Google Reader, exiting stage left

March 15, 2013 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

I have blog followers (subscribers) on Google Reader, and I also use Google Reader. A LOT.

So it was worth paying attention to the news when Google announced it was discontinuing Google Reader. While I’ve read multiple articles, I must admit my eyes glaze over when techie terms are mentioned. For those who aren’t affected by this announcement, it’s helpful to know that readers are a handy way to organize blogs into categories, allowing their Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds to be gathered up, allowing the reader to save posts, while also making them searchable from within the reader.

So now it’s back to the hunt for easy-to-use products that will allow us to replace Google Reader.

I did a search on RSS feeds for Macintosh and NewsBar (view, above) seems to be top-rated. I’ve been trying it out and I can customize colors, size of font, where I can put the floating feed (and I can make it disappear) among other things. I like that I can group my feeds as before, and that by clicking, it will show the post to the right with an option to open it in my browser. Once the RSS feeds have been uploaded, they are on their own and don’t refer back to Google’s reader.

If NewsBar is open, and I’m reading a website I want to save, I merely click on the small “plus” sign and it will add it. In some cases (I’m still learning), I had to locate a site’s RSS feed icon (above), then copy and paste the feed address into NewsBar. I’ve added an RSS feed icon to my blog now, too.

On my iPad, I use Flipboard, having logged into my Google Reader account and connected the two, but I don’t know if they are independent of Google; I’d have to suppose so. Debbie of A Quilter’s Table said she was trying Bloglovin, but when I tried it, I received this notice:

For the interim, we could start following lots of blogs, via their following service, then use filters in our emails to separate them off. This will work (I use it now for online quilt shops, family emails, and so forth), so if you want to follow me, you know how (fill in your email above; WordPress is a pretty good platform for this sort of thing).

At any rate, we’ll back shortly, with a new post.

(logo borrowed from www.fabshopnet.com)

And if you’re reading this on March 16th,

Happy National Quilting Day!

Quilts

More Projects?? Must Be Spring

March 13, 2013 Elizabeth E.5 Comments

What is it about spring that makes us open up our windows, welcome the sun and add more projects to our already stacked lists? I played hooky from my stacks of grading by heading down to Sewing Party in Orange County and breathing in the delicious fragrance of a new quilt shop. Well, new-to-me. (Bet you thought I was going to say wildflowers, or something.)

It’s in a business park, so look for the sign.

One of my Instagram pals had mentioned the Sewing Party quilt shop in her comments, then followed up with an email; I was interested in a class they were offering: The Bostonian Bag, which is really a small satchel with some flair. Sewing Party is a modern-oriented store, with lots of favorites, plus some Kaffe, Kokka, Moda, and others.

I indulged in a couple of pieces, plus a few bits from the Comma line of fabric–all good basics.

Cecile (the owner) really knows the way to a sewer’s heart: this is the kit for the Bostonian Bag all in its little bag. Very slick.

She made an exception for me and let me choose the fabric I wanted for my satchel. This Prints Charming canvas print (see selvage below) caught my eye, and she coordinated the stripe for me for other bits and pieces of this bag. She has the vision.

Love the spelling. (Kind of reminds me of the stack of Fiction Tests I just graded.)

What else am I working on? Well, I finished sewing all the moving pieces of my English Paper Pieced quilt together, and have one more border to add before I’ll show it off here.

I do believe this is the latest I’ve ever posted on WIP Wednesday over a Lee’s Freshly Pieced blog. Here’s a shot of our spring Daylight-Saving-Time moon to prove how late it is.

Quilt Bee

Bee Projects, et al

March 12, 2013 Elizabeth E.8 Comments

I’d participated in the Far Flung Bee last year, and although one member never sent her blocks, I had enough to make a project for Spring.

I’d been to my local quilt shop (LQS, for you non-quilters) and picked up some cute button-like fabric from Riley Blake’s latest line. When I got home, as is so often the case, I had another piece tucked away in the stash. I needed both pieces to finish this off, even stitching the binding on by machine because I was just so ready to get those blocks sewn into a project.

