In the 6th grade, I was in Mr. Sommer’s class. At some point he and my parents became friends and we used to go over to his house to swim. He also, at some point, married my 1st teacher, Ms. Selsky.
Anyway, Mr. Sommers was one of those innovative teachers. We did a project where we dissected the newspaper. We looked at shipping schedules, weather maps, etc. We learned a lot about the newspaper (FYI: that was WAAAAY before the Internet was a reality on my desk, so things have changed).
Some years ago, I found a tiny little “Converting Fractions to Decimals” chart in the newspaper. I was immediately transported back to the 6th grade.It is useful for quiltmaking periodically.
Decimal Equivalents Chart
Once more, I was transported back to Mr. Sommer’s class when I saw this chart. I don’t know if it is a good enough photo to print and paste up on the wall in my workroom, but it is useful anyway.
I am still overwhelmed with the amount of quilt shopping I did in July, so I went to PIQF with a list and with cash. I came away with everything on my list and pretty much stayed within my budget.
PIQF 2010 Shopping
I was very pleased to find the rulers I think I will need to finish the edges and corners for FOTY 2010.
I have an idea in mind for a certain kind of “review writing bookmark”, which requires that heavy duty wash away stabilizer (interfacing?). Stay tuned for more on that project.
I did try out the Grab Bag pattern and will write a review of the pattern soon.
I have to admit that fabric wasn’t on my list, but I found a few pieces that will fill in holes (the blacks and whites) and a couple of dots that I couldn’t resist (bottom row). The dots were very expensive so I got little pieces and will need to use the judiciously. They were over $11/yard and that is just too much to spend.
PIQF 2010 Fabric
The Floral Burst fabric by Philip Jacobs will be some kind of bag. It was on sale at Always Quilting and I couldn’t resist the pink and yellow combination.The red dots came from TFQ. Thanks!
Bella Bag!
I also, finally, found the Bella Bag Pattern. I bought another bag with a bow, so I probably didn’t need this one, but Joanna Figueroa was so nice, and she had these fabulous chartreuse handles, that I felt like supporting her. Perhaps I will use the Philip Jacobs print to make this bag. A hot pink with white dots bow might be fabulous!
WOW! I have been lackidasical about almost everything lately and was shocked to see how many comments I have and haven’t read! WOW! Thanks everyone! Keep them coming.
Media
Mark Lipinski’s Fabric Trends Magazine: the latest issue has a cool website. I tried to buy the new issue, but only could find the previous edition from before Mark started working on it. I’ll have to go back and look again in the near future.
Mark also has a new radio show on Toginet called Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski. It is on iTunes. Mark seems to be working hard on getting his name and cute mug out there! Call 877-864-4869 to call into the show. Eric Anderson answers the phone from Dallas.
I listened to the first episode on iTunes and thought the discussion with Tula Pink about her fabric designs being ripped off via Walmart was interesting, because of the social networking aspect.
Mark also talked with Dr. Eric Maisel. I started to read one of his books and just couldn’t get through it. I think he had good things to say, but I couldn’t read them. I think, perhaps, Maisel’s other book, Coaching the Artist Within, might be better. One thing that intrigued me was his mention of a purpose statement. He briefly talked about a multi-step process he coaches artists through to create a purpose statement. Hhhmmm. Remember my Purpose Journal? It is time to get that baby out and a purpose statement might be an interesting reason to really start on it.
I also listened to the second episode. I liked the section with Mary Beth Maziarz, but thought that he went on a bit too long about being a hoarder with his professional organizing guest, Amara Wylie.
I am marginally interested in the Urban Homegoods Swap. Not in actually doing it, but getting ideas from it. A La Mode blog has a post with a number of the projects. They are a great source of inspiration and filled with clever ideas.
From Eye Candy section of the Media Department comes this gorgeous blog post that is a series of wedding photos. Don’t know the bride or the groom; I know the person who made the quilts that covered the hay bales guests sat on during the service. I also like the idea of giving preserves as a wedding favor.
Year of the Quilt!
