Getting caught up

When I work on my projects, whether they be quilting, sewing, needlework or whatever, I always make a folder on my computer to put all the pictures and documentation for that project.  I add to the folder whenever I take status pictures.  Eventually, all the pictures and documentation for a project will help me create a website gallery page for it.

And I even might make a blog entry.  :-)

But, over the past *several* months, I have discovered that when I got to the point of the project where I would normally publish what was going on, I felt incredibly lethargic.  Those of you who *do* blog, know that there is a tremendous amount of behind the scenes work that needs to be done to get pictures ready for publishing and then, of course, you need to think of what words to say.  And I was feeling ever-so-lazy. 

Even though I "blog without obligation" (which basically means I'll blog whenever I doggone well feel like it), I have been feeling a twinge of guilt about not blathering about what I've been doing.  Therefore, *this* blog entry is going to be a synopsis of projects that I've worked on ... some have even been completed! ... but never quite got around to blogging.  It's going to be a bare-bones description and only one or two pictures per project because .... I still intend on making the full-blown webpage full of pictures and gory details of text and links!  At some point. :-)

Quilting.

February 2014.  Over on About.com's Quilting Forum, a bunch of the participants raved about the Eclipse quilt, designed by

Sandy Brawner of Quilt Country   From March through September 2014, I worked on and FINISHED this top!   In order to bring it to the next Retreat (February 2015), I left it as a top, since bringing a fully quilted quilt on a plane is very cumbersome.

It still needs to be quilted.

June 2014.  One of our niece's partners had twin boys.  I made baby quilts and a pieced throw pillow for the babies.  The quilt patterns are "Covent Garden" by Emma of Sampaguita Quilts.

and "Flying Geese" by Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt 
Works. 

The throw pillow used two blocks from "Jungle Friends" by Willow Bay Designs.

September 2014.  I got a wild bee in my bonnet and felt like using some scraps. 

This top is "Garden View" by Wendy
Sheppard, as featured in the June/July 2014 issue of The Quilter and in the May 30th entry of her blog, Ivory Spring.

It still needs to be quilted.

September 2014.  I also started a hand applique, needle-turn project that I would bring with me to work on when I was away from home. 

This is "Plumeria" by Aloha Quilt Shop.    It's about 18" x 18".  I'll probably make it into a throw pillow after I quilt it.

I put the last needle-turn stitch in this project in March 2015.

September 2014.  A friend of mine was going through some rough times .. personal health issues, her Mom's health issues and her cat's health issues.  Good lord .. could it get any worse?

 "Stairway to Heaven" is a pattern that I've had for a LONG time and  I made it for her.

September 2014.  "Ten Minute Tile" is an incredibly EASY quilt to make but you gotta beware ... it is THIS graduated colorway that makes the quilt! 

I'd seen it previously in other, non-graduated fabric choices and just walked away ... boring. 

But with the color gradients?  Whoa!  Super!  

This quilt was given to my favorite middle daughter who loves purple.

This pattern is designed by Mary Lou Hallenbeack for H.D. Designs.

November 2014.  Taking a break from large quilts, I made this small (12"x22"), table-top decoration for my youngest daughter,
who loves all things Christmas. 

"Simply Evergreen" by Marcia Layton of Marcia Layton Designs.

January 2015.  Whilst going through piles and stacks of fabric and leftover units from other projects, I rediscovered a strip section not used in the original project. 

It was too big to throw away but too small to use on its own, if left it the width-of-fabric size. So, I cut the WOF in half crosswise, stacked the two halves on top of each other and put a border around it. 

I figured it was a good size for a drag-around quilt for the baby of one of our nieces.

 January 2015.  Our youngest daughter was relocating to a distant city and to help with making her new apartment feel like 'home' while not using things that had memories of the current apartment, I made a set of place mats and coordinating napkins (with napkin rings!!)  for her and the new apartment.  

The fabric is "From Paris With Love"

 February 2015.  One of my cousins is finalizing the adoption of two young brothers,  I made these two I-Spy quilts for the boys.

One is the Illusion quilt from Missouri Star Quilt Company

and the other is food jars on a bookshelf.

