Stuff

FISTS YOU

the cambrian period is TOMORROW!!!

Doctors are to black women what police officers are to black men. That may seem controversial but I believe it to be true and I speak from personal experience.

If you've seen this TikTok you know that a 2016 study showed that 50% of medical students and residents thought that black people couldn't feel pain the same as white people.

And we learned from this video that because of a 1999 study, to this day, there's a black correction factor for the creatinin levels in black people's kidneys, meaning we're less likely to recieve a kidney transplant if needed.

So if you go to a doctor, feel you aren't getting proper treatment or they refuse the treatment you've requested, say to them the following:

If you weren’t already going to spread this advice because black women are at risk, then spread it because it’s applicable to everyone else as well, including you reading this.

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

FPP = foundation paper piecing

Unicorn Harts - FPP, all patterns are great for beginners, and many of the patterns are free. I love her patterns and highly recommend them. If you’re looking for zodiac stuff, this is a great designer to consider.

Violet Craft - FPP, patterns range from beginner to advanced, and many are free as well as low cost. She has full quilt patterns instead of just blocks available.

Quiet Play - FPP, patterns range from beginner to advanced, several are free as well as low cost. She has blocks and full quilt patterns. Lots of free Star Wars blocks as well as a pattern for making a quilt using those.

Fandom In Stitches - FPP, 100% free, but take note that what you make with most of these patterns cannot be sold. What you make must be free as gifts, trades, or kept for yourself. I used this site for the last Quilt Block Swap.

Lilly Ella - FPP and traditional, many free and low cost, geared more towards moderate and advanced but a few are good for beginners. Those butterflies I recently made? Her pattern. She has blocks and full projects, like making a sewing machine cover and fabric baskets.

Sew So Easy - FPP and traditional, everything is free. From the very beginners to advanced, clothes, various projects, quilts, all of it is free. They put out a newsletter every week with new stuff on the website.

Gnome Angel - FPP and traditional, free and low cost, PDF and physical books, full quilt patterns as well as individual blocks, and she has quilt-a-long events. If you’re looking for a quilt that uses 100 different blocks for less than $30, this is who you should check out. They write the patterns with FPP and traditional quilt options.

Teresa Down Under - FPP and traditional, free and low cost, PDF and physical copies, full quilt patterns and individual blocks. She’s the one who taught me how to FPP! She loves interacting with her followers and teaching people how to quilt. She has a Youtube channel as well!

Sew Hooked - FPP and traditional, free and low cost, and has a lot of fun fandom things to check out. Beginner and advanced options. They participate in quilt events, like sew-a-longs, and give reviews on a few things.

Generations Quilt Patterns - FPP and traditional, all free, very beginner to advanced. There aren’t any full quilt patterns, just blocks. Still my favorite website to use for figuring out patterns I wanna use. An excellent site for making a sampler quilt (a quilt made using a bunch of different blocks).

Carol Doak - FPP, free, beginner to advanced. The quilt block designer who made my favorite quilt books. All those little blocks with stars, trees, houses, and other small things? Nearly all were designed by her. She has several books, and if you opt to buy any, consider getting the 300 blocks book seeing as the smaller ones are also in it.

Crafty Nomad - FPP, beginner to advanced, low cost but with free tutorials. I’ve not used her patterns before, but they look to be geared towards all levels. I have a difficult time learning from videos being a more in-person and diagrams with pictures and instructions kind of person.

My Pattern Search - I did a google search using “free quilt patterns -pinterest” (minus the quotation marks) to get a general collection without Pinterest showing up. When you look for patterns and don’t wanna be flooded with Pinterest boards, use -pinterest. You can do the same with -amazon, -walmart, and various other sites you don’t want showing up in search results.

Quilting Daily - This is an excellent website with all sorts of projects from very beginner to advanced! Sign up for the newsletter if you don’t mind getting one daily. They have giveaways and other events you receive notice of in the newsletters.

