Yeah...an actual photo of something quilting related!  I have enough of the block done to show it off.

I have a love/hate relationship with appliqué but I'm hoping the block and the finished quilt will be worth it.

Cycling:


Had to go to Lincoln to get my oil changed and stopped off a different bike store.  They had one of those fancy Garmin GPS computers that everyone raves about.  Sigh.  There isn't any way I could afford that and it seems awfully overpriced anyway.  If my Android phone battery didn't suck, I'd just use that.  

I did get my basic computer up and running on the Mukluk but I don't know how long before it gets knocked out of alignment.  The guys on the Mountain Bike forum make everything seem so easy.  I'm so not mechanically abled and it's frustrating.  Is it a guy thing to just look at something and automatically be able to make it work?

My Fargo cassette is still throwing fits.  Those two stupid cogs and the chain still get caught up but it never does it on the stand, just out on the highway where I can't just stop and look at it.  None of the books I have address anything similar to the problem.  Only thing I can come up with is maybe the cassette itself is loose and it needs special tools to fix it.  With my luck, I'd totally mess up the cassette.

I really wish I could get up to Omaha to ride some trails soon but it looks like it will rain all weekend.  That just means it's good quilting weather then.

Hand Applique?

Does anyone know of a way to keep from pricking your finger while appliquéing?  It's driving me nuts as the needle pokes the finger slowing down the stitching.  Arghh.  It doesn't hurt, just drives me nuts for speed purposes.  Push needle in, stab finger, pull out needle, and push needle back up.

The other thing that's killing me is steep points like grass.  The "Red December" quilt has steep points and trying to make it work isn't exactly working.  All my books and Google searches don't have anything on the steeper points so if anyone has some ideas let me know.  These blocks are driving me nuts.


Hopefully I'm done being cranky after last week and can have a better week.  I just hate feeling like I have to make reservations to get my bikes or sewing machines even looked at for a couple of minutes.  I know that probably makes me come across as a jerk but it's frustrating.  You might as well put a number box by the door and take a seat with your ticket.

I called up ahead to see if I could have the guy put a computer on and the lady said not for a few days.  It's not that I can't do it, it's the stupid magnet refusing to work with the computer that I can never get right.  You have to have the spacing just right or it doesn't work.  The guy can set it up within 5 minutes and it's done.

Salsa Mukluk

I have a new baby.  He's HUGE but I've wanted one since I first saw him sitting on the bike showroom.  I took him out on the mountain bike trail in Omaha today and had a blast.  I brought him home and went out through the back roads and it was riding on air.  This thing is a BEAST.

Quilting:

I have several pet peeves about advertising and unfortunately "Quilter Blogs" or I guess it's www.allquilting.biz/quilt-blogs/ now has started doing it.  I HATE moving/animated advertisements of all kinds.  I don't want them splashed across a page or following me as I scroll down the screen.  The second worst kind of ads are the flashing ones especially if they are colored. The last thing I need as I have epilepsy is flashing ads.

I have no problem with stationary ads as long as they are relevant to the blog.  Why do perfectly good sites start doing stupid things like stalking ads following you down as you read?


Cycling:

The asthma inhaler is AMAZING!!!!  There is a difference between out of shape breathing and exercised induced asthma.  If you feel like you are still dying despite all you've done for your exercise, ask a doc about it.  My self-esteem has soared knowing that I'm not a pathetic loser on a bike.  This year is for having FUN and going fast.

YES!!!  I made 20 miles yesterday on the bike trail!!!  10 miles up and 10 miles back and no gasping, dying or wanting to puke.  The last 6 miles were killers as I was fighting the wind but my air supply was going strong.  No wonder people love cycling.  I'm a little sore but it's the good kind.  I took today off and may do some walking tomorrow to let my muscles heal.

My LBS let me borrow some new to me tires to try out, Bontrager XR1 racers and they are amazing on the crushed limestone/dirt trail.  The problem is they are 100 dollars a set.  Errr....Maybe.

Bike tires are completely perplexing to me.  I get that different treads help the bike do more on the surface they are on, but that's about it.  I'm guessing it's like finding the right needle for the job except there are no explanations of the different treads for newbies.  Yeah...I'll take that set..

My bike mechanic has left me for a job in Colorado.  He's fixed my tires, adjusted everything on a bike, listened to me whine about how I suck, ordered everything I wanted with ease and put up with all my pestering questions.  I wish him the best and he will be sorely missed.

I get the idea of copyrights as it protects everyone in the business industry.  What I don't get is how far it goes for a consumer.  At what point does it become insanity for us as consumers or small business owners?  Between some stupid tote bag, Provo Craft and computer software, Pinterest and all the crazy rules on fabric and patterns, do we as consumers have rights and legal protections?

Here's how I see it:

 If you make your copyrights so exclusionary the consumer is lost in how to use your product, don't be upset when you go broke as no one dares to buy it.
 

If you can't keep up with technology, don't get mad when you get passed up by it from competition.


If I have to label anything I have with every Tom, Dick and Harry's name on it, you are out of your mind.


Even if you as a business are lawfully right in a business dispute, it doesn't mean your consumers see it that way.  Bad PR is a death sentence that most businesses never recover from.  There is nothing wrong with lawfully protecting what is yours, but there will be a backlash and a loss of consumers depending on how the situation was handled.


If I like an item and "pin" it, I shouldn't live in fear that I've violated the rules.  Be pleased that I liked your item enough to put it up on my wall as I'm beyond picky.  The "pin" goes back to the owner anyway.  If you don't want your items "pinned" I think it's your responsibility to put that on your site.


I do believe in giving credit where it's due and I do believe in following the laws.  I'm just tired of having to deal with it everywhere I go.

If it's not my knee, it's my hip when I exercise.  I'm beginning to think any form of athletics is beyond my abilities.  I don't even want to be truly athletic, just enough to keep from having a heart attack or from giving the health insurance industry all my money.  I'd like my demise to be either painless or I go out in style that is instantaneous.  Falling over dead from a long term medical condition isn't allowed and I will carry a sign at the Pearly Gates in protest if it happens.

Of course my hip/back goes out on a Sunday afternoon while innocently turning to talk to my husband.  This time the pain goes down my hamstrings around the lower back and waist.  This is new.  I also felt something in the back move.  By the evening, I'm dying of pain.  Every movement has me almost crying.  I refuse to give the ER any of my money, take a couple of Vicodin and wait for the morning.  The ER is just going to give me pain meds, charge me a fortune and send me home.  

On Monday, I see the regular doc to make sure the muscles are okay and head over the chiropractor.  I told him what had happened and wondered if the bike ride the other day had been the culprit.  He said it hadn't and that I'd already rotated the hip beforehand.  This time the sacrum had rotated inward behind the hip which is why the pain was in a different location.  A couple of quick pushes and immediately all the pain is gone.  Go figure.

Both docs said not to quit cycling or walking, but I'm tired of my left hip rotating and if my sacrum is joining in on the fun, I'm doomed.  Stupid SI joints.


 

Exercised Induced Asthma?

I've been slowly working on my hand appliqué.  I'd put a picture up, but you wouldn't know the difference from the last picture.  It's slow going and I hate inside "v"s.  It's killing me and my short attention span isn't helping.


BTW, Bandit is doing amazing.  He's back to being hyper and into everything he can find.


Cycling


I went for a walk the other day around the track and realized my knee was hurting after a mile.  I hadn't really felt up to getting on a bike lately but it's been to nice to not do something.  I went to the doc today and the first thing he asked is if it was bike related.  LOL.  

I've stretched a ligament on the side of the knee.  It's nothing serious as I have full range of motion and nothing is out of place.

The last time I got on a bike I was so exhausted and asked the doc about it.  I wondered if I had exercised induced asthma since it doesn't get any better during the ride and I'm about ready to give up and sell my bikes.  It's not worth the gasping and if I'm really that out of shape, I need something less stressful.


He wrote a script for an inhaler and sent me on my way.  About 10 minutes before leaving for a ride, I took a couple of puffs and got ready to ride my bike.


I got started up the hill and realized I was doing good.  No coughing or gasping.  I made it to the main highway and was still doing good.  I turned left and went down the highway.  Whatever they put in that stuff is amazing.  I made it 6 miles without feeling sick, nauseated, dizzy or wanting to die of exhaustion.  I wasn't choking on my water as I drank either and made it home in one piece.  I was breathing hard..but normal hard.  It was amazing!


For the first time since riding a bike I could work on gearing, cadence (how fast you pedal) and relaxing my feet.  Yes, I dig my toes in and hold on for dear life when I ride.  I really need cycling shoes but I can't work with them without falling over yet.


And my energy level has improved!  I'm not walking around the house wishing for a nap.  Hopefully this is the answer to my exhaustion and I can enjoy being outside on a bike.