 February 2015.  Yet ANOTHER niece had a baby boy, so another baby quilt was made.  This one is from a free pattern from www.all-about-quilts.com and is called "Around and Around". 

It's an incredibly fantastic optical illusion but the best part is that is made ENTIRELY OF HALF SQUARE TRIANGLES.  It can't get too much easier than this.

February 2015.  I have FINALLY finished the hand-sewn hexie Forever Project top. 

The top is approximately 104"x116" and is *all hand sewn*.  All the hexies, the border and the appliqued vines. 

It took me about 18 months start to finish.  And it will join all the OTHER completed tops in the stack of Tops to be Quilted.

 March 2015.  I rediscovered some fleece yardage that I can only believe was given to me because it simply is not the color or pattern that I would ever buy on my own. 

I took the cupcake images from the fleece and made some fusible, machine appliqued cupcake blocks for the front. 

I alternated the cupcake blocks with 4-patch blocks, did an all-over pantograph and .. voila .. a donation quilt is finished!

Hand Needlework

On the hand needlework front, in August 2014, I participated in a Basic Crazy Quilting online class given by Kathy L Shaw.














Machine Embroidery

On the machine embroidery front, I made a fully-embroidered mug rug for a swap.  The design came from the San Francisco Stitch Company. 

One of my crafty friends liked it so much, she commissioned me to make another one for a mutual friend's birthday.

Sewing

December 2014: a tote bag and two pouches for my favorite middle daughter. 

I've collected a LOT of patterns for different zippered, organizational pouches over time and just LOVE making them .. but *I* don't really need them. 

I have no idea if my favorite middle daughter needed them either but she got them.  She *did* ask for the tote bag. :-)

December 2014.  One of Mr. Pirate's cousins is just a dear, sweet lady and I was in an absolute FRENZY of making all these cute
little pouches and bags and stuff.  I was on a roll, so I just kept making oodles of them and gave her a whole bunch.

January 2015.  I snailmailed a box to my favorite middle daughter.  Since her apartment mailbox is really small and she doesn't have anyone to accept packages, I usually mail stuff to her at her work. 

But she takes the subway home and that box was an awkward size to manhandle on the subway. 

So, I made a custom sized tote to hold the box in transit.











And that gets everyone up to date on what I've worked on.  Whew. 

(and if blogger doesn't upload all this correctly, I will just cry).

Documenting who has what quilt

Dear Daughter #3 has accepted an accounting position at Amazon and will be relocating from California to Seattle, WA.  It will be a fantastic career opportunity for her.  One of her older sisters already lives in Seattle and she has various friends who also live there, so while it will be strange with her not being nearby, I'm glad that she already has a support group waiting to take her in so *she* won't feel so lonely.

As she packs what she wants to bring up to Seattle, she has asked me if she can have some more quilts.   Really?!?!?  She, along with her sisters, does already have several quilts that I made specifically for her ... but she says that she loves my quilts and wants to have more to surround her.

Honestly, what mother could say 'no' to that?  :-)

So, I went through my pile of quilts and pulled out the bed-sized ones for her to look through.  She picked three.  I told her to take Very Good Care of these quilts because I have sentimental emotions about them.   Quilts that I give as gifts, I give freely and without attachments.  The recipient can do what they wish with the quilts.   These quilts, aren't *quite* a gift ... hear that Dear Daughter #3??? ... I do expect them to be returned at some point!

Quilt #1 is Royal Mendhi Crystals and was made in 2010.  You can read about it on this webpage.

Not only do I just love, love, LOVE this color combination, but this was the first time that I had used a new template on my longarm that allows me to stitch a 5-rope cable as a continuous line.  I LOVE this quilting design!



















Quilt #2 is Stars and Stripes ZigZag.  I made this one in 2001.  You can read about it on this webpage.

I was a pattern tester for this quilt and I just LOVE the way the half-square triangles are used to create the background zig-zags.

Quilt #3 is Halloween.  This quilt was (as I remember) the first quilt I made when my sewing room back to being operational after being torn apart for about two years.  I was *sooooo* happy to be sewing again!

