Friday, July 01, 2005
Nicks
Nicknames. "Handles" some dorky post-cb-radio-now-internet-users call them.
My friends have 'em. I have a bunch of 'em. Most of mine come from MMORPG computer games (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) where I have to name a character, so I come up with some random grouping of letters that sounds "namey".
Sewmouse isn't like that. Sewmouse is the first online nick I ever had. Had to come up with something quick-like, and... well... Sew... DUH. Mouse, contrary to some beliefs that it is from the handheld computer pointing device, is actually from a Lovin' Spoonful song. (No, I will NOT type the whole lyric for you)
Over the years, I have collected a number of nicks from my fellow online folk. My friends - Vio, Leandra, Zombie Woof, Marqueax, Kalshassan, Uncle HBK, Marikus, Ellehcim, Adster.... Part of me thinks of these people as their nick, but I know each and every one of them by real-world name too - and treasure them dearly.
Somewhere on the other computer (Fred), there is my infamous list of really, really stupid online nicks - when I locate it, I'll post them. One of the members of THIS list actually became a RL boyfriend for a while after we met at a party. (Flappy the Wonder Dog - for those who have any idea).
Sewmouse. Arla. Tresennta. Suriana. Angelica Kestrel. Teika Dewsparkle. I could have chosen any of them for my nick for here... but....
This morning I cut tiny pieces from large chunks of fabric for about an hour at 5:00 a.m.
In my heart, I'm always Sewmouse.
*grin*
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Patience
As Lea often says, "I have TONS of patience. I've never used any, so I must have TONS of it stored up somewhere..."
The saying also goes "All good things come to those who wait"
I, however, am much more of Lea's mindset. Oh, I don't whack small children for whining, and I don't barge my way to the front of grocery queues, but I am the very first to admit that patience is NOT my long suit.
However.
Someone is trying very hard to prove to me that waiting quietly and patiently is going to pay off in the long run for me. Since this Prince of a fellow is someone I work with (a V.P. of all things!), it's annoying as slick snot to admit that he has been right about something. *grumbles*
But.
Slowly but surely, things at work are improving. VERY slowly. Like "moving a house from one side of town to the other on a flatbed truck" kind of slowly. "Snails making their way from New York to West Virginia" kind of slowly.
Now - you would think, knowing my joy in making quilts by hand, that my ability to deal with things coming together slowly would mean that I had patience....
Stop laughing Pirate. You too, Vio. No - really, I mean it. STOP LAUGHING.
See? They all know. I can count the number of things I have patience for on the fingers of one hand. But maybe... just maybe.... that VP is right about this....
On the other hand - just because I am paranoid doesn't mean everyone is NOT out to get me.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
M-I-A
A friend is missing - just disappeared in the middle of a conversation. This message is to this friend:
I know a lot of bad things were happening. I know you read this when you can. Fear has gripped me because of the things you said, both the day before, and right before you disappeared. You know how active and insane my imagination can be - and it is my hope that it's just my insane imagination working overtime.
If you can - contact me. If you can't - know that I am praying and sending all the best VooDoo your way.
Be well, my friend.
I know a lot of bad things were happening. I know you read this when you can. Fear has gripped me because of the things you said, both the day before, and right before you disappeared. You know how active and insane my imagination can be - and it is my hope that it's just my insane imagination working overtime.
If you can - contact me. If you can't - know that I am praying and sending all the best VooDoo your way.
Be well, my friend.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Weather Report
It is hot.
It is FARKING Hot.
Hot like this, I do not need.
I could not sleep. The fans are ineffective. Oh where, oh where is Ed McMahon with my check for ONE MILLION DOLLARS from Publisher's Clearing House so I can get the farking AC fixed?
I hate summer.
It is FARKING Hot.
Hot like this, I do not need.
I could not sleep. The fans are ineffective. Oh where, oh where is Ed McMahon with my check for ONE MILLION DOLLARS from Publisher's Clearing House so I can get the farking AC fixed?
