Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

The revolution will be supervised.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Let’s finish the job.

No Justins, No Peace

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

You are here: Home / Artists In Our Midst / Mad Skills

Mad Skills

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As many of you know, I’m in touch with a lot of my old buddies from the Army and we have stayed in touch for over 30 years. When I was in the 11th ACR in Germany, I was on the CO’s tank, and we became really good friends. I was his driver and then later gunner on the tank and I was his HMMW driver, so we were basically inseparable. At any rate, he is of Ukrainian descent, and this war has been really hard on him, so I asked our resident quilting expert to make him a quilt like the one we auctioned off.

She is amazing:

Reader Interactions

113Comments

  12. 12.

    scav

    Temporally speaking, that is both impressive and still somehow morbid that the war is a quilt + old. Gorgeous quilt in itself all the same.

  17. 17.

    oldster

    Beautiful quilt. Slava Ukraina!
    Open thread:
    My wife went to the garden store, told me she just wanted to check the nursery stock options.
    She comes home, and it’s more like a hasta takeover.

  21. 21.

    Skepticat

    A beautiful gesture and a beautiful work of art. That should warm both heart and body.

  24. 24.

    Jackie

    The quilt is beautiful! What a thoughtful gift for your CO, John. He will cherish it.

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    Even a thick person such as myself appreciates the sunflower motif. And the colors just shout “springtime.” Great.

  29. 29.

    Van Buren

    @oldster: About 10 days ago my wife declared that we are not going to spend another penny on plants this year.

    Since then we have spent, AFAICT, $193 and change.

  32. 32.

    dnfree

    @oldster: Sorry, if you’re going to have a lot of them in your yard, it’s hosta.  And there certainly are a lot of varieties.  But if she was looking for deer-resistant, they aren’t, especially the smaller-leafed varieties.

  38. 38.

    Ohio Mom

    Gorgeous quilt and a lovely gesture.

    I imagine watching the war from afar is doubly excruciating for someone with Ukrainian roots and a military background. To me, the details about the fighting mean nothing. Questions like, Is that a long time to hold a position, is that a risky strategy, I dunno. I can’t Monday morning quarterback but someone who can and is invested, this has to be agonizing.

    I hope the quilt brings him some joy and comfort.

  40. 40.

    Quiltingfool

    It was a true blessing making this quilt and I appreciate that John gave me the opportunity to do this for his friend.

    I don’t have any Ukrainian ancestry (my ancestors weren’t Mayflower travelers, more like cheap steerage from Ireland and Scotland, lol), so I’ve wondered why the war in Ukraine has affected me so much. I think it’s because Ukrainians are fighting for the right to self-determination, to govern themselves. You know, like Americans did about 250 years or so ago? These folks have courage and grit. They aren’t backing down. I admire them so much.

    The quilts I make to raise money to help isn’t much, just a tiny drop, but it’s something that I can do, and the support from the good folk here at Balloon Juice is truly appreciated.

  42. 42.

    J R in WV

    We have native hostas volunteering in the front yard, and yes, the deer do predate on them pretty badly. Wife sprays deer repellent on them, which works well until the next heavy rain. The deer come right up to the tiny pond by our front door, have had one on the back deck outside the bedroom.

    Smells terrible, I think the main odor component is decayed eggs… Dogs don’t seem to mind it, you know how they can be… the worse it smells the more they like it, but for skunks. Speaking of which, traditionally we had skunks with two stripes for ever, but now we have spotted skunks showing up, and they smell worse yet than striped skunks! Ask me how I know… fortunately our dogs seem to quit going for skunks after their first big learning experience. They may hate the bathing process afterwards more than they hate the gas attack.

  44. 44.

    randy khan

    That’s really lovely.  And I liked that color combination even before the war.

  45. 45.

    realbtl

    John I love it when you drop the crusty-old-fart-in-training to let the real JC out.