From the City Quilter (NYC) Newsletter comes this excitement: “AMERICAN MUSEUM OF FOLK ART BIG quilting things are in store for us in what the AMFA is calling the “Year of the Quilt”, starting with the opening on October 5th of an exhibition of 35 quilts which will take up 3 floors at the Museum’s main 53rd Street location. This exhibition runs through April 24, after which “Part 2” will open on May 10. SUPER STARS is a parallel exhibit taking place at the Museum’s Lincoln Square branch that explores the role of stars in quilts. This opens Nov. 16 and runs till Sept 25! So mark your calendars, this is the year to see quilts in New York City!”
If you are in or around or near NYC, get thee to the shows, because I want to hear about them!
Learning
Have you heard of Unclasses.org? No? Me neither until a few days ago. It looks like people can create online classes there. There are a number of sewing classes posted.
Apartment Therapy Color Wheel
I saw this color wheel on Apartment Therapy. You know what? I want a large framed version of it to hang in my workroom. I think it is so cool, especially with the colored pencil like texture. I also really like the huge variety of different colors.
Just Do It!
We hear that catch phrase all the time. Nike might have trademarked it, but it is everywhere. I recently read a blog post by Michael Nobbs who draws. He wrote about microworking and I love his theories on how microworking helps our creativity, especially in our busy lives. Michael Nobbs draws and draws my attention to other artists who use drawing as their medium. He put me on to Nina Johanssen from Sweden, who did a great coffee sketch last year that I love. Michael is right. A litte work all the time goes a long way.
Tupperware Freezer Mates
You can also help your creativity by being organized. I saw these great Freezer Mate storage containers from Tupperware when I was cruising their site. They are great for going to class kits and for organizing small things. I can also see them put to use for small projects you are taking to class, squares or other bits of fabric designated for a certain project or a multitude of thread. Perhaps they would be good for beads? I don’t know since I haven’t actually tried one out. I have a pink Tupperware box from the dark ages that I use for my class kit and it is great, because the lid never falls off. You can purchase them and help the preschool of my friend’s children by using this link. It’s 23½-cup capacity and $49.50 price tag are significant.
Tutorials
Have you see this interesting tote bag? It is called a Bagsket and Foofangel has a tutorial for making it. I first saw it on Linda M. Poole’s FB page, but she didnt’ have the link. I poked around and then someone found it, so I took a look. Linda made it with her Seahorse fabric collection and the bag is really cute.
I put up a page of tutorials that I have written. Check out the AQ tutorials page. It is under the AQ Info page.
Supplies
My iron died. I don’t think it is completely dead, but it was dead enough so I couldn’t
Black & Decker Classic Steam Iron
use it, which meant I couldn’t piece. I bought a new iron – a Black & Decker Classic Steam iron. I had been thinking of buying one and this was the perfect opportunity. It was a little over my normal iron budget ($20 or less), but I went for it.
UGH! I sincerely dislike this iron. There are a lot of good things about it. It has great heft. Wonderful steam. The bad part is that the thing does not glide over the fabric. Of course it doesn’t! The sole plate is not Teflon. UGH! I really didn’t like it, but felt like I was stuck with it until it died. I had already opened it and used it.
Machines are not my forte’. I can operate them, but I usually eschew knowing how they work. One day I was driving down the street and heard a clunk. When I stopped, I looked under the car and there was a piece hanging off of the exhaust system. Not in my plans for the day. I drove to my mechanic with my car making such a loud noise that I couldn’t hear the radio and had to endure the local homeless man, who hangs by the Methodist Church, pointing at me as I drove by (turnabout is fair play, I guess). My mechanic couldn’t fix it, but he wired the piece to the car and sent me to his colleague. I went. They said they could fix it and I should come back in half an hour. I was in a neighborhood full of fast food places, a computer repair shop, a notary/check casher/mortgage broker, a bank and a small Walgreen’s. Off I went to Walgreen’s. It doesn’t take a half an hour to peruse Walgreen’s, so I sloooowwwwllly walked up and down each aisle, carefully looking at each item. Finally, I came to a small housewares section.
Living Solutions Iron
Yes, I needed lightbulbs. Yes I needed an 18 foot extension cord in white and WOOHOO they had two irons. I looked at the two carefully and decided on the less featured filled Living Solutions model. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and like it. It glides over the fabric, was less than $10, has steam and not auto shutoff. The lack of auto shutoff is a double edged sword. I need to make sure I unplug it EVERY time. It isn’t a GREAT iron, but it does the job.
These are my favorite pens. I have gone through lots of pens, tried different ones, etc. I finally found these and they are the best. I write with them, I draw with them, I buy them to use at work, because I don’t like the work pens.
My favorite color is the turquoisey/teal (second from the right). I would be in heaven if I could buy 24 or 48 of them, because they only come in sets.
I like them because they are smooth and don’t blob the paper. I like alos the width of the line and that they are dark. I don’t usually use them for final drawings, but they are often the the medium of choice in the little sketches I show you.
They are not water proof or water resistant, so I don’t use them for the outside of packages during the winter.
When TFQ comes to visit for two days, I get at least 5 blog posts out of it! Her visit, coupled with the organizational segment on QNN TV, made me think about organization ideas for my fabric closet, my projects and my workroom in general.
First, I keep all of the flat bits of a project in a file folder. As soon as I start a project (or a class), I start a file folder for it. This is great if everything is flat, but doesn’t work so well for yards of fabric.
Translucent Office Storage Boxes
TFQ mentioned project boxes. Project boxes are boxes you use to keep all of the bits and pieces of a project together. This concept came up while we searching for fabric for Sorbet. I heard it mentioned somewhere else or I read it somewhere recently and now it is on my mind. I need some project boxes and a place to put them. I have a couple of them, but they just happened by default. One is a box I threw the Pineapple strips into after the strip avalanche. Voila! A project box!
The above boxes are from the Container Store. I have 2-3 of them and they work pretty well for project boxes as long as not a lot of yardage is involved.
Clear Project Boxes
The other is a box in which I kept all of the fabric for the Tarts for the years it took me to finish that piece. They look similar to the boxes above. These are also similar to the boxes in which I keep my fabric. The problem with using the box for a project box is that I may get mixed up if I don’t have them labeled properly and redistribute the fabric. Now I have all the fabric for Sorbet in the box where the Tarts fabric used to be.
Not all boxes for Projects need to be purchased.
Patch boxes
I sometimes purchase scones for breakfast. The variety I purchase comes in the plastic boxes (on the right). I found that they are great for collecting squares and triangles and other smallish patches. The box on the left is from lettuce that some one brought over for dinner. That particular box is a good size for the FOTY diamonds. As an added bonus, they are not too nasty after the food has been removed and I am not adding them to our local landfill.
TFQ and I talked about ziploc bags, which are great, but are very slidey, especially if you get too many of something in them. They also don’t stack well.
My quiltmaker SIL uses banker’s boxes for her fabric. I prefer to use something clear I can see through, but I have made some temporary shelving out of banker’s boxes (repurposed from when we moved), so there are a number of uses for those as well.
What do you use to organize your workroom or studio? How do you organize your projects?
I just heard the announcement for the new version of the Electric Quilt software, EQ7. This is an update to Electric Quilt 6.
I have used EQ since the dark ages of EQ3? EQ4? I can’t even remember. There are a number of things I like about the product, but the most important one to me is their customer service. I deal with bad customer service all day every day at my job. The EQ folks respond INTELLIGENTLY and TIMELY to emails. They even call if the email string is getting to complicated. I love good customer service and theirs is awesome.
I use EQ for designing a number of different projects: Flowering Snowball, Sorbet, 2009 Teacher pillows, the Pineapple, etc. I am not a very advanced user and have always wanted to take a class. It is still on my to do list.
I have tried out pattern/color keys using EQ6 and have had some trouble with the size of the file. I was successful with a Sorbet Color Key and I never really followed up to figure out my problem.
EQ7 Upgrade
The other thing I like about the software is that there are marked improvements in the software with each new release. I buy some upgrades of other software and think “brother, what is so new and great about this release?” Not with The Electric Quilt. I often think I don’t need the new version and then when I see the list of features, I have to buy it.
I am pretty excited about the new version’s features, especially since my EQ6 copy is on my dead computer and I just haven’t wanted to deal with the activation process. There have been multiple times recently when I wanted to do something and have been disappointed not to have dealt with the reinstallation.
Quilts, Blocks and now PHOTOS!
Digital cameras will become a quilter’s best friend. EQ7 has dozens of ways to turn everyday photos into quilt art images. Or crop and edit scanned fabrics right in EQ7 in minutes. And that’s just the start!