I hate summer.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Another Stupid Internet Quiz Game
Ok, so like - I never saw the movie, but my friend Kal had it in his blog, and so I went and did it.
Who the hell is this chick anyhow, and is it ok for me to be her?
And who are you?
Who the hell is this chick anyhow, and is it ok for me to be her?
And who are you?
 You're sweet, but not naive -- though you like to be babied like a child at times. You prefer to have a bad boy by your side, but sometimes have problems understanding why he has to run off to take care of business. You want to settle down, yet deep down inside, you are excited by the surprises life throws your way. Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz. |
Ah, The Joy of Self-Delusion
Well - I did it. I finished an entire row of my friend's quilt project in one week. This may seem like nothing, but since it was taking me 2 to 3 weeks to finish a row before, I'm feeling rather puffed-up and jaunty!
Yes, it's that self-delusion thing. Doing 1000 tiny steps and not looking at the "big picture" until Sunday afternoon! It worked. One more row to go and I'm off to cutting for another. Yes, Vio - I'm nuts.
There is something so very soul-satisfying for me in working like this. Almost a connection to the past, although I have no past. My paternal grandmother taught me how to quilt - sort of - and there is a LOT of rememberance involved with that, but I also feel this connection to all the other women who have cuddled their families in fabric layered and stitched.
This isn't just a hobby - it's a meditation, and a catharsis. A means of expression for one who's words and drawings cannot express properly. Marqueax's Star was such an expression - of love and caring for one we have watched walk through the fire and finally come out the other side, a better man for it.
BabyStar was an expression of my desire - unfortunately an expression that was denied, but such it is - and it remains. She doesn't know it, but my initials and the year are penned on the back. It too is a legacy, although not of the caliber of Marqueax's Star - or of the new one that will begin after this pastel nightmare is assembled.
Strange to me how the quilts are getting names now. Each so particular to the person I make it for. Manda's Pinwheels, BabyStar, Marqueax's Star... and the other two I have in my head but won't mention here because I'm not giving away my partner's and my trade secrets. *wink*
But one is an expression of hope - and the other an expression of faith. Lea will know which is which.
Back to the laundry - already in progress....
Yes, it's that self-delusion thing. Doing 1000 tiny steps and not looking at the "big picture" until Sunday afternoon! It worked. One more row to go and I'm off to cutting for another. Yes, Vio - I'm nuts.
There is something so very soul-satisfying for me in working like this. Almost a connection to the past, although I have no past. My paternal grandmother taught me how to quilt - sort of - and there is a LOT of rememberance involved with that, but I also feel this connection to all the other women who have cuddled their families in fabric layered and stitched.
This isn't just a hobby - it's a meditation, and a catharsis. A means of expression for one who's words and drawings cannot express properly. Marqueax's Star was such an expression - of love and caring for one we have watched walk through the fire and finally come out the other side, a better man for it.
BabyStar was an expression of my desire - unfortunately an expression that was denied, but such it is - and it remains. She doesn't know it, but my initials and the year are penned on the back. It too is a legacy, although not of the caliber of Marqueax's Star - or of the new one that will begin after this pastel nightmare is assembled.
Strange to me how the quilts are getting names now. Each so particular to the person I make it for. Manda's Pinwheels, BabyStar, Marqueax's Star... and the other two I have in my head but won't mention here because I'm not giving away my partner's and my trade secrets. *wink*
But one is an expression of hope - and the other an expression of faith. Lea will know which is which.
Back to the laundry - already in progress....
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Completion Depression
Finished the BabyStar on Sunday night and packed it up and gave it to the gal at work Monday morning. She was underwhelmed. It's always hard to give one away - they become like "children" in a sense, and I almost "miss" having them to work on.