  46. 46.

    dnfree

    @J R in WV:  We use the Ortho Deer B Gon spray, which has a pleasant smell more like cloves. It works until a hard rain or several softer rains.

  49. 49.

    Gretchen

    Has anyone else been watching Servant of the People?  It’s the tv show President Zelinsky made before he went into politics.  It’s on Netflix and it’s wonderful – funny, charming, but earnest in the hope that decent, honest people can prevail over corruption and cruelty.  I was sorry when I’d finished watching all the episodes.  It’s in Russian with English subtitles.

  53. 53.

    Redshift

    @Van Buren:

    About 10 days ago my wife declared that we are not going to spend another penny on plants this year.

    Since then we have spent, AFAICT, $193 and change.

    But did the change include any pennies?

  56. 56.

    SoCalKaren

    As a wannabe quilter myself, I truly admire the workmanship of the quilt.  What a fabulous talent!

  57. 57.

    Amir Khalid

    @oldster:

    @zhena gogolia:

    If we want to say something in a language we don’t normally speak or understand, we should learn to say it right. Not least, out of respect for the sentiment expressed in words like Slava Ukraini. Zhena Gogolia is welcome to correct my Ukrainian anytime.

  61. 61.

    zhena gogolia

    @Amir Khalid: I think you speak several languages I don’t know, so the feeling is mutual!

    I don’t speak Ukrainian either, but it isn’t hard to learn this phrase. I wasn’t targeting one commenter, since the phrase appeared in three different wrong versions in this thread.

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    @Amir Khalid: He’s apparently trying to thread the needle in hopes that he’ll have a parliamentary majority.

    France24:

    France’s rejuvenated left-wing parties appear to be gaining ground on President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist allies ahead of parliamentary elections later this month, raising fears for the ruling party that it may fail to secure a majority.

    A new poll, published late Wednesday by the Ifop-Fiducial group, suggested Macron’s Ensemble (“Together”) coalition would win 275-310 seats in the vote, possibly below the 289 needed for a majority.

    The first round will be held on June 12 and the second one week later on June 19. It is only then that the shape of the new parliament will be clear.

    A new grouping of left-wing parties led by hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon was seen making major gains with 170-205 seats, the poll suggested.

    “We’re taking it seriously because in the media and in the polls the only person who exists, apart from the presidential majority, is Jean-Luc Melenchon,” senior ruling party MP Aurore Berge told France 2 television on Thursday.

    She said Melenchon’s new “Nupes” coalition, which includes the Greens, Socialists and Communists, was the only “strong and credible” alternative.

    […]

    Dunno.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  68. 68.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: There’s a faction in Europe that wants to take a softer approach to the war. I don’t know why* but Macron and Draghi better wake up here. They need to avoid the stench of appeasement, mostly because there is no appeasing Vladdie.

    * it could be because they want to keep that sweet sweet Russian oil flowing. Also: Macron has a parliamentary election coming up and he might need to keep the hawks down to avoid a bloodbath for the centre-right.

    EDIT: Or what Another Scott Said. :P

  69. 69.

    Baud

    @Amir Khalid:

    Someone needs to send him a quilt.

     

    @Another Scott:

    That would be an interesting result after the French presidential election and then the lefty victory in Australia and UK.

    (Although apparently the left wing parties fell apart in Ontario).

     

    ETA: Not sure what “hard left” means in France.

  70. 70.

    Feathers

    Seeing this beautiful blue and yellow quilt reminded me of the belly laugh I had the other day when someone tagged a post about the Uvalde police with #BlueLivesScatter.

  71. 71.

    Kelly

    @J R in WV: We’ve kept the deer away with a Yard Enforcer sprinkler. It is triggered by a battery operated motion detector. Spooks the deer when it starts up. Runs less than a minute. It get’s me once in a while. Batteries last a long time.

  72. 72.

    oldster

    @Amir Khalid:

    “If we want to say something in a language we don’t normally speak or understand, we should learn to say it right.”

    Agreed! At least as close to right as our own limitations allow us to come.