New Activation Policy
You’ll never run out of EQ7 activations! Activation and deactivation is as easy as two clicks of the mouse. Install on as many computers as you like and quickly transfer activations from computer to computer. This new policy gives you complete freedom to manage your own activations — and no dongle to worry about!
Easier than ever for new users EQ7 is the most user-friendly full-featured quilting software yet.
Complete user manual
22 printable full-color PDF lessons (115 pages)
Point-and-read info on each tool – now linked directly to Help topics
10 videos targeted for beginners
67 “How do I?” topics: printable stepped-out instructions for doing everything from printing English paper-piecing templates to drawing a New York Beauty
Built-in Help buttons are everywhere, targeted to the task you’re doing
New block tools for creating original blocks instantly without drawing
Blocks size themselves – just drag and drop on the quilt
Users upgrading from EQ6 will feel right at home
Exactly the same friendly interface, plus loads of new user-requested features.
5000 copyright-free blocks
5000 new scanned fabrics, plus grayscale textures
120 new pre-designed quilt layouts
Snap blocks to a Quilt grid
Instant border blocks with greatly expanded Auto Borders
Print multiple photos on fabric
Create original fabric designs from photos, then print on fabric
Mirror and use myriad symmetries on photos
Use dozens of artistic effects, making everyday photos look like watercolors or Impressionist paintings
79 new features in all
Netbook compatible
Works on netbooks as well as laptops and desktop computers.
I am sure there are a dozen more cool features. I love the digital / scanning possibilities.
You can find out more information at the Electric Quilt website or by calling: (800) 356-4219. No, I am not being paid to write this. Yes, they sent me a press release.
When will The Electric Quilt Company begin shipping EQ7?
We will begin shipping June 7, 2010.
What are the EQ7 and EQ7 Upgrade system requirements? ELECTRIC QUILT 7 Minimum system requirements: Windows® XP, Windows® Vista, Windows® 7 (32 or 64 bit), Internet access, 750 MB of available hard-disk space, CD-ROM drive. Netbook compatible. Internet required for activation, deactivation, and periodic validations. Recommended: Monitor with screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater, Adobe® Reader®, sound card for demo videos. Activation: Internet access is required for activation and deactivation. Unlimited installations. Activations can be easily transferred between computers. Two (2) computers may be simultaneously active.
EQ7 UPGRADE Minimum system requirements: Windows® XP, Windows® Vista, Windows® 7 (32 or 64 bit), Internet access, 750 MB of available hard-disk space, CD-ROM drive. Netbook compatible. Internet required for activation, deactivation, and periodic validations. Recommended: Monitor with screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater, Adobe® Reader®, sound card for demo videos. Activation: Internet access is required for activation and deactivation. Unlimited installations. Activations can be easily transferred between computers. Two (2) computers may be simultaneously active.
UPGRADE VERSION of Electric Quilt 7 This upgrade version of Electric Quilt 7 will install only if you are a licensed user of Electric Quilt 6 (EQ6). Visit www.electricquilt.com for other upgrade requirements.
What is the activation policy?
EQ7 has a new activation policy, created as a result of user feedback.
Activation: Internet access is required for activation and deactivation. Unlimited installations.
Activations can be easily transferred between computers. Two (2) computers may be simultaneously active.
I have a small cutting table. Part of my cutting mat isn’t even on the table! From this cutting table comes all the tote bags and quilts that I make. It isn’t ideal, but it is what I have and it works for me most of the time.
End of the Week Cutting Table
Above is what happens to my cutting table by the end of the week. I do try and craft every day but a lot of times I end up pressing fabric, or knitting or engaging in other hand work. Sometimes nothing fiber related happens on particular days.
I don’t have much horizontal space in my workroom and the debris of the week just ends up on the one mostly clean horizontal space. I end up tidying that space on Friday or the weekend and that has become part of the ritual of starting to sew on the weekend.
Finished and Hung Board
I am currently dreaming of redoing my workroom (which doubles as a guest room) with paint, new shelving, a Murphy bed, lots of drawers. The Board I made last week is part of it – perhaps the start of it. It is a small start, but a person has to start somewhere.
Evolving Board
I cleaned some stuff off the big desk and started to fill up the Board. So far there are only photos. Now I can enjoy them. I hope to put some inspiration photos and other things on it. I am allowing it evolve organically.
