Someone in a forum I was reading asked whether sewing and quilting can be considered art, just to get feedback from the group. I certainly think the answer is yes. To see some great historical example, have a look at the quilt collection at The Smithsonian Institution.

Page through the pages, click the quilt, then make sure you click the picture to see a bigger picture and close-ups of details. Remember most of these were done with no sewing machine, and prepare to have your mind blown:

If you own a computer, cellphone, or any other gadget, you should really listen to this fascinating episode of This American Life. Where do you gadgets really come from, and who makes them?

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory

SOPA has been in the news a lot lately. It looks likely to fail, but it has a companion bill, PIPA. The Protect IP act could break the Internet in many ways. People in different countries would not see the same Internet. It would make us as guilty of Internet censorship as we like to complain that China already is, except we would be censoring for corporate greed, not national security. It will help record and movie companies run competitors out of business easily.

I began learning to sew when I was 4 or 5 years old. It was a normal part of childhood for many of the kids in my family to at least learn to thread a needle, sew a straight stitch, and sew on a button. I can remember my grandmother, mother, and aunts sitting around talking and sewing, feeling fascinated to watch dresses, shorts, and even dolls appear from their needles! I've always wanted to be able to do all of that and more, but patience and time in a modern life are the big challenges.

This is a bootanimation I created for the HTC Desire Android smartphone using a public domain snip of Voyager footage that I found on Wikimedia Commons. Unlike the preview animation on the left, the bootscreen zooms in and then zooms back out again. It should also work just fine on Nexus One or any phone with 480x800 resolution. Your phone must also be rooted. Rooting voids your warranty, and I am not responsible if you mess up your phone.

I have a store-bought travel jewelry organizer like this one, and I decided to make one for a friend for Christmas. I thought I was being clever and making it easier by using velcro instead of zippers; wrong! The velcro was very hard to sew through with the thick quilted fabric I chose to use. I recommend you use zippers instead!
The edging is grosgrain ribbon, with a gold satiny ribbon for pull tabs and the tie.

This Shrimp dish well. It was something I made up as I went. It's a bit spicy, but you can adjust to your
taste.

Spicy Asian Shrimp with Brown Rice:

(makes 2 servings)

I had been wanting to add mp3 playing ability to the stereo in my Ford Sport Trac. Happily, I found a device on eBay, and got it for a good price. It is the FRD03-POD/S listed on this page: pie.net

This was a very easy installation! This is how you remove a stereo on many Fords:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN_mYWmbQPI

After putting it off for a good while, I've finally made a padded messenger bag for my laptop. This bag is designed to fit my oddly sized Averatec 2500 series laptop. It should fit most 12-13 inch laptops. I began by reading many tutorials on the Internet, and then measuring my laptop. Then I drew up a patern in Illustrator, since I could use real inches instead of pixels. I printed the pattern and taped the pages together. Then I cut out the large pieces and started sewing. After creating the basic pattern, I also made some changes and last-minute decisions as I sewed.

This is a simple laptop sleeve that I made for myself so I can carry the computer in any bag I choose. All fabric is solid black except for the rose print on the front.

Here's a link to an image with more details and instructions included(it's large). Once this page loads,
click "download" to get the full-sized image with instructions:

http://celtic-chrys.deviantart.com/art/Chrys-Laptop-Sleeve-94414017

The steps: