Friday, February 14, 2020

1,001st Blog Post

I've heard more that one quilter say (write) lately that blogging is making a come-back. This is somewhat heartening news, and is encouraging to me. I have blogged for 11 years. This post is a mile-stone - I've posted 1,001 times! - and more than 1.5 million views of my posts have occurred!

A few interesting statistics about blogs:
  • Most bloggers post 3 to 6 times a month
  • On average, a blogger spends 3.5 hours writing a blog post
  • On average, a blog-reader spends 37 seconds reading a blog post
In light of how challenging it has become to comment on blogs, I am especially grateful for those of you who continue to comment.

{Start Rant}
Blogger (the platform I use for blogging) has "done something" - I am not technologically literate enough to understand  - that no longer allows ME to comment on OTHERS' Blogger blog posts. To be perfectly clear, I cannot comment on anyone's Blogger blog post from my MacBook computer. I must use my phone to comment, and have been doing so since mid-December.

Before you ask... yes, I have attempted changing my computer's security level, and I have loaded and used a browser that isn't Safari. Neither made a difference. I also spent one-on-one time with an Apple tech who concluded that Blogger has a problem. I am SO OVER tapping out comments from my phone! I wrote up my "issue" in Google discussions. No one has replied.

I know I'm not alone with this problem. It all conspires to make blogging even more challenging.
{End Rant}

Did you hear that Paula Jean's Creations, the company that makes Kwik Klip basting tools is shutting down in June?

Just like the demise of Thread Heaven a couple years ago, Kwik Klip tools will no longer be available. When I teach beginner quiltmaking, it's one of the tools I suggest students try, to close their safety pins. Now I'm wondering if I should stock up!

No doubt you're getting tired of seeing my temperature quilt show up in every blog post! But honestly, it's the only thing I've been working on except for occasional brief periods of hand quilting grandma's vintage quilt.

I'm seeing steady progress, especially if I can make myself quilt every day! Ha!

My temperature quilt status report:
  • 378 four-inch blocks
  • each block takes 15 minutes to domestic machine quilt with rulers and free motion quilting
  • 256 blocks have been quilted (64 hours of quilting, so far)
  • 122 blocks have not been quilted (30 more hours needed to finish quilting)
  • I'm 67 percent finished



This week I gave my "Big Stitch Quilting and More" presentation to members of the Central Florida MQG (read about it here). Afterward I received several lovely emails thanking me... something that makes a teacher's heart swell with grateful appreciation. My friend, Jane, took a few pictures of me teaching. When it comes to quilting, I really get into whatever technique I'm talking about!


Odd as it may seem, I'm starting this week's book recommendations with a book I didn't read! Well, I read the first three chapters and then stopped.


Dear Edward by Ann Napolintano flat-out gave me the willies. The book is about a passenger plane flight from Newark to California. Readers get to know quite a few of the passengers before the plane crashes and everyone dies except a 14 year-old boy.

I am terrified of flying. It's all I can do to force myself to walk into an airplane. Listening to the book, I found myself sitting in a seat, anticipating a crash that would inevitably happen. I consulted with @gynconnie who had read the book, and she agreed that it's not a book for me. In fairness, I can't rate it; I won't ever finish it.


The next book, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett was good. The house is outside Philadelphia, and is a stunningly designed home, built by a cigarette baron. Upon the passing of that family, the Conroys move in, wherein the reader gets to know the four Conroys - children Danny and Maeve - and the life they make, including a remarriage, and how they do and don't get along. The plot is charming without any obvious or hidden, motive or mystery. The audiobook is narrated by Tom Hanks who I, at first, found a little off-putting: he doesn't "do voices," as other narrators do. However, as the story unfolds from Danny's perspective, Mr. Hanks does a wonderful job of inflecting believability into his character.

Linda's Score: 4.0/5.0
Linda

16 comments:

  1. Many congratulations on your 1001st blog post!
    Of course, that made me wonder about my own totals too, we have a travel blog as well, so it was interesting to look up those stats.
    Also very interesting were the stats on bloggers, all that time to write a post, and read in 37 seconds!
    Your temp quilt is marvelous, you are putting such a lot of interesting quilting into it.

