May