I made this one in 2000 and you can read about it on this webpage.













The *main* reason I'm documenting these quilts is so that I will REMEMBER to add this information to those webpages and not panic when I can't find the quilts at home.   It will also serve to document the fact that Dear Daughter #3 has taken possession of these quilts and that her two sisters require Equal Time in the Quilt Possession Acquisition Process.  :-)

ISO: pantograph "Flowers for Linda"

This is a picture of a quilting pantograph, "Flowers for Linda".  I've drawn a red line between the two design rows.

I've found quilting websites that use this pantograph in their longarm quilting services but they do not sell the pantograph itself.

I would very much like to buy this pantograph .. on paper, not a digital version.

Would anyone Out There know where a paper copy of this pantograph can be bought?  I sure would appreciate any help.

You can reply in the comments or email me at pirate AT value DOT net.

Thanks much for any help y'all might be able to offer!

Never Forget.    NEVER forget.

The radical, extremists who caused this .. not for the good of *anyone* .. but simply to subject the world to their twisted point of view ... have GOT to be stopped, removed and eradicated.

Otherwise, this will happen again.  Somewhere.  

Unless good people stand up, evil will continue.  Make no mistake, these people *are* evil.

A hexie bag with zippered top

I have recently fallen under the spell of English Paper Piecing.  Not only do I love the absolute uniformity of the pieces but it's a fantastic take-along project.

While on our recent family vacation, I had prepped a bunch of small sized hexies.  No, not the inconceivable 1/4" hexies; I'm not THAT insane. :-)   My "small" hexies are 2" point to point / 1.5" top to bottom.  You may say that those are HUGE hexies but, again, I say 'no' because they ARE small when compared to the 4" point to point / 3.5" top to bottom hexies I'm using in my current Forever Project. :-)  (still a WIP)

My goal for vacation was to "make" the fabric for the front and back of a small zippered bag.  I'm proud and happy to say that I achieved my goal!  I sewed all the hexies together.  I sewed the hexies to the contrast top band.  I sandwiched the layers and even ... hold on to your hats ... *hand-quilted* the front and back "fabrics"!

The hand-quilting bit may not seem like a big deal but *I do not hand-quilt*, so yeah ... it IS a big deal.   There was also an Adventure involved with obtaining the hand-quilting thread, which you will need to read on the web page to find out what happened.  :-)

I eventually got the little bag sewn up, lined with red taffeta.  It has a "wide open" access, which I've linked to on the webpage.

That picture is just a teaser! For all the gory details, links and more pictures, please visit my web page for the Hexie zipper bag quilt.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation. :-)

Do you remember being required to write an essay like this when school started in September?  It was always a chore.

The Pirate family and other (extended) family members always go tent camping.  In years past, it has been a real crowd.  However, as people age, have health issues, obtain jobs, have other obligations,  move away (yes, Lisa and Catherine ... this means YOU!), we have had fewer people being able to participate.  This year, we had the lowest participation rate ever ... and it was very weird.  The most people we had this summer was 8 ... which eventually reduced down to ... 3 ...  by the end.  THREE people!  Inconceivable!

The *only* advantage that I can see to having so few people is that the cooking options dramatically increase when you don't have 18 people to cook for, using only camp stoves or Dutch ovens!  Otherwise ... man, was it quiet!

On the other hand, not having children around meant that we (the parents) didn't have a lot of activities to organize or trips to do, so I had a LOT of time for myself to work on my hand needlework projects, fondly called my Forever Project ™. 

I've had many Forever Projects over the years.  The main purpose of a Forever Project is for me to be productive when I'm not at home ... at doctor's appointments, Little League games, vacations.  My Forever Projects are always hand needlework of some sort.  I really don't care if they never get finished (one Forever Project .. a hand-stitched, twin sized Cathedral Window quilt took me 7 years. :-)  ) but they always do.  This means that I'm always on the lookout for a new Forever Project.