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  2. Woo hoo on your 1001st post! I don't think I'll ever get there as I write a new post sometimes every few months! I love your temperature quilt with the curves and colors, it's just gorgeous. My name is on a waiting list for The Dutch House. I saw it as a recommendation on another blog, too. Sure hope Blogger gets their act together so you can comment! I've had no problem...yet...fingers crossed. Happy Valentine's Day to you!

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  3. Oh my that's a lot of blog posting! Congrats! I've almost finished reading 'the dutch house', loved it!

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  4. Happy Valentine’s Day! Thanks for blogging and congrats for the fine job you do!

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  5. Well, I'm a below-average blogger!!! I don't usually post more than a few times a month - especially now that I am away from my longarm and I cannot quilt anything very big on my DSM!! I don't that that long to write a blog post - short, sweet and to the point!!! I'm glad I don't use blogger because I do like to comment on blog posts...not always, but I do try, especially when the blogger writes an email back - no email back (that makes it a conversation in my head), no comments. There are at least 3 blogs that I follow that I rarely comment on because the NEVER respond to comments with an email. Those blogs just talk at me, no conversation. Happy Valentine's Day and I'll get off my soap box!!

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  6. Hi Linda, I just found out today that I was a No-Reply commenter! This from another friend of mine who is a blogger and I had left a comment on her blog but she just happened to know my e-mail address from past conversations. So I sent her a screen shot of my Settings and we found a few differences. I only changed one thing and VOILA! I can comment again. I'd be happy to take a look at your settings page if you can send me a screen shot and compare it to mine to see if there is something you need to change. Or have you already tried that?

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  7. Congratulations on all those blogposts! I’m sorry you are having trouble with commenting. It does seem rather odd. I’m also not an average blogger, because I’m down to writing one or twopostsa month, and write a post in about 30 minutes- short and sweet!

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  8. Glad you're still blogging! Sorry commenting is such a frustration. ugh

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  9. Isn't it amazing about the attention span of the "average" blog post reader! Either they read 300 blogs every day or are phenomenally fast readers. I spend more than 37 seconds looking at each photo, trying to absorb the details of the quilting etc. Congratulations on over 1,000 posts! Sorry about your continuing commenting issues, maybe there will be a reader with a Mac computer similar to yours who can help. I have no idea what the differences are between the various computers and browsers but "knock on wood" I haven't had any issues lately except for a couple folks who don't have gmail addresses.

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  10. Congrats on a blogging milestone Linda! I still enjoy reading blogs although have pared down the number so as not to get too caught up in it. Staying off the computer continues to be my #1 challenge. What I can't seem to manage is getting back into writing my own posts. I'm glad you have kept up with yours. I will always look forward to reading about your quilting adventures.

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  11. I certainly haven't tired of your temperature quilt posts yet. I can't believe the amount of hours you have put into quilting it. The colors and curves really come to life with the quilting.

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  12. Keep going Linda.
    I always enjoy your blog and the books you read. Just everything
    Thank you for sharing your life and adventures

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  13. Congratulations on your blogging milestone! I spend at least that much time on a blog post when you factor in the photography. I write for a living and I try not to think about how few people actually read my work. (I used to write computer manuals, and one time someone actually thanked me.) One of my friends has similar maddening issues with Blogger. I might be one of those no-reply bloggers. I tried fixing the problem for hours and gave up. And I don’t feel bad if I don’t get a response. At least you know I appreciate your work.

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  14. Congratulations on remaining a dedicated blogger through the times where many were predicting the demise of blogs. I see blogs as a way of fostering community so the restrictions on which platforms can talk to others are very frustrating. I've given up trying to get round it - I leave comments even if I'm pretty certain I'll be marked as a 'no reply blogger'.

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  15. I love your Temperature quilt. Drunkards Path is a design that I considered for this year so am thrilled to see how it looks.

    Blogger seems to constantly make changes. I need to get current on my blog as I sort of gave up after getting a new computer and having issues importing the photos. I do love reading blogs and catching up with friends.

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  16. i never tire of your temperature quilt. I love seeing your progress each post. Last year, I couldn’t comment for the longest time. I wish I could remember what I did to fix the issue. I know it’s frustrating. We are at their mercy. In almost every aspect of life, someone out there says, “ I’m going to make this better.” But it seldom is. Congratulations on your 1001st post, Linda!

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