Computers and quilting

So far, this is a good day; I've had a success both on the computer side, and as a quilter.

Computer successes always make my day

Since the purchase of my new computer with Windows 7 (I know 8 is already out), almost a year ago, I have been grousing about the fact that my favorite photo software, Corel PhotoPaint 8 no longer works. I guess this could be my sacrifice in the name of progress. It was a very old program, and according to all I've read online, the upgrades are lacking. Besides, I refuse to buy a program twice.

My PhotoPaint served me well. I did everything on it, from stitching two pictures together to creating a panorama, to inserting and removing portions of images, changing colors, to generally manipulating images to their best potential. I have been lost without it.

Not long ago, I downloaded a few online photo programs, and even purchased one that was billed as much more than it actually was, but useful nonetheless.

I really wanted Adobe Photo Shop, but there is just no way I could ever afford that. Just recently I decided to download GIMP, which everybody says is a great PhotoShop replacement, and it is free.

Today I decided I wanted to upload photos of six quilt blocks, two at a time, that I had just completed for Craftsy's Block of the Month. I had no idea how to combine the three pictures into one photo. My old program used a feature to 'stitch' them together, but GIMP didn't recognize the 'stitch' command. It didn't take too long before I learned to do exactly what I wanted. This is the result at right.

Computer success allows me to show my quilting progress
I love how this quilt is coming together. Purple is another of my favorite colors. I completed these six blocks last weekend, but only after I sorted all the fabric in my stash. For years I had been buying fat quarters here, a yard there, mostly always fabric that is on sale. I realized that I had quite a lot of purple fabric. Since I really love monochromatic quilts, I decided to use it for this one. This is considered a modern quilt because it uses newer methods to create traditional patterns as well as some new ones. I think the bottom two are my favorite--the string blocks. They are so easy, but look so complex. I just love how they turn out. For these blocks, I just used scraps from another quilt I had made.

String blocks are beautiful sewn together into a quilt, no matter what colors they are--whether they are made with different color strips and types of fabric or the same.

I love this quilt of the month project at http://www.craftsy.com/. I can't wait to see what the April blocks will be. It is a free class, with instructor Amy Gibson.

Related articles

• GIMP: Overview

Sadly, TV ain't what it used to be

I cut my teeth on television shows like I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Lassie, The Honeymooners, and Family Classics. I confess that as a child of the 50's and 60's, television largely influenced my formative years and beyond.

Andy Williams performs on The Andy Williams Show

Early television was more than just entertainment. It was a reflection of values, morals, and proper behavior. It inspired children to think. It showed us how to do well, grow up successful, and get along well with others. 

Every Sunday night, my family would gather around the television set at my grandparents' house to watch Lassie. 

As the star of the show, who didn't love this beautiful, perfect pet dog. Lassie and her supporting cast told stories--always with a happy ending--always with a lesson to be learned,  usually from Ellen or Gramps, the wise elders. Children like me were inspired to think and ask questions about what we'd seen, learned. Lassie invoked discussion with my own grandparents.

In the 50's and 60's, television was rich with a variety of entertainment. We watched shows like The Andy Williams Show, and The Carol Burnett Show, and many others. Variety shows offered a glimpse into the entertainment world through music, theater, and comedy. Viewers were transformed into another world. Entertainment didn't take over the networks but they had a prominent place.

There were also soap operas, dramas, game shows, children's shows, the famous Saturday morning cartoons, and all other types of programming.

Some of my favorite moments in television included the Mickey Mouse Club which included short serials. My favorites were The Adventures of Spin and Marty, which had a western theme centered around two boys who became friends at the Triple R Ranch.  Another was Corky and White Shadow, also a western, about a girl and her dog whose adventures often got her into trouble.

Who can forget comedy skits by The Smothers Brothers, or the hilarity of Laugh-in? These were designed strictly for entertainment purposes, mimicking a night out but in our own living rooms.

There was drama that took us to new heights with Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Outer Limits, Playhouse 90, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Naked City--all of which teased our imaginations and tweaked our senses.

Television was a spectacle that inspired a generation.

What the hell happened?

Today, television has one goal--to make money. Isn't it ironic that the act of getting rich has cheapened it?

Today television provides just enough mindless entertainment to keep people watching, always with an eye on keeping the money flowing. Often times it is so sensationalized that we rarely even think about it anymore.

Television, with some exceptions, rarely makes us think. It no longer guides the way for young children or evokes thoughtful conversations, or questions. Instead, they become dazed by the vivid colors and loud sounds.

Murder was often a topic of discussion in the olden days, but it was done much more tastefully. Viewers were not subjected to endless pools of blood, gaping stab wounds, or shooting victims whose brains splatter against colorless walls. They didn't have to. And we were better for it.

We didn't have to see Rob and Laura Petrie or other couples portrayed on TV shows peel each others' clothes off on camera to understand the man/woman relationship they shared. The play between them was apparent enough. Left to our imaginations, it may have even been more provocative.

Women didn't have to wear gowns cut down to their navels to be beautiful.

