Gmail inspiration

I sometimes get inspiration from emails, but I never expected it from my email homepage itself. But Gmail has just set up themed pages. I've tried a few, am stopping temporarily at the bus stop page. Look how they write Gmail on it.
And I have the cutest giraffe going up the side, clouds and sunshine at the top, people waiting for the bus across the bottom (don't know how the giraffe will fit in the bus!). Apparently the themed pictures under each topic change depending on the location you enter. I entered my hometown, but I may try to enter another city just for fun.

While I'm at it, I'll put in a plug for Gmail -- best email system ever. It's fabulous! And things like this are just gravy. You get the feeling they love what they do. I love what they do, too!

Why is this interesting?

A non-quilty post, so be advised before you read.

There is something going around the internet, though I haven't seen it on a quilt blog yet. It's a "nearest book" game whose rules are:

* Grab the nearest book.
* Open it to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

(Other versions say open to page 123 and copy the first 3 sentences after the fifth one.)

I was hooked. I read one person's entry, googled to read more, and then decided to participate. My first problem: Although there was a pile of reading material near my chair, it was all magazines. What does that say about me? Hmmm...

Was I interested enough to get up? Frankly, yes. The first book I saw lay behind me on the kitchen table, a book I'm taking to a discussion group I recently joined:
It's The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker, edited by Matthew Diffee. I had read the introduction last night but hadn't gotten to page 56 of the text. Despite the fact that the book has teeny-tiny page numbers and I was not wearing my reading glasses, I found page 56. It was a cartoon, the only text its caption: "We had irreconcilable similarities." (If you envisioned two guys talking at a bar, you're exactly right.) Perhaps 123 would prove more fruitful? Nope. It's a photo of the cartoonist Mort Gerberg. So it appears I read magazines and picture books.

It was time to get dressed for the day anyhow, so I trotted upstairs and the first book I cast my eyes on sat on the nightstand, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
The fifth full sentence on page 56 reads, "Congress, which during Reconstruction had been quick to enact measures of legal, social, and economic freedom for blacks, just as quickly began to roll them back." It's part of an insightful discussion of the Ku Klux Klan. I haven't read as far as page 123 yet, but couldn't resist this excuse for a quick peek ahead. The three sentences starting with the fifth on that page read:

"The total effect was dramatic. By 2000, more than two million people were in prison, roughly four times the number as of 1972. Fully half of that increase took place during the 1990s." Certainly makes me curious, but I didn't read more. The title of the chapter is 'Where Have All the Criminals Gone?'

So now I had it. I found random sentences from my own book, and had read context-less sentences from other people's nearest book, and why do I care at all? Is it voyeurism, seeing a bit of personal detail about someone I don't even know? Is it intellectual, seeing if I can figure out what the book is about from only one (or in some cases, three) sentences? Am I looking for a connection (I've read that book!)? Am I looking to prove myself superior (I would never read such trash!)? Do I want to feed a low sense of self-esteem by unfavorable comparison with others (They read such interesting books, and I'm surrounded by magazines)? Am I just amazed by all the diversity in the world (all of us blog, but we all have different books at our sides)?

I asked my husband, who generally can come up with an insightful comment at times like these, but he doesn't find this particularly interesting and doesn't know why anyone does. I welcome any thoughts you have on the subject. The dozen or so blogs I checked did not really comment on the activity itself, except for one blogger who simply said, "Why not?"

New Books & More Linus

Yay! The two books I ordered from Gwen Marston finally arrived! It took a very long time, probably because I asked for signed copies. They are wonderful to look through, and I really appreciate the construction tips in the books.

I'm working on a couple things that I can't show photos of yet (gifts), so instead I'll share pics of last Thursday's Project Linus worknight. We made another Heartstrings quilt. (We use the pattern on the Heartstrings Project site, but instead of sending in blocks, we finish the quilts and donate them to our local Project Linus chapter.)
These are fast and fun to make, especially when you have a room full of people whisking those blocks through their machines. Our huge bin of fabric strips is in happy chaos. I had tried to keep the strips organized by color or approximate width, but after every worknight I'd spend hours getting things in order again -- it was so not worth it!

