Things Change

I guess we're scrapping the plan to Annex Mexico, huh?

Clues in the Calico

For years my first book on dating antique quilts, Clues in the Calico, has been out of print and fetching prices over $100 on the used book market, making me wish I had several hundred copies to sell. I have exactly two copies. But of course if I'd had several hundred copies to sell it wouldn't have been so hard to find and the price would have been less.

But now, you can have a copy for $19.95. C&T Publishing has created a digital version that you can download. It's exactly the same as the 1989 version, but it's a file you can print if you want to or save on your computer. I am buying one to save to a file because then I can do digital searches. If I want to know more about, say medallion quilts, I can search by the word "medallion" and find every mention.

Read more about it by clicking here.
http://www.ctpubblog.com/downloads/quiltmaking/clues-in-the-calico/

Memo to Texas

Be my guest, why don't you and while you're at it, take Florida with you.

Cheney: You are Pissing me OFF

Not content with leaving us to worry in peace about a worldwide pandemic of Swine Flu, the malignant, malevolent, satanic, chill-inducing ex VP (or rather ex P) is intent on discrediting the Obama Administration's efforts to restore dignity to the foreign and domestic policy of the US, and potentially save us from harm's way in an intelligent and diplomatic manner. He continues carping that Obama is making us less safe, although there is absolutely no evidence of that. He continues defending torture even though it has been amply documented that the only thing torture is good for is to manufacture more crazy lunatics hell bent on torturing us back.
If I were Obama, just to shut this fucker's trap, I would allow for impeachment proceedings against him and his underlings. Let him rant all he wants from jail.
Meanwhile, you can meet the obnoxious man who sucks Cheney's dick in this video from The Daily Show. Listening to him, now that is torture.
Here is a certifiable moron attempting to defend waterboarding. He is so unbelievably stupid that he mentions the presence of doctors, to make sure the torturee is still alive, as if this was a sign of benevolence. The presence of doctors in torture chambers is one of the most base examples of human depravity. Doctors are brought in to ensure that the prisoners withstand as much pain and suffering as possible without dying. The moment you torture, there are no humanitarian concerns.
This dickhead should be waterboarded with a pail of shit, in the presence of a doctor. Let's see then if he feels the same way.
Jon Stewart was excellent. But he should have pointed to the fact that coercive interrogation has been found to yield little of value and is a spurious argument in favor of torture. He was up against a frantic bully, who knows his argument doesn't withstand scrutiny, but who kept pointing his finger and hollering through the conversation. What an asshole. And who does he thinks he's fooling by calling his outfit something for the defense of democracy. You can't talk about the defense of democracy and advocate for torture. They are mutually exclusive.
Maybe the torturers who actually physically inflicted pain should not be prosecuted. Although I don't see why not. But their superiors? Those who gave the orders? Most certainly and all the way to the top.

More Evidence of Impending Apocalypse:

Cirque du Soleil is making a permanent home in New York City.
We are doomed.

Don't Be Blaming the Mexicans, Yo!

Apparently, a poor little 5 year old named Edgar ("yo soy el pequeño Edgar"*) from the pig farming town of La Gloria (talk about irony), Veracruz has been identified as patient zero. That is, he is the culprit of the widespread paranoia we feel today and of my burning desire for an astronaut suit.
From the nutty comments section of the New York Times, I like this scenario much better:

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer, operates a massive hog-raising operations in Perote, Mexico, in the state of Veracruz, where the outbreak originated. A Smithfield subsidiary, Granjas Carrol, raises 950,000 hogs per year.

Residents of Perote believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. A municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms.

According to community residents the organic and fecal waste produced by Granjas Carrol isn’t adequately treated. Area residents complain of “fetid odors” in the air and water, swarms of flies hovering around waste lagoons and respiratory ailments.

Mexican health agency Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social has acknowledged that the original carrier for the flu could be the “clouds of flies” that multiply in the Smithfield subsidiary’s manure lagoons.

— Lawrence, Glendora

Of course, you always have your racist nut jobs that blame everything on Mexico (drugs, immigration, viruses, violence, etc) and want to build a wall at the border (by all means, be my guest). One nutcase is convinced this thing happened in Aruba first in March. Another thinks it's all a conspiracy by the pharma industry in order to raise the price of flu shots. I'm telling you... I think it's a conspiracy by gringos to besmirch the image of Mexico. Or maybe by Jews and Muslims to besmirch the image of pork. But I find Lawrence from Glendora's argument very compelling.

* This was the famous last line of a fabulously campy Mexican soap from the 80's called Cuna de Lobos (The Wolves' Cradle). El pequeño Edgar was the bad seed. But poor little Edgar from La Gloria. Imagine the entire world blaming you for a pandemic!

Blame the Gringos instead!

Quick and Lazy Theater Review

As quick and lazy and superficial as the play:
Offices, by Ethan Coen, at the Atlantic SUCKS.
One wonders what someone like the great F. Murray Abraham, who is the only one worth watching, is doing in such an unfunny, half-baked, nasty piece of work.

Well-Dressed Dogs

My friend Christine Mercer Kraft paints dog portraits on old cabinet cards. Here are a few of her recent paintings.

Cabinet cards are a type of portrait photograph popular from about 1870 to 1920. They are about 4 or 5 inches wide and often feature elegant embossed cardboard frames. Chris is great at combining the dog's personality and the human outfit.

I have got to trade her a quilt for a portrait of Dorothy Barker, my approximate dachshund. If you want to try to trade her a quilt first (or better yet---cash) contact her at cmercerkraft@sunflower.com

Breaking News: The Culprit for Swine Flu Identified

The Headline in Spanish: "Por culpa de ese pinche escuincle": All because of that freaking kid!


Thanks to my indomitable EnchilaBrother in Law who serves as my press agency in Mexico, sending me pics of empty rubbing alcohol shelves at Costco and other nuggets of information.

What is the Mexican Flu?

My readers want to know. And though they should not be consulting me, who have no credentials but my own common sense, here is what I know (from sources like CNN, The New York Times, the BBC and such).