I used Jane Sassaman fabrics (from the stash) for the backing. I was listening to a fascinating book and couldn’t stop (my mother had already finished and was waiting for me to wrap it up) so I had to find projects to keep my hands busy while the book took me on its adventure. Read this, or better yet, listen to it while you quilt.

(P.S. Because of this book, I finished the Lollypop Trees quilt top.)

Next, I compiled this stack of fabrics, mostly new, to complete my latest Mid-century Modern Quilt Bee block.

Debbie of A Quilter’s Table had asked for “low-volume,” or neutral, fabrics using a tutorial she’d found online to make this block.

I took a photo to remember where I thought all the fabrics should go, then sewed it together. I’m pretty happy with the result, and hope she likes it too.

I’d finished the book, but kept going on some long-delayed projects. We’d gotten a new sofa in November 2012, and I’d purchased some random fabrics to brighten up the room, but had merely draped the fabrics over the pillow forms. It stayed that way all through the holidays until today! when I finally sewed all the cushions — with zippers, I’ll have you know. As my daughter will attest, I’m no decorator, but she approved these fabrics before I sewed them. I’ll probably re-arrange them 45 times in the next week, trying to find the order I like best.

And last night, I sat down and watched the old movie Possession (a favorite), then The Piano Guys concert (complete with TV pledge breaks) in order to finish all the hand sewing on my EPP quilt. Hopefully today I’ll get the borders on, right after grading a stack of homework and prepping for class. I’ve been in a finish-it mode for a little while now. I like starting projects, but it’s also nice to finish some things up.

200 Quilts · FAL · Finish-A-Long · Quilts

Star Mother’s Youngest Child quilt

March 8, 2013March 31, 2013 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

Here’s my second finish for March: Star Mother’s Youngest Child. The book, from which the title of this quilt is taken, was about Star Mother’s youngest boy who came to earth to experience Christmas before he was destined to take his place in the heavens, shining brightly forever. He landed at the home of a cranky old woman, who, childless and alone, just wanted to have one Christmas to celebrate before she died. And so the two came together. The illustrations are charming, and the child’s spikey hair and ugly countenance reminded me of the weirdo star in the bottom left corner, the points going the wrong way even though I tried really hard to get them like the picture of this quilt from the Moda Bake shop pattern. But in the aggregate, I think it all works okay.

Whenever I’m looking for a back, I usually go for whatever cheap fabric I’ve picked up on sale, or snagged from IKEA or the Marimekko from the Crate & Barrel outlet. I went to the guest bedroom closet, where these lengths all hang, washed, pressed and waiting and lo-and-behold! I’d purchased some of this Sweetwater Christmas line when I was buying the rest of the fabrics for this quilt. It had been two years and so I’d forgotten. I pieced it carefully to make the seam as invisible as I could. I’ve tried doing pieced backs. I usually fail at that sort of thing because at that point, I’m just so ready to be DONE.

I had also purchased this black/red stripe for the binding and even if it was on the original, I just didn’t know if it would work for my sensibilities. When I went to quilt night last week, Laurel told me it was just perfect. Sometimes you just need that atta’boy to help get these quilts done. I hand-stitched the binding while 1) watching a movie, 2) attending a baby shower another night, and then 3) coming home and talking to my husband after a long day.

My quilter used Superior’s King Tut in a tight red/green variegated color in a medium meander.

For the label, I scanned a picture from the book when the little child first knocks on the Old Woman’s door, and included a quote from the last pages of the book.

This is #108 on my list of 200 quilts. Frankly, I can’t keep up this pace of finishes unless I stop sleeping or eating (neither of which is very likely). The last two quilts have been in the pipeline for a couple of years, and I just had some extra time this semester and was able to get them finished (along with the help of my quilter). But for today, it’s nice to see this all done, lounging on my sofa.

That makes five Christmas quilts I’ve done in my lifetime: two have been given away, and the other three reside here. It will be fun to get those out this coming December.