May

6

Next up

Filed Under Geeking, Quilting, Sewing | Leave a Comment

Ok, so this is an obligatory eye-candy/fabric-stash post. There has been a bit of — err — conflict in the quilt blog-o-sphere about this kind of post lately. So I’ll just say that it’s not often that I go out and glut myself on fabric. These two stacks were just begging to be photographed. And since they are so pretty I wanted to share them with you. I appreciate a good bit of fabric porn occasionally (fairly often even). I didn’t arrange them, they’re just where they fell when I was moving stuff out of the reach of tiny hands (and mouths).

Not a whole lot to say about these stacks that the pictures themselves don’t convey. (ETA: Yet, I still managed to go on and on and on…)

This first stack are the fat quarters that I’ll be using for Alexis’ new quilt. They’re a combination of Moda and Kona solids. Pay no attention to the Moda charm pack that snuck into the pile… I know it just wants to join the party. I suppose in a way it will because I used it to find the backing fabric for her quilt. Of course, I seem to always change my mind on the backing after the top is pieced so I might just have a big giant 3.75 yards of Aqua Andrea from Moda’s Sugar Pop. It is the third fabric from the top in the stack below.

And speaking of the stack below above, I ordered it from Sew, Mama, Sew. It was my first order and I was blown away by the package I received. The fact that they took the time to carefully fold each fabric and then tie them with a strip of one of the prints I ordered was almost more than I could take. I think I actually squealed when I opened the package. It took me almost a week to open the cellophane bag they came in, and I only did that because I needed to get the Kona Coal out (4th one down) for the back of the Mystery Quilt. It’s like they knew exactly what was aesthetically pleasing to me. :)

I haven’t figured out exactly what I’m going to do for the top of Alexis’ quilt, but I’m going to start with 4 inch half-square triangles. As I discovered before, they can be arranged in lots of cool ways.

May

3

A look inside my (unfinished) head

Filed Under Drawing, Geeking, Nothing | Leave a Comment

Today I have for you another drafted post come to the light. Excuse the crummy photo. Also excuse the rambling that is about to commence.

myhead.jpg

Back in my experimental art days (you know ages ago in 2007?) I drew this sort-of self portrait based on some doodling in my sketchbook. I started the whole thing by enlarging one of those silhouette profile thingys that Chris and I had done on our honeymoon. Then I started doodling in pencil. The whole thing is really just several evenings of doodling. When I’d filled the entire area, I spent another week of evenings inking. That was BORING. Boring. Did I mention it was boring? And it made my hand hurt. I think I forgot to mention that this thing is something like 16″x20″. It is not small.

For the most part I really like how it came out. There are, however, a few areas I’m not crazy about… the eye, for example, just seems off to me. Or perhaps it’s really too cliché. Gears turning in my head, light bulbs popping in the forehead and all that. But you can tell how much I like organic lines and shapes. Especially fractalish circles. Probably my inner math geek showing through. So in that respect I think it’s a decent representation of myself from the inside out. For a perspective from the outside in, you can refer back to my headless self portrait.

I don’t think it’s finished. I’ve gone back and forth on adding color, but can never figure out how… Watercolor? Marker? Coloring in specific areas? Or a general wash over the whole thing? Maybe something entirely separate from color? Maybe more stuff on the “outside”? It’s just so black and white. Not like me at all.

Anyone have any suggestions, critiques, jokes, comments, accolades, rebukes or side stories?

Dec

7

16 Random Things

Filed Under Geeking, Knitting, Remembering | Leave a Comment

Rebecca tagged me with her 16 random things. The deal is, you write 16 random things about yourself, and then tag 16 friends to do the same. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Rebecca, is one of the people I would normally tag first with such a task.