The Mexican flu is a combination/mutation of swine flu, bird flu and human flu.
It seems the epicenter is Mexico City.
It is highly contagious and spreads rapidly.
You don't get it by eating pork. I love pork but even I don''t feel like carnitas right now.
The symptoms are like those of a regular flu: fever, joint aches, fatigue, respiratory trouble, sore throat. Apparently also sudden dizziness, nausea and diarrhea, as if you have the regular flu and a stomach flu on top. Awful.
If you have symptoms you need to get medical help immediately so that you can be diagnosed and treated. Tamiflu and Relenza are medicines that can cure it. If you have symptoms, stay home, drink lots of fluids and stay away from people.
The regular flu shot is not enough protection against it, but it may make symptoms milder, apparently because it fights the human flu part of the virus.
The best way to avoid it is by washing your hands frequently. And by avoiding shaking hands or kissing people. The virus lives in inanimate objects like telephones, computers, money, subway poles, or anything that somebody may have touched with his or her hand that came in contact with his mouth and nose, like any other flu. That is, if somebody infected sneezed into their hand and put that hand on a surface that you later touch, you may be at risk. I have no idea how long the virus survives on these surfaces, but obviously, long enough to spread quickly.
I've heard the incubation period is super fast, from four days to one day.
Apparently face masks are not much help. Infected people who cough and sneeze need to cover themselves with their elbow, or with a tissue they need to throw away immediately and wash their hands. If they do it into their hands, they need to wash with soap and water immediately, or use an antiseptic liquid.
The infection has spread beyond Mexico but only in Mexico are people dying from it. It is killing the healthy 20-55 year olds, more than the usually vulnerable populations of infants and the elderly. Apparently the healthy immune system mounts such an aggressive defense that it overwhelms the lungs, filling them with fluid, hence death.
Nobody understands why people are only dying in Mexico. Possibly because they are poor and by the time they seek help it's already too late.
Don't hold it against Mexicans okay?

Mexican Flu: The Maids Dilemma

Ah, but here is a very interesting juncture in which the lives of the rich intersect with the lives of the poor in Mexico: The maids who live at home. Well-to-do Mexico City residents are now faced with the dilemma of whether they should allow their live in help to go out on their day of rest. They are petrified, and not without reason, that the maid may come back infected from public transportation or from wherever it is that poor people go on their free time. Some have resorted to keeping the maid at home until further notice.
It's ironic that for a country that has always been surreal to begin with, this, which is truly, frighteningly surreal, is happening. And they get an earthquake on top of it (less that a minute later, there's a joke about that). I'm sure that Mexicans are going to deal with it as they know best, with even more surrealism. I already saw pictures of people painting smiling mouths on their face masks. And of people joking about face masks by using underwear instead. And there are those eerie soccer matches at empty stadiums and that TV comedy show that decided to use smiling cardboard cutouts instead of an audience, with canned laughter and applause.

News From The Flu Front II

Here are the latest reports from Small Enchilada:

Saturday, April 25:

Everything is very ugly. We haven't left the house, although we went to the garden. Husband went to buy groceries since they say that yesterday it was crazy and we don't want to end up without food. We also don't want to go out to eat.
I wasn't able to find face masks (and here I am asking for the high performance ones, ha!) People are in a panic and they are misinformed. I read the WHO site and according to what it says, this really sucks. I suppose that due to the lack of infrastructure of the country they probably don't even know what to do or how to do it. I hope they send many international experts.
At the General Hospital there is no soap in the restrooms, the patients are not isolated and everything is "un desmadre", a mess (imagine if that's what comes out in the papers, what is really happening that we don't know about). A well known politician already has it and he is at a private hospital. His daughter is a classmate of Enchiladito. We're going to wait and see what else they say. It's not like we can run away... the kids don't understand anything. We already explained it to Enchiladito. If we flee, I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, I spoke to Enchiladito and he asked me if we had the virus here too.

Monday, April 27

Well they just gave a press conference in which they said that Stage 4 is to mitigate what's happening. The borders aren't closed yet.
The only foreigner (from AP) who asked why it took them so long to send the first samples to Atlanta or Canada, was answered Cantinflas style; that is, they turned the question around.
They are getting the equipment to analyze the virus quickly the day after tomorrow and if it turns out to be type A (whether it's swine flu or not), people will be given immediate treatment and then the samples will be analyzed more in depth. Why didn't they think of this before?
One hears very ugly stories about people who have gone to the hospital and they have been turned away, because they have nothing or because the hospital workers don't want to be infected. Many people called Channel 11 asking what to do, since they have symptoms. Apparently, they have no one to turn to, or they did and it didn't work. It's very sad.
The Secretary of Health says they are dying because they are getting to the hospital too late*. I say it's also because they were not diagnosed correctly. Equipment and organization are lacking. I'm very angry.

According to an acquaintance of a friend who works at the Social Security Institute, there's already like 800 deaths. Who knows. Let's see what they come up with tomorrow.

I already have 19 face masks imported from Houston, and also the undies**!

* Classic strategy: blame the victims.
** The Enchilada family posted a jolly picture of themselves wearing their underwear as face masks.

As I suspected, it's mostly the poor who are dying. Mexicans think that Mexico has no infrastructure. I think it does or at least it tries to have one. The problem is that it also has a penchant for utter disorganization. Order and logic are not its strong suit. The authorities should be telling people not to panic, so as not to create food and medicine shortages. They should be organizing against the consequences of panic. I don't think they are. President Calderón should be addressing the nation, calming people and reassuring them. I don't know that this is happening. If there is no soap in the government hospitals, the government should be asking the big soap companies, like Colgate-Palmolive or Unilever, to donate some. This should not be a problem.
Unfortunately, like many semideveloped countries where the disparity between rich and poor is abysmal, in Mexico there is general, and even official contempt for the poor (like in India or Brasil). If there weren't, somebody would do something to raise their standard of living somehow. In Mexico the government is content to let them move up north or to embark frequently on cosmetic populist campaigns that never really change anything.
It is not a country that is used to the free flow of information, even though this has improved in recent years. As you can see from the reports above, it thrives on rumor. People totally distrust the government, so on top of all the agita, there is also a terrible feeling of not having faith in the institutions, the government or even society itself. I think Mexicans have, on occasion, shown their nobility of spirit, as in the 1985 earthquake when they took it upon themselves to organize (utter chaos but at least they tried) when the government was asleep at the wheel. In a pandemic, obviously, the natural feelings of pity and solidarity take a back seat to saving your own skin, to actual mortal fear of anybody who has taken the subway. Which is why unfortunately, this time we may not see that empathy, and it may get very ugly.

Serpentine Stripe

I just watched the BBC production Byron and found this trivia site for people like me who immediately forget the actress's name and the plot but NEVER forget a costume. I was sure I'd seen the dress that evil Augusta Leigh was wearing and---of course---it was Mrs. Bennet's!!! The brown serpentine stripe was equally fetching on seductive sisters or silly mothers. The photo features a reproduction serpentine stripe in brown that Terry Thompson and I did for Moda several years ago. The wiggly stripe is quite similar to the fabric in the dress.

