Peter’s series of illustrations that replace the pencil with cotton thread include abstract line studies and iconic buildings.

Happy Thanksgiving from the How-to-Quilt.com family!

For many, today is a time to relax and enjoy time with your families. It’s like the calm before the end of the year holiday activities.

For me, this is a slight departure from my normal Thanksgiving.  Quilting daughter Stephanie and her friend, Cam, are here in San Diego spending Thanksgiving with her dad and his family.  They’re also spending time with m. mouse – who really appreciates the company (and his every-18-hours insulin shot)!

Engineering son Bubba is cooking a fabulous crown roast dinner – with all the trimmings – at his place in Midland, Michigan, and has invited a few close friends to share his tasty treats.

And I am visiting my friend, Jim, and his sons in Los Angeles, enjoying Thanksgiving treats as well as a dose of football.

Although spread out across the country, we will be thinking of each other and YOU!

We are having a great year here at How-to-Quilt.com, and continue to appreciate your kind support.  And to continue with our quilting tip of the day, today’s topic is about starting and stopping your quilting stitches.

When I began quilting, a friend told me that the way to start and end my hand quilting stitches was to just loop the stitch around in place several times – kind of like stitching in place, only with a hand needle and thread.

Even though I thought it looked awkward (and frankly bad), I followed her directions.  After all, she was a home economics teacher and quilter, and I was just a beginning quilter – what did I know compared to her?

Not long after that, I took a class from Sharyn Craig who showed me a much better method for starting and stopping hand quilting – by burying the knots inside the quilt.

This experience offered two extremely valuable lessons – one, how to actually start and stop hand quilting beautifully; and two, not every “expert” has the best method.

It’s easy to believe that there are “rules” about quilting, and if you break them somehow the quilting police will show up and confiscate your quilts and all of your quilting tools and supplies, preventing you from breaking the rules – or making any more quilts.

Wow!

After decades of quilting, I have discovered that for every quilter who has a particular rule, there are many quilters who have different rules about the same thing.

Ultimately, it is your quilt – make it the way you want to and use the techniques you find easy and that give you the results you want!  And starting and stopping machine quilting is just the perfect example of that.

A couple of years ago when machine quilting expert, Pam Bauer, joined us for our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation, she shared her best method for hiding machine quilting knots inside a quilt.  Using her technique, you will not be able to see any of your machine quilting knots – and that is a wonderful thing.

What I discovered is that her method takes a bunch of extra time, and at this point in my machine quilting adventure, I need to spend more time stitching than tying knots.

So, I started using some alternative methods, including overlap stitching and stitching in place.

You’ll find more information about these techniques:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/2313-machine-quilting-stitches.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny

VoiceThread es una herramienta colaborativa en línea que permite la creación de álbumes multimedia donde se pueden insertar diferentes tipos de documentos, tales como PDFs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, imágenes, audio y video. Se pueden dejar también mensajes de voz por las diferentes personas que visitan el espacio de colaboración a través de un micrófono, o también pueden dejar mensajes de video con una cámara web. La página principal se puede accesar por aquí.

VoiceThread

The chill of autumn is upon us, and with it comes the awkward sport of trying to work touch-sensitive phones and gadgets with gloved fingers. One can try toughing it out with fingerless gloves, or we’ve seen some costly solutions in the forms of specialized gloves and capacitive-compatible styluses, but sometimes simple is best: all it takes is a few stitches of conductive thread in the fingertips.

Conductive thread is available from various sources; SparkFun Electronics comes naturally to mind, but most vendors carrying the LilyPad Arduino will stock a suitable thread as well. Don’t fret if you’ve never sewn before — just a few simple loops are required, and it doesn’t need to be especially tidy. In principle this should work for trackpads and capacitive mice as well, if you use those in the field. For multitouch devices, add a separate conductive bit to each fingertip.

[via Lifehacker]

Marquei o exame, agora é de verdade!rs Tenho 1 semana para recordar tudo que eu estudei, acho que é tempo suficiente. Logo, acho que vou começar a fazer dois posts por dia, pra abordar todos os perigos que vi.

Hoje, continuação sobre threads, vou falar de uma pegadinha braba que vi.

Analise o código:

public class Test extends Thread{

Adianto que tudo compila e roda perfeitamente. Temos duas opções de saída:

1. AABB / BBAA

2. ABAB / BABA

Pensamento lógico seria: Bom a primeira thread (que eu não sei qual é , pode ser A ou B) ela rodando imprimirá A ou B, em seguida, dormirá por 1 segundo. Daí dando continuidade a outra Thread será escalonada e tentará passar pelo bloqueio, como o objeto pelo qual o bloqueio é realizado é uma String própria de cada instância, nada impede da outra thread entrar no método run e rodar. Se vc pensou assim, errou num detalhe. Strings literais quando iguais são compartilhadas pelas instâncias, java não cria outra String caso já exista um literal igual no pool , ele devolverá a referência para a mesma instância. Sendo assim, a bloqueio será realizado impedindo que se imprima ABAB por exemplo, e sim será impresso AABB ou BBAA.

