Finishing the 5 year quilt project

I was inspired to pull out this quilt project to finish while watching the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency this weekend.

I call this my 5-year quilt, and that I'm always in year 2. I started this more than 5 years ago. It's been in hibernation at least 2 years, if not more, and this is it's second emergence from a hibernation period.

The diamonds are all fussy-cut, that is, cut out by hand. I had a template and used a blue ballpoint pen to trace out the pieces, then cut with scissors. I've hand sewn all these diamonds together too, using the blue lines on the backsides as guides. There are at least 200 of the turquoise and lime diamonds, 42 dark blue diamonds and probably another 200 pink ones.

I've sewn together the diamonds into strips, and then sewn the strips together. I'm working sewing together the strips that go at the bottom, where the DVD case is. The strips are labeled and pinned together. They just need to be sewn together, then joined to the blue center field.

There will also be a green border around the pink. By the time I get to that part, I think I'll be ready to send it out for finishing. Not sure that I'd be up for basting it to a back, quilting, sewing on the binding, etc.

At the end of the month I'm going get more active again with the adoption process -- getting fingerprinted for the background check, the home study with the social worker -- things that take a couple of months to complete. We're thinking that we'll have all the money together for the adoption agency by summer. Once we get these things done, then the agency will start actively looking for a match for us.

I doubt that a match will be made for us right after we get all the above done. However, I would like to have the quilt ready for when a match is made.

More Wonder Woman thoughts

I went over to Project: Rooftop (in sidebar) and looked up Wonder Woman. Yep, they had a contest to remake WW's outfit. I like Leanna Buckley's outfit best, voted Most Fashionably Fabulous, and Sonny Strait's outfit best, which was voted Most Twirliest.

Buffy, the Bionic Woman, and Ziva David -- Part two, now with Wonder Woman

So Entertainment Weekly has released the first pic of Adrienne Palicki in the Wonder Woman outfit, complete with bustier, skin tight pants, high heels, etc. Sigh. How is she supposed to move, all trussed up like that, let alone fight?

This brings me back to the New York Times article that talks about the trend of women being the bad-ass, kick-ass muscle in shows like NCIS. And how they dress sensibly while doing so.

I guess David E. Kelley, creator of this latest version of the Wonder Woman show, didn't get that message.

So, as a feminist, I love that there are more and more strong women on TV, being capable in many ways and still looking good, in a practical, sensible way. However, them being fighters means they also get beat on, something I do not enjoy watching. It bothers me that strength = physical violence. When I watched Buffy, I would fast forward through the fight scenes, where most of the time, Buffy wore sensible shoes, with the big chunky 90s heels.

I'll give the new Wonder Woman a try, because she's the premier female superhero and I watched the Lynda Carter show. However, she's got a lot more competition on TV and I hope the show's done right. However, apparently Kelley's got a reputation of not writing good female characters, which makes me worry.

And lastly, it's Spring! I've started a new blanket, in cotton. Husband's huge wool blanket will have to go into hibernation for a bit. I've got 4 of the 9 main strips done, so I don't feel bad about taking a break. I was in the mood for crochet and got it going during the Bionic Woman marathon.

Next up: The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency with Jill Scott.

Buffy, Bionic Woman, and Ziva David, part one

Work is taking off and I've actually got my first payment, so woohoo! And spring is here. The cherrry trees are blooming, as are the daffodils and tulips. Husband went to Whole Foods market to get some beef kabobs and other things to celebrate my first paycheck, and got me some daffodils too. As he wisely noted, in a choice between flowers and dessert, he chose flowers -- lasts longer and better for you in the long run.

In all the busyness of meeting with potential clients, writing proposals to do work for them, and then actually doing the work, I've watched the one and only season of the Bionic Woman remake, from 2008. There were only 8 episodes, which is too bad because I thought it was pretty good. I may do a Nikita marathon next via Hulu.

Recently, as well, the New York Times posted an article called Sugar and Spice and Vicious Beatings about how more women on cops shows, etc. are the bad ass, kick ass muscle. I have some thoughts about it that I'll write about next post.

Earthquake off the coast of Japan

Woke up this morning to hear all about the earthquake and tsunami.

I called my parents in Taiwan and they said they're fine. Most people live on the western coast of Taiwan, on the Straits of Taiwan facing China. The center of the island is a mountain range and the eastern side facing the Pacific is not very populated.

My parents live on the western side and on pretty high ground, so they're fine.

In other news, Brother One has started his own English teaching business in Taiwan. At this point, that means 4 of the 6 people in my family are entrepreneurs.

Pão de Queijo recipe

Here's something I want to try. I got it from this article http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2011/03/02/pao-de-queijo/ by Gene Lee

Pão de Queijo recipe (adapted from Simply Recipes):

Ingredients:

- 1 egg

- 1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil

- 2/3 cup milk

- 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

- 1/2 cup cheese, queso fresco or parmesan, grated

- 1 teaspoon of salt

Equipment:

- 1 mini-muffin pan

- Blender

——————-

1) Preheat oven to 400°F.

2) Apply a thin coating of oil in each muffin opening in the muffin pan.

3) Put all of the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth.

4) Pour pão de queijo mixture into each muffin opening about ¾ full.

5) Place muffin pan on the oven’s middle rack and bake for 15-20 minutes, until completely puffy and just a little browned.

6) Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.

7) Serve warm

Getting to be Spring 2011

The past few days in Atlanta have been up in the 70sF, reaching almost 80F some days. And Husband's friend came from Delaware to visit, before moving to Wisconsin. Yes, he likes driving.

The picture above was taken from the Commerce Club of the 191 Bldg. On the left is the Westin hotel. At the top of the hotel is the Sundial restaurant, which rotates 380 degrees clockwise. We ate there for dinner on Saturday night and the 191 bldg was prominent in part of our view. So it's kind of nice to see the Westin and the neighborhood in the day.

The white trapezoidal building in the middle of the picture is the Georgia Aquarium.

And look at the sunny blue skies.

I had been knitting the Carnaby skirt from Knitty.com in wool. However, with spring on it's way, and the fact that I've somehow made one side shorter than the other, and a whole host of things, I think I'm going to start over in some yellow linen yarn from the stash.