Check out this site for costume connections---Who wore what.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369084/trivia

Which begs the question…
Why doesn't the BBC go out and buy new reproduction fabric and make new costumes? The dresses in the period dramas seem to get around more than the Chico's jackets in my sewing group.

katrina kaif swimsuit pictures

katrina kaif swimsuit

katrina kaif swimsuit pictures

katrina kaif swimsuit wallpapers

katrina kaif swimsuit looking nice

katrina kaif swimsuit wet

katrina kaif swimsuit looking hot

sngeeta swimsuit

katrina kaif swimsuit

katrina kaif swimsuit

katrina kaif swimsuit photos

katrina kaif best pictures 2010

Kaif was born in Hong Kong[2] to a Muslim Kashmiri father,[3] Mohammed Kaif, and a British mother, Suzzane Turquotte.[4]. Her parents separated when Kaif was very young. Kaif has seven siblings. She was raised in Hawaii, United States and later moved to her mother's home country, England.
Career

At the age of fourteen she was approached by an agent and she began modeling; her first job was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London, under a contract with the Models 1 Agency and did campaigns for houses, such as La Senza and Arcadius and even walked on the London Fashion Week.[2]

Kaif's London modeling-work led her to discover by London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). She moved to Mumbai and was offered a number of modeling assignments. However, filmmakers were initially hesitant to sign her because she could not speak Hindi.[5]

Kaif saw success with the 2005 film Sarkar where she played the bit part of Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend. Her next release, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), where she was paired opposite Salman Khan, earned her the Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award.

In 2007, Kaif appeared in the hit movie Namastey London, wherein she starred as a British-Indian girl alongside Akshay Kumar for the second time after the box office dud Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006). Her hit films stride continued with Apne, Partner and Welcome.[6]

In 2008, she played a negative role for the first time in Abbas-Mustan's hit action thriller Race. She played the role of Saif Ali Khan's secretary who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother played by Akshay Khanna. Kaif's second release of the year was Anees Bazmee's production Singh Is Kinng, opposite Akshay Kumar. Upon release the film was a big success at the box office. Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a commercial failure[7], but its script has made its way into the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for artistic merits, original screenplay with a substance and the film as a whole.[8][9]

Kaif's first release for 2009, New York, with John Abraham was a critical and commercial success.[10] Kaif's performance was highly appreciated with the critic Taran Adarsh writing, "Katrina gives you the biggest surprise. Known for her glamour roles, Katrina proves that she can deliver if the director and writer offer her a role of substance. She's outstanding. In fact, people will see a new, different Katrina this time."[11] She next appeared in a bit role as a biker chick in the multi starrer action film Blue, popularly known as India's first underwater thriller,[12] performed averagely at the box office.[13] At the year's end, she appeared in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani with Ranbir Kapoor and De Dana Dan with Akshay Kumar. Both films were commercial successes.

In the year 2010, she is set to appear in the multi starrer film Raajneeti that opens on 4 June 2010.[14] She is currently filming for Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan along with Akshay Kumar, which is set to release on 24 December 2010.[15]
Awards

Nominated

* 2005: Zee Cine Award for Most Promising Debut, Sarkar
* 2008: IIFA Award for Best Actress, Race
* 2009: Apsara Award for Best Actress In Supporting Role, Race
* 2009: IIFA Award for Best Actress, Singh Is Kinng
* 2009: Stardust Award for Star Of The Year, Singh Is Kinng
* 2009: Stardust Award for Best Actress In A Negative Role, Race
* 2010: Screen Award for Best Actor In Popular Category, New York
* 2010: Stardust Star of the Year Award – Female for New York & Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani [1]
* 2010: Filmfare Best Actress Award for New York[16]

Winner

* 2006: Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award (Female), Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya
* 2006: Idea Zee F Awards, Fashion Diva of the Year [2]
* 2008: Zee Cine Awards, British Indian Actor Award
* 2008: IIFA Awards, Style Diva of the Year
* 2008: Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards, Sabsey Favourite Heroine, Singh Is Kinng
* 2008: Apsara Film Producers Guild of India Awards, Style Diva of the Year
* 2009: Rajiv Gandhi Award[17]
* 2009: Golden Kela Awards, Dara Singh Award for the Worst Accent
* 2009: Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards, Sabsey Favourite Heroine[3]
* 2009: ASSOCHAM Award, Performing Excellence[4]
* 2010: Star Screen Awards, Entertainer of the year [5]
* 2010: Stardust Awards, Best Actress - Popular Award for New York & Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani [6]

Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
2003 Boom Rina Kaif/Popdi Chinchpokli
2004 Malliswari Princess Malliswari Telugu film
2005 Sarkar Pooja
Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya Sonia
Allari Pidugu Shwetha Telugu film
2006 Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye Jia A. Yashvardhan
Balram vs. Taradas Supriya Malayalam film
2007 Namastey London Jasmeet Malhotra (Jazz)
Apne Nandini
Partner Priya Jaisingh
Welcome Sanjana Shetty
2008 Race Sophia
Singh Is Kinng Sonia
Hello The Storyteller/God Cameo
Yuvvraaj Anushka Banton
2009 New York Maya Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Blue Nikki Cameo
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani Jennifer (Jenny)
De Dana Dan Anjali Kakkad
2010 Raajneeti Indu Pratap[18] Post-production
Tees Maar Khan Filming[19]
Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara Pre-production[20]
2011
Untitled Anurag Basu Project Pre-production[21]
Aarakshan Pre-production[22]

Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif

katrina kaif

katrina kaif wallpapers

katrina kaif in dulhan style

katrina kaif photos

katrina kaif

New Moon

There's the tiniest sliver of a new moon in the sky tonight. A record warm late summer weekend in April. What a pleasant and unexpected surprise. There seem to be other unexpected surprises occurring as well.
After a rather storm tossed week this kitten landed on dry land. The roller coaster of fashion, what it was, is and could be seem to keep so many of us off balance. But perhaps that is best and the definition of fashion , which is in itself a mutable and ever shifting form. Trying to nail it down, proclaim this mood or trend or designer the One, the Leader is just an exercise in nonsense. Like mercury , it never sits still long enough to grab a hold.
I went to an event at Bottega Veneta last week and was expecting to see the never before seen. I went ,I saw and then went for a great meal. What had staggered me the last 2 seasons was still evident, but there was a degree of leveling off. This is not to say that I saw a collection, vast and inspired, but neither was it earth shattering. It was beautiful . I met Thomas Maier, and expected a humble savant. A genius who would somehow appear remote and introverted. What I saw and who I met was much more an urbane, very German dandy. So there you have it....one never knows. You can't and shouldn't ever try to pin anything or anyone down. They will never be what you expect. I'm glad of it, though it popped the balloon of my preconceived notion.
This new moon is the harbinger of big and small changes to come. Alchemy is the magic , the science that is the thing of fashion, the essence of life. To add 1 and 1 and make 10. This is something I believe and live by.
This is the first of a short series of thoughts I will expand on. But for now it's a new moon, a reason to celebrate and to create hope. All will be well. All will be better than it once was.