Well, *this* year's Forever Project was actually three different hexie projects.  Last summer (during vacation), I frolicked

with hexies.  I was kinda intrigued by hexies but wasn't sure if I wanted to commit myself to a big project.  It turned out that I really did enjoy the entire process .. cutting the templates & fabric, prepping the hexies and hand stitching them together.  I still haven't made a complete, finished item from last summer's exploration, but *this* summer I *DID* (almost) finish a 86"x 98" hexie top!   All the hexies have been sewn together .. and that was a MAJOR accomplishment!  I had been working on those hexies for a year! 

I did acknowledge that I was reluctant to work on the *small* hexies as so many quilters do.  I wanted larger hexies, precisely so that I could cover a large amount of real estate in a relatively short amount of time.  The hexies that I used for this project measure 2" along each side and  4" at the widest point-to-point.

Eventually, a border will be sewn all around, so it will be larger, although I'm not entirely certain, at this point, exactly what the final measurements will be.

Since the edges of this top are naturally jagged and I want to put borders on it, the next phase will be to straighten out the jagged edges just for that purpose.

Here's a picture of one corner that I have added the partial hexies to, in order to straighten out the edges.


















Then, because I was so enamored of the hexie process, I threw caution to the wind and made ... SMALLER hexies!  No,

not those ridiculous 1/4" ones!!!, but certainly much smaller than the top used!   My smaller hexies measure 3/4" along the edge and 1-1/5" point-to-point.

I used these hexies to make single-ring hexie flowers.  The Grand Plan is to use these hexie flowers as appliques along the border of the above big hexie quilt.  So the intent goes.  We'll see.  :-)



A note about the paper hexie templates that I used for the big hexie top and these small hexie flowers ... I have a multi-size hexagon acrylic template by EZ Quilting.

 It's very handy to be able to cut your own templates.  I have a home business that generates scrap paper, which I put to use, among other things, by cutting templates.   You might ask "Isn't that a waste of time and effort?  There are pre-made plastic or paper templates that you can buy." 

And that's a good point, EXCEPT, that hexie quilt top?  That one took a bazillion templates, since you need to leave the templates in place until a hexie is completely surrounded and supported by other hexies.  I would have needed to take out a loan to buy that many!  AND .. I have all that scrap paper *and* lots of time.  Remember, this is a Forever Project, so technically, I have "forever" to get it done. 

But, I will admit that cutting all the templates (even multiple strips with a rotary

cutter) did take up a lot of time.  It was a task I'd do whilst watching TV.  Then, one day when I was wandering around Joann's scrapbook section, I saw a Fiskar's "extra large" hexie paper punch!  Holy moley!  It looked to be exactly the same size as the small hexies I was manually cutting!  How cool it would be to simply PUNCH them!  So I bought the paper punch.  With a discount coupon. :-)

Back on the home front, I was happily punching away.  Then I measured these newly punched templates.  Geez, Louise.  They were NOT the same size as my manually cut hexies.  Oy vey.  :-(   A look at the "large" Fiskars hexagon punch specs revealed that even that one was slightly larger than my manually cut templates.  [insert grimmace]

What THAT meant is that I need to keep the two smaller hexie templates separate from each other; I can't use them in the same project.  :-(  How annoying.



But .. onward and upwards, ya know?

I used my manually cut templates to make this terminally cute zipper bag.  It's still in the UFO stage but I want everyone to

know that .... I am hand-quilting this one!  Oh yes, let's make those church bells peal in joyous sound!  Because .. I just don't hand-quilting anything.  Except I was on vacation and the quilting was the next step.  :-)

The final project is the zippered bag, as shown in the picture below  (which is on the blog page). 

I found it at Quilt Doodle Designs. 

I may change the handle from a wrist thing to an over-the-shoulder one.  Maybe.  I gotta see how it looks once the back and the front are sewn together. 

I may also box the corners so it has a flat bottom.  Maybe.  I'll have to wait and see.

And my final project I stitched up on my summer vacation is a hexie pincushion ... or, as I thought, perhaps maybe a soft baby toy?

I used the templates created by the Fiskars punch, as they were ever-so-slightly larger than my manually cut ones.  It was easy enough although, be forewarned ..... the small sized hexies do make this a slightly fiddly project to complete.   But, really .. how cute is that?  :-)

The directions can be found at Victoriana Quilt Designs.