The quilt came out wonderful (if I do say so myself, and I do)- it looked good, the thin orange outer "binding" border was perfect, and I took miniscule blind-stitches to secure it on the backside by hand, which came out teriffic. Yes, I'm blowing my own horn. I made countless errors on this thing - twisted thread loops, unhidden knots, and a score of poorly matched points - but for a first Compass, I'm content with it, and for a kiddie quilt that will likely get barfed on and all, I'm very OK with it.
No, the problem is the recipient, and I knew that one going in. But some things you just DO because it's the right thing to do, regardless of what is going to happen, and this was one of those things.
Now I just have the rest of the top of a quilt that a friend wanted me to piece for her (and now I know why... each square has about 45 pieces!) I'm chain-piecing the small bits for a whole row at a time and then mass ironing. It seems to go faster that way. I think I understand the psychological effect - if I do it one square at a time, each square is an "I'm finished" kind of feeling and I stop working. By doing all the small bits for a whole row at a time, I never get the "finished" feeling until there are squares made up for a whole row's worth - which is worth a day of "I'm Finished" kick-back-and-relax-and-watch-a-movie kind of sloth.
And you may ask yourself - why would I do something like that? Well, the trade-off in this situation is that she is going to quilt the rest of my daughter's long-long-long awaited quilt. I just can NOT quilt well in a hoop, and the daughter's quilt is 120 x 120 inches and too big for my frame.
Heh - BabyStar was too small for my frame, Manda's Pinwheels is too big. Go figure.
So she does the hand-quilting on my nemesis quilt, and I do the piecing on hers. It works. In the mean while, I will be looking for the strips of fabric I cut ages ago for the binding on Manda's. I'm not taking any pictures of Manda's Pinwheels until it's done, because it's just too big and awkward to work with at the moment. Suffice it to say it is a log-cabin done in shades of teal and cream and put together into pinwheels.
Ok - back to the sewing machine.
The quilt came out wonderful (if I do say so myself, and I do)- it looked good, the thin orange outer "binding" border was perfect, and I took miniscule blind-stitches to secure it on the backside by hand, which came out teriffic. Yes, I'm blowing my own horn. I made countless errors on this thing - twisted thread loops, unhidden knots, and a score of poorly matched points - but for a first Compass, I'm content with it, and for a kiddie quilt that will likely get barfed on and all, I'm very OK with it.
No, the problem is the recipient, and I knew that one going in. But some things you just DO because it's the right thing to do, regardless of what is going to happen, and this was one of those things.
Now I just have the rest of the top of a quilt that a friend wanted me to piece for her (and now I know why... each square has about 45 pieces!) I'm chain-piecing the small bits for a whole row at a time and then mass ironing. It seems to go faster that way. I think I understand the psychological effect - if I do it one square at a time, each square is an "I'm finished" kind of feeling and I stop working. By doing all the small bits for a whole row at a time, I never get the "finished" feeling until there are squares made up for a whole row's worth - which is worth a day of "I'm Finished" kick-back-and-relax-and-watch-a-movie kind of sloth.
And you may ask yourself - why would I do something like that? Well, the trade-off in this situation is that she is going to quilt the rest of my daughter's long-long-long awaited quilt. I just can NOT quilt well in a hoop, and the daughter's quilt is 120 x 120 inches and too big for my frame.
Heh - BabyStar was too small for my frame, Manda's Pinwheels is too big. Go figure.
So she does the hand-quilting on my nemesis quilt, and I do the piecing on hers. It works. In the mean while, I will be looking for the strips of fabric I cut ages ago for the binding on Manda's. I'm not taking any pictures of Manda's Pinwheels until it's done, because it's just too big and awkward to work with at the moment. Suffice it to say it is a log-cabin done in shades of teal and cream and put together into pinwheels.
Ok - back to the sewing machine.
Friday, June 03, 2005
BabyStar
Well, I've been working on this for about 3 weeks now. The baby in question is due in July - so I have a short while yet to finish it. I hate quilting in a hoop. This is my first trial to get a picture to show up, so bear with me...