The Open Toe Walking Foot offers precise control of fabric, and is especially helpful when working with layers of fabric, or those that may shift or pucker. Feed dogs are incorporated into the foot itself which work in conjunction with the machine feed dogs to feed fabric layers evenly. The open toe configuration allows for a clear view of your work. Use it for quilting, matching plaids, leatherwork, and any task that requires superior fabric control.
I have done several projects lately where I wished that I liked using my walking foot. It came with my machine and I tried it and I really couldn’t see where I was stitching and that was pretty much the end of my walking foot use.
Making Deirdre’s pencil roll last week, which actually calls for a walking foot in the directions, rekindled my wish for a Janome ‘F’ Foot with clamp-on functionality like a walking foot. The Janome ‘F’ foot is clear and I can see exactly what is going on under the presser foot.
I am friends with Janome Sewing Machines on FB and those people are responsive (another reason to love my Janome). Periodically they talk about a new foot or provide a project to fans on their fan page. Something they said last week reminded me of my wish. I made a comment and they got back to me, also in a comment, and then they posted information about this new-to-me open toed walking foot. I called my dealer to find out the cost and if it works with my machine. It was just under $30 and does work with my machine. Because I think I am at a point in my quilting where this foot would add to my technique when I quilt the Tarts, I bought one. They will mail it to me and I plant to quilt a table runner first. I’d like to try it out and practice before I ruin the Tarts.
I am curious to know if any of you have a similar foot and what you think about it. Do you use it? Is it as great as it sounds?
Here are some miscellaneous things that came my way. The fabrics were free giveaways at the retreat thanks to Debbie. I couldn’t resist the pink ice cream fabric. I can’t wait to cut up some pieces of it for Cathy’s Eye Spy and Julie’s Tumbler. Perhaps I will make a gift bag out of the rest. We’ll see. that fabric makes me happy to look at.
The Creative Grids Diamond Ruler arrived on Monday. It looks a lot better than the other diamond ruler I have, so perhaps the latter will go to QTN? I haven’t yet tried it out so I’ll have to play with it a bit to see if I want to use it for the FOTY 2010.
Finally, I bought the pattern at Hart’s last weekend. The pictures look different than the model I saw made up in the store. What I saw was more like a little tote rather than a backpack. The store clerks were sure this was the pattern, so I took a leap of faith. Another tote for the list of to dos!
I think I have enough new stuff to play with for now.
My to immediate do list includes a couple of pencil rolls, one for the One World One Heart project and one for a gift. I’d like to get to them this weekend, but we will see.
At some point, I’d like to go to FabMo myself and see the goodies. Not sure when the next open day is and am not sure whether I want to give up some of my sewing time this weekend to do that.
I know I am not even most of the way finished with FOTY 2009, but I am on to FOTY 2010. I guess I have to keep moving forward.
I mentioned that I was thinking of making a diamond one patch. I looked at the diamond ruler that I have at home and decided that it wasn’t going to work. Mostly because the lines that divide the different sizes of diamonds were too thick to be accurate — at least for me.
I looked at the Creative Grids website and decided to buy this ruler. I’ll see what I think when I receive it.
I saw this in an email from Janome yesterday and was already drooling about he possibilities. I decided to quilt the Tarts Come to Tea myself, so I think this would come in handy. I am going to put it on my Christmas list!
One of the things I like about it is that it gives the sewist cornering markings. That might make me better at getting even lines when I have to turn.
I’d love to know your thoughts if you have used this!
Janome Clear View Quilting Foot
Clipped from www.janome.com
Attach and remove the guides as needed to suit your task at hand- gives you three feet in one- 1/4 Inch Foot, Ditch Quilting and Clear foot. Markings indicate 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch from center needle drop position with handy cornering markings for both 1/8 and 1/4 inch seams. Oval-shaped needle hole allows needle adjustment for scant 1/4 inch piecing (computer models only). Fits virtually all Janome top-loading models. Please see your authorized Janome dealer for more information.
In a recent post, I posted a partially colored view of the patterns I had created in EQ6 for the Quilt Sorbet Quilt (not sure whether I will call it Sorbet or Quilt Sorbet or something else). Here is a fully colored rendering.
Some of the blocks are pretty obvious, but others kind of blend together.