Urban Abacus: a baby quilt version

Jenny Pedigo of Sew Kind of Wonderful designs some very interesting quilts. Her quilting is incredibly detailed and dramatic.  I can make her quilts ... don't even attempt her quilting. :-)

Her Urban Abacus really appealed to me and needing to make a quilt for a new baby girl on Mr. Pirate's side of the family gave me the impetus to use that design.

 

Yes, it's curved seams.    The main block is an "abacus bead" and the curved edges are VERY gentle.  A confident beginner should be able to navigate this block successfully.

 

But, just in case you have qualms, I have put in some verbiage and pictures about how I attacked the curved seam aspect.

 

There is a vertical "string" between each bead and when I was on a shop hop with a quilting buddy recently,  I saw the zipper novelty fabric that she had picked out.  I realized that fussy-cutting the zippers would be the PERFECT connector between the beads!  I think it really turned out cute.

 

If you wander on over to the Urban Abacus webpage, you can read about it all and see lots of pictures.

 

 

 

Silicon release sheet substitute

I'm working on a quilt that uses fusible webbing to stick the small, persnickety pieces to the background fabric.  For some of the fusible pieces, I've cut them slightly oversized (on the outer edge) so that I will be assured that even the fabric on the edges will be fused down  (the overhang will eventually be trimmed off).    BUT .. that means some of the fusible webbing will overhang the background fabric and be resting on the ironing board.

 

I have a silicon release sheet that I normally slip under the fabric being fused to, so that any errant fusible webbing won't stick to the ironing board.  Well, I can't find my silicon sheet. I'm sure someone snuck in here one night and stole it. Or ... I am storing it in a "Safe Place". But I'm sure some nefarious person stole it.

 

I'm really feeling annoyed and quite put out.  I need that release sheet.  Right now.  I'm thwarted and am heading towards a minor temper tantrum.  When .. a solution popped into my head!  As a potentially Rube Goldberg work-around, I used a piece of cooking parchment paper instead of my silicon sheet.

 

OMG .. it works perfectly! Who knew?  I'm delighted! Parchment paper is always available, whereas that elusive silicon sheet is *still* MIA.

 

so .... pppphhhhtttt!  *there* you silly silicon sheet!

A Tote and collection of small bags

I haven't been quilting lately.  :: gasp! ::

Instead, I have been working, rather steadily, on sewing a collection of cute little bags and a tote for one of Mr. Pirate's young cousins.

If you look closely at the picture, you'll see
a humbug bag
a tote bag

a "messenger" bag
a drawstring bag
a dumpling bag
a small notebook
a basic zippered bag


all in coordinated colors.

I've made a webpage for this collection and it is there that you will be able to see close-ups of all the items plus LOTS of verbiage and links to all the directions that I used to make them.

I'm not publishing these items on Facebook because the Mom of the young cousin is a "friend" and will see them.  To my knowledge, she doesn't know about nor read this blog.  :-)   I don't want her to be aware of them until I'm done with all the items I intend on sending to them.

But YOU, Dear Reader, *can* read about them and take advantage of the informative links on the webpage.

A new Kitchen Aid stand mixer cover

Our favorite youngest daughter has a stand mixer, the Kitchen Aid K5SS model. I offered to make her a cover for it, to protect it from dust and kitchen grime.   Now, I always have the best of intentions but I will admit that frequently, I don't always follow through in a timely manner. Definitely my bad.

 BUT .. for whatever reason, I got a bee in my bonnet today and made her the aforementioned cover. I used the tutorial and pattern at Heart of Mary blog.

Per the tutorial, it's fully reversible, so Dear Daughter will have two completely different looks to choose from, as the whimsey suits her.  

One side is a red/green/gold Christmas plaid and the other side is a red and white heart print.

I modified it slightly so that there is an external pocket to hold the user manual (which ALWAYS gets lost) and another modification in which I sewed the the seam allowances of both fabrics together (on the inside) so that there are no visible seams on either side AND the "lining" isn't loose and floppy. The bottom was finished with double fold bias tape.

