the mash-up post

Today's post was intended for this:

 

I pieced together quilt squares from my Grammy Stash to make curtain ties. Now the summation of my knowledge of quilting would fill a cat's thimble (ie. a really teeny tiny bit). In fact, I can summarize all my quilting know-how in the following statement: it's like making a fabric sandwich. Ta-da! as Little Bear would say. Since I don't know anything, I began with piecing some squares.

There aren't any pictures (yet) of my collection of quilt squares, but permit me a one word description; Voluminous. I have several shoe boxes of cut fabric from both great-grandmothers and my Grammy. There are 2x2 squares, 4x4, and 6x6, hexagons and circles. And there's A LOT of ugly fabric in those boxes. Enough that I worry about what these ladies were wearing back in the day. Maybe the fabric was given to them by well-meaning friends...that's what I tell myself. 

Little Bear loves the ties as well. So much so that she just pulled the entire curtain rod to the floor. "Uh-oh," she says. "Mom, break!"

Even though my post was reserved for quilting, I got distracted at breakfast by A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, a writer so skilled that he requires two middle names. I'm not typically a fan of the high fantasy genre in general, but this book hooked me from the first three pages. (I was giving it a twenty page head start before I decided if I liked it or not.) It's not so fantastical that the magic (there's only a little bit so far) or foreign words pull me out of the story, and the characters are full and vibrant.

I've been reading at lunch sometimes and right before I go to bed which causes me to wake up in the middle of the night to roil about the many intrigues of the book. I'm so close to the end that I gave myself fifteen minutes of reading time after breakfast. (If I don't set a timer I'll spend the entire day reading and the house and bear will run amok.) In that short time one of my favorite characters died. I was in shock, followed by a short bout of crying over my coffee cup. Thankfully The Husband had already left for work, so he couldn't tease me about it.

I warned him that the series (it's a trilogy) had a huge following, but he went into work and made the comment about his wife "being into that nerd stuff." Three of his co-workers spoke up and told him that they were big fans and had read all the books. Ha! The Husband was pretty embarrassed and stammered out a confession of liking Lord of the Rings. Point to the nerds.

The difference between The Husband and I is that I wear my nerd badge with pride. I openly profess my love of space and knights and comics while he considers himself "the cool one."  But we both know the truth.

Last but not least, I sneaked a peek at the royal wedding shenanigans going on and watched Princess Kate and Prince William share a chaste kiss on the balcony. Much to my surprise I got a gushy feeling at the modern fairytale. (I choose to ignore the over-exposure, souvenirs, etc.) I guess we're never too old to love a prince and princess, although I prefer my princesses with swords. Gah, it appalls me that I possess such a sentiment and goes against my general fight the power attitude in life. Oh well, we all have our dark sides.

Comments

[Janet Eisenbise]

My Grandma wore smocks when she gardened and when she cleaned. In other words she wore them a lot. And of course always an apron when she cooked. I sewed a smock for myself back in my young married days. The big pockets were handy for carrying shears, gloves, children's snacks, etc.

[Amy O]

Sim - Didn't Great Grandma have a gardening smock? Or am I making that up to legitimize your new fashion venture? (although I would LURVE a gardening smock, neighbors opinions aside.)

Margo - I appreciate the quilting support. Maybe I will bring all the boxes and you and Sim can help me make friends. And I wouldn't exactly say that Game of Thrones is fun. More like gripping, dramatic and alarming in turns. Truly a page turner.

[PartyMom]

What about some of the fabric makes it ugly? If it's color - try over dyeing. If it's pattern...well, that's just unfortunate!

I'm a total sucker for a modern fairytale. I absolutely DVR'd the wedding and watched part of the ceremony with T teaching her to say "Pretty Princess!"

[margo]

Rebecca, you make me roar!!

Amy, I want to talk quilts with you - I had to figure it out basically by myself and it's so satisfying to realize it's not as complex as some people make it! Sandwich is RIGHT. And I am drooling aobut your boxes of patches - and Rebecca is right, no fabric is ugly if it's with the right partner.

I am enchanted by some famous people - I (can't believe I'm confessing this) like to read about celebrity babies and their families. How's that for a dark side??

Going to see if I like this Crown book you're talking about - I need something fun, not sure about characters dying though. . .

[Janet Eisenbise]

I must say that I agree there is some ugly fabric in the world. However the choices in your curtain ties are lovely. And pray tell, what is wrong with the quilt-as-fabric-sandwich analogy??

[Rebecca]

I love the fabric in the tie-backs!

Yesterday Margo and I were talking about ugly fabric. We agreed that there's no such thing. It's all about context. Remember the brilliant Sew Weekly's mumu? Amazing!

And on the subject of flying various freak flags....I've decided to make myself a sunbonnet and matching smock for the garden. My neighbors aren't going to believe their eyes.