A one-hour television show now is only about 45 minutes long. The rest of the time is taken up by commercials. Gotta make money! Television programming no longer focuses on content. The focus has completely shifted to the commercial programming. The content must now fit between the time slots for the product sales.

There is nothing more disheartening to me than watching a television drama that is chopped at a crucial moment in the story line to sell some prescription drug, Viagra, tampons, toilet paper, or any other endless number of other products.

This incessant desire to dumb down our television programming is most evident in the news shows.

For example, I've watched Good Morning America since it premiered in 1975. I have been a long time fan of the show, but no more. It used to be a good way to start the day. It was rich in news, weather, and important features.

I can't stand to even watch Good Morning America these days. Its best feature is George Stephanopoulos, who is way over-qualified for the kind of mediocre program GMA has become. While Robin Roberts is a lovely woman, her sappy interviews are painful to watch. Its latest focus on celebrity couples, courtroom drama involving bizarre murder investigations, and the back and forth between Dan Abrams and Nancy Grace is tiresome and annoying. The mediocrity that has overtaken the programming is sickening. Where is the hard-hitting journalism?

If there is a segment I'm interested in on GMA, it isn't usually worth the wait. The endless teases and long commercial breaks are brutal. More often than  not, I opt for turning off the television and simply reading the news on the computer. It just isn't worth the aggravation.

One more thing that is totally annoying about television today, is the endless breaks in programming. Shows once ran for most of the year with a few reruns in the summertime when viewers were busy enjoying the longer daylight hours and warm temperatures. Nowadays, shows are rerun often, with only a few new episodes sandwiched between them.

I feel so sorry for the generations that have missed the wonderful medium that television used to be. But then, television is not alone. There are so many once-powerful institutions that have been taken over by mediocrity. Sadly, much of it can be traced back to the god of the 21st century--money.

Spring is here!

Little can be more pleasing than picking a bouquet of spring flowers from your own backyard. 

Hibernation is over!

Image via Wikipedia

My mother must have forgotten to tell me that somewhere in our family lineage there was a grizzly bear, or perhaps a brown bear or other humongous creature that hibernates during the winter months.

I know there had to be a bear in the family tree because I have been hibernating. I just came out of my comfortable den in the last couple days. I don't go outside much during the winter months, even though this was a very mild winter. I always have tons of projects to keep me busy, inside.

With these last two days though, who could resist? Temps hovering in the 60- to 70-degree range. Windows are open, the breeze is wafting through the house. I'm feeling rejuvenated. It is all pretty inspiring.

I have tons of projects to do outside too. Trouble is, they are generally much more labor-intensive. I admit, I've never been really good at that sort of thing, but what the hay.

Speaking of hay--or more to the point--straw, that was the first thing I wanted to do.

2011 garden

I have been thinking about moving an old, rotting bale of straw that had been sitting in the old garden since it was abandoned. It was a total failure for multiple reasons. But, I wanted to use that straw to add volume and tilth to the soil in the new raised bed garden my husband built for me, pictured at right.

In its first year, last year, it was looking like it could have been wildly successful, had the deer not come to eat everything in sight one night. This year, I plan to take precautions, although I haven't quite nailed down the details. I'm thinking a chicken wire fence with bling (pie plates hanging from them), a little human hair, since I have plenty, and a bit of deer repellent. That ought to do it!

If anybody has any additional ideas, I'm all ears!

Hubby actually just finished building a second garden, just like the first. He built it around what had been a semi-circular herb garden. The far-too few herbs in it are those that lived through last summer's heat. They are growing nicely--rosemary, lemon balm, oregano, sage, thyme, and chives.

I should have lots of room to grow my veges.

So today, with the help of a wheel-barrow, I lugged the really heavy, water-logged bale of straw to the new garden. I separated its flakes and put a single layer in both the new and the old gardens to let it dry before we can till it in and add new soil.

Today was actually the second time I ventured outside. Yesterday I sat on the front porch a little just daydreaming about things that needed to be done. All that thinking exhausted me, so I came back in, but not before I took that ceremonial springtime walk through yard to look at what had started to grow. It was really windy, so I didn't have much luck getting pictures, but I did get a couple just to prove that spring has definitely sprung, here in the Ozarks.

A Bradford Pear 

Budding lilac

A couple of crocus and wildflowers

My first daffodil hiding in the background.
These are fully open today

Weather extremes days apart

What a difference a few days can make. 

Some of my favorite little birds--the Juncos--seemed to really enjoy the snow we received on February 14. The more they ate, the more energy they seemed to have, as they hurried from one place to another in a frantic attempt to find food.

Every now and then, they would take a break. My camera caught one of them doing just that, as he sat still on a dormant magnolia tree before taking off again. Perhaps he realized that it was easy to find food here, since the humans who inhabit this part of the forest always keep several feeders full during inclement weather.

See how they scurry beneath a feeder during the only real measurable snow we had this winter?
The picture shows how dark it was during the height of the snow storm that dumped about three inches.

I just love those dark, moody days!