If you look closely at the outter edges, you can see the zoo/jungle print that I'm using for the backing fabric. I think I've pretty much decided that I absolutely, positively HATE using a hoop to quilt - but this thing is too small for me to put onto my frame. I always love working with bright colors, and although my digital camera is somewhat "challenged" when it comes to color reproduction - the exact shades are close to what you see here - the orange is much MORE orange - and the yellow is banana yellow - that sort of differences. Not too bad, really.
This is a work in progress, of course. Hopefully I can finish it "on time" - cross fingers, k?
If you look closely at the outter edges, you can see the zoo/jungle print that I'm using for the backing fabric. I think I've pretty much decided that I absolutely, positively HATE using a hoop to quilt - but this thing is too small for me to put onto my frame. I always love working with bright colors, and although my digital camera is somewhat "challenged" when it comes to color reproduction - the exact shades are close to what you see here - the orange is much MORE orange - and the yellow is banana yellow - that sort of differences. Not too bad, really.
This is a work in progress, of course. Hopefully I can finish it "on time" - cross fingers, k?
Found Them
Ah, the joy - the bliss - the headaches are over.. I found the glasses.
Apparently in my zeal to clean and tidy everything in my house last week, I had put down my glasses on the bed, then worked on the baby quilt I'm producing and put that down on top of the glasses. When I went to take the project (baby quilt is in a large embroidery hoop to quilt it - it's too small for my frame), the glasses slipped off the bed and underneath.
So yesterday I was totally focused on finishing the baby quilt AND finding my glasses, and I dropped the thread spool, which decided to try and hide under the bed, and upon retreival, there were my glasses, sitting on the floor as if saying "Well, dummy! We've been here all along, what is YOUR problem?"
duh.
If I can ever figure how to put a picture in this thing, I'll post one when this current baby quilt is done. It's very pretty, and I kind of feel proud of how it turned out. It's a Mariner's Compass that is 20" across, then surrounded by rainbow colored pinwheels. Bright as can be, and the backing fabric is a zoo/jungle print in bright primary colors as well. I'm just very worried about quilting on this hoop thing. Even using my frame, sometimes things get crooked or small "tucks" - this hoop feels too loosey-goosey for my liking.
By tonight I should have more than 2/3 of the hand quilting done, however, and I hope to have the pinwheels WELL started by the end of this weekend.
I think I should go read on how things work now... *grin*
Apparently in my zeal to clean and tidy everything in my house last week, I had put down my glasses on the bed, then worked on the baby quilt I'm producing and put that down on top of the glasses. When I went to take the project (baby quilt is in a large embroidery hoop to quilt it - it's too small for my frame), the glasses slipped off the bed and underneath.
So yesterday I was totally focused on finishing the baby quilt AND finding my glasses, and I dropped the thread spool, which decided to try and hide under the bed, and upon retreival, there were my glasses, sitting on the floor as if saying "Well, dummy! We've been here all along, what is YOUR problem?"
duh.
If I can ever figure how to put a picture in this thing, I'll post one when this current baby quilt is done. It's very pretty, and I kind of feel proud of how it turned out. It's a Mariner's Compass that is 20" across, then surrounded by rainbow colored pinwheels. Bright as can be, and the backing fabric is a zoo/jungle print in bright primary colors as well. I'm just very worried about quilting on this hoop thing. Even using my frame, sometimes things get crooked or small "tucks" - this hoop feels too loosey-goosey for my liking.
By tonight I should have more than 2/3 of the hand quilting done, however, and I hope to have the pinwheels WELL started by the end of this weekend.
I think I should go read on how things work now... *grin*
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Cynicism 101
Simon and Garfunkle speak for me today:
I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I distain
I am a rock I am an island
Don't talk of love
I've heard the words before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I'd never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock I am an island
I have my books
and my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no oneand no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries
I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I distain
I am a rock I am an island
Don't talk of love
I've heard the words before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I'd never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock I am an island
I have my books
and my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no oneand no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries
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