Quarantine: Eight cases in NYC

Let it be known to all my colleagues, friends and acquaintances that henceforth I ain't kissing or shaking hands with any of you, for our collective well-being. Nihao!

News from the Flu Front

Reports from the brave souls from the Enchilada Front Against the Flu in Mexico City: it's quite serious.
And I quote, without permission, from Small Enchilada:

Well, Enchiladito's party with 20 kids ended up being with 8 kids because we are being attacked by an epidemic of very rare influenza and the mothers didn't want to come (and I understand them). After trying to talk to my pediatrician or anybody who would let me talk to them, I asked our doctor if I could have the party and he said only outdoors and with a few kids. They had a great time! And I hope none of us get sick. The situation is really bad, they say much worse than we think*. And I don't doubt it. Schools will be closed indefinitely and people are already stocking up on groceries and we're all very paranoid.
A friend of the neighbor** knows the Secretary of Health and this man told them that one needs to be very careful because the thing is very pathogenic and lethal. That people are dying and they are young.
We'll have to seclude ourselves at home and wait. My friend works in a national institute and she says there is widespread fear among the doctors and researchers, that people are getting sick and dying.
In short, I'm thinking of getting out of dodge*** (maybe Ixtapan de la Sal?)
We'll be in touch...

*Classic Mexican thinking whether the fears are warranted or not.
** The way news traditionally spreads in Mexico, in tandem with the regular media.
*** Here she used an expression in Yiddish that basically references the expulsion of the Jews from Spain -- utter genius.

From Mr. Ex-Enchilada, also without permission:

The doctor says the pandemic is real.... He recommends that I avoid public transportation, restaurants, parties or gatherings, etc.... You know that all the museums, cinemas, theaters, public places are closed...

This is chilling. I am imagining Mexico City right now like the opening sequence of 28 Days Later. Eerie and extremely worrisome. I am not flippant about the flu any more.
Courage, my dear family and friends and the good people of El D.F.!
It seems that you are taking the right steps to avoid spreading contagion and hopefully this evil flu will fizzle out, unable to play tag, you're it anymore.

I have the facebook bug

According to CNN, I almost need help with my facebook addiction.
Here are 5 indicators that you may be at risk (ALL CAPS MINE):

1. You lose sleep over Facebook

I CONFESS I SOMETIMES CHECK FACEBOOK IN THE WEE HOURS.

2. You spend more than an hour a day on Facebook

AN HOUR? IN DOG YEARS?

3. You become obsessed with old loves

ACTUALLY NOT, AS THIS WOULD REALLY BE THE PITS. BUT I HAVE BEFRIENDED OLD HIGH SCHOOL BULLIES.

4. You ignore work in favor of Facebook

ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY. ALL THE TIME.

5. The thought of getting off Facebook leaves you in a cold sweat

IF NOT IN A COLD SWEAT, IN MOURNING. DOES THIS COUNT?

There is always a silver lining:

From CNN (gracias Barry!):

The human influenza vaccine's ability to protect against the new swine flu strain is unknown, and studies are ongoing, Schuchat said. There is no danger of contracting the virus from eating pork products, she said.

Phew...

What's with the Mexican Flu?

To judge from reports here in the US, Mexico City is undergoing a slightly apocalyptic swine flu scenario right now that has forced the authorities to close schools and universities and advise people not to be overly fond of each other as they greet. That is, no handshakes and no kisses.
I have always been a big proponent of the Oriental way of greeting, which is sans touching. It prevents many contagious illnesses, and it's very respectful and polite. I'd rather bow to you than get some horrid virus.
Mr. Ex-Enchilada reported that he had a horrible flu a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was that?
I'm very concerned for all my loved ones, particularly the Mini-Enchiladitos. Everybody, please be safe.
The Mexico City health authorities are urging the residents to avoid great concentrations of people. As if! As my friend Anna says, in a city of 20 million plus, that's a challenge, to say the least. This basically means all public transportation which is always bursting at the seams with passengers, and Chapultepec park on weekends.
As always, probably the well-to-do will be able to keep their distance, and the rest, well, let's just say that if you are a Mexican manufacturer of face masks you are going to make a killing, so to speak.
Perhaps this is the revenge of all the Mexican piggies. Maybe all the cochinitos decided they had enough of becoming the most mouthwatering carnitas and tacos al pastor.
La Venganza del Nenepil. Revenge of the Chicharrones.
I can imagine that the jokes about the flu spread quicker than the virus.
I came up with one myself that cracks me up to no end, but it is not easily translated. "¡La están armando de tos!"
Meaning, they are making a big deal about it: armarla de tos is slang that somehow involves the word cough. As I said, there is no way this can be conveyed in English, but I think I'm a hoot.
I'm hoping this dastardly flu will leave my city alone (why doesn't it go and attack the Taliban? Oh, they don't eat pork. Bummer). So that maybe hopefully we can go down there in a couple of weeks and have some magnificent tacos de cochinita, cuerito, buche, nana y al pastor, surrounded by Mexicans in the bloom of health.

More Medallions

Here' is Pam Crooks' medallion top for her friends' challenge using the Uwa reproduction fabric, the same challenge that inspired Cindy Vermillion Hamilton's quilt. I think the fabric in question is Pam's border here.

Yesterday's post elicited several questions and comments, among them:

Do you have [medallions] in your collection? Can you give us a little history about medallions?