Fave Quilts - FPP and traditional, all are free, from beginner to advanced. Some of the info they list, like the links, may no longer be valid, so look over the patterns carefully. They link to other websites with the patterns.

Stashify - FPP and traditional, all free, from beginner to advanced. They won’t be adding new things to the site since Covid19, but they do still have patterns listed.

All About Quilts - FPP and traditional, all free, from beginner to advanced. There’s a video on the page showing how to make FPP blocks. There are full quilts listed as well as individual blocks.

All People Quilt - FPP and traditional, nearly all are free and have at one point or another been in various quilt magazines, lots of pictures, download, and print options. I’ve used many of the patterns featured on the website. There are also tips and tricks available on the blog and articles they post.

Fat Quarter Shop - Traditional, focused primarily on using precuts. The patterns range from beginner to advanced, with lots of pictures, download, and print options. This particular link is to their free patterns.

Moda Fabrics and Moda Fabrics Wordpress - Mostly traditional, with pictures, download, and print options to choose from. Beginner to advanced. The second link has virtually no organization, but it’s all free.

Bear Creek Quilting Company - Mostly traditional with a lot of pics. Beginner to advanced.

Quilter’s Cache - Mostly traditional and it’s just quilt blocks. The site is difficult to navigate, so I haven’t done much exploring. Seeing as it’s mostly just quilt blocks, I suggest using Generations (link up above) because they’re also just blocks but far easier to navigate.

The Fabric Hut - they created an ebook with 161 patterns, 100% free, for download.

Wombat Quilts - FPP and all free

Internet Archive - You will need an account, which is free, and will then be able to borrow these books for an hour each. There are over 1000 quilting books with patterns uploaded to the archive.

My Personal Collection of Free Patterns - This is a Dropbox folder with free patterns I’ve collected. Download whatever files you want. I’ll add more as I find them, but make sure you check out the links available on some of the patterns for more information regarding them.

APQS - A variety of FPP and traditional, all of which are downloadable and free.

McCall’s Quilt Blocks - 150+ free quilt block patterns

The Sewing Loft - This is full of free patterns, with quilting, sewing projects, tutorials, videos, and all sorts of other goodies. Oh, and 100+ quilt block patterns you can download.

Sewing With Scrap - This website focuses on using scraps, and it’s packed with free patterns, tutorials, and projects.

Crafty Staci - Loads of free blocks and patterns, including several Block-of-the-Month projects.

DuckaDilly - This is their free downloads website. It has patterns, templates, and other goodies for you.

Sew Can She - This is all free quilt patterns. Some are very beginner, some are not. There are also some non-quilt patterns in there too.

Tilda’s World - Free quilt and doll patterns.

Always Expect Moore - this is all her free patterns, but she has several others available for purchase.

Leila Gardunia - These are primarily FPP and all are free. They also have a shop! This is also one of my favorite designers, and you’ll see why when you see the patterns.

Quilting Daily’s Free Block Library A-H - all free quilt blocks and tutorials

Quilting Daily’s Free Block Library I-Q - all free quilt blocks and tutorials

Quilting Daily’s Free Block Library R-Z - all free quilt blocks and tutorials

Patchwork Posse Charm Pack Patterns - this has over 35 free quilt patterns designed for using charm packs. Very beginner friendly!

Scattered Thoughts - free quilt patterns and all very beginner friendly.

Subscription Boxes - This is a longer post I made, and it contains links to various subscription boxes. Most of these contain at least one pattern, and each of these has a monthly subscription option. Please read over it if a subscription box might be something you or someone you know may be interested in receiving.

Riley Blake Designs - free patterns, but make sure to be patient because some may take several minutes to download.

Pattern Posse - free quilt patterns and tutorials. This link is all jelly roll patterns.

There are many other designers out there; these are just what I have saved and/or used. Remember to check all the info on the patterns! Some have rules like not selling the finished items/quilts, and others require just mentioning/tagging them when you post the projects online.