I like to keep our worknight activities varied so we don't get bored. Helen in the UK made a very cute Happy Blocks quilt, which I thought would be another great worknight project. It's a good way to use scraps of novelty fabrics, and it's a simple I Spy for young children.
Our blocks are smaller and we make our quilts a little larger than Helen does, so this is only about half done (and the two blues together will not be together when the blocks are joined!). The blue and yellow border fabrics were donated by the Calico Cat, who very generously sent us a bunch of solids for use in our Project Linus quilts.

Getting fleeced

The Central Illinois chapter of Project Linus has a wonderful project to donate blankets this Christmas to the children of women in prison. And not just any blankets, but blankets made to order. The women provide the first name, age, favorite color, and their child's interests, and PL volunteers made blankets for each child. Many were quilts, a few were knit or crochet, and quite a few were fleece. This week I made these for a boy who likes all kinds of sports, a girl who loves pink, and another girl who loves purple and rainbow colors. (Can you guess who gets which?)
These blankets are quick and easy, but they have a very finished look. The Fringed Fleece pattern is on the Project Linus website. You can buy fleece on sale and make a blanket in just a couple hours for a quick donation quilt. They'd be great holiday gifts, too.

This morning I delivered 10 bags of quilts -- 6 bags for the inmates' children project and 4 for general PL use. And NO, I did not make all those quilts!! Most were made by members of my guild, and some were dropped off by others in the community. Today was our deadline, and I've really been working this week to get everything done. I also finished this quilt, shown here before I quilted and bound it. I'm not crazy about the Yellow Brick Road pattern, but someone donated a kit and the fabrics were perfect for one teenager who likes nature and outdoor activities. The backing is a leafy fern print and there's a row of leftover blocks from the front stitched in, too.

It feels great to have participated in making these blankets, and I know that come Christmas I will feel good every time I think about children clutching the blankets they received with a card from their absent mothers. This donation project is called "Here's A Hug," and I hope the kids feel loving arms around them when they wrap up in their blankets. Quilts can warm our hearts in more than one way.

Still, I'm excited to get back to my own projects that have been on the back burner for awhile. I'm off!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I wish there had been digital cameras when my kids were little -- I'd have so many more photos! Oops -- maybe it's a good thing we didn't have them. :) I made all their Halloween costumes and was going to scan some old photos and post them, but I can't get the scanner to work with my new computer. Next year!

The girls now make their own costumes. This morning Jocelyn took a photo with her computer at work. This year she's Sarah Palin.
And her sister Valerie is dressing as Tina Fey portraying Sarah Palin!

And here's a pic of my favorite Halloween earrings. They are big -- come almost down to my shoulders!
And, as promised, a bit of what I've done since I've been "Here." I finished Otto's quilt! Here's the "back."
I had wanted to put Otto's name on the back, but, as you can see, one thing led to another. I have to say that I love it. It's the first really wonky, free-pieced quilt I've made. Thank goodness it had Otto's name on it, or I might not have been able to part with it!
And this is the original "front." I like it, too. I'm pleased by my fabric selection and would have thought it was a great quilt if I hadn't started on the back...
Otto's mom sent photos of Otto on his quilt.
I think he likes it!

There

The original title of this post was "Here and There," but I realized I won't have time to do justice to both this morning. Stay tuned for "Here" in the next day or two!

There is California, where I went to visit my family and the Pacific International Quilt Festival. On the last post I linked to my niece's slide show of many of the quilts there. I'll do a more in-depth presentation of a couple quilts for now. I couldn't possibly choose a favorite, these are just two that caught my attention again this morning as I scrolled through my finally downloaded photos. Don't forget to click on a photo to enlarge it if you want a closer look.