I have two antique medallion quilts but they are not the greatest. I do have a lot of photos of reproduction medallions. I've been collecting snapshots to post in the gallery of my e-Club for C&T, which this year deals with early quilts especially medallions. Check it out at http://www.cluesinthecalico.com/

As far as a history of medallions. Here's an excerpt from Chapter 2 in that club:
"Early quilts often have a central design focus, a setting style Americans tend to call medallion quilt and the British call framed quilt or frame quilt. The terms seem to date only as early as the twentieth-century, possibly established in 1929 by quilt historian Ruth Finley who described a quilt with a tree-of-life center as a "framed medallion" in her book Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them.

Although women working after 1840 were likely to use a block format, earlier quiltmakers preferred the medallion set. On my website I maintain a list of eighteenth-century quilts with the date actually on them. (See it by clicking here: http://www.siputflash.com/faqs2.aspx) Of the 14 quilts in which I could identify a set or style 11 were constructed with a central focus (about 80%). Of quilts date-inscribed in the 1840s I found the opposite; 80% were block-style, a dramatic style shift in the century's first decades."

....And as Homer Simpson would say "Doh!" I didn't realize that if you clicked on the pictures here they get larger! So click on Pam's quilt. Wish I had a better photo.

Paducah Prize Winner

To England and Back, Cindy Vermillion Hamilton, Pagosa Springs, CO

Penny Tucker sent me an email to announce that Cindy Vermillion Hamilton won first prize at the American Quilters Society show in Paducah this week under the category of Handmade Quilts with a medallion quilt she made for a fabric challenge Penny organized last year. The quilts were to be medallions and use a certain amount of a Uwa reproduction print.

Here's a snapshot of Cindy's top being shown at AQSG last October. Her quilt is completely handmade down to the binding. To see a better shot of it quilted go to
http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/paducah/2009/contests/quilt_winners.php
and scroll down about halfway to the category "Handmade Quilts: Hand". Click on "1st". You can click on all the winners on that page.

Congratulations to Cindy.

Perez Hilton and Miss America: Hell Froze Over

It's a momentous occasion, if not a once in a lifetime achievement, when somebody is so stupid that they make a Miss America contestant look smart. In this case, we have Perez Hilton to thank for:
a. Making Miss California look smart and articulate, despite her conservative views on gay marriage.
b. Hurting the cause of gay marriage.
This I know, my dears, not because I watch the contest, which I think should be banned on the grounds of toxicity to brain cells, but because I learned it from that purveyor of serious news, CNN.
As I was exerting myself to look like Miss America at the gym today, I saw Miss California's answer, which was to be expected. Did you think that she was going to say, "yay, Viva Gay Marriage and let's legalize drugs and impeach Rumsfeld and Cheney and send John Yoo to jail and stop harassing the immigrants and nationalize the banks?" It's the Miss America Pageant, for crying out loud!

This is a free country and that is how she feels. She is certainly entitled to her opinion.
But this moronic fat fuck, who was hired by the organizers, then had the gall to insult the contestant in the internet calling her a dumb bitch. If I were Donald Trump, I would rescind his paycheck (unless of course they are both enjoying the ugly free publicity at the expense of the gays).
Perez, pal, you are not doing any favors to the cause with your ugly, stupid, vulgar, bullying. Quite the contrary. It is way out of line to attack this woman for voicing her opinion, or for voicing the opinion that somebody coached her to say so she could eventually put a tiara on her head, cry a tear and wear a cape.
I saw an interview with her, where she said in an English more correct than Bush's or Sarah Palin's that she was going to pray for Perez and she felt sorry for him.
Oh honey, don't bother; he is beyond salvation, and not because he is gay.

Another Tile Quilt

This tile quilt by Ann Burgess features her own marbleized fabrics.

A question from yesterday's post:

Is the term "tile quilt" a historical reference or one being used to categorize a style?

It's both a style and a technique, I guess, and as far as the historical reference---quilt historians have been calling them tile quilts for a few decades. We will have to wait for the book Bobbi Finley and Carol Jones are working on to know more about the history. One old term was "Stonewall Quilt". The technique is applique but what makes it different from most applique is that the background shows through only in small lines between the appliqued patches.

Common Sense about Immigration

Unions are for legalizing illegals. And they are being smart about it.

Mary Stuart

For absolutely mesmerizing acting of the very first caliber, Mary Stuart, with the formidable Janet McTeer and the amazing Harriet Walter, is the ticket to see.
Donmar Warehouse has dusted off a grand new production of this 18th Century play by Friedrich Schiller, super well directed by Phyllida Lloyd. It makes sense in this day and age because it is about the abuse of power, unfair incarceration, false evidence, populism, authoritarianism/tyranny etc. You could substitute Elizabeth's court for the Bush administration and you wouldn't be far off the mark (except that Elizabeth I was formidably smart).
The two lead actresses, Janet McTeer, in the title role, and the amazing Harriet Walter as Elizabeth I, are worth sitting through the very long-winded speeches. They are fabulous. I thought Ms. McTeer was a bit of a ham, but given the enormity of her talent, she has every right to knock herself out. It's hambone, but of the highest quality. And she has some magnificent moments, as in her gleeful, vengeful rage after her tete a tete with Elizabeth, when she boasts of having won the argument. Something to Behold.
Harriet Walter plays Elizabeth as a smart, cold, narcissistic, but ultimately vulnerable woman. The contrast between the two women, one almost ecstatic in her faith and religiosity, the other bound by rules and pragmatism, is magnificent. Anybody who is a student of acting right now should run to see them and learn from two actresses at the height of their technical and creative powers.
The production is minimalistic (leaving the space to all those wooords) and it has some breathtaking theatrical effects, like an actual downpour that makes you gasp in wonder.
At the beginning I was afraid I was going to be bored out of my wits, because the scenes are long and some speeches seem endless. All the actors are wonderful (particularly Brian Murray, John Benjamin Hickey, who reminded me of Donald Rumsfeld, and Nicholas Woodeson). The one terrible lox here is Chandler Williams who plays Mortimer. He is the only one who seems to be straight out of a high school production. Unfortunately, he has some very long speeches.

