Learning & Shopping

Had the day off yesterday for the Sewing and Quilting Expo, which was, according to the promo information, in "Washington DC" and was, in reality, in Chantilly. I know Virginia is doubtless fighting for this kind of income, but I'm getting really tired of driving for an hour plus for "local" events.

That bitching aside, it was supremely cool. Learning and shopping - my two favorite pastimes, under one roof! Whee! Nothing but machine embroidery and quilting stuff as far as the eye can see, along with the occasional sewing machine emporium and a garnish of knitting and crochet. I took three classes relating to machine embroidery (bearing in mind the resolution to learn how to make my own patterns) but didn't pick up the extremely overpriced DVDs on the same subject. Got a flyer, though.

Learned:
Some basics of digitizing artwork for machine embroidery
How to do applique on an embroidery machine
How to machine-embroider leather without leaving hoop marks
How to make "solvy soup" (for paint-on, wash-out-able stiffening)
How to make a teflon needle (for sewing through gunky interfacing)
The types of interfacing that don't gunk up a sewing needle
The type of metallic thread that isn't supposed to break in any machine (Sulky's "holoshimmer")
The embroidery patterns that are supposed to work on any fabric (Cactus Punch)
How to wash off the dissolvable interfacing from machine lace without ruining the lace
What to expect when I buy a CD of machine embroidery patterns
That memory cards (such as Poohcifer uses) have a half-life and how to extend it

Bought:
Two CDs of machine embroidery patterns; one cutwork, one "heritage quilt tudor rose" patterns
"Crochet for the Cure" kit; learn to crochet a pink scarf, proceeds from kit go to breast cancer research (I'm probably going to take a look at the directions, but donate this to Team Wench)
Thread snips configured to make it easy to trim machine embroidery
Lunch bag (well... it was a nice one, and my old one doesn't quite do the job...)
Pattern for Jacobean Jacket
Fabric foundations for:
- 7 Sisters quilt (queen size)
- New York Beauty quilt (queen size)

...to tell the truth, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with that latter; it seemed like a good idea at the time, but a couple of meals and some sleep later and I'm thinking "Oh, that wasn't your brightest move, you don't really like that pattern!" I've been meaning to do a 7 Sisters for a while; the NYB just seemed like a good handiwork project. For *whom,* I'm not sure. Although now that I think about it, I could always make a few lap quilts instead of one queen quilt - I've been promising TW a quilt to raffle for ages.

Considering how much walking I did, it was pretty considerate of my sliced foot to wait to ache until I got home.

General Question for the local stitchers

Something to think about (but not answer right away) - who would be willing/interested in joining me on my trips to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival (www.quiltfest.com) or the Sewing Expo I just went to (www.sewingexpo.com)?

Quilting (which is really four separate shows - a quilt show, a creative clothing expo, a knitting show, and an antique fabrics emporium) takes place at the end of Feb. The Expo takes place at the end of Sept. Both require at least one day off work to attend classes/beat the madding crowd. Both can be done in a day trip, but an overnighter would be easy to do if we split a hotel room...

Something to think about.

To Shakespeare or not to Shakespeare?

This is the last weekend the Rude Mechanicals are performing King John. There's a performance tonight and tomorrow night.

Reasons to see it: I have neither seen nor read King John.
Reasons not to see it: I really disliked the last Rude Mech. play I saw.

I've been told they got better, but then, their awful 12th Night got a rave review in the Post.

waffle, waffle, waffle...

AUGH!

I first heard this on Daily KOS and then doublechecked it on Google News. According to breaking news reports in England and Saudi Arabia (where she currently is), Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes answered a question today as to why President Bush references God so often with this:

"Our Constitution cites "one nation under God."

AUGH!!! *headbang*headbang*headbang*

Karen, honey: The entire text of the Constitution, which you are supposed to defend and just might want to read, is online.

Our ambassador to the world doesn't know the difference between the Constitution (a founding document) and the Pledge of Allegiance (written in 1892, amended to add "under God" in 1954.) Excuse me, this is supposed to make the US look better HOW????

ETA: ad_kay wins the Internet with this comment: "I just had a vision of Thomas Jefferson bitchslapping her."

Resolutions

End of the month and time to post my resolutions list.

The bad news: I can't cross anything off because I didn't do anything on it this month at all.
The good news: There's not a lot left that was a big deal anyway

So instead, ( I'm going to post what's left to be done before the end of the year: )