This quilt by Jo P. Griffith shows the wind farm at Altamont.
I have always loved the look of these huge windmills -- so graceful, so powerful. As I looked at the quilt, I started imagining lots of ways to incorporate that image into a quilt. But the other thing that caught my eye was the pieced background and border. I love pieced squares that are all different but all part of the same. It adds so much texture and interest!

This next quilt, The Gold Lady, was put together by twelve members of the Ocean Wave Quilters of Fort Bragg, California. (Such a gorgeous town, right on the coast!)
They enlarged a photo and divided it into twelve parts. One quilter took each part and, without consulting the others, recreated it using any materials she wished. Then they were all joined together. Much like the pieced background above, this is so much more interesting for the variation. I really like it.

At the show I also got to meet two other quilt bloggers, Tami of Lemon Tree Tales and Julie of Floribunda.
It was wonderful to meet them! My niece Laurel took the photo, and a kindly passerby took a photo of the four of us, but the sun streamed in across the top of the photo and the faces are hugely overexposed.


This little basket photo I took at home this morning, but wanted to put it up after I saw a photo of a similar basket on Julie's blog. She had just purchased a basket from Ghana to use to carry her groceries, and about a month ago I purchased a similar basket from the food co-op. I think I'll keep mine for projects in progress, as I find it's a little bulky for shopping.

The rest of the trip I spent visiting family. I won't bore you with family photos, but I met a new member of the family, born in July, and she deserves a welcoming photo. Here's Maggie (being held by my older daughter, Jocelyn).
And here's the I Spy quilt I made for her and her brother and sister. Their mom (my niece Andrea) hung it on the bedroom. I love seeing my quilts in use!

As a belated birthday present, my daughters took me to the city for dinner at Millennium Cafe, where I have wanted to go ever since it opened. Wow! Scrumptious, delicious, succulent, juicy, superbly balanced -- the list of superlatives to describe the food could go on and on! We stopped in at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art beforehand. There it is, that circular building seen from the Yerba Buena Gardens. I love the circles and stripes in that building!
And finally, on a crafty note, here's a stamped cross stitch sampler I made in high school.
My father used to love that quote, and so when I saw the kit I made it up for him. I asked my mother about it when I visited, and she still had it. I asked to see it because my niece Laurel recently changed her blog name to Set of the Sail, and I got to thinking about it. My mom has now passed it on to Laurel, which is absolutely as it should be. The sampler is clearly made by someone who knew nothing about cross stitch, but the words are powerful.

Back from PIQF!

I've been back several days and still haven't downloaded my photos! Fortunately, my niece Laurel, who went to the show with me, has posted a slide show on her blog. It was a wonderful show! I was surprised at how much individual character quilt shows have -- this one was very different from the one in Chicago. The California show had far fewer traditional quilts and the vendors carried different fabric lines. There was of course a great deal of overlap, but it was really interesting to see the different emphasis.

In addition to seeing my niece, I also got to visit with fellow quilt bloggers Julie of Floribunda and Tami from Lemon Tree Tales. So great to meet them!

My quilting time has been taken up since my return with two big things: finishing Otto's quilt (delivered yesterday!) and working on quilts for the Here's A Hug project, which donates quilts to the children of women in prison through Project Linus. The deadline for that is November 1, so I'll be back to my regular quilting by the weekend. All those photos are in my camera and I'll share them soon. I just feel bad for not having posted since my return and decided that photo-less was better than photo-less AND text-less!

And a heads up for everyone -- Jill and I are cooking up some holiday fun! We'll share the news soon. :)

Not my favorite thing

Once the piecing is done, quilting is next. Whoa. Not not my strength.
Otto's quilt is now about half quilted. I took Wanda's advice and am stitching in the ditch around the diamonds formed by the Trip Around the World pattern. I was nervous that it might look weird on the funky "back" side of the quilt, but in fact it doesn't seem to. Whew! For all the delaying, it's not so bad and it isn't taking too long. I need to make it a priority to really learn to quilt. And I'll have practice soon -- I have two more tops I want to quilt before the end of the month.