The tutorial is very basic; the author, Corinne, tells you up front that there are very few pictures and the tutorial is mostly text.  If you are a beginning sewer, you may or may not have problems following the directions.  But anyone with some sewing experience will have no trouble at all.

Because there are very large expanses of flat surfaces, I was severely tempted to do some sort of machine embroidery or applique for decoration.  But, I had this brainstorm of an idea rather late in the day and knew that if I did any sort of embellishment at all, I wouldn't get the cover finished by the time she needed to leave in the evening.

As it turned out, the Christmas plaid that she chose and the hearts that I chose were much, much too busy to allow any sort of embellishment.  In the end, the fabrics themselves are the focal point. :-)


I used fusible fleece as an "interfacing" so that there would be suitable stiffness and body to the cover.  I could have also quilted the pieces .. that is an option suggested in the blog's tutorial ... but due to the time constraints, I opted not to do even a minimal amount of quilting.  I don't expect the cover to get washed often and if the fusible becomes "unfused" when it (if ever) does get washed, I can always add some quilting then.
There was one minor miscalculation on my part, for which the solution was barely noticeable.  I had offered to put an external pocket on the cover, so she could store her mixer books there.  She agreed and I proceeded with making the cover.  I was so absorbed with getting the cover done .. I was interrupted by dinner preparations and then dinner itself ... that I absolutely forgot about the pocket until the cover was completed.    In the normal course of events, I would have attached the pocket to the cover when the side seams were being sewn and the bottom of the pocket would have been enclosed by the bias binding.   Now, I was unable to use that preferred technique.

Arrrrrggghhhhh!!!   How really, *really*,  REALLY annoying.

BUT, I also really, *really*, REALLY dislike problems.  I try very hard to find solutions to problems.  And so I did with this problem.  I simply made a patch pocket that went from side seam to side seam and butted up against the bias binding on the bottom.  I hemmed the top with bias binding .. the same that I used to finish the bottom edge ... and folded under the remaining three sides.  Then, I top-stitched those folded edges.  Since the folded edges are RIGHT UP AGAINST the side seams and bias binding, unless you look very closely, you virtually can't tell this is a patch pocket.

I must admit to feeling rather smug.  :-)

Eye Candy: Strips and Squares

In the grand, overall scheme of things, this was a instantaneous quilt for me ... only 4 months from being pieced to quilted, bound and finished!  Amazing, considering that I have a pile of other tops waiting to be quilted that are several YEARS old.

This past January, I had an overwhelming desire to piece a bunch of flannel tops, of which this is one.  I have no idea why I felt I needed to do this but I gave into the urge.  I used my flannel scraps and flannel almost-yardage.  I did buy the batting.

The almost-yardage pieces yielded almost width of fabric strips, which made up the center part of this quilt.  As a result, this quilt isn't quite as wide as the pattern calls for.  Additionally, it's not quite as long because I decided that I didn't want to repeat any flannel in the strips ... that limited how many I had.

As a result, at 51"x 63", this quilt is bigger than a crib quilt but smaller than a lap/throw sized quilt.  But, it's still large enough to be a cozy cover when laying on the couch or recliner. :-)

That picture is just a teaser! For all the gory details, links and more pictures, please visit my web page for the Strips and Squares quilt.

Unintended consquences of copyright violations

You may have read of various quilting blogs being copied to another blog site for publication, without the permission of the original quilting blog owners.   I wandered over to this other blog site and, sure enough, there was at least one of my blog posts showing up.  Interesting. 

There have been requests made to us quilting bloggers by other quilting blogger to email the offending blog site and demand that they stop their wholesale hijacking of blogs.

But, *this* blog post of mine isn't about that.  My posts, generally speaking, are just blathering on my part;  talking about the projects I'm working on, problems I'm having and if I found solutions to those problems.  My posts are as though I'm talking in person to each of you .. my quilting buddies.  

I know I should be at least annoyed at this because I sure didn't submit my blog to be published at the other blog site but, ya know, I'm really lazy, so I've let it go.   BUT ..because I'm also a basically  really selfish person (said in the nicest way possible), the eventual fallout from this other blog site *has* gotten me riled up.

