I think I might be infected...

with the swapping bug again! Yes, I have more UFOs than I dare count. Yes, I have more fabric than I need. Yes, I have as little time to sew as ever. And YES, I'm in love with these little quilts!

Kate only nudged me toward the edge, I jumped joyfully into the abyss ;) I signed up for The Quilting Pirate's Miniature Booty Swap #2. There's still room if you want to dive in, too...

The best part is that one doesn't end up with a pile of blocks to add to the UFO pile until guilt turns them into something -- the actual FINISHED quilt arrives in the mail. One has only to hang it on the wall to enjoy.

L-O-T-T-O

It's been about a million years since I was able to participate in the Block Lotto on the forum at quilting.about.com. I finally managed these two blocks this month... I'll confess, the opportunity to use this itty-bitty-baby rickrack pushed me over the edge. It certainly wasn't the opportunity to make baskets! (I'm one of the 3.7 people on the face of the earth that aren't big basket block fans...)

The rules are one b/w print and one bright per 6" block, with handle options for applique, rickrack and chain stitch embroidery. You're now looking at the sum total of b/w prints in my stash. There was a 7" square of the music print, so I couldn't make the "opposite" block with the b/w for the background. I have only little scraps left. The plaid block is made from a piece of Fresh Squeezed, and it also polished off the last bit of this print that was available. There's enough left to eke out another plaid basket, but no b/w print for a background. (Identical blocks are against the rules, and I don't happen to collect b/w prints like someone I know!)

If you want to make baskets of your own, the pattern is here.

Summertime...

and every news station is giving the "official" definition of heat wave! (Three consecutive days -- or more -- with temps of 90* or higher.) The first one of the season starts tomorrow.

Today, on the other hand, was the official start of summer hours at my office. We work an extra four hours M-Th, then close at noon on Fridays for a jump-start on the weekend. I had big plans: go to the DMV for driver's license and car registration/plates. 90 minutes later, I left... with my new driver's license. No registration... since moving, I can't find the payoff letter from GMAC, and my title shows the lien. The DMV will accept a fax directly from GMAC, which is good, but I have to find the loan number in order to get it from them! I'm sensing another trip through my seriously unorganized "important papers" this weekend. On the flip side, I *did* find the title (which was MIA before I moved), so I didn't have to first go to the NYS DMV to get a duplicate.

Hope your day was somewhat more interesting!

How are you going to celebrate...

the International Year of the Potato? And how did it get to be June before I knew we were celebrating one of my favorite foods?!

First, let's think of all the delicious ways we can eat them: mashed, boiled, baked, fried, chips, mmmmm..... I can't decide my favorite!

So yes, my first thought was of love for the potato. But as I read the International Year of the Potato website, I started to have second thoughts. Peru (where the potato originated) basically lobbied the United Nations to "focus world attention on the importance of the potato in providing food security and alleviating poverty." [source] The effort was successful, and the UN resolution noted that potatoes can help meet such millennium development goals as eradicating poverty.

OK, that's good -- I'm all for fighting poverty and reducing child mortality. (Well, I'm good *other* than the potato lobbying efforts...)

But here's where I get confused. If the potato is being marketed as a substitute for grains and rice, highlighted now by the rising cost and shortage of rice, won't there eventually be a potato shortage? And isn't dependence on a single crop (rice, potatoes, wheat, corn, whatever) bad for us in general? A bad year or years could be devastating. What about the effects of:

• Drought -- remember "We Are The World," Ethiopia, 1984
  
• Disease -- as a pertinent example, I offer the Irish Potato Famine, Ireland, 1845-52
  
• Popularity -- like using corn to make bio-fuel in America, today (although I do kind of like the idea of these alternative fuels)
  

Wouldn't BALANCING our food dependencies make more sense? Use some corn, some potatoes, some rice, etc. so a bad year for one doesn't spell famine for thousands of people.

I dunno. I like potatoes better than rice, so I eat them more. That's only bad for my waistline. But I think buying influence on behalf of a country -- or a potato -- is wrong, and it's bad for the world and our food supply.

Rant over. I'm having mashed potatoes for supper tomorrow!

Good Fortune

Look what was buried in my mailbox yesterday! Vickie made some really need mixed media postcards the other day, and she was nice enough to send me this Fortune card. Isn't it yummy? There's stuff in there I can't identify, other than to say I like it! (She says cheesecloth, silk fibers, yarns, angelina, tulle and then metallic thread for quilting/finishing.)

Thanks, Vickie!

Why didn't I think of this yesterday?

Since these are small, I dropped them on the scanner bed (hence, the, um, interesting quality of the images!).

The orange-y one is 6"; I don't know what it's called, but I wanted to try a ruler I bought on sale that makes those units. Kind of boring, although I happen to love that fabric -- it's a commercial batik/handdye that looks like it has water spots.

The purple LeMoyne star is also 6". It has the same black background as both the blue blocks -- it's a Kauffman solid black sateen. I like it, but it picks up every little speck of stuff. (Sorry, Kate -- I didn't know in advance!)

The blue one is really only 2-1/4" finished size -- it kind of feels like it wants to be in the middle of something else... Remember these geese are the mistakes (reversed colors) from the center of the 12" triple sawtooth block.

So, there you go. That swap is DONE :) And these will go in the mail as soon as I find the post office...

Flickr Game

The Game
Originally uploaded by AJB30
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

1. Pleated Purse in Amy Butler Acanthus, 2. No-knead bread, 3. IMG_9317, 4. Gizmo, 5. Alpha List, 6. Icy Coke, 7. Tulips and Windmill in Holland, 8. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 9. Blessed Are The "Piece"makers, 10. The Old Library, 11. Lazy Cow - Flatford, Dedham, Essex, England - Sunday June 10th 2007 - Highest Explore position - #1 on June 14 2007.WOW!!.:O):O):O), 12. DM nine

A fun flickr game, via Jane. 12 questions, a little flickr search, and a great mosaic-making tool. Enjoy!