    “Zhena Gogolia is welcome to correct my Ukrainian anytime.”

    Mine too.

    Also, English speakers are welcome to correct my English, French speakers to correct my French, truth speakers to correct my truth, stereo speakers to correct my stereo, and so on. I’m open to correction.

  73. 73.

    Leto

    There’s a WW2 Memorial Air Show happening at the regional airport down the road. So this weekend the sky above our house is filled with the buzzing sounds of old prop planes. Seen so far: B-39, B-25, B-24, P-51, P-40, and the WW2 era Navy torpedo plane. They’re still absolutely beautiful and continue to fill me with wonder.

  79. 79.

    RaflW

    What a wonderful (and cozy) work of art!

    It’s drizzling here in SE Wisconsin at the cabin – though we need a real, full-on rain.

  80. 80.

    Gin & Tonic

    @zhena gogolia: Thanks for the correction. I keep meaning to write a piece about the complex and interesting history of that phrase. Maybe I’ll get to it next week.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    @Torrey: Sometime this week I will feature the quilt she just made for me.  It just arrived on Thursday.

    It’s a whimsical cat quilt – she does amazing work.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    Amazing!  Slava Ukraini!

    I’m so emotional – my baby graduated from high school yesterday.

  96. 96.

    Barbara

    @Amir Khalid: Like many alpha males he feels the pain of being publicly humiliated? Ukraine isn’t humiliating Russia, Russia is humiliating itself. But like many battered spouses, Ukraine is told that it is imperative that it assuage the ego of a violent abuser. It never works.

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: It will be nice for everyone to know you’ll all be together for a bit in September.

    I have written twice about the music blogging and Greece blogging, but if there was a response I missed it.

    Do you know if he’s still interested?  Fingers crossed that he is.

  104. 104.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @zhena gogolia: 

    I saw an AP headline in the paper today, “Russia to Stay” and how they now control 20% of Ukrianian territory. The article discussed Russian-installed administrations in talks to join Russia, expediting Russian passports, etc.

    Doesn’t sound very good to me, tbh. They’re in for a grind. Adam has commented how there will likely be a global food shortage and starvation in Africa and the Middle East, which Putin is counting on as well as the GOP taking at least the House, stopping any future aid after January 2023

    Very harrowing. I hope this war can start going in a positive direction and result in decisive UA victory

  106. 106.

    Liminal Owl

    @eachother: Love that!

    @ everyone: Seconded and thirded and… whatever we’re up to now.  Even if I’m once again too late with a comment.  But oh, what a gorgeous quilt!

    @Quiltingfool:  Thank you for creating such beauty.
    I can’t help wondering whether your feelings about Ukraine might have even deeper roots than the American Revolution. An argument could be made that Ireland and Scotland’s relations with England bear a resemblance to Ukraine’s relationship to Russia, no?

  107. 107.

    raven

    New Wilco dropped, “II love my country like a little boy
    Red, white, and blue
    I love my country, stupid and cruel
    Red, white, and blue”.

  109. 109.

    Ohio Mom

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  Yeah, when I look at those maps Adam posts, the pink crescent in the southeast has been looking pretty much the same for a good while. Here and there the line moves one or the other but not significantly. But the Ukraines did get the Russians confined to that corner, so that’s something.

  111. 111.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t know, but my guess would be he’s referring to how Hitler played off of Germany’s humiliation in the Treaty of Versailles at the end of WWI to build an Germany-against-the-world mentality. I think that he’s saying that, after Putin, we should be careful not to give the next Russian dictator who comes along leverage to be even worse than Putin.

    But, as I said, I’m guessing, and I may well be wrong about this. I don’t know the context.

  113. 113.

    Denali

    ‘@Gretchan,

    I love Servant of the People. The 2nd season is even more zany than the first. I am just not sure of the time line of the plot. Does it really end just before the comedian decided to run for President?  Life is pretty good at imitating art, but the series does not deal with the Russian threat.

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