Friday, June 28, 2019

Rapinoe 2: Trump 0

The American women's soccer squad scored two goals to one against the host country France in today's quarter finals for the women's world cup. Megan Rapinoe scored both goals.
I don't play soccer. I have never played soccer though I played a little school ground soccer when I was in elementary school right after we moved back to the US from Germany. Having gone to a German kindergarten, I knew the rudiments of the game.

But Trump picked on Megan Rapinoe because she took up Colin Kaepernick's protest of treatment of minorities in the US. And she said flat out that she wouldn't go to the "fucking White House" for any congratulatory celebration. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, where practically on every passing truck there is a sign signalling support for the police, Kaepernick and other people in the public eye are protesting the status quo, protesting the diminution of minorities by a variety of state approved methods.Trump continues to support the other side of that equation. Just this week he said that the Central Park Five, who were not only exonerated by scientific evidence, but by testimony of the perpetrator, were still guilty in his mind.  But understand that minority in the US doesn't just mean those who are in smaller numbers. Minority means those who don't have power to protect or protest. Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe are the heroes here.

You go girl!

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Moving Along

I am making decent progress on the border of the quilt. Of course the pieces are large and the layering is not only uncomplicated but almost unlayered. I have had a great deal of practice making bias vines so even that isn't a problem any more.

The quilt is a square so there isn't really a top or bottom. This was done for a variety of reasons but one of the more important was so there wasn't constant wear on only one side from tugging it up or down. I certainly do expect this to be a bed quilt for this young couple so they will be told the protocol. I still haven't embroidered the pineapples but that will happen before I quilt it.

Aargh!

I will warn everyone right now that this post is not about quilting. It's about teeth, specifically my teeth. I have reasonably healthy roots and gums and virtually no cavities, but because of my age and my problem with teeth grinding and clenching I have worn my poor teeth down to a point where they need some serious attention. Even with my nightguard I had damaged my teeth. This is exacerbated by the problem most older people have of teeth shifting in the gums leading to stuff getting stuck and misalignment. I went to the dentist on Monday just for a cleaning. I go four times a year instead of the usual two because a periodontist I went to recommended that and I do like to keep my teeth clean.

Anyway, I asked the hygienist what I could do about my two front teeth beginning to squeeze together to the point where I couldn't even floss. She suggested I get some invisaligners but said that the dentist should come look and evaluate to make a suggestion. The dentist said the invisaligners would not solve the problem because my teeth were too worn down for the impact to be beneficial. To her that meant that I needed to have a massive intervention of a dozen crowns--six on the top and six on the bottom. This was projected to cost $20K.  Now that's a lot of money and the idea came from a dentist that I have seen three times in toto, no single encounter lasting more than five minutes.

So when I got back home, I called my former Utah dentist's office. I went to him for more than two decades from the time he graduated from dental school until 18 months ago. I was friendly with all of his staff, even making three of them quilts for their babies. I also knew him to be a superior dentist with a very high degree of honesty and ethics. Plus he clearly knew my teeth. I asked him to evaluate the plan given to me by my current provider and to make a proposal himself. My sons still live in SLC and I can stay with one of them while undergoing this extensive treatment. His plan will cost approximately $8K. That's still a lot of money but I feel far more comfortable with his evaluation than with the new dentist. So toward the end of the summer I will go to Utah, sit in a dentist's chair for hours and hours and come back to Pennsylvania with a whole new smile.

The best news is that I can take the opportunity to go to Quilts, Etc. which is one of the best and biggest quilt stores in the country. I went to a fairly big quilt store in NJ last weekend but as good as it was (Olde City Quilts in Burlington), it just isn't Quilts, Etc.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Sometimes It's Fun, Sometimes It Isn't

I have been enjoying working on the outside border of the first gift quilt. While I liked Sue Garman's original quilt, I needed it to be larger. Plus, after I received the pattern, I decided that this must have been one of her first commercial ventures because the patterns and instructions are very different from her later designs. The Washingtonian clearly relied on the pattern purchaser having some clue about making applique, marking fabric, insuring if not symmetry at least appropriate balance. But I have been making quilts for a long time. So I have added a Mariner's Compass to a corner, switched from her vine to one I had previously drawn out for a continuous and sinuous movement from center to corner and have begun adding leaves more randomly than her deliberately symmetrical style. I have also allowed some leaves to intrude on the interior and exterior borders.

