I attended the NQA Show in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday. It was a great show this year with lots of Wow Quilts and some that just stole my heart with their whimsy and beauty. But as I went through the show, I realized that some of the amazing quilting was done by computerized machines--everything from the center embroidery pieces to the actual quilting itself. It takes a skill set to be able to manipulate computerized machines and have the quilting and designs come together appropriately to make a great quilt -- it also may take a machine which costs anywhere from $2000 for a good embroidery machine to $30,000 for a computerized quilting machine. That certainly limits the number of people who can compete at that level.
Now I am not a techno phobe; but I do think machine quilting has advanced to the point that there need to be categories: Computerized Quilting, Longarm Quilting, Short Arm Quilting, and Home Machine Quilting. Also if a Master Quilt is a totally computerized design, who is the Master, the human being or the computer?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
A Baseball First
Kai plays baseball on a farm team which means the players are 9 and 10 years old. As a 10 year old, he's had a good year and seems to be really enjoying the season. I am a great fan and go to as many games as I can. This week's game was unique.
Kai got a decent hit and headed for first base. He made it and settled in to steal the rest of his way home which is often what they do. The next youngster up also had a hit and Kai headed for second. As he rounded it, his coach waved him on and he ran for third. The third baseman planted himself on the base line in Kai's way, and Kai tried to barrel his way through. Both of them went down, and there was no ball in sight. Kai's coach is yelling at him to get up and go for third base but Kai can't. In his excitement and I'm sure desire to please his coach who is also yelling, the other player has grabbed hold of Kai's legs and won't let go. I think he was hoping he could get the ball from somewhere before Kai could make it to the base. Kai starts crawling toward third base, dragging the other boy with him briefly. Finally the other player lets go, and Kai climbs up on third base. By this time, Kai is a bit emotional himself and having some trouble breathing. The umpire declares that Kai gets home since it was interference, and he comes in with a run and having an asthma attack. His dad always carries his inhaler and he's soon back to par but has a burn on his arm and elbow from trying to crawl to third base.
What excitement! The other coach protests the call, of course, and yet after it was all over, Kai's run stands. I think the adrenalin level remained high for the rest of the game as eventually Kai's coach was thrown out of the game for yelling at one of the umps for not making calls. He was probably right but you're not supposed to yell at the teenage umps. Kai's team eventually did win the game.
Kai has three games this week and I am hoping they'll all be a bit calmer.
Kai got a decent hit and headed for first base. He made it and settled in to steal the rest of his way home which is often what they do. The next youngster up also had a hit and Kai headed for second. As he rounded it, his coach waved him on and he ran for third. The third baseman planted himself on the base line in Kai's way, and Kai tried to barrel his way through. Both of them went down, and there was no ball in sight. Kai's coach is yelling at him to get up and go for third base but Kai can't. In his excitement and I'm sure desire to please his coach who is also yelling, the other player has grabbed hold of Kai's legs and won't let go. I think he was hoping he could get the ball from somewhere before Kai could make it to the base. Kai starts crawling toward third base, dragging the other boy with him briefly. Finally the other player lets go, and Kai climbs up on third base. By this time, Kai is a bit emotional himself and having some trouble breathing. The umpire declares that Kai gets home since it was interference, and he comes in with a run and having an asthma attack. His dad always carries his inhaler and he's soon back to par but has a burn on his arm and elbow from trying to crawl to third base.
What excitement! The other coach protests the call, of course, and yet after it was all over, Kai's run stands. I think the adrenalin level remained high for the rest of the game as eventually Kai's coach was thrown out of the game for yelling at one of the umps for not making calls. He was probably right but you're not supposed to yell at the teenage umps. Kai's team eventually did win the game.
Kai has three games this week and I am hoping they'll all be a bit calmer.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Storm at the Recital
I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged.
The most recent excitement was 5 year old Quinn's recital. She did ballet and tap and was adorable, of course. But usually a recital doesn't get cancelled for stormy weather. The entire family had made a real effort to attend Quinn's first recital. Even Lisa and her 2 month old son Jack had made it through a real cloudburst to arrive on time. Joe was whining about the storm, but we all felt perfectly safe in the large auditorium. Jack was a real trooper, taking a bottle, and then allowing himself to be passed down the line of family for a cuddle from everyone.
A fourth of the way through the event, a storm rolled through Newark and knocked out the power for the OSU-COTC area which is where the Reese Hall is. So emergency lights fortunately, but no way to continue the recital. After sitting patiently in the gloom, it was announced that the recital would continue in the morning, asking that the chidren be there by 8:30 am and the dancing would recommence at 9:00 am.
The next morning promised more storms but most people gamely made their way back to the Reese Hall. (No Joe as he has a real thing about storms and had decided not to even try.) As I walked in, it was clear that some of the momentum of the event had been lost. No one had a clue as to where their ticket stubs were --fortunately, Avante had decided not to ask for them. All around me I heard whining children and parents who had left things at home or lost them somewhere in the car. The performances were great; it was the audience who never quite got into the show again. I did try to video Quinn's dances but I am still not very good at it. I am hoping her Daddy got better pictures than I did.
I have often had baseball games postponed for bad weather, but Quinn's Recital was a real first!
The most recent excitement was 5 year old Quinn's recital. She did ballet and tap and was adorable, of course. But usually a recital doesn't get cancelled for stormy weather. The entire family had made a real effort to attend Quinn's first recital. Even Lisa and her 2 month old son Jack had made it through a real cloudburst to arrive on time. Joe was whining about the storm, but we all felt perfectly safe in the large auditorium. Jack was a real trooper, taking a bottle, and then allowing himself to be passed down the line of family for a cuddle from everyone.
A fourth of the way through the event, a storm rolled through Newark and knocked out the power for the OSU-COTC area which is where the Reese Hall is. So emergency lights fortunately, but no way to continue the recital. After sitting patiently in the gloom, it was announced that the recital would continue in the morning, asking that the chidren be there by 8:30 am and the dancing would recommence at 9:00 am.
The next morning promised more storms but most people gamely made their way back to the Reese Hall. (No Joe as he has a real thing about storms and had decided not to even try.) As I walked in, it was clear that some of the momentum of the event had been lost. No one had a clue as to where their ticket stubs were --fortunately, Avante had decided not to ask for them. All around me I heard whining children and parents who had left things at home or lost them somewhere in the car. The performances were great; it was the audience who never quite got into the show again. I did try to video Quinn's dances but I am still not very good at it. I am hoping her Daddy got better pictures than I did.
I have often had baseball games postponed for bad weather, but Quinn's Recital was a real first!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)