Agora olhando para o outro código:

public class Test extends Thread{

Pegadinha máxima, vale a pena ficar atento.

Hi
In seam, when you want to inject some components such as EntityManager,POJOs,or … to threads, Probably you will  see all your objects is NULL.
The reason of this scenario is SeamApplicationContext missing in your threads, OK what is the solution?

You should use Lifecycle.begin() and Lifecycle.end() methods before and after your codes :

….
…….
Lifecycle.begin()
EntityManager em = (EntityManager)Component.getInstance(“em”,true);
Lifecycle.End()
……
…

So when you write your codes between these two methods, You will be in the SeamApplicationContext and you will not see any exceptions for EntityManager too like :

EntityManager is closed
no Transaction is in progress
….
..

bye.

Do you have unfinished quilts that are just waiting to be quilted?  Have you pulled them off the shelf, unfolded them, wished they would quilt themselves, and then folded them up and put them back on the shelf?

I do that.

As a matter of fact, I still have some quilts that are waiting to be quilted.  The difference is that now they are getting quilted because I have the courage to machine quilt them on my home sewing machine.

Courage…maybe.  But really it’s knowing a few simple techniques for machine quilting that make the difference between beautiful machine quilting and ordinary machine quilting.

You know ordinary machine quilting – the kind of machine quilting where you end up with puckers and tucks sewn in.  Usually on the back of the quilt – but they could be on the front.

Believe me, I feel your pain.  My machine quilting looked exactly like that.  As a matter of fact, you can see a picture of a small part of the back of one of my early machine quilting endeavors:

http://how-to-quilt.com/machine-quilting.php

But things are different now.

A while back, machine quilting expert, Pam Bauer, joined us for an Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation and shared her secrets for beautiful machine quilting.

I listened, and even tried one or two of her techniques on my next few quilts.

But recently I decided I would try more of her techniques to see if it would make a difference.

I shouldn’t have been too surprised – using more of her techniques made a huge difference in my machine quilting.  And it was really easy to start using her techniques.

During her Conversation, we learned about:

• Setting the tension on your sewing machine so your stitches are perfect
• Using some amazing gloves that allow you to guide your quilt as it is quilted
• The difference high quality thread makes, and which are the right threads to use
• How to handle the bulk of your quilt as you move it through your home sewing machine
• And tons more

This was a fantastic Conversation and everyone learned a bunch about machine quilting.  But that was a couple of years ago, and there were techniques I hadn’t tried, some I completely forgot about, and new ones I’ve stumbled across since then.

Since there is a huge interest in machine quilting on our home sewing machines, I decided to gather all of the best techniques I have learned and find useful and present them to our www.How-to-Quilt.com quilters.

Tonight is the night, and the fun begins at 5pm Pacific Time.

I will share the best of the best simple techniques for beautiful machine quilting.  And I will also share my super, special secret weapon for machine quilting.

This weapon has made all the difference in my machine quilting.  It took months for me to break down and try it, and now that I have, I will never be without it on a machine quilted quilt.

You’ll hear all of my easy and best techniques during our Conversation and webinar today, so I hope you will join us:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/machine-quilting.php

If you can’t join us, you can reserve a CD recording of the entire call plus the DVD with all of the video clips.

Happy Quilting!

Penny

Lembro que quando comecei a estudar para o exame, comentei com um amigo e ele disse: “Raphael, as questões de thread são muito dificeis, se garante nas demais”. Fiquei com isso na cabeça, meio que contrariado. Estudei o livro da Katy Serra, e vi nada demais, tirando a decoreba braba, porém o conceito de thread e sincronismo é um paradigma externo a linguagem.

