Quilting
Have you ever taken notice of a quilt and marveled at its intricate detail and contemplated all the time and energy it took to complete such a work of art? Have you ever attempted to piece together such a creation or have you never even given the construction of a quilt a second thought?
Born in the 60s I remember well my mother sewing many outfits for myself and my two sisters; the sewing machine and ironing board had permanent locations and were used often. I created my own sewing projects as the years went by and then packed away the sewing machine and never gave it another thought … until recently. Someone asked to borrow my machine and when they returned it, I left it on the dining room table. Each time I passed by I would glance at the sewing machine and say, “I need to stash that away somewhere.” But I never did.
In the back of my mind … the creative part of the brain was searching for something. I wanted to create something country and homey, something that took some thought and something useful. I started noticing quilts … in magazines, on-line and even though I frequent the craft stores often, I usually breeze by the fabric aisles, but not now! When I decide to do something, I dive in, full force and unstopping! Reading the quilting book I purchased just wasn’t making sense; the only way to learn was “to do” so I bought yards and yards of fabric and started cutting squares.
Although I did allow for seam allowances, the fabric squares are tiny! I should have made them much bigger, but this is how I learn!
My design is very simple and in reading about quilts I found the history quite fascinating. The development of quilting in the United States has unfolded over several centuries and there are heirloom quilts that are among the most dearly loved American antiques. Quilts are individual expressions using fabric colors, patterns and designs; many times used to tell stories of the past. Quilting bees were all day long social events that included the entire family; an occasion for conversation and catching up on news. Many times the quilts under construction were for an upcoming special event such as an engagement or wedding. Patchwork, appliquéing and the crazy quilt are all techniques used to develop this work of art and there are specific names for designs that have been created and passed down through history; Bear’s Paw, Stepping Stones and Log Cabin to name a few. The richness of the American creative spirit can be witnessed in the reflections of everyday life depicted on quilts from yester year. Next time you have the opportunity to glance at a quilt take time to notice the detail and design; you may be glancing at a unique moment in history.
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The Archdruid Report: Trailing Edge Technologies
One of the worst of the booby traps built into the contemporary mythology of progress, it seems to me, is the notion that the way out of any difficulty is to keep moving the way we are already going, and do it faster. It may seem obvious that if you’ve gone down a blind alley, the only way out begins by shifting into reverse, but it takes very little attention to the current political scene to notice that this bit of common sense is far from common just now. For a case in point, listen to the pundits – a sizeable chorus of them just now – who insist that the only way to bring soaring prices of oil, food, and other commodities back to earth is to push forward with the project of economic globalization. The problem here is that globalization was never more than an artifact of the final blowoff of the age of cheap oil, and as that age ends, so do the economic factors that made globalization work. During the quarter century from 1980 to 2005, the cost of transport was so close to negligible that it seemed to make sense – and certainly made profits – to arbitrage labor costs by building sweatshop factories in Third World countries and shipping their products around the globe to markets in the industrial world. Far from being the wave of the future, as so many of its promoters claimed, or a malign conspiracy, as so many of its enemies insisted, it was simply the most profitable solution of an equation in which fuel costs, prevailing wages, and the relative strengths of various currencies were the most significant factors. That equation is changing now. A recent news article noted that the cost of shipping a container of freight from China to Europe is now three times what it was before the current oil price spike began, and US companies that had offshored their production lines to distant continents were beginning to reopen long-shuttered domestic factories to cut transport costs. As the age of cheap oil dwindles in the rearview mirror, companies...
Janet's Enlighted Blog: where to buy lighting supplies
For most of my designs, I use LEDs, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes. LEDs with metal leads are intended to be mounted "thru-hole" style on a circuit board, although I typically use the leads to mount them in fabric. The most common thru-hole types are known as T1-3/4 (5 mm diameter) and T1 (3 mm diameter). The same light-emitting chip that is embedded within a thru-hole LED is also available in smaller "surface mount" packages. These are better suited for some applications due to their smaller size, but they are more difficult to connect to a circuit, and are not recommended for beginners. Depending on the base fabric, the type of garment, and the design you are trying to create, you may also be able to use glue, or you could weave the EL wire back and forth through holes in the fabric. There is also a type of EL called "tail wire" that has a flat part extending from the glowing core. This can be stapled or machine sewn (in a welt along a seam, for example).
Source: Janet's Enlighted Blog: where to buy lighting supplies