My further plan, besides the Mariner's Compass to symbolize her journeys, is to add two lovebirds to the bottom corners. I didn't really know what lovebirds looked like but I looked them up online and found that most of them are the same colors as the primary colors of this quilt--two different greens, a red, and a yellow.

Speaking of birds--one of the more fascinating aspects of living in Pennsylvania is the vast variety of birds. All kinds of birds from shore birds to woodland birds to meadow birds. Just yesterday my husband and I saw an Eastern Goldfinch in our neighborhood and most days we see a variety of raptors--hawks, owls, etc. We also see foxes, rabbits, deer, and other wildlife right outside the door. And much to my husband's and my delight (he grew up entirely on the East Coast and I spent time here as a kid), there are still lightning bugs galore in season.

But, back to the complaints from random folk--I don't usually visit other people's blogs but I have done so occasionally. They talk about their grandchildren or children, about their travels, about recipes, etc., and as far as I know no one complains about that. No one ever complained when I posted recipes or photos of our travels, but the whiners come out when it is politics. What? Women aren't allowed to be concerned about the direction their country is taking? Women aren't allowed to know anything about economics or foreign affairs? Women don't care about any of that? I call BS on the naysayers. I am an old woman and from my point of view women are the ones who care--men only think of adventure, whether it is war or sex.

And while I am on that topic, Duncan Hunter's trial is coming closer and closer. The delightful part of his pre-trial motions, or rather his attorneys' pre-trial motions, is that they appear to be as dumb as he is. His attorneys are asking for a change of venue because they believe that his trial is being held in a district predisposed to dislike him because of his politics. In the written request to the court, the attorneys pointed out that Hunter was..." President Trump’s first and most arduous supporter...". As one of my favorite movies and writers puts it, "I don't think that means what you think it means."   Okay ladies, I don't care if you are R or D but this scumbag used campaign funds to cheat on his wife and then blamed it all on his wife. There are already people who are claiming he suffers from PTSD and therefore deserves our sympathy.

This is "Trump's first and most arduous supporter."

If you like what Trump and his minions are doing, you deserve what you get.     

Saturday, June 22, 2019

What...I Mean What?

Trump did a 180 on at least two decisions this week. The first and most obvious reversal is the decision not to take military action against Iran. The second is the decision not to begin herding families into trucks to deport them. The explanations for both decisions don't make sense even when one agrees with the final result. With Trump being the ultimate showman who could have given PT Barnum lessons, one wonders how all of this plays out in Trumpland.

It isn't that I expect anything from Trump to make sense, but I do wonder how his acolytes, all you Trumpettes tooting that horn, see anything of value to your skewed view of the world here.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Didn't Think I Would Miss W

The fecklessness of Trump and his minions is beyond belief. Our former allies don't trust us, our former and current enemies laugh at us. Withdrawing from the multi-nation Iran nuclear deal was simply an act of pique exacerbated by Pompeo who prays for Armageddon and Bolton who prays for war. Now Iran is enriching uranium at a fast pace and Trump and company are at wit's end (which for them isn't very far but still) as to what to do about it. Trump has been badmouthing all intelligence and all intelligence agencies so, like the boy who cried wolf, no one trusts his intelligence bluster that Iran is deliberately targeting oil tankers in the straits of Hormuz.

This article from Slate is a must read. The last line made me laugh out loud.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/trump-iran-deal-pulled-out-troops-middle-east-uranium-tehran.html

Friday, June 14, 2019

Major Progress Though Miles To Go On The Washingtonian

I have been sewing by hand and by machine to move the new quilt forward. It started out as a double bed sized quilt and was requested to be a queen sized quilt so I had to add to the dimensions. I have the outside dimensions more or less correct now but I still need to decide what I am going to applique on the outer border. Sue Garman drew out an undulating vine of leaves and berries but I don't think I am going to stick to that entirely. We'll see after I draw out some ideas. In any case, here is the base ready to be decorated on the outer white border.

