Traveling in style

Not much to report this week.  My daughter was packing for an international trip.  She needed to take her own linens and a pillow.  She found this little travel pillow at Target.

So Mama bear was given the assignment of making a little pillow case for the little pillow!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Quilting!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day celebrated in the US in honor and tribute to the soldiers who have lost their lives to serve and protect our country.

"I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.

I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did. "

~Benjamin Harrison

 

In memory and honor of those who have fought and died to keep our country free.

May God continue to protect and bless the United States of America!

Wishing you a safe and Happy Memorial Day!

Welcome to the neighborhood

A new store has popped up in our town.  And I've been waiting to pay my first visit.

I've been watching for the opening of The Container Store!  So yesterday when I took my hubby to the airport, I found my chance to take a tour.

Wow so many ways to store and organize.

And talk about color............

Just about every aisle was a rainbow of color!

And I didn't leave the store empty handed...............

woo-hoo, what an adventure!

Keep Calm

Picasa is not being nice to me today.  I had some pictures that I needed to edit, but for some reason they will not load.  I don't know how to edit in any other program, so for today ........

Oh, and the reason I need to keep calm is because I chipped a tooth this morning at breakfast, and you can guess this is one of my least favorite things to do :-(

Take a deep breath

Okay, I admit it.  I  love to go to quilt shops. 

There's always so much inspiration.  And of course what is a visit to a quilt shop without a little retail therapy.

Ah yes, the smell and feel of fabric.  Nothing quite like it :-)

Happy  Quilting!

Large Block Quilts meets Urban Mod

A couple of weeks ago Vickie from Spun Sugar Quilts was hosting a blog hop, introducing her new quilt book Large Block Quilts.

This is seriously a very cool book, and low and behold, I was one of the recipients from Vickie's generous giveaway on her blog.

The really amazing thing is that Maureen Cracknell had drawn my name for a fat quarter bundle of Urban Mod!!

Now tell me, is this not a marriage waiting to happen!! Just look at the cover quilt, and these fabrics.  I think they go together perfectly!

Happy, happy quilting!!!!

WIP

Last night I decided to knit a cotton dish cloth.  I am a beginner knitter, so I watched a video on how to increase and decrease.

Here is the works in progress :-)

I love that I can pick this up and work on it in short bursts of time.  What are you working on today?? 

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? 
May for Me

Wordless Wednesday

Male Bonding

What a week!

No, there was no sewing or quilting last week.  It was just jammed packed too busy.  We had out of town visitors during the middle of the week, and then a nice get together with friends on Saturday.  Let me tell you, I was plum tuckered out!

And packing is going on.

My daughter, along with a team of young people, are leaving in a couple of weeks to teach at the International School of Tomorrow in Moscow.   

Making runs to Joann's for more supplies.

These young people give up their summers to teach all over the world.  They have traveled to Australia, SE Asia and now to Russia.

And they do it all out of their own pockets.  It's wonderful to hear about the good things young people are doing, and not only the bad the media dwells on.

I hope you are having a happy quilting day.

Google vs Blogger

Yesterdays post about Google generated some great questions.  One very good question was asked by Shelley -

"Am I to understand that unless I change to Feedly or Bloglovin etc. that eventually my blog will be obsolete? Google just hosts blogs? i need a new host? But Blogger will still exist outside of Google? What happens if I don't change to something else? I sure hope techy son or you can help, cause I'm really lost on this whole thing " 

 Yay Shelley, I think we have an answer to your question -

REPLY -

Ok, here is an explanation, hope it helps. 

Blogger and Google Reader are two completely separate services from Google. They are not affiliated with each other at all. Your blog/blogger are not going anywhere at least as far as I am aware. Google Reader allows a person to view a preview of posts from websites that the user has specified that they want to see. This type of service is quickly becoming obsolete because sites like Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites allow companies (and bloggers) to do the same thing Google Reader does and more. Now, hopefully I didn't just confuse you more, but the simple answer is no, your blog is not going anywhere and other people will be able to see things you post just like normal, even after Google Reader closes. The only reason to join sites like bloglovin or feedly is so that you can have a single website to view all new posts from blogs you like to see. At least that's how it works to the best of my knowledge. 

And then I ASKED -

Okay, does that include the Dashboard??  That's how I read the blogs I am subscribed to.  I guess we are confused that the Dashboard may be subscribed via Google Reader.

REPLY -

I don't see anything that says that the dashboard is going away, though on my dashboard, I only get sites that I'm subscribed to through friend connect. 

Well I do think that helps me a little about the subscription reading.  I mostly read from my Dashboard, not from the Reader.  So IF they are not attached, perhaps the Dashboard will not go away when Reader is discontinued.  If anyone has more insights, please be sure to share your thoughts.

