I'm a mother. 20 years later.

My mind couldn't wrap itself around the thought back then, when a few people said tyranny had come to America.  I remember being unable to contemplate the thought that my government would ever begin to treat it's citizens the way Russia or China or South Vietnam treated their citizens.  This was unthinkable.  I clearly remember putting the thought of an unarmed mother holding her baby out of mind, and I went about my life.

I'm a mother.  20 years later.  And I think back on the murder of an unarmed woman holding her baby.

Her last photo

An unarmed woman holding her baby was labeled a threat by my Justice Dept at Ruby Ridge.   20 years later, my Justice Department is making an attempt to legally label someone else a threat... without due process... to legally murder anyone they label a threat.

NBC: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans

Randy Weaver and his family were just another set of "troublemakers" who wanted to be left alone.  While I, and most of Americans like me, paid no attention to the atrocity, a substantial minority on both sides of the political spectrum did pay attention.  They were outraged and wouldn't forget. And dear Lord, forgive me, I want to forget.  I don't want to remember.  I remember seeing the funerals on the news.  Yes, I prayed for the baby who would never know his mother.  I remember.

The actions at Ruby Ridge were studied long ago.  And, damning as the Justice Department investigation was, officials are believed to have destroyed evidence to keep it away from investigators. The Justice Department completed a 542-page investigation on the case in 1995.  Then hid the report from the public.  However, the report was acquired by Legal Times newspaper, which placed the report on the internet.  The report revealed that federal officials may have acted worse than even some of their harshest critics imagined.

Federal officials claimed a violent confrontation between the Weavers and the government began when the Weavers ambushed federal marshals, but the report tells a very different story. A team of six U.S. marshals, split into two groups, trespassed onto Mr. Weaver's land on Aug. 21, 1992. One of the marshals threw rocks at the Weaver's cabin to see how much noise was required to agitate the Weaver's dogs. A few minutes later, Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, and 13-year-old Sammy Weaver came out of the cabin and began following their dogs. Three U.S. marshals were soon running away through the woods.

At one point, U.S. Marshal Larry Cooper "told the others that it was ['expletive deleted'] for them to continue running and that he did not want to 'run down the trail and get shot in the back.' Cooper told them to take up defensive positions. They took a position behind a stump and waited.  As Sammy Weaver and Kevin Harris came upon the marshals, gunfire erupted. It was Sammy who was shot in the back, killed while running away from the scene (probably by Marshal Cooper, according to the report).1

Does tyranny begin when an angry young man, remembering Ruby Ridge, blows up a federal building filled with babies in a daycare, along with men and women innocently going about their day?  Or would that be anarchy?

When does tyranny begin? A dad, a 13 year old boy, his mother and his baby brother were innocently going about their day, too.

My government wants legal permission to send drones, instead of federal marshalls, to kill Americans they think are a threat.  And I want to be protected!  I want my government to do a good job keeping my family safe.  But what happens when my government runs amok?  They want to control who gets to buy automatic weapons, to protect me they say.  Like they protected me from an unarmed woman holding her baby?

Slowly, like a child testing the weight of ice on a lake in winter, my government has tested the waters of tyranny, to see how far they can go.

The U.S. Supreme Court said "It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error." - in American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, at 442.

Please God, please help the American people ask what I'm asking now.  And dear God... please let the powers in Washington listen to the American people they serve.  Please let them ask, when does tyranny begin?  No, better still, let them ask what will the anarchy that follows look like?

1.  source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge

Tension problems?

I'm trying to use a new thread this weekend, a 50 wt So Fine variegated with luscious colors.  I'm having fits with it though... arrrrgh!  The thread is falling off the cone too fast, gets caught and 'snap', the thread breaks.  I have 2 variables that could be causing the problem.

I placed a thread sock on the cone, but the thread is still loose near the top of the cone.  With the thread sock, the thread doesn't fall off the cone, but the thread is loose as it unwinds near the top of the cone.  I also have high static electricity in the air, so that could be the problem as well.

I placed a pot of boiling water on the stove to put humidity in the air.  We will soon see if static is the problem.

While taking a break from the break, I found a great video on tension problems.  You don't need an expensive TOGO tension gauge, it's simple!  Take a look and let me know what you think?

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q1mRhcquZTM

He really knows tension!

And now, back to the long arm!

I've had a few questions about quilting with a long arm.  So I thought I'd load some photos.  I think visuals might help the confusion among the non-quilters reading my blog.   

Long arm quilting is simply stitching the backing, batting and quilt top together, forming a quilt sandwich.  The first task is loading the backing fabric onto 12 foot long rollers.  The fabric in the photo above is a beautifully dyed batik from the island of Bali.  After the backing fabric is loaded and rolled taut, the batting is placed on top, you can see cotton batting lying on the fabric in the photo.

I have 2 choices as I proceed loading the batting and quilt top.  There are more 12 foot rollers, one set for each layer of a quilt.  I can load the batting and top on those if I want to.  The other choice is the one I always use, it's called floating.  I simply float the batting and quilt top on top of the backing fabric.  To start the long arming, I stitch along the top and sides to anchor the 3 layers together, and then the fun begins!

Christmas Dog

We have a new family member!  My husband was making a run to the grocery store on Christmas Day to buy the whip cream he forgot to get for the pumpkin pie, and on the way home this cute little girl walked in front of his headlights.  He stopped, picked her up and we put out the information about a lost dog to no avail.  So we're keeping her!  She's an adorable little thing, but she was a matted, flea ball when she arrived. I clipped her and after 2 flea baths here's the little darlin'...

My husband never found a store open but bringing home this little gal was his salvation.

How to lube your thread

I've been long-arming happily all day.  I finished one quilt, and will place another one on the frame tomorrow. I wish the holiday could be extended, I'm not ready for school to start!  For those who are new to the blog, I home school my son.  I'm also taxi-driver for my oldest in college (she has a disability and can't drive for now).

I thought I'd share a tip to help those who are tempted to oil your thread when you sew velcro or use metallic threads.  My method works for long arming, sewing, serging, upholstery  just about any type of sewing.  I've used this method for years and it works!

If you have continual thread breaks while sewing velcro or use metallic threads, try this!  Cut a tiny piece of stick-on velcro, use the fluffy side.  Place it under the thread path AFTER the tension disc.  Then place 1 or 2 drops of silicone (Sewer's Aid, etc.) on the velcro.   As the thread glides across the velcro it lubes your thread without ruining the entire cone, and without gumming up your tension dial.

Use velcro to sew velcro, brilliant! Let me know if you try my method?  I'd love to hear how it worked for you!

​

American Hero Quilts

I've finished the Hero quilts, and they'll be shipped back to American Hero Quilts on Tuesday.  Check out the website for American Hero Quilts, they are doing an awesome job supporting our wounded soldiers.

This is the quilt I finished longarming this weekend:

Ode to the sewing machine #3

Some of you are following my "Ode to the Sewing Machine" posts.  We've all seen the ads on craigslist, ebay and elsewhere.  The clueless sellers give those of us who sew a belly laugh, or two!  Where do they come up with these dollar amounts???

So I have a car I want to sell. I put the car in the garage, close the garage door, take my camera outside in the yard and take a picture....


Makes ya wanna throttle someone, doesn't it?
Oh, and he hit zero too many times.

There's that zero again...

Hero quilts

I was thrilled to find photos of a Civil War era flag!   I found the flag his unit carried in the early part of the war.  The flag is being restored.    This is the flag for the 4th Iowa Regiment, Infantry Vol.  The lower corner of the flag is lost forever, the only part left is the "I" for Infantry.

 During the Civil War, silk fabric was used to make flags for the military.  They were painted with various symbols, names and stars on both sides of the flag.  As a result, the areas that are painted are very stiff.  This flag is 150 years old now, I'd say she looks pretty good for her age!  Iowa has over 300 flags currently being restored from the Civil War, WWI, WWII and other wars.