The sun went behind a cloud so the picture is fairly dark but you get the idea. I made the four inner blocks a little larger to allow for some nice quilting in the corners, I added some extra to both of the red and green borders so now they are three stripes with checker boards at the corners. I am making a mariner's compass in the main colors to stick somewhere. They tended to show up all over the place in old maps and this is to symbolize the various journeys this young woman has taken from her home in Utah to her current home in England. The bottom right block is described by the late Garman as a pineapple, hence the colors, and it will get some embroidery to enhance that. I think it's a thistle which would have fit the United Kingdom idea better but then it would have had purple with all that red and green and that might have been a little odd.

Donald Trump admitted to a crime this week and boldly stated that he would commit that crime again. There are all sorts of people who think that he made his outrageous comments to lift suspicion from Junior who testified this week. That could be true but it only means they are both criminals not that one is guilty and one not guilty with mistakes in understanding all the way around. Of course, DumDum John also called Prince Charles the Prince Of Whales this week.  

Monday, June 10, 2019

To Whom?

Trump said, " However, if for some unknown reason there is not, we can always go back to our previous, very profitable, position of Tariffs -..."

Very profitable to whom? Certainly not to the consumer who pays either directly or indirectly. In my assorted remodel bills, line items for tariffs occur frequently. Does that mean I am un-American or does that mean I cannot get the goods from here? Hey quilters, where did your sewing machine come from, your fabric, your thread? 

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

New Project

Most of the time when I write about politics it means I am working on a quilt. Since I am a hand sewer and hand quilter, the work just doesn't make good photographs or anything early on. The quilt I am making now is another Sue Garman design but from a long time ago--The Washingtonian. The reason for the quilt may be familiar to some of you. I quilt because I like to quilt not because I need any bed covers or wall hangings or anything. The problem is what to do with the quilts when they are done. There is no good way to sell them, at least not at my level or style of quilting, as it just isn't economically worthwhile. The quilt that takes me 7500 hours to make couldn't even sell for $7500 which would only be $1 an hour and wouldn't count the materials either. So I either stock pile the quilts (that princess and the pea bed), or I give them away. The second option is less common simply because you can't just give away a quilt if you don't know where it is going or how it will be accepted. Or at least I have learned that lesson from unfortunate experiences.

A friend from Utah was coming east for his son's graduation from Princeton. I had given this man's wife a couple of quilts in the past and when one of her children visited her from England where she currently lives, the daughter was very impressed and envious. So I told the wife I would make her daughter a  queen sized quilt as long as I got to pick the colors and the style. There wasn't any time frame given or requested so when I finished my last small project, I started this new one. I have to make some changes to the design as the original is only double bed sized but this is from the period when large four block quilts were popular so making the rest of the quilt fit the scale of those blocks seems pretty easy to me. I am going to add some more sashing around the center area and I am going to add some applique motifs to the outer borders to expand their length. I am sticking more or less to the original colors as red, green, and white are pretty safe choices and I am using a variety of William Morris cottons for those plus some more off the wall type patterns. Since it is a big block quilt I have nearly finished the center four blocks and when I get them done I will post pictures.

Sunday, June 2, 2019

What Should A Good Leader Do?

'Trump tweeted Wednesday that he “was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan,” and told reporters at the White House on Thursday that whoever was responsible for the request was “well-meaning.”'

Oh sure, it's always "well-meaning" when the CiC can't pay attention to the basic norms of civility and the more straightforward restrictions on the military.Only Trump could see an attempt at insulting the memory of three generations of one Navy family as well-meaning. The John S. McCain was named after the late senator's grand-father and father and only posthumously was the Arizona senator's name included in the honor. The military is supposed to ignore all purely political actions or behavior. The draft dodger in chief wouldn't understand the core principles of the military any more than he would understand the core principles of manners in a civil society. He always operates on a third grade level of, "Well he did it first."

And make no mistake, while currently the message to hide the John S. McCain is only attributed to the White House,  electronic messaging is pretty easy to pin down to its source. No doubt some functionary at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will lose a job over this (probably to resurface in the Trump campaign), the real miscreant is the man with the wild comb over.