Tomorrow I take my machine in for a cleaning and check-up. I'll be away for a week, so it's a good time to have this done. I'm off to California to see my mother, my daughter, my brother and his wife, two nieces and their growing families, and hopefully some blogging friends at the Pacific International Quilt Festival. This year I was smart enough to time a visit to relatives to coincide with PIQF. Can't wait! I won't be posting while I'm away, but with any luck, I'll be able to get in some blog reading. Have a great week everyone!

Strings

Ami Simms came to our guild a couple weeks ago and gave a really funny quilting lecture, followed by a moving presentation about Alzheimer's. I took her string quilt workshop the next day. I've made a lot of string quilts and went to Kay Capps Cross's string quilt workshop last spring, so I almost didn't sign up for this class. The last thing I need is another UFO! But Elaine Adair raved about a workshop she took with Ami, and Ami had very generously allowed us to use one of her patterns for our Linus raffle quilt, so I decided to take the class. I'm really glad I did!
I decided to use my guild's Linus stash to choose fabrics and make a quilt to donate. We have lots of animal prints, so I cut strips from those. Ami had us make strip sets, but her smart innovation (and the reason that I'm glad I took the class) is in her tube method of attaching the solid fabric for the other side of the half square triangles. So clever, so quick! I haven't finished mine yet (I need to get the solid fabric), but her method worked very well for the people who got that far during class. Follow the link above to the workshop if you want to see what the end result will be. I'll post a photo when I'm done.

I'm also working on another string quilt for Project Linus. Lots of kids around here are big Fighting Illini fans, so I thought it would be fun to make a blue and orange string quilt.
Here's a sample block with two different Illinois fabrics. I thought we'd do orange stripes in the middle of each and then a variety of blues, with the occasional strip of dark blue Illinois fabric thrown in, and then border it with the orange Illinois fabric. We may need a deeper orange strip, and I'm not sure or the range of blues. So I'm not sure if this is exactly how we'll end up doing it -- if you have suggestions, please let me know! We make lots of string quilts at worknights, but I get tired of the same old thing and am trying to make them thematic in some way (like my rainbow strings, which you can see part of in my blog header).

Color Hue Test

My friend Lisa, who's in my quilt guild, just sent a link to a Color Hue Test. I looked at it and thought it would be easy, but it was tricky. As similar colors are grouped together, it gets harder and harder to distinguish among the subtle shades. I didn't have the time/patience to do more than the first section this morning, but when I clicked to score the test, it showed me graphically how well each section was put in order. Give it a try, and have fun!

New computer!

Hoorah! I apologize for not blogging, or reading blogs, for over 3 weeks. My old computer had become a real pain. My photo storage was overloaded and difficult to handle, and the blogger-photo interaction was crazy. Every day I could see fewer and fewer photos on other people's blogs -- really frustrating. But my new computer moves so fast I can hardly believe it! :)

To catch up a bit:
I pieced together the fungly blocks (and have enough blocks now for another fungly top). The blocks were made by attendees at a Project Linus worknight.
The front/back or Otto's top is done and it's ready for quilting. I am so disappointed that I forgot, completely forgot, to put on the narrow inner red border! But I'm not taking this border off to do it. I got so many comments on which outer border to use -- thank you! I ended up going with this one just because it was brighter, which I think is good for a baby.
Kate at Kate's Quilting sent me backings and embellishments for several ATC's. I had never made one and wanted to try. It was really fun! Her background reminded me of streamers at a party, so I decided to add a glass of bubbly and title it "Celebrate" -- but it got a little crooked. That made me change the title to "Tipsy" and put the bubbles trailing out behind. I think it was an accident that worked out better than the original plan. Thanks, Kate, for inspiring me to try something a little artsy!
There has been a lot going on with Project Linus for me lately. This is Make A Blanket Day for the Central Illinois Chapter in late September. Wow -- 700 blankets turned in/completed/made that day! Really impressive. The women in charge of organizing this were absolutely amazing.
I also took a couple classes at the Red Cross to get CPR, AED, and First Aid certification. They had this quilt hanging in the training room. I love the story behind it. One little girl and her friends made the quilt at her birthday party and donated it to the Red Cross. I hope that eventually it gets donated to someone in need after a tornado or other local disaster.

