You take the good with the bad and do the best you can. Sometimes the icy winds of winter aren't hard to weather. But sometimes it seems like those beautiful days of spring will never come and you can't stand one more minute of the storm that is blowing around you.
I think that very often people reach out from the middle of those hard to bear storms, at the end of their rope and looking for help. Those on the outside may not understand how bad the storm is from the inside and not be able to offer the help that is needed. I think a lot of people in this world feel very alone in the trials they are going through, even though they know there are many people around them who care for them. Sometimes all you can do is hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. Like I said, lots of deep thinking about this one.
Air Date: June 4, 1984
Narrator:
Paul Frees
Cast:
Bob Nelson
Charlotte Nelson
Jesse Bennett
Mike Flynn
Janet Swenson
Music:
Roger Hoffman
Greg Hansen
Production Assistant:
Patrick Mead
Associate Producer:
Jeff Raider
Created, Produced, Directed:
Mike McDonough
Executive Producer:
Dean Van Uitert
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Apron № 106: Apples & Pears Giveaway Winner {plus a little apples & pears sidekick apron}
In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy.
–Karl Reiland
This is the {finally
} finished apron Joyce won in my giveaway a few weeks ago. It's on its way! I love the polka-dot fabric in the ruffle and pocket of this one.
While I had the Apples & Pears fabric out, I made a children's reversible apron using a pre-made white canvas apron. I took off the bias tape that made the ties and finished the raw edges and then cut a reverse side from the Apples & Pears fabric using the canvas apron as a pattern. I used some of the apples and pears as appliqués for the front, doing a messy free-motion outline ala Little Miss Shabby {scroll down to see her cute birds}. I also did a little appliqué monogram on the reverse. I sandwiched them wrong sides together and then applied a new binding. I think that the stripey bias binding is my favorite part about this little apron. It makes me smile.
I'm not sure what it is about these particular aprons, but they go a funny shape after they are washed {this one did too}. Either they are cut slightly off-grain or the template the manufacturer uses is not symmetrical and it is only noticeable after they are washed. I contemplated trimming the apron up before I finished it, but didn't want to loose any of the size of the apron. Looking at just how crooked it is now, I realize I should have done it anyway.
Don't tell, but I bought this apron, and another one just like it, for the Little Bugs several years ago. I stamped on them using craft inks, only the ink didn't come out pretty and bright like I wanted. I washed the aprons in bleach several times so that I could stamp them again with newly re-ink pads, but the ink wouldn't come completely out. So the aprons sat for a few years until I realized that I could make them into reversible aprons and put the stamped side on the inside and they'd be as good as new. The only problem with that was, by the time I figured out a new plan for the old aprons, the Little Bugs had completely out-grown them. I've been keeping an eye out for the perfect little sidekick to make a reversible apron for. I gave this one to the cutest little Cream Puff I know.
Today's post brought to you by:
–Karl Reiland
This is the {finally
} finished apron Joyce won in my giveaway a few weeks ago. It's on its way! I love the polka-dot fabric in the ruffle and pocket of this one.
While I had the Apples & Pears fabric out, I made a children's reversible apron using a pre-made white canvas apron. I took off the bias tape that made the ties and finished the raw edges and then cut a reverse side from the Apples & Pears fabric using the canvas apron as a pattern. I used some of the apples and pears as appliqués for the front, doing a messy free-motion outline ala Little Miss Shabby {scroll down to see her cute birds}. I also did a little appliqué monogram on the reverse. I sandwiched them wrong sides together and then applied a new binding. I think that the stripey bias binding is my favorite part about this little apron. It makes me smile.
Don't tell, but I bought this apron, and another one just like it, for the Little Bugs several years ago. I stamped on them using craft inks, only the ink didn't come out pretty and bright like I wanted. I washed the aprons in bleach several times so that I could stamp them again with newly re-ink pads, but the ink wouldn't come completely out. So the aprons sat for a few years until I realized that I could make them into reversible aprons and put the stamped side on the inside and they'd be as good as new. The only problem with that was, by the time I figured out a new plan for the old aprons, the Little Bugs had completely out-grown them. I've been keeping an eye out for the perfect little sidekick to make a reversible apron for. I gave this one to the cutest little Cream Puff I know.
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