A Racist and Antisemite in the Racism conference

Of course only at the UN they have the bright idea to have a conference on racism and they invite that ignorant donkey, that uncouth asshole, the president of Iran, who uses it as a bully pulpit, the very conference on racism, to attack Israel and the Jews with the kind of repulsive slander that is the mark of antisemites everywhere; that new but often repeated canard that the Palestinians are unjustly paying for the consequences of the Jewish Holocaust, which is absurd and untrue. The Palestinians are suffering the unintended consequences of unabated Arab aggression against Israel since day 1. Their suffering is not only the fault of Israel. It has been compounded by their Arab brethren who use it for their own political purposes and with no discernible intent to really help them achieve independent, selfsufficient nationhood. The reality is that Iran does not give a real fuck about the Palestinians except to arm their terrorist groups and thus help continue the violence and their suffering. There is more volition for peace in Israel than in any of these hypocrites, who use the suffering of the Palestinians and the spewing of official antisemitism to distract their populations from their misery.
But curiously enough, this time around, many European envoys left the room en masse, because apparently even at a UN meeting there are some standards of decency. In this new world order where the intolerant forces of barbarism and obscurantism are unleashed, the worn and wearisome invective against Israel just does not work the charms it used to anymore.
Used to be, in the 1970's when the Third World was all the rage, that the UN could pass a resolution equating Zionism with racism, with many of those same European countries happily voting for such a thing. Those times are long gone.
Now most of the world knows who the real enemy is.
Anti-Israel tirades like this one today. What is their purpose? Are they designed to bring the region closer to peace? No. They are designed to sway the hearts of ignorants, and to fuel the hatred of the offended on both sides. They are ridiculous, (those disrupters wearing the clown wigs had it right) and they are poisonous.

More Tile Quilts

This tile quilt by Carol Jones is another that will be featured at the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild show. Tile quilts resemble the stained glass technique in which a piece of bias is appliqued between patches, but the technique here is different. The white lines are actually the background showing through. The bird shape is appliqued about 1/4" of an inch away from the blue Japanese fabric revealing the background.

See a traditional tile quilt made by Hattie Burdick about 1876. It's in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center and you can see it by clicking here:
http://www.quiltstudy.org/includes/photos/quilt_database/large/1997_007_0163.jpg

Lambertson Truex holding fast.

A recent stroll up Madison Avenue the other night brought me to the windows of Lambertson Truex's eponymous shop. I expected it to be vacant like most every third boutique up and down both sides of this street of dreams. Happily, the store was not papered over and the windows were filled with some of the smartest accessories and shoes anywhere. It appears that they are hanging tough and soldiering their way through the storm. I'd written a few months back about their chapter 11 filing, but it looks like the light has not dimmed.
I was encouraged and very happy to see that . I hope that they pull through. I hope we all pull through.

Life imitating Life.

"My name is Fluff Chance and I'm an addict.I'm addicted to Bravo's Real Housewives of New New City."
( other fellow addicts sitting in the "Rooms" ): "Hello Fluff Chance, you're in the right place. Welcome."

There...I've said it. The sweat is still running down my forehead but there is a sense of relief. Knowing that I'm among others who share my disease is a comfort. I no longer have to hide in my apartment at night watching the show over and over until a new episode airs on a tuesday night. The shame and self loathing is already lessening. I've heard that a group of fellow addicts will go for coffee after the meeting around 9 to talk , share their experience , strength and hope, but I worry about getting home in time to watch this past weeks episode. Oops , there I go again. The tug to follow gorgeous renegade Kelly Bensimon and pathetic social crawling Alex or Ramona, of the Bug Eyes, and 20 years experience in fashion....you know she went to F.I.T. and everyone on 7th Ave. KNOWS her....... Since when did social climbing send you tail first down the ladder? Tumbling ,like scaling the heights of society has gotten hopelessly confused. Much like cleverness and idiocy. Manners, and crass vulgarity suffer the same confusion. Let's not ignore Jill, the nightmare Yenta who has never had a satisfied moment in her life. If there is a Yeti in the deepest forest, she is a Yeta in the wilderness known as the Upper East Side.
I want to heal. I want to regain control of my life, regain my self respect but it's so hard when you've got a monkey on your back, more like 6 of them if you include Alex's husband Simon. He of the chic, debonair "man about town"coolness.Let's not forget his unerring eye for glamor,style and all things sartorial.
Though I can count Kelly as a acquaintance , I'm horrified at her decision to join that damaged cast, but the heart has it's reasons. It wasn't the smartest move . Now she has a huge audience that views her with disdain. She's honestly a very warm and kind person, but the darker side is what we see now. We all have one but we don't share it with millions of strangers. I know that I don't. I hope in some small way this will be a plus at the end of the day. Any press is supposed to be good press, but I never bought into that. I know first hand that bad press is just that, Bad Press. There is a breed of human who thrive on attention no matter what the cost. In a recession like this, I would save my self respect , even guard it and not squander it for the world to deride.
Call me old fashioned.
The pack of them are really neanderthals in Jimmy Choos not worth the time of day. The Countess whom I've witnessed first hand more than once is truly special. A big, boorish broad who specializes in taking whole tables of perfect strangers hostage. Gay guys are her preferred quarry. They nod knowingly as she holds forth like the Countess that she is, or was or soon will no longer be. It appears the Count has tired of her shameless flogging of his family's title to any and all who will listen. Too bad for her. She could have had it all. Now it's just the kids she never has time for, a book on Manners and Etiquette and a show that displays all of her social pretensions, lack of manners , empathy and little or no sense of the meaning of Etiquette.
" C'est la vie"....as her noble, soon to be ex-husband's aristocratic family would have said.
Bethany, the straight talking UN-married Housewife keeps me coming back. I have great regard for her. She is a person with a sense of humor, ethics, loyalty and self respect. Of all of the characters she seems real . I hope she has a future that will benefit from this train wreck. I picture her walking with her head held high, with a conflagration raging behind her on the screen. All the others will be toast but Bethany, single , searching for love and healing from the wounds that come from a dysfunctional family will prevail. I'm not a girl , or in need of a Skinny Girl diet book, but I would buy hers to show support. She just touches me in some weird reality show way.
Having "shared" with the group the details of my addiction it's time to repair to the coffee shop down the street. It's 9:30 and if I leave now I can get home just in time for those revolting opening credits .... I think I'm going to make a run for it.

I'll have to find a meeting during the lunch hour so there's no chance of my recovery interfering with my addiction.

Quilt Show

The garage sale is over. I have somewhat fewer items and more money to shop for more.

Next on the to-do-list is the Kaw Valley Quilters' Guild annual show, which will be at the fairgrounds in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday and Sunday, April 25th and 26th. You can find more information about the show here:
http://www.kawvalleyquiltersguild.org/.

We often feature areas of quilts with a theme. One of this year's themes will be Tile Quilts, an old-fashioned technique related to the crazy quilt. Carol Jones and Bobbi Finley are working on a book about using the traditional technique to create contemporary quilts. Wendy Turnbull's A Bird for All Seasons is one of the featured quilts. The book will be out in 2010.