My other thought was to create an EQ6 rendering where I color the blocks as I sew them. That might make my life too complicated, but we will see. It might, on the other hand, make it easy for me to keep track of blocks I have made.
I stayed away from the computer all day yesterday and sewed.
Janome 9000
The 9000 is back and better than it has been in a long time. It is quieter. I can punch any button I want and the machine reacts instantly. It was a pleasure to sew.
I did a lot:
made a receiving blanket
finished the last bit of the Tarts
Tarts cups
almost finished the machine quilting on Beach Town
made some Infinity blocks
worked on some FOTY 2009 blocks
FOTY detail pink
Normally, I sew early in the morning and stop in the evening. I am a morning person and I have learned the hard way that when I sew tired I make mistakes. Last night, however, I stayed up late and sewed. It was wonderful.
As soon as I got home on Friday, I pulled out the Jem and set it up. I figured that if I didn’t do it right then, I would put it off and all of my sewing projects would languish.
Janome Jem, July 2009
I pulled out the vinyl tablecloth tote bag parts, put on the roller foot and tried it out. I used Valdani quilting thread that I bought at the Chicago Quilt Festival Show a number of years ago. I am now the proud owner of a tablecloth vinyl tote bag.
The roller foot worked really well. REALLY WELL. AMAZINGLY WELL. It really got the job done and I have high hopes that I can make the bathroom “quilt” as well. Perhaps I can even get it done before the 9000 comes back. Perhaps I’ll make one for each bath!
The roller foot worked really well, but wasn’t perfect. I have always had some trouble with the curved corners of the Eco Market tote bag pattern from Favorite Things. Going around the curves with two layers of vinyl was difficult.
Clear tote, July 2009
I didn’t line the bag. I didn’t really think it was necessary so the seams all show and it looks a bit unfinished. There are a number of thread blobs that I would have unsewed with normal fabric, but were pretty difficult to deal with the vinyl, so I left them. On the plus side, the bag was very quick to finish.
I get the feeling that I won’t be able to stuff this bag full of heavy stuff either, but I will try it out and we will see. It sounds dumb, but I felt like a renegade working with the material. In general, I highly recommend the roller foot if you are going to make something with tablecloth vinyl.
One of my CQFA colleagues, as I may have mentioned, borrowed my Jem machine for about 5 months while her Viking was in the shop. She saw some oilcloth type fabric (vinyl or something on one side and flannel-like fabric on the other) pillows and totes and decided to make them. She made them using the Jem and didn’t have any problems. I was amazed that she could do that. I know now that the flannel probably allowed the oilcloth to feed through the machine. I am interested in trying some of that fabric to make a tote bag.
I have been having problems with my machine recently. As I may have mentioned, I have a Janome 9000, which is a workhorse. It has a touch screen and the left half of the touch screen has not been working. This is a problem on a number of levels (needle down on the left, menu button on the left, etc), but the BIGGEST problem was that I wasn’t able to modify the width and density of the zigzag stitch. This is a problem because the Tarts require a zigzag to keep the cups and cakes on the background. I had it repaired last year for the same problem and it was okay for a while, but the problem has come back with a vengeance. I finally decided I couldn’t live with it anymore and took it in to another Janome dealeron Friday.
Those people ROCK! I talked with Patty at the Lafayette Sewing Center in Lafayette, Calif. First of all, she was not condescending. Second, she believed me even when the machine behaved perfectly (the machine and I will be talking about that later!). It did eventually start messing up and she knew afer a short time that I wasn’t lying. She thought that the machine may need a simple recalibration of the screen.
Simple = Not expensive, hopefully!
They are also going to do a regular service, which the machine surely needs. I use it all the time and don’t do much more than dust and clean the lint out of the bobbin area.
While I was there I asked about the tablecloth plastic I tried to sew a few months ago. She had worked with that material and recommended the roller foot. I bought one for only $7. One of the things I love about my Janome is the inexpensive price of the feet. And I have never broken one. My quarter inch foot got bent once and I had to buy a new one. I think I stepped on it, which doesn’t count as breaking. 😉
I am excited to try it and, frankly, I feel like I am about to begin a 3 week sewing vacation where I can sew tote bags and take a break from some of my ongoing projects. I will miss the fact that I may not be able to work on my projects – will have to see what kind of adjustments I can make to the zigzag – but it might give me some perspective.
