Saturday Sky - July 29, 2006

My brother, partner and I went for a 4 mile hike at Bull Run Park. It was a great day and not so hot because we went in the morning. It took us about 2 hours to hike it.
We saw a few fishermen and people on horseback. Yes, we had to watch our step!

My favorite parts were where we passed near a stream or river and could hear the water babbling over rocks. A very soothing sound.

As we came up to the first branch of the trail and my brother and partner were trying to figure out which path to follow, I pointed out that this is how bad horror flicks started!

Instantly, I was thinking of a Stephen King plot were we are chased and tormented by hideous, evil creatures and dying horrible and painful deaths. Then I decided that I liked looking at nature and enjoying sounds of the woods and all those horrible thoughts went away!

Here's a picture of Bull Run River.

How Evil Am I?

You Are 10% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm. Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

How Evil Are You?

Saturday Sky - July 22, 2006

Here's my Saturday Sky. This is from my front porch.

It's a little overcast and humid, very humid. Its supposed to thunderstorm later today. Hopefully that will cool things off.

What does your sky look like?

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt

As promised, here's a picture of the quilt I'm working on. It's a scrappy log cabin quilt. This is where all of those scraps are going. I'm trying to finish this by the second Monday in September for a scrap quilt challenge at my guild.

The Kind Of Gay I Am

I took this quiz that I was put onto by The Other Side of Straight.

Results

"You scored as Straight Acting. Heya your on the straight and narrow but still enjoy a good cute guy with a pint of beer."

What type of Gay are YOU?
created with QuizFarm.com

Straight Acting	60%
The all-round cute gay guy	60%
A Big Bear	40%
S + M guy	30%
Raging Queer	30%
Straight Queer Basher	10%
Straight	0%

Analysis

The straight acting thing I get. I'm not overly effeminate and I can hang with the guys. One of my co-workers was surprised when I came out to him as he thought I was straight. He said, "You're stealth Gay." Yes, indeed.

The All around cute guy thing is also doable. I've been told I'm cute, handsome, etc. by many people - so it must be true! ;-) I also love to look at cute guys!

A Big bear - well not so big anymore, but I have been told I look like a bear.
S&M guy - well...

Raging queer - while I'm not overly effeminate, apparently I can be in your face! Don't piss me off and we'll get along fine! I wonder if I should stay out of the china shop? Hmmmm....

Straight Queer Basher - I'm not sure what this means. I am queer, so does that mean I'm a straight basher? Or does it mean I'm a straight man that bashes queers? Very perplexing. Perhaps this is just the usual internalized homophobia?

Straight - well no surprise here. Now, I have known a woman, but there was just something missing. Hmmmm....

Pile O Scraps

Tonight I'm not having much luck in any of my projects - quilting or computer. Our laptop died this week and I was trying to fix it or at least try and get the data off of the hard drive. That's not happening tonight! So I moved to my quilt project and I was sewing the wrong peices together - and its a crazy scrap quilt! I mean how can you screw that up?! Well I did.

So I moved to blogging where I present a pile of potential creativity. A pile of fabric scraps. Scraps from the various quilts I have made and some from a scrap swap at my quilt guild. I am amazed at the amount of fabric scraps I have!



I found it very relaxing to rummage through the fabric scraps, anticipating a quilt that will come out of it! Already I'm working a crazy scrappy log cabin quilt (yes, the one mentioned earlier)! Maybe I'll share a picture of what I've done already?

Sorbet Quilting

Here are two blocks I made for a quilt that our local chapter of a quilt guild is making to give to a guild member for all her hard work. There would have been three, but I made an error in cutting!

They reminded me of the bright colors of sorbet - thus the name!

Saturday Sky - July 15, 2006

Here's my Satuday Sky. What's yours like?
Its hot and humid here in the DC area. You walk outside and burst into an instant sweat! Oh how I just love that! ;-)

Stories

At my monthly quilt class, I had an epiphany. As we moved into show and tell, one of the ladies started into a story before showing her quilt. The story was about the quilt and how she came to make it.

As I listened to the story, I realized that it was important for her to tell the story. It was also important for us to hear the story. Then I realized that prior to showing our quilts, we all had stories to tell.

It was important to tell the stories. It was important to hear the stories. We all have gone through most of what the person is telling and it is that connection that brings a sense of community to a group. The stories also have some new element in them and that is one of the best things to hear - something new.

I also realized that, at times, I get caught up in accomplishing a task and I forget or don't want to listen to the stories. At times, I am not in the mood for the stories - and that saddens me. For it is the sharing of the stories that is important and how we connect.

So I'll strive harder on those days that I'm not 'in the mood' to listen - to listen.

One Section, Two Section

Well here they are the first two sections of my soon-to-be queen size quilt. The pattern is called Yellow Brick Road.

Section One: Upper Left

Section Two: Upper Right

Saturday Sky - July 8, 2006

Here's my Saturday Sky from my back porch! I've been fairly busy today and almost forgot! I got this idea from Sara.

Another Rainy Day

It was another rainy day here in the DC Metro area. Not that I mind rainy days. In fact, I love them. That is unless they give me a whopper of a headache which happens when its a big system that moves in/out fast. Otherwise, I get real sleepy before it rains and then wake back up. Not sure what that's about, but its happened enough times that I know.

Back to work on the second quarter of my quilt!

Patience Pays Off!

I completed the first of four sections of my quilt! I had 12 minutes to spare! That included some breaks and chatting with my quilting buddy up in western Maryland. Now I can face the 4th of July like a true American!

Three more sections to go! But for now its bed time!

Quilting Away!

I'm working on a queen size quilt for me and my partner. I'm quilting it in 4 sections. This is a fairly new technique I'm trying. I'm hoping it turns out.

I've tried this once already on a twin size quilt for my nephew (picture on left) and that worked out well. Still it takes time and patience. At times I find myself getting impatient with the quilting and I have to remind myself that's why I do it! To improve my patience.

The quilt pattern is called Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs design. You can see the pattern in my profile picture on the right. The quilt top is behind my head. Rather a section of it is.

I've got one more row of quilting to do and then I've completed the first of four sections! I'm just quilting along each of the peices about 1/2" inch from the seams. I'm varying by doing some of the quilting a 1/4".

Anyway, quilting onward!