When Google Reader was around, I used that to read the blogs I'm interested in.  Google Reader was an "aggregator", which means that it would take a list of URLs that I would supply and present me with something to read whenever anything on that list was updated.  The beauty of using an aggregator .. as opposed to directly looking at a site myself ... is that I don't have check every site every day .. or every hour .. or every anything .. just to see if new content has been added.  Google Reader would know when anything new on my list was published and present those new entries to me to read.  When Google Reader went away, I eventually switched over to Inoreader.   Love it. :-)

For example, every one of you could directly type in the URL of this blog and read it.  But since I write on an VERY uneven schedule ... or no schedule at all ... you have absolutely no idea when something new might be published.  You could check every day but you'd probably be disappointed and annoyed most of the time, since it would be a post you would have already read.

An aggregator looks at your list of URLs for you to see if anything new has been published.  If so, the aggregator makes that blog show up in your feed list.  It's all automatic and oh-so-wonderful, because I don't have to do any extra work for something new to read.  For an aggregator to "pick up" a site, that site has to have an RSS feed .. that's important and required.

Getting back to me being selfish and that other blog site publishing blogs without permission .....  Quilterblogs.com is a "blog of blogs".  The owner of Quilterblogs.com doesn't write a blog him/herself.    You submit your blog to their list and they will publish & distribute your blog entries whenever you have new content.  There are over TWO THOUSAND quilting blogs on their list!  This means that if you read Quilterblogs.com, all those blogs will come to you when there is new content to read; you don't even need to be aware that they exist!  It's awesome! 

I had included Quilterblogs.com as part of my Inoreader list ... i.e. the Quilterblogs.com URL was part of my aggregator list.  Whenever there was new content in Quilterblogs.com (and there always is), I would see those new entries in my Inoreader feed.  They had an RSS feed, which is how it would show up in my aggregator list.

But suddenly .... I stopped getting new content from them.  Inoreader sent me an error message saying that the RSS feed from Quilterblogs.com was no longer working. 

SAY WHAT?!?!??!

How on earth am I going to get my more than daily fix of quilting blogs if Quilterblogs.com isn't feeding Inoreader anything??  Surely, there was some sort of glitch over at Quilterblogs.com.   So, I sent them an email stating the alleged/apparent problem with their RSS feed and could they fix it?

They *promptly* replied and said ..

"Sorry we have discontinued our RSS feed because it was being abused by other sites that was taking the content and posting it as their own infringing on the copyright of the blog authors.

You can still visit quilterblogs.com and see all of the same great posts! Sorry for the inconvenience we just want to make sure we protect our contributors."

And THAT made me really, really, really annoyed.  Stamping my feet on the ground kind of annoyance.  Almost to the point of saying some very unladylike words out loud.  Not that Quilterblogs.com discontinued their RSS feed, per se, but the REASON why they discontinued it.

And THAT unintended consequence of copyright violation is what REALLY makes me angry.  Yes, yes,  I know I should be all up in arms just on the philosophical grounds alone but .... didn't I say up front that I'm basically a lazy, selfish person?   So, while it's not a good thing that blogs are being published by someone other than the author without permission (including mine, by the way), that really didn't get my goat UNTIL my Inoreader feed to Quilterblogs.com was stopped.   NOW you've impacted me in a very negative way.

Now, in order to read all of those collective quilting blogs, I need to go directly to Quilterblogs.com and read the blogs on their website.  They don't have the navigation controls that an aggregator does, so advancing from blog to blog isn't quite as seamless and easy as with Inoreader.  Did I mention that it wasn't as easy?  

Let's be perfectly clear ... I'm all about easy.  Because I'm lazy.  And selfish.  

 

And now I'd like to roast that other blog site over hot coals and disembowel them with a rusty spoon because I've been inconvenienced.   I'll be the first to say that this is definitely a FWP  (First World Problem) but .. doggone it ... I *am* inconvenienced.  Harumph.

Harumph, I say.

Bottom line:  if you have included Quilterblogs.com in your aggregator feed ... you aren't getting anything right now.  And now you know the reason why.

If you want to continue reading the blogs that Quilterblogs.com publishes, you need to go to their website.