Barneys Bounces back from the Brink

We can all breathe easier, even sleep more soundly. Barneys , like the good ship Poseidon, will have it's morning after. This restores my faith in the newest form of investment. It's called the Bail Out. Istithmar , or whatever the hell they're called came in and dropped not 10 million but 25 million into the piggy bank to shore up vendor confidence. Now this number wouldn't be qupted , so it's probably more like 12-15 million instead of the original 10.
On the very next day pictures and print covered WWD with the grand reopening of a new and improved Barneys in Chicago. Other stores are opening in a few other key cities and across the globe. That just struck me as a little strange. One minute you're sprawled on the pavement with a cup in your hand and the next you've taken the $1 bill you just scored and are now opening a smart boutique, the one that you were leaning against with the windows being papered over. Why not put that money into securing what you have , taking care of your vendors, maybe holding onto some staff who are about to be papered in pink slips?
I know you have to be in it to win it. I also know that Chicago was a project in the works before the sink hole which is American business opened WIDE. You have to ask yourself what these investors were thinking. Simon Doonan the Creative Director, whom I met the other night at a party is as GRAND as he is diminutive but that's a short story and not a very interesting one. Still, what goes through their minds? Expansion and more expansion when all they can do is put everything on sale as they tag it and load it onto the racks. I walked past the windows last night on Madison Avenue and was dumbfounded at the unattractive display of distressed blue jean dresses, gowns and pieces by a bevy of DIRECTIONAL designers. All was collage. Unappealing, absurdly over-priced and ultimately depressing. It seems the wolf is no longer out side the door but roaming freely within. The look of those windows were certainly the result of his overly fecund and clever humor/imagination. It looked like a view into the darker side of his head. It brought me back to the night we spoke "oh so briefly". I thought I'd be meeting the charming, funny, engaging and quick witted elfin genius behind Barneys. The person I met was a garishly dressed, dismissive , cold little man without a shred of grace or charm.
With that said ,I imagine all will be well with Barneys for the foreseeable future. The Istithsmar Group ( can't remember the spelling to save my life) says they will continue to infuse more cash as need be ..... My feeling is that they pray someone will take this store off their hands ASAP. The foreseeable future used to mean just that. Now it means 3-6 months max. Barneys fall selection will get shipped and paid for .
The following season will most likely find them asking the same question : Daddy, can I have some money?

April in New York

TGIF!

Treat my president well

Dear Mexican compatriots:
Now that Obama is in Mexico, it is not enough to receive him with mariachis (very cool though). You have to show the brother some love like only Mexicans can give.
That is: get the man a good tequilita, and some nice taquitos de carnitas, a nice sopita de tortilla, chicharrón with guacamole, un pozolito, un molito de olla, and some pepto just in case, and I can assure you the relationship between our countries will never ever falter.
Once he eats our food, he will never think again about turning Mexicans away.

Solidarity, my ass

President Obama's visit to Mexico to talk about the stupid war on drugs should not be about solidarity.
What solidarity? You create the problem by having an insatiable demand for drugs, a totally useless policy against drug use that no one wants to talk about and easily obtainable firearms. And then you blame Mexico for everything. You have the gall to accuse Mexico of approximating a failed state. It is the height, not only of arrogance, but of willful denial. Mexico does not need solidarity. It needs America to either stop using drugs or to legalize drugs or to stop selling weapons as if they were socks. In no other country in the world are citizens considered to have a right to arm themselves to the teeth.
I've had it with the bullying. I hope Obama sends a message loud and clear to all of you stoners and cokeheads and drug users that you need to be aware that you are using drugs that are soaked in human blood.

Sixties Fabric

I'm surprised at how much fabric I have like this in plastic tubs labeled "Recent Past." I imagine I have a stack taller than I. I am going to save one small scrap, a repeat of each, and sell the rest at the garage sale---if things work out. These prints have a lot in common, sort of a sketchy, watercolor look that must have been popular in the 1960s. I love the paisley translated into sketchy, artistic lines with blobs of color.

International Incident sparked by Burger King

Thanks to Cynthia for alerting me to the incident that threatens war between the US and Mexico. It's not the drug cartels or even immigration. It's a Burger King ad about their new Texican burger. As the copy says, "the Whopper with a little spicy Mexican".
Quite literally, as it turns out. The ad is startling. It shows a tall, handsomish Cowboy and a tiny Mexican dressed as a lucha libre fighter (can we please declare a moratorium on lucha libre? It's really getting OLD). They become roommates and share a house. It's obvious that the creatives scoured their brains thinking of ways in which a tiny little Mexican would not be offensive, so there is a cute scene in which he opens a big jar of pickles for the cowboy, and another one where he is swimming in the pool while the gringo cleans the pool, for a change. I think it's great. I actually find the fact that they are living harmoniously in the same house very sweet and wonderful and symbolically very potent, given the climate of persecution against illegal immigrants nowadays.
The problem is the little tiny Mexican. It's a stereotype.
The creatives will counter that the cowboy is a stereotype too. And they are right, but the cowboy is tall and handsome and the Mexican is tiny and ridiculous. So not everybody will get the postmodern wink of the spot.
I don't find the spot offensive and, according to many comments in You Tube, many other Mexican Americans don't either. But the ad comes at a juncture of dramatic strain between Mexicans and Americans and one wonders whether the creatives and the Burger King executives are either blissfully unaware of this or they thought they could comment on it in their trademark ironic way. As a creative myself, I applaud them for taking the risk. I'm sure, or at least I hope, they predicted the possibility of a shitstorm. Maybe they hoped it'd be a shitstorm that sold tons of burgers.
In any case, it's controversial.
In Spain where they are utterly clueless when it comes to talking about foreigners, for instance, in a print ad of the same campaign the little tiny Mexican is wearing a cape with the Mexican flag (because otherwise Spanish people may not get the lucha libre reference), which prompted our ambassador to object to the campaign in a formal letter. Nothing better to do, I guess.
More offensive than the wearing of the Mexican flag (which the US creatives were smart enough to know was taboo), are the ingredients listed in the Spanish ad: Cajun sauce, cheddar cheese, and beef taco with beans. EEEWWWW!
This is not only offensive but repulsive and I think good grounds for a new Spanish-American-Mexican war.
Remember the Alamo!

Barneys Burps......

NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Monday cut its ratings on Barneys New York Inc to a deeply distressed level and warned that vendors may tighten terms or limit shipments to the luxury retailer as its liquidity declines.

