Old Dog - New Trick

So I was channel surfing this morning, can't remember which show but they mentioned something called "word cloud" and showed a pic of one. I was instantly interested and grabbed the old computer and googled it.

 Back story, I'd seen many of these kinds of things but never heard the name or been able to find anyone who knew how they were made. 

Google had several youtube videos on the subject and after watching a couple I learned that it was easy (well not for me. I had to watch the videos MANY times, gave up, used my iPad to pull them up so I could figure things out step by step with the computer right beside). I was in luck because I have Microsoft Word and PowerPoint programs which I use quite often. This was great!!!

Starting and stopping the video helped me to upload the necessary program to get started with my word cloud and above is my first finished one. I am so proud of this old dog who learned a new trick.

What's your old dog/new trick story? I love to hear from you.

 

The Kitchen Table Book

Yes, that's what the book is called and it's published by The Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing.

Mom is always purchasing books that wind up on her bookshelf but this one, she actually loves to read and practices some of the suggestions. 
So I've decided to list a few every now and then that have worked for her and you may find of interest. I won't go into detail, you'd have to purchase the book for yourself but this will certainly wet you appatite.

1. Sipping green tea in the summer aids against skin cancer (page 162)
2. Taking a bite of certain cheeses after a meal cuts the sugar acids in the mouth (page 120)

Thread Stands - Where Do You Stand?

This past weekend, our "wacky" 6-Pac group met at the Deer Camp for some well deserved girl and sewing time.  One of our many discussion was about which stands we prefer using when machine embroidering and which threads we use or don't care for (for another post).  Above are several pics of stands.  The first one is a single stand which I've used many times in my sewing and embroidery ventures. It works well with threads that need to relax a bit before going through the needle.........usually these are threads that are twisted (metallic threads are one example) so the longer it takes to get to the needle, the better.
The next 3 stands are great for machine embroidery projects where you have many thread changes.  They make it easier to place the needed threads within easy reach, placement order, and quick threading which speeds up the embroidery process.
Note the last stand in the above photo. It has a place to store hoops. This particular stand is probably used mainly for thread and hoop storage but as we all know, quilters are very resourceful and can adapt just about anything.
What are your thought on the matter of thread stands? Even if you don't do machine embroidery, having an extra stand can come in handy. I'd love to hear from you.

Keeping Track

One of my "wacky" sisters came up with the idea of keeping track of the time we spend sewing or quilting our projects for the year, writing it down on paper if you can't get to your computer, posting it and adding it up at the end of the year. Well, we all pondered on this for several weeks and this is what I came up with. Each time you see this little guy you'll know that I'm posting my sewing time. I chose him because he looks so excited and wants to tell you something.

And......lookie here now.......this is my 150th post.....so the little excited guy is appropro.