  1. My earliest gymnastics memory is of Mary Lou Retton hitting her perfect 10 on vault at the 1984 Olympics.  That Christmas I – and everyone else on my gymnastics team – got a Mary Lou leotard. You know, the one with the stars on one shoulder and the stripes on the rest of it? I think that was the only 3/4 sleeve leo I ever owned.
  2. I only see doctors I really like, and I’ll drive a long way to get to them if necessary. I figure if they aren’t going to listen to me, or they consistently diagnose the wrong condition (a la House without the almost dying part) they aren’t worth my time or money. Some of the pickiest people I know have asked me for MD references, and as far as I know, no-one has been disappointed yet.
  3. I hold a first degree black belt in Tang Soo Do (that’s TONG SOO DOH) and I regret every day that I’m not still training. I miss my fellow students and the training and sense of community within a school, but I try to live my life by the basic eastern principles that are taught with traditional martial arts. Some day I hope I’ll find the right place to train again.
  4. When I started college, my major was pre-med. I changed it to computer science after I took my second programming class. I have no idea what possessed me to take a second programming class because I hated the first one so much. Some Most days, I wish I hadn’t switched.
  5. Over the years I’ve tried about every craft or art out there. Sewing, quilting, painting, writing, throwing pottery, collaging, crochet, cross-stitch and finally knitting. I think knitting is “the one”. I enjoy it more than any of the others, but I still dabble often. And I’d still love to take a class in large scale metal sculpture.
  6. I am falling apart. I’ve ruined tendons in both ankles, had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and now there is something unknown going on with my shoulder.
  7. I wish I lived on Castaway Cay — only with out the hummingbird sized mosquitoes at night.
  8. I have an enormous capacity to forgive wrongs against me, but will hold a grudge forever against those who hurt my loved ones.
  9. In my junior year of high school I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Until the diagnosis – and sometimes even after – my teachers and counselors insisted to my mother that I was on drugs. My grades fell drastically and I dropped from the top 10% of my class to the bottom half.
  10. I love my house so much that I never want to move.
  11. On the last day of my senior year in high school, my English teacher told me that I am the most sorry excuse for a human being she had ever met. I left the classroom because I didn’t believe I had to sit around and be treated like that. But a cop in the hallway stopped me. When I told him what had happened and that I was going to the office, he pulled my teacher from the classroom to confirm my story, and she ADMITTED it was true. What a dumb ass!
  12. I dream about staircases to nowhere on a regular basis. These dreams are often so terrifying that I wake shaken for the rest of the day.
  13. I went to college out of state, and I’m still paying for it.
  14. The older I get, the more I look like my mother. I found a picture at my aunt’s house a few years ago. It took a second for me to realize that it was of me at about 1 yo sitting on my mother’s knees and not me holding my daughter.
  15. I totally can’t work a fax machine.
  16. I met my husband on America Online. He was chatting with me about how to break up with the jerk I was seeing at the time.

Dec

4

What I Do At Work…

Filed Under Geeking, Knitting, Laughing | 1 Comment

Yesterday Chris and I had this conversation… I had considered writing based on the conversation, but it is just so damn funny as is. And before people start bitching about goofing off at work, John told us to yesdterday. In a meeting. With slides and everything.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent gift recipients

me: godI could so easily spend $75 on yarn to get free shippingno comment?Chris: nope, I understand how that worksme: :)wellI put the fawn in the cart  then went looking for kid friendly machine washable wool…found it$10/skein… 1 skein per kidChris: cool me: so that’s like 35 bucksbut then… I started lamenting giving my new petting yarn awayeven though I bought it for xxxxxxxChris: there is a blog in here somewhereme: oh godyou’re rightexcept your mom reads itso the question iscan I justify spending $44 on yarn that I will likely just pet?Chris: in the long run….  it’s cheaper than a cat me: LMAO  that is so greatI just want you to tell me to buy it even though I was bitching about money this morningChris: thank you, I’ll be here all week, enjoy the buffetbuy it even though you were bitching about money this morningme: hehdid you cut and paste?;)Chris: pretty muchhighlighted and draggedme: I’ll probably kick myself on 1/1… but I can pet my new cat and feel betterChris: definitely a blog in thisme: good thing google auto saves these conversations

Mar

5

Just a question from the polls

Filed Under Geeking | 4 Comments

Why would anyone choose to vote on paper instead of the computer? If it’s simply an “I-don’t-trust-those-computers” thing, then I have news for them.

1) If the government was going to screw with your computer votes, they could just as easily mess with the paper ones.

2) The paper ballots are scanned BY A COMPUTER. So essentially, you’re just creating more work for someone by voting on paper.

If there is some other reason, please let me know, because I’m completely baffled.

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