Just what you've all been waiting for...

For all your quilting and home decorating needs: Barry O cotton fabric.



I need a bigger picture to determine if that's a Nazi salute, or if he's pointing out Superman. But the vignette where he's posed as a bobby-soxer dreaming of himself, that's priceless.

Ironic: Cranston is one of two, maybe three fabric finishers left in the U.S., after the EPA sent them all to SE Asia. Textile production needs energy, and Barry's going to do his damnedest to make sure they can't get it at a reasonable cost.

In a few months, if I find some on clearance somewhere, I will take great delight in denegrating this particular religious iconography, a la Shawn Quinlan, whom I respect for his use of fabric, despite his tired cliches and hackneyed leftoid talking points. But I'm not willing to pay new fabric price right now.

My brother sent me an interesting article from Medford, OR about some old ladies volunteers from the American Sewing Guild making neck and helmet coolers for his National Guard unit as they get ready to deploy.

Warning: Don't read the comments. Lot of assholes in Oregon.

The coolers and the pads contain polymer beads the size of grains of rice that swell when they absorb water. The soldiers need only soak the flat strips of cloth in water to turn them into cold, round sausages or cool helmet pads.

I want some of these beads...

My brother has a friend who does custom sewing semi-professionally making him some stuff, and promised me digital camo scraps when she's done. Bwahahaha.

Good grief.

...and after six months of hearing "women's media" (when I'm unfortunate enough to be subjected to it--please don't think I consume it on purpose!) swoon over how Michelle Obama has such style and such fashion flair, it was really funny to see her wearing a 40-year-old bathrobe made out of upholstery.

I kinda dug the polyester matelasse--I didn't know anyone still made it. I'm assuming they chose it because it was a popular fabric when Jacqueline Bouvier was still setting fashion trends. And then it died out. For a reason. Just like Harvest Gold died out...

Intriguing silence about Obamarama

on the quilt blogs, which I have been reading for the first time in a week. I don't suppose him throwing his long-time spiritual advisor under a bus when the media became critical of his teachings has anything to do with it. :)

Yes, under a bus--we can add disloyalty to the long list of things to find objectionable about Obama. He used the Rev to further his career for 20 years and fired him when he was no longer useful. Reminds me of the Clintons (poor Socks).

Lots of good fabric and thread on the blogs, though. I've been sorting through the fabric I've accumulated since college, getting ready to dump a lot of it on eBay to see if I can recoup pennies on the dollar. Trying not to think "Damn, I could have put a down payment on a house if I hadn't bought all this crap." Wow, I was dumb when I was young. I don't suppose Congress will consider a bailout of over-enthusiastic hobbyists who lose their enthusiasm after dropping thousands of dollars on supplies?

Bush in Africa--fabric!

From the Black Threads blog, fabrics woven to symbolize friendship between Tanzania and the United States, including fabric with W's portrait. I don't know what I would do with W fabric, but I also want some.

(It's not THAT unusual; Che and Mao show up on T-shirts....)

I should learn more about sub-Saharan Africa. It looks like Kenya's being taken over by Islam; maybe we should be shoring up Liberia and Tanzania. But it's another area where I don't know enough.