Finally, I used my new computer to take this photo of myself! It's a computer with a built-in camera. What a blast! I've been having fun playing with this new machine, though there's some work to do transferring things from my old computer and installing various other things. My DH and DD have been a huge help! Now that I can actually see the photos that you guys post on your blog, I'll do some catching up. I have missed you!

One more audition

I did make it to my LQS and got some of the white with black squiggle fabric -- it's the reverse of the one I showed yesterday. I added some red strips this time so it would be easy to imagine the inner red border.
I think I prefer this to the predominantly black one just because it's lighter and brighter. Comments welcome! And thanks so much to those of you who commented yesterday. It's really helpful to hear what everyone thinks. I've learned a lot when other bloggers post their auditions, too.

Several people have asked me how my foot is doing. It's great! Yesterday was my last post-surgery doctor's appointment and I got confirmation that things have healed very well. I can now walk fairly briskly for an hour at a time and don't limp at all until near the end. Soon even that should disappear! Thanks for all your encouragement and concern.

Auditioning borders

I finished piecing the "back" of Otto's quilt (which is now really the front). Somehow I was off in my measurements in a couple places and so in the spirit of this quilt, I simply whacked some edges. It took me a few days to get up the courage, but in the end I think it's ok. I had planned on red borders, but I don't have enough red fabric and I can't get more. My first thought was yellow -- bright and cheery, and there's yellow in the blocks. But when I tried it, I wasn't too crazy about it. It just looks stuck on.
I neglected to add the red inner border and red binding when I took the yellow border photo (they are on the right side in the photo below), but I think it needs an inner border.
My memory was that this fabric was white with black squiggles, but it's just the opposite. I think I prefer it to the yellow, but I know the quilt shop has the white with black fabric, and I think I'd prefer that to either of these -- it would be brighter than this one, and fit the design on the quilt better than the yellow. Right now the top is just lying on the fabric, but I think I'd have the stripes going the long way across the top and bottom, just like they are now on the sides. The side borders will be bigger than the top and bottom ones.

Any thoughts? All help greatly appreciated!

Quilt from old clothes at Houston

Before I tell you about the quilt, just had to share this photo. Any knitters out there may remember I posted a photo of this baby kimono that my daughter Jocelyn made last May for a friend's baby. Zoe was born a few weeks ago and looks absolutely adorable in her stylish kimono!

Last night was my quilt guild's annual summer picnic. I happened to sit near Charlene Bremer, a lovely woman who had seen me looking around the parking lot for the building entrance when I first joined the guild 3 years ago, introduced herself, took me in and sat with me. I am still grateful for her kindness. Charlene is also a fabulous quilter. For the first time ever she had submitted a quilt to a big quilt show, and it was accepted! The quilt depicts about 20 appliqued scenes from her daughter and son-in-law's life while they were in the Peace Corps in Mali -- and she used the clothes they wore in Mali to make the quilt. Really something. She had already sent the quilt off to the show, so I only got to see photos, but now I can't wait to see the original. I'm very pleased that Charlene is getting recognition for her wonderful work, and I'm equally happy that a primitive-style, applique quilt made from worn clothing is being shown. What a treasure that quilt will be for her DD and SIL -- memories at every level. I neglected to get the name of the quilt, but I'm sure you can find it under Charlene's name if you're lucky enough to go to Houston.