My Mom - a low tech quilter

When it comes to quilting, my mom is a human version of the Energizer Bunny - she just keeps going and going and going! She finishes one project and another is immediately up on the design board. Here is her latest project up on the wall...

Many of you who purchase quilting magazines might think "that looks very familiar" as my mom was inspired by the following advertisement...

Mom saved another view of the quilt as it appeared in a later advertisement. All the main design components of the quilt are traditional blocks and definitely in the public domain. I just did a search using EQ`s BlockBase and Barbara Brackman gives the following dates for the blocks: Ohio Star - 1795, Four Patch - 1805, and Nine Patch - 1815. Bear in mind, these are dates when the blocks are first mentioned in publications, so no doubt they have been used by quilters for far longer. I only mention this fact should you be thinking about copyright not that it is an issue for my mom as this quilt is for herself and she is not selling it or producing a pattern for sale.

So, when my Mom decided she wanted to make a quilt like this one, she did what she always does - she reached for a piece of graph paper, a pencil and eraser and here is her pattern...

Mom`s finished block size for the Nine Patch and Ohio Star is 7½ inches and the sashing with its set-in Four Patch block will be 2½ inches wide. Mom has no need to turn to a computer and quilt design software when she wants to draw a block or prepare a quilt layout because she is well grounded in the basics of quilting and quilt design. She learned her craft from one of the best and I wrote about this long ago in a profile on my original website and you can read that profile here.

I have been thinking a lot these days about the technology that pervades our lives. I have had no choice really since I have been operating an internet business.I don`t know if I am in the minority here but frankly I have grown tired of computers, the internet, etc. I have no doubt that sitting in front of a computer all day at my job has had an influence; but, I think the real reason is the pace of its change.

This pic just about sums it up for me about two months ago when my laptop bit the dust and I went out and bought a new desk top to replace it. I had to take precious time to first remove the dumb applications installed on the computer (who needs three different applications to burn a CD!!). Then I had to install my own programs and go hunting for software updates since I have Windows 7 68-bit (not 32-bit). After about three weekends, all was ready and then I read that Hewitt Packard is getting out of computers altogether. Great, this computer is an HP! So much for support. Well, I can't say I blame the company - even HP can't keep up with the pace of this technology.

But it is not just the pace that is at issue, it is the cost of that pace and here is an example. Microsoft is now poised to release a new operating system - Windows 8. Now, this new OS will be used on all its future hand held devices (cell phones, note pads, etc) and you will be able to purchase it for your desktop. However, to use it's new features (apps) I would have to go out and buy a touch screen monitor and probably some new card or other such thing for the tower - that is if I can add to the tower. But, guess what? Microsoft says this new software when installed on hand held devices will not support Adobe Flash! Like Apple, Microsoft is preparing its devices for the move to the new HTML 5 coding which doesn't need Flash. Microsoft says you will be able to see Flash websites on the desktop version of the OS but you will have to get out of the app side of the program first .So, everyone who has added Flash to their websites (and an awful lot have jumped on that band wagon) will have to rethink their websites in light of this announcement. More expense. I made the decision long ago to avoid Flash images and I am so glad I did.

Hacking, too, has increased by leaps and bounds and I find myself rarely surfing the net partly because you never know if you should click on the site that shows up in the search results, but also because 'of ' the search results - the same sites appear over and over again in Google searches.Good grief, I was just reading another news article that said car owners have to face the very real possibility that their new 'on-board' computer systems may get hacked! This is just too much fun.

I have a book beside my computer that contains all my login user names and passwords for every site I have had to join for my business, my software support, my program activations, etc. I am going to have a create a new page for my credit cart site since I have to change that password every three months - I have seven passwords crossed out so far. For the last six months, my bank has posted notices about our new chip debit cards being available for pick-up - I have avoided getting mine (another PIN number!!). I just received a letter stating I have only until December 31, 2012 to get my new debit card and I will go in that day to get it. I am waiting for my new chip imbedded Credit Card to arrive - I just received an advance letter with the PIN number which I have avoided looking at since I have until the end of October with my non-chip card.

I guess I am turning into a technology Luddite. Yes, it has been a useful tool but that is what I want it to be; a tool - I just don't want it pervading my entire life. So, now that my credit card debt has been paid off (as off this past Friday - hurray!!), the card will be used for emergencies only - no, I do not collect air miles or rewards as those costs are passed to merchants. I now go to the bank once a week and take out cash for that week so, likewise, my debit card is only for an emergency situation and it is amazing how low my monthly banking charges are now as a result.

I don't have a cell phone and will avoid one if at all possible. Oh, I do not want that headache. I just don't have the patience anymore to go through the process of finding the best phone, the best provider, the best deal. Last summer, I drove from British Columbia to Ontario by myself - without a cell phone. Heck, I didn't even have a radio in my little beater - that I do miss but it was a great drive and I would do it again, tomorrow.

So, when I gaze into my crystal ball what do I see?  I think you will see fewer and fewer small businesses selling on the net - unless they have the staff and deep pockets. The costs in time and money of keeping a site up and the cost of shipping are becoming too great. I think because of these tough economic times people will be simplifying their lives - downsizing is the word, I guess, just like I am doing. No more stuff. Maybe even no more computers. Mom...pass me the graph paper!