Google this, Google that

 

There has been so much talk lately about Google Reader going  away.  Recently I was made aware that Goggle homepage will also be going away.
 Here is a link to what they are saying:https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2664197

Not being very computer savvy, I checked with my Tech Man (Son) and here is what he tells me :-)

 ·.·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.·-¦-·.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·.·

Recently, my mom told me that some folks are really confused with what is going on with Google Reader and Blogger/ blogging with Google Plus. I am going to try and summarize these services, what is happening to them/how you should be using them. 

Google Reader: Google reader is an RSS (Rich Site Summary) content application and platform that aggregates content served by web feeds. Basically, it lets you put a whole lot of websites information that you like to see into one spot all the time, so you don't have to search for it. This service is evolving a bit and basically Google has decided that their Reader service is not as good as others and they don't want to put the time into fixing it up. Now! If you still want to get all of your information in one place, I did some quick looking and here are some suggestions of websites/applications you can use.

1. Feedly: Mom told me that you folks are looking into Feedly. From what I see, it looks like a decent service and it sounds like it has a lot of features. I have not used it though.

2. Pulse: This is probably my recommendation for you folks to look at. I have personally used this app on my phone in the past, it functions well, and the layout is nice. As well, it is compatible across all platforms (web, iOS, Android).

3. Flipboard: Got a lot of hype about 6 months ago, similar to pulse however I think it only works on mobile devices (iOS and Android).

For more suggestions check out these web pages:

http://lifehacker.com/5990881/five-best-google-reader-alternatives

http://edudemic.com/2013/03/google-reader-alternatives-im-trying-out/

Now I would like to address the issue of Google Plus and using it for blogging. First off, If you are using Google Plus as your method of producing Blog content, you really need to do some research on how to blog. Google Plus is a social media site owned and operated by Google. According to Wikipedia, it is the Second largest social networking site in the world, surpassing Twitter earlier this year. However, you need to focus on two words out of the last few sentences: Social Media. Google Plus is not designed, was never created for and SHOULD NOT BE USED for a blogging website. Google Plus is Google's take on what sites like Facebook and Twitter should be. Now, please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying "Don't use Google Plus!". Quite the contrary. I would suggest that you learn how to use sites like Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter. But you must use them in their proper context! These sites are not designed for Blogging. That is why we have websites like Blogger and WordPress. Social Media websites are used for networking and promoting your service or product. Which in your case, is your Blog! With a Social Media account, when utilized correctly, you can market your blog for free/cheap and use that to get more hit's on your blog, which (if you monetize your blog) allow for more exposure to ad's that are on your blog which then allows you to make more money. Or, if you do not monetize your blog, then you just get more hits, more exposure to your content and your friends content. 

This explanation has already run on longer than I expected. Basically, just remember, Social Media sites are not designed for blogging. However, they can be utilized to promote your blog and grow your viewer base.

·.·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.·-¦-·.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·.·

I hope this is helpful in some way.  I am still trying to decide what to do about the Reader.  I have always read blogs from my Dashboard, but I have not heard if the Dashboard will go away when the Reader is no longer active.  

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Dreams

Giveaway Day

 

Welcome to the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day!  Thank you to SMS for a fun week to visit Blogs from all over the world.  If this is your first time visiting my blog, thanks for visiting.  If you are a regular reader, I'm glad you stopped by. In either case, I hope you will come back again.

Mary Engelbreit designs some very cute fabric lines.  So for today's giveaway, I have a collection of 7 Fat Quarters of whimsical ME fabrics.  Do you like that Happy little Cottage?  If you look closely, there is a little owl peeking out from the fabric pile.

So what do you have to do to enter?? No bells or hoops, just leave a comment on this post.  You can tell me where you are from, or how long you have been quilting.  And, because I ♥ and appreciate my Followers, followers (old and new) may leave a SECOND comment. You can follow on GFC or subscribe by email.  You must have a way to be contacted. If the winner is a no-reply comment, it will not qualify and I will draw another winner.  For this giveaway I am hosting for only US and Canadian readers.  I hope my sweet friends from across the big pond will forgive me this time.  Regretfully the postal costs have made it difficult to send packages overseas. 

This giveaway will be open until May 10th.  Winner will be notified via email (so please be sure that I have your email address or a way to contact you).

After you leave your comment be sure to head back over to Sew Mama Sew for more giveaways. Thank you again for coming by.  I hope you will come back again and lets do some ......

........ Happy Quilting!

Giveaway now closed.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments and entries.  Giveaway winner is ledamewood. 

A little surprise

Plans had been made months ago to attend the Quilt Show in Paducah.  But I really was not up to the trip and the riggers of attending this Quilting mecca.  But two quilting buddies made the trip and filled me in on all the sights and sounds.

And I was even given a sweet surprise -

Yep, quilting buds, they are the best!

Happy Quilting!

Quilted Floor

A couple of years ago I met a gal who mentioned to me that she had a quilted floor. Of course I could not imagine a quilted floor, so she sent me to her website.

Check this out!

Quilted Lady Bug

Are you ready?

Okay, two events to keep your eye on.............

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog tour

and............

SewMamaSew Giveaway Day!

I'm participating in one of these.  Are you??

Happy Quilting!