I had forgotten these pictures were even in my camera until I aimed my lens once again toward the front bird feeder to capture a shot of this happy Cardinal  perched leisurely near his food source.

That was just nine days later--February 23. The temperature was a balmy 75º outside.

Not only was the weather different, but so was the mood in the bird community. The frenzied feeding from a few days earlier gave way to a more relaxed mealtime.

I shared a similar mood. Both of us were perched in our respective places--just enjoying the day. We both enjoyed the weather and promise of the soon-to-be spring.

Such weather extremes, just nine days apart, are common, here in the Ozarks. Personally, I love it. I was just as content to watch the snow fall from the chair in front of my sewing machine as I was to enjoy the warm breezes that swirled around my wicker rocker on  the front porch.

The name of the game is peace. I suppose it is an earned reward, acquired simply by living through the rigors of working and raising a family. Whatever the reason, I like it!

Is there such a thing as too much computer time?

Should I worry about how much time I spend in front of my computer screen?

For such a long time I have been tied, fingers first, to the home keys on they keyboard of my PC. I used to write stories, for a living. Now I just write for life. There is blogging, tweeting, and facebooking, not to mention reading and writing emails with friends, family, and even sneaking in a little Words With Friends, or Spider Solitaire now and then. Have I ignored my life as too many days seemingly wither away?

Hell no!

Upon closer examination, withering away fails to describe my reality. I am a better person because of the hours I spend up close and personal with my computer and with it, the people, places, and things that make my life worth living.

What I actually do on a regular basis is revisit and become re-acquainted with friends, from my past and present, as well as make new ones. I am better equipped now to keep up with the politics than I was in the days when I considered myself an activist. I often engage in deep, meaningful conversations with friends and adversaries on topics of the day. I read about things that interest me and some that I discover. I solve problems. I listen to my favorite music. I gather recipes. I commiserate. I learn new things. How can this be bad for me?

It isn't!

As I drift into the autumn of my life, I realize that my mind is probably sharper now than ever before. I'm astonished at all the memories that have come flooding back to me through chats on Facebook with friends and family members that span my entire life. If I do forget something, it is likely something insignificant. I never worry about those things because my best friend Google is always eager to help me out.


I have been a computer user for most of my adult life. I've enjoyed every phase of it. Heck, I remember 5 1/4" floppy disks. The one at the left was the pre-cursor to AOL--Quantum Link. Early online activity which included bulletin boards and other interaction was accessible through our Commodore Computer's C-64. It was very exciting, not to mention very log ago. We got our first computer, a Commodore Vic 20 in the early 1980's.

I remember the innovation that was America Online. It offered the first Internet accessibility to Macs and PC's with the Windows Operating System Bill Gates developed and released in 1985. Signing on to the Internet through AOL dialup which was pretty exciting. Who can forget those often-heard words every time we signed on--the words immortalized through the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie, "You've Got Mail?"

I've had just about every version of Windows Microsoft has ever made. I almost feel like I know Bill Gates personally. I know I have contributed to his wealth, even as dreams of my own have never materialized.

Wealth would be nice, but wealth alone won't make you rich.
 
I feel I am rich because my life--both real and online--is filled with friends and family with whom I would not want to live without.

I've worn the letters off countless keyboards over the years, and I've owned many different computers from Packard Bell, to a home built model. We have come a long way from that first 4 KB of memory on board the Vic 20. We've transitioned from kilobytes to megabytes to gigabytes and finally to terabytes.

I'm glad for the ability to continue riding the technology wave. I'm sure I will enjoy it, wherever it takes me. So, to answer my own question, though much of my life is spent in front of the computer screen, it has been 

Old Yeller is done!

Old Yeller is on the way to becoming a real quilt.

I have finally finished my yellow quilt top. I love the design, but I'm a tad disappointed that the stars don't quite pop as much as I would have liked. I think I was so conscious of they're being too bright that I toned it down a little too much. Still, just one glimpse and there is no doubt this is a yellow quilt. I do have options for those stars too. I could embroider around them, or as a friend of mine suggested, I could simply quilt them with a darker color of thread. Brilliant. There is always a solution.

I don't think quilting would be as much fun without one or more of my feline friends. Here is Ryan checking it out. I think she likes it and has made this her quilt. Hmm, seems to me she did that with the last one too.

Batting and backing should be here shortly. I ordered them online and they should be enroute via USPS and UPS any time. That is when the real cat fun will begin. I am a lap quilter, so I usually have at least one cat, on top of my quilt, and at least one beneath it. That is Ryan's favorite place--under the covers. Kasey, Ryan's twin, likes to sit in the hoop. Keni, usually hovers on the back of the couch. JR will probably try to wrap herself up in it.

Quilting is such a challenge. I think that is what I like about it. Not only are there the normal issues with cutting, sewing straight seams, etc., but there is that cat aspect as well. I can't wait to start quilting.

Related articles

• Having quilt withdrawl--time for a new quilt (rural01.blogspot.com)
• Quilting obsession continues (rural01.blogspot.com)
• My quilt is finally done! (rural01.blogspot.com)