Quilt Magazines 05-30-09

I don't subscribe to a lot of magazines any more - in the past there were some I hardly ever read. I'm as guilty as the next person - just look at the pictures and read the captions. Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, which started publishing forty years ago (1969), was the first general interest quilting magazine. My subscription started in 1970 and each new issue was a thrill - a whole community of quilt makers from across the country. I stopped taking it sometime in the last nine years - all those issues are carefully sorted and boxed in my garage. Some day I will haul them to the waste disposal. Now I only receive four quilting magazines - 2 that come with memberships and 2 that are subscriptions. The "SAQA Journal" has some interesting articles and information about the art quilt world, but it is basically about the Studio Art Quilt Association since it is the 'mouth' of that organization. "Quilts" is the journal of the International Quilt Assoc. which comes with the annual membership. Quilts, for me, are about the stories they tell or the experiences of the makers, so I usually read all the interviews and discussions in each issue. "Quilting Arts" is a subscription and it gets a little esoteric for me. The concentration on surface embellishment and the use of art materials is sometimes a turnoff. I'm one of those quilters who prefers commercial printed fabrics and somewhat traditional techniques. I collect art quilts, but my work is usually a bit more traditional. "Fiberarts" is on Volume #36 (presumably one per year) and five issues each year. I imagine I have subscribed to it that long. It offers photos, articles, information about people and places, but no patterns or 'how-to'. The current issue (Summer 2009) has a long article with pictures of Quilt National, plus a separate article on the "Quilt Barn Trail" which started in Ohio in 2001 and has now spread to twenty-two states with more than 2000 barns. There are also articles about the sweet grass baskets of the low country of South Carolina, beading, collage..... etc. You can review some of the articles at www.fiberarts.com I imagine that magazines have the same problems these days as newspapers. Why have a subscription when one can get almost anything on the Internet? I haven't reached the point where I carry my computer or some version of it everywhere I go, so I will continue to enjoy the printed page for some years to come.

# # #

Medical test and QMagazines 05-29-09

I went for an outpatient Angiogram today and apparently there is no problem after all. They did not put in a stint, but I must wait until an appointment on Tuesday to get actual results. Meanwhile, I can't drive for 48 hours, no jumping, bending, stretching, climbing ladders or lifting anything heavier than ten pounds. Good thing Corky isn't on my schedule any time soon. I am very tired, probably from getting up at 4:30am so Liz could pick me up and drive me to the hospital [I had to be there by 6am]. I have had two naps since she dropped me off about 2pm - en route we stopped for a Starbucks. They did give me breakfast on a tray after the test, but I find it so difficult to eat even slightly prone. I'll let you know what happens next week. "The Continuing Saga of the Squeeze".


I was going to talk about quilt related magazines, but I'll just post the picture tonight and talk about them tomorrow. These are the only four I take at this time. Anyone want QNM going back 25 - 30 years? How about Threads since they started publishing?
Meanwhile, if you don't take Fiberarts in the mail, pick up a copy of Summer 2009 at your friendly local new stand it is full of good things this time. More tomorrow.

Organizing/Digging Out #2 06-03-08

The more "treasures" I collect the less I am able to deal with them - find a spot to store them, keep them dusted, and, more than anything, know where they are. The time has come to DO something. My friend Liz, the most nonjudgmental person I know, has agreed to give me some days and today was the first. Boy, is she a slave driver - like the Energizer Bunny she never stops. I, on the other hand, don't have the energy to go non-stop and need a little sit down time here and there. I think we made good progress today and will go at it again on Thursday.

We started with the bookcases (and the piles and boxes of books in front of them) in the family room all of which hold fiber related books and magazines. There are Quilter's Newsletter Magazines for almost thirty years, fifteen years of Piecework, and on and on. Some of the magazines that I will need to find new homes for are piled by title on this table and underneath are books that I need to sell - there will be more of those.

These bookcases are secured to the wall to prevent them toppling in earthquakes, but a problem is created by the short 'plugs' that support the shelves and provide a way to move them at a later date. They are not long enough to hold the shelves in place when there is a moderately severe earthquake, so the shelves collapse on top of each other and all the books must be removed to put everything back in place. I am trying to replace the plugs with something longer, but may end up putting a permanent support on each side for the shelves to sit on - I won't be able to move the shelves up and down, but I haven't in about 22 years so I don't think that will be a problem. We have put some of the books back on secure shelves, but as you see there are more waiting to be sorted and decisions made.

I find it difficult to dispose of any books, I have, after all, spent about fifty years acquiring this library. However, I either have to clear some of them out or move into a larger house, which would be ridiculous for just one person - there are people who feel I should have downsized when my husband died eighteen years ago. But, my feeling now, as then, is that this is my house, where I choose to live and I am stuck with it!

At some point we (hoping that Liz will stick by me) will have to tackle the "fabric library" and if anyone thinks I have a lot of books.... well, the fabric library is all over the house and I don't even know what I have. A bad situation, yes? I don't know when I will find much time to sew for at least the next month, but I am determined to squeeze in some hours now and then, just for my sanity. Send good thoughts, please.