Quilting Arts, Interweave and subscription hell

I want to say right out front that I am a big fan of the magazine Quilting Arts, and have purchased it whenever I could find it.  For a few years I was able to buy it from the bookstore here in Bangkok, but I had to be quick as at THB595 ($19.39/£12.14) for a $7.99 magazine, I wanted a copy that had not been well thumbed by half of Bangkok first.  Yes it was quite a hefty mark up, but I loved reading the magazine and thought it worth it, to keep up on latest trends etc.

In addition to the magazine, I have also purchased many DVDs from Interweave (the publisher of Quilting Arts), which I had shipped to friends in the US.  They either hand carried them back for me, or I collected them when I went to the US.  I have also bought Quilting Arts books and other magazines produced by Interweave.  I guess you can say I am a big fan of their products.

Embroidery for Beginners

Have you missed me?  No?  Okay then, I'll just crawl back into a corner and lick my wounded ego.  I think I have been suffering from Bloggers Block.  Yes it is a medical condition but it has absolutely nothing to do with bowels.  I just couldn't get around to taking up my virtual pen and writing again.  

Of course life sometimes conspires against me (and my blogging).  I spent a month on a fantastic holiday in the US (I just can't wait to go again!).  As you can see, I did a little bit of shopping whilst there, just to get my creative juices going again.

More Bangkok Photos

This is the door hinge (turned sideways) from the men's toilets in one of the malls.  Thankfully not too graphic.

More Fun Photos

Ask a foreigner in Bangkok about taxis and inevitably it comes to one thing, why do all taxi drivers let rip the most noxious fart imaginable, once the taxi is under way?  Like a stealth bomber, that driver drops a fart, that can leave you reeling and choking in the back seat.

I've long given up pretending that I haven't smelt anything.  I hold my finger to my nose or whip out my fan  In the more horrific cases, I crank the window down and with my eyes streaming, I frantically wave my fan in front of my face.

I have Helene to thank for this picture.  She was travelling in a taxi from the airport, when the group she was with spotted this sticker behind the driver's seat.

I KNOW IT'S SHAMEFUL, BUT I ADMIT IT, I'VE QUILTED AN IPAD COVER!

Now we all know (or you should know) that I am a vehement hater of quilted objects, and definitely see them as the shameful face of quilting.  Lets face it, who needs a handmade pot holder or my personal favourite, a quilted cover for the car seat belt - I kid you not!  I mean who in their right mind has a quilted seat belt cover?  So I know there are going to be quite a few raised eyebrows and knowing smirks when you see what I have just made - a quilted cover for my iPad!

Yeah yeah, keep them guffaws coming, I KNOW I deserve them.

Why did I do it?

Libby Lehman in Bangkok

I had a couple of days of quilting excitement last week when Libby Lehman came to town.  I guess you could call her the Queen of Threads as Libby is most famous for her Threadplay technique, which in a rather small nutshell, is free motion 'painting' a lace-like design on a quilt top.

Libby has written about this technique in her book Threadplay, which is available on Amazon.  I can wholeheartedly recommend this book.  My well-thumbed copy (which now proudly bears her autograph) has been with me on all our postings.

Libby also has a dvd, called A Day of Threadplay, which is available from Amazon.  I haven't seen it but if it gives similar information to that in her classes, should be a good purchase

In addition, Libby was named The Quilt Show Quilting Legend 2009 and her quilt Joy Ride was placed in the top 100 of the 20th Centuries best American quilts.

If all that wasn't enough, Libby teaches internationally and finds time to write a column for The Quilt Life.  I have no idea how she fits her quilting in, but somehow she does.  If you want to see some of her beautiful quilts, take a look on her website.

MEN & SNORING

It is just gone 2am and I am up writing this because YET AGAIN, I have been forced from my bed by HE TO WHOM I AM MARRIED because of his bleeping SNORING!  I am now waiting for the other room to cool down, so that I can go to sleep in there, whilst at the same time knowing that I am so mad, sleep is probably long gone.

I have three questions to ask:

1. Why do men never stop snoring?
2. Why do they always deny they have been snoring?
3. Why is it ALWAYS the woman who has to move rooms?

Yes no doubt Alan will say I snore, but never has it been so bad that it has forced him from bed at 2am in the morning, with murderous thoughts in his head.   How many times has he nudged me to shut up, only to be met with incredulous denial?  I'll tell you.  NONE, NADA, NEVER!

I am so PISSED OFF right now, that all I can think of is ways to stop this happening again.  I have therefore decided that next time he snores I am NOT going to move beds.  Instead I am going to stick a straw up his nose then superglue his nostrils and mouth closed.  That should stop the sound of those rasping snores.  

And let me tell you, if I feel then the way I feel now, I won't be looking too hard for those bloody straws!