Enfim, fiz um mapeamento do que o exame “gosta que caia”. Vamos lá:

• Uma thread só pode ser startada uma vez. Caso ocorra uma segunda tentativa de start da mesma thread ocorrerá um IllegalThreadStateException
• Os métodos sleep e yield são estáticos. Atuam em cima da thread corrente (em sistemas monoprocessados apenas uma thread ganhará a cpu por vez).
• Os métodos wait, sleep e join movem a thread do estado running para o estado blocked/waiting. E por isso todos os três lançam InterruptedException , caso sejam interrompidos.Logo ao chamá-los é necessário tratá-los com try/catch.
• Sleep é usado para dar um delay na execução da thread corrente. A thread não libera o bloqueio ao objeto quando está dormindo.
• Yield tenta escalonar para running outra thread de mesma prioridade que a corrente. A thread anterior volta para runnable. Não a nenhuma garantia que a thread eleita não seja a mesma thread que já estava rodando, ou outra específica.
• Quando uma thread chama o método join lê-se assim: b.join();  ”Eu (thread corrente) quero me unir ao fim da thread b, quando b terminar ou expirar eu volto para runnable.
• join() espera até a thread morrer . join (long miliseconds) timeout é setado, ou espera até morrer ou expira por timeout.
• palavra-chave synchronized só pode ser usada com métodos e blocos, não pode ser usada em classes ou variáveis.
• Métodos statics podem ser synchronized o bloqueio será feito na própria classe (java.lang.Class).
• Enquanto apenas uma thread pode acessar um método ou bloco synchronized por vez, várias thread podem acessar um método da mesma classe caso ele não seja synchronized.
• Os bloqueios são realizados por objeto. Logo num bloco syncronized vc deve passar um objeto, nunca primitivo.
• synchronized (this){} equivalente a public void syncronized method(){}
• Construtores não podem levar a palavra syncronized. Mas nada impede que tenha um bloco synchronized dentro deles.
• wait(), notify() e notifyAll(), devem ser chamados de dentro de contexto syncronized.
• notify notifica a primeira thread da fila de waiting, para ser liberada.
• notifyAll notifica todas as thread da fila de waiting
• um objeto ao chamar waiting, a thread que o disparou liberará seu lock para que outra thread possa entrar no contexto.

Em breve algumas questões com pegadinhas de thread. Até

We look forward to hearing Anita Zobens, of Cotton Mill Threadworks speak to us about threads on Nov 26, 2009.

Also, take this opportunity to ask questions about your quilting problems. It could be a simple thread or needle problem and Anita is just the one to advise.

Be sure to arrive before 7:30 so you can sign in and be seated before Anita is scheduled to begin.

Threads will be available for purchase.

On Sunday I went to  THREAD San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center.  My friend and I were supposed to go together, but he had a change of plans, so I hopped on the 22 and made my way out on a beautiful sunny day (well, after the clouds cleared).  When I arrived there was a little fashion show going on.  There were tons of exhibitors– independent designers of clothing, jewelry and other accessories.

I was mostly into the jewelry as most of the clothing was either too DIY or literally had Forever Twenty One (or some other similar brand) tags.  There were some nice lines, but nothing really that interesting.
As for jewelery, I thought Gabriel Colaluca’s pieces were pretty stellar, particularly his hand-crafted bracelets made form spoons.  You can purchase his work at SFGallery123.

I found these tees designed by mother-daughter duo Two Martini Minimum to be super cute and wearable.

I loved the feather accessories by Sweet Evie.

And my favorite pieces were by Adrienne Lee Wiley for her line Frolick Jewelry.  You can buy her pieces at Covet (391 Arguello Blvd. @ Clement St., in the Inner Richmond).  I couldn’t help myself and bought a couple pieces from her.

All of the designers and artists I talked to were really inspiring.  It was great to support their work and get a glimpse of what is out there.  Overall, besides the notables that I just posted, I was pretty underwhelmed, which is kind of good because it means there is still a lot of room for new designers.

Oh I cannot wait to get my sewing machine out here!!!

Jika anda ingin menghentikan sementara (pause) sebuah thread/proses yang sedang berjalan dikomputer anda, anda bisa menggunakan aplikasi Process Freezer. Aplikasi Process Freezer ini mirip dengan task manager tetapi bisa menghentikan sebuah proses untuk sementara semisal ada proses  yang  sedang “hang”.

Download Process Freezer disini.

Yay I got mail! My kind neighbours took it in for me today so when I got back from the spinning guild tonight it was waiting for me – I was so excited! Sorry if the pictures come out sideways, it’s a miracle I’ve learnt how to load them on to the computer never mind learn how to move the around.

I got my parcel off a wonderful lady called Nancey from Baltimore.  It’s such a fantastic parcel. I love it!
 There’s a wonderful rainbow project bag – I’m so impressed with it and very helpful as most of my stuff is in random paper bags at the moment so it’ll be nice to have a proper bag to put WIPs in.
There’s a lovely red candle – my favorite colour, and some red socks in knit picks yarn. Double yay in fact triple yay, I love red and I’ve been lusting after knit picks for a while (cant get it over here) and I’m jealous of anyone who can make handknit socks!

There’s a pattern for a beret/tam which is just what I have been after, some tapestry needles which I need desperately and a clicky row counter which my partner is strangely fascinated by.
There’s some spice which smells just fantastic (I’m going to be careful with it the first time I use it but I think it’ll be okay with my allergy) my partner is also trying to prise that off me along with the chocolate.

