What do dinosaurs dream of?

Comet A3 photo by Abhijit Patil, San Mateo, CA, Oct 2024

by Linda Theil

What it was like in the United States the week before the 2024 election? Here in Michigan, it is the most magnificent autumn ever. The air, the light, the mottled sky, the russet, ochre, olive landscape, woodsmoke, langour, and anticipation -- all speak of an iconic, Platonic ideal October. Every hour is an omen of final beauty.

Like the dinosaurs awaiting the comet, we creatures here in Michigan feel deep in our bones an uncanny forboding of the end of the world as we know it. We even have our own comet to dream on.

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Notes on Purl Soho Cross-back Apron pattern

Purl Soho Cross-back Apron, regular sized, front view Purl Soho Cross-back Apron, regular sized, back view by Linda Theil This is the Purl Soho Cross-back Apron featured on their website at https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/11/20/cross-back-apron . Their page includes complete directions for making this one-size-fits-most apron with large, side-pockets and cross-back straps. This retro apron is so nicely made and looks so much like the apron my grandma wore in the Nineteen-fifties that I had to make one for my friend who appreciates the nostalgia and the beauty of this design. Although this apron pattern, as published, can adjust to several sizes from 2-10; I also made a larger option, adjusting the width of the pattern pieces to accommodate up to size 16 and up. Size adjustment may also be made by varying the length of the straps. These notes are a record of my experience with the pattern, and should only be viewed as...

Sujata Shah's no-template piecing

16-inch, four-patch "pinwheel" block designed by Sujata Shah, pieced by Linda Theil 2016 Fabrics: Sturbridge line by Kathy Schmitz for Moda and Daily Zen line by Michael D'Amore for Benartex. I attended quilt artist Sujata Shah's "Pinwheel" class sponsored by the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor on July 17, 2016. Shah is inspired by the work of Gee's Bend quilters and has developed a no-template method of piecing to emulate their unstructured designs. Shah's book, Cultural Fusion Quilts , is available at Amazon.com. Shah's uses four 11-inch squares to make each block, but she said a quilter could use any size base they choose. Since I had a package of precut 10-inch squares in the "Sturbridge" design by Kathy Schmitz for Moda, I based my block on that size. We were instructed to bring a variety of backgrounds in one color and brights in another color. Since I signed up late for ...

Notebook cover from Arabesque

by Linda Theil I just finished making the "Crafted Life Companion" notebook-cover designed by Australian Ali Phillips of Arabesque Scissors . I've made several of Phillips' patterns and have come to experience Phillips as creating at the same stratospheric level as English designer Diane Spencer Ogg for brilliant design innovation and attention to minute specificity in their patterns. Both creators are also highly professional and skilled presenters in their step-by-step demonstration videos for every design. Please see Phillips' video at the end of this post. The Arabesque notebook cover is designed to fit an A5 notebook size, and includes a sleeve for notepads up to 4 x 8-inches. Other pocket options are included in the pattern -- most of which I left out in my first version. I did take advantage of a marvelously useful innovation Phillips provided: a beautifully designed "coloring page" that helped enormously to keep all my pattern pieces organized....

Appleton Dance

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