S&P cut Barney's credit ratings two notches to CCC, eight steps below investment grade, from B-minus. The outlook is negative, indicating an additional downgrade is more likely in the next two years.

"The downgrade reflects the deteriorating liquidity position of the company as demonstrated by the need for a cash infusion by Istithmar World," S&P said in a statement."

This news flash reported by Reuters is not one to take lightly. The unavoidable reality is that one of the pillars of Major Department stores in NYC is not at all well. The center can no longer hold. The cosmic reality check is seeping through the terribly clever Simon Doonan designed windows and spreading like a fungus throughout the well appointed floors. What disturbs me is that a store owned by a huge Dubai investment concern is scraping by, just barely. Vendors are forewarned that they must alter the terms /conditions of doing business with the retailer and that there is no clear and certain safety net.

My worry is that others like Barneys are only waiting in the wings. When you read again and again that Saks and Co. is in dire straits and Nieman MarcusGroup(Bergdorf Goodman's Daddy) are in strained financial positions it begs the question,"Are we headed for a massive shake up from the top down?"

All along it's been assumed that the designer would be first to go down for the count. That is still the case for many, but now the table is starting to turn. With the most sought after and prominent retail outlets in (semi-quiet) trouble, where does that leave the designer? One toils to create a collection,kills oneself and those on the team to break through to the coveted rack or said T-stand only to find out that your dream venue is sinking into the pavement. My fear is that too many will ignore the warning signs and fall prey to the siren song; throwing themselves and their companies into the lion's mouth. Astute business savvy? No. Desperation for what once was the best game in town? Yes.

If Barneys is but a burp, then Bergdorfs is likely to belch. Saks and Nieman's will more than likely fight over who gets the Heimlich first, leaving the loser choking on his tongue. This, granted, is a worst case scenario, but I have come to believe that if one prepares oneself for the worst then if all turns out well, it's a very welcomed and happy surprise.

Let's hope for the very best, but be prepared for something less.

Major Writer's Block Under Removal

I scan the headlines and I can't be bothered, even if some of them are worth writing about. I have ennui due to over-fragmentation of information. I am also dangerously addicted to facebook in a bad way. I need an intervention or something. I tried twitter and I don't get it. I use facebook as if it was twittter so why bother?

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Obama eases travel restrictions to Cuba. Cool. He should end the embargo tout suite, establish relations and let that paleolithic regime succumb to the forces of greed and money like everywhere else.

• I don't like pirates.

• Yes I saw that poor woman on Britain's Got Talent. So now what? Are people going to take her seriously or they're just going to exploit her weirdness? If I was the ruler of the world, I would ban reality shows. But you are in luck. Or not.

• The other day I went to see a movie which was a master class on what not to do. How not to cast actors, how not to write dialogue, how not to rely on unnecessary, deadly voiceover narration, how not to adapt a novel, how not to take yourself so seriously and be pretentious when you do not know how to do things. It was hard going, but I learned a lot. The Mysteries of Philadelphia, if you must know. Doesn't even approach the mediocre competence of hackwork.

• Let me remind everybody that April in New York is always like this. It's still too cold, it rains too much, the winds are evil and no, you cannot retire your coats just yet. So stop the whining.

• April being the cruellest month, the other day I was thinking of Liz Taylor. She popped into my mind.
I was thinking that she must be very old and, given her poor health history, look very bad nowadays. And I thought that when that happens to formerly gorgeous movie icons, the best thing is either to go into hiding, or embrace your life and aged looks with a vengeance. Having said that, let's be honest: nobody wants to see a current picture of Brigitte Bardot, and nobody didn't jump and almost didn't have a heart attack when they saw Sophia Loren at the Oscars recently. What I'm saying is, being an international beauty icon is not easy, because age stops for no one, regardless of surgeons and treatments. Some stars age with class (Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie) but it's not easy and I feel sorry for them all. If I, who have always decried the use of plastic surgery, am contemplating my drooping eyelids with something approaching horror and botox with something approaching possibility, well I can't imagine what it must be like when your otherwordly beauty is your identity. Must be a bitch. Which is why I'm glad I'm not that gorgeous.
So I did run into a recent picture of Liz Taylor in one of the cheesier tabloids. Oy. I guess that age is only good to you if you don't fight it.
Youth is fleeting. It makes me feel sad.

Between the Mattress & the Springs

Here's a quilt that's going in the garage sale. Don't all email at once and tell me you want it.

It was once a terrific quilt. I'd guess it's from about 1880-1910---a late applique. The date is based on circumstantial evidence, rather weak clues:
1) Red & white quilts tend to be from about 1880-1910
2) It's small---single bed size and smaller beds were popular about 1880-1920.
3) The triple sashing was popular in the 1870-1910 era.

It's unusual in that it's white applique on a red background. Usually it's the other way around because the Turkey red fabric cost more than the white. Red on white fleur-de-lis patterns were popular in the mid 19th-century. This one is late.

Which is why I took it when someone offered it. I wanted to put it in the last book on twentieth century quilts but there was no room---and let's face it. It doesn't photograph that well.

Why is this quilt such a MESS? Turkey red has a tendency to rot from abrasion but this is an extreme example. When I teach classes students sometimes tell me that people used to keep an unwanted quilt between the mattress and the springs. In old beds the exposed metal springs would rust and stain the mattress. And others told me, the bed is quieter with a quilt between the mattress and the springs.

I did a search in Google Books and found a 1918 Red Cross book advising that "a thick comforter or even many layers of newspaper should be placed between the mattress and the springs" if an invalid's mattress was too thin to provide comfort or warmth.

So I am guessing that someone's comfort, mattress or privacy was more valuable to her than this quilt was. Too bad, because it should have been a keeper. But I am not keeping it. The photos will do.

super bollywood star aishwarya rai

aishwarya rai in swimsuit

aishwarya rai without makeup

aishwarya rai sexy wallpapers

aishwarya rai hot

aishwarya rai breast

aishwarya rai topless

aishwarya rai free wallpapers

aishwarya rai miss world

aishwarya rai in bikini

aishwarya rai hot wallpapers

aishwarya rai free wallpapers

aishwarya rai

hot aishwarya rai

hot aishwarya rai

aishwarya rai in black dress

aishwarya rai bikini photo

aishwarya rai bikini

aishwarya rai

aishwarya rai wallpepers

wallpaper aishwarya rai

pics of aishwarya rai