There’s a lovely card and three wonderful buttons which I already have plans for, and finally and the bit I got the most excited about, some wonderful soft squishy lovely manos wool. I love it all!

I have begun another larger piece…………. this is how it’s going so far…..

laying down background……

beginning on figure……

and boots….

then her top and dress……….

laying down where hair will be…but ran out of thread so will continue that when get more!………..

beginning of flowers before bead work……… worked more into hair and added birdcage with shoe in background ….

began the handsewing and beadwork….on headpiece…

then started on the flowers and strap on her dress…..

still got lots more to do, will keep adding more photos as it progresses…….

Heya. This is another perl project, and it might be handy. If you use the internet a lot, you may eventually build and save huge proxy lists. The problem is, and this is especially true if your list consists of free proxy servers, the number of servers going on and offline all the time is really high, so sometimes it can be annoying to find a good working one. This is what this tool’s for. It’ll read a proxy list containing IP:PORT pairs and try a connection on each of them, for a specified number of seconds. If the timeout is reached, the proxy is considered temporarily dead and isn’t logged. If it connects, the program prints out the pair and logs it to the updated list. The list contains the date and time of execution within its file name. The bigger the proxy list the better, for obvious reasons, but you shouldn’t delete the original one after running a check. Proxy servers may spring back to life after a little while, so it can’t hurt to just leave them all there in the original list.

The Code

Modify this to your liking, it’s simple and straightforward. It’ll spawn 1000 (woot!) threads per “round”, which will each try to connect to a server socket (the proxy server). Change this if you like. Here it is:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use IO::Socket;
use Threads;

#-----------------------------------+
# guidjos' Proxy List Checker v1.1  |
#-----------------------------------+

if (@ARGV < 1){

 print "\n\n\n   Failed. Usage: $0 [proxylisttxtfile] [timeout(seconds)].  \n\n";
 print "         If no timeout is specified, default == 4 will be used.\n\n\n guidj0s\n";
 exit;
}

@hora = localtime;
$nomelista = "proxylist_$hora[3]-$hora[4]--$hora[2]h$hora[1]m.log";
open(novalista, ">>$nomelista");     # I know, I know.

if ($ARGV[1]){
 $tout = $ARGV[1];
}
else{
 $tout = 4;
}

sub testaservidor{

 my($ip, $falha) = @_;

 my $sockteste = IO::Socket::INET->new(
  PeerAddr => $ip,
  Proto => 'tcp',
  Timeout => $falha,
  Reuse => 1
 );

 if ($sockteste){
  $sockteste->close();
  print "    $ip responded.\n\n";
  print novalista "$ip";
  return 1;
 }
 else{
  print "  $ip is dead.\n\n";
  return 0;
 }
}

open(dados, $ARGV[0]) || die("\n\n    proxy list file specified was invalid\n\n\n");
@proxies = <dados>;
close dados;

my $atual = 1;
my $vivos;

print "\n\n Starting to check proxy servers...\n\n\n ";

while ($atual <= $#proxies){
 for my $quantas (1..1000){
  if ($atual <= $#proxies){
   my $crianca = threads->new(\&testaservidor, $proxies[$atual-1], $tout);
   $atual++;
  }
 }
 foreach (threads->list){
  $resultado = $_->join;
  if ($resultado){
   $vivos++;
  }
 } 
}

close novalista;
print "\n\n Done.\n\n $vivos out of $#proxies servers responded and were\n  logged to $nomelista\n\n\n";

pdtnc © Photographer  | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Description:
Free Stock Photos: Old Japanese book from meiji period with chopsticks and Japanese maple leaf.

Keywords:
age, aged, background, binding, book, bound, broken, brown, chopsticks, cover, crease, dirt, dirty, fold, folded, folds, grunge, inside, jap, japan, japanese, kanji, layer, leaf, maple, meiji, mildew, mould, nihongo, old, overlay, page, paper, pdtnc, scan, scuffed, stitched, subtle, texture, thread, torn, wrinkles, writing

Crochet isn’t just for women! Here is a scarf in construction green and hazard orange I crocheted and an owl applique on a men ’s coat.

Just saw these found paper stitched garlands over at decor8 and had to investigate further. AWESOME.

From KristinaMarie:

And then I found these festive holiday-themed paper garlands over at 3GIRLSandagoat:

And THEN I found this little gem of a paper garland over at Bookity, constructed from pages of Shakespearian plays!!!!

Can you freakin’ STAND it?!?!? I want to drape my apartment in these things. And maybe my mini Christmas tree, too. Oh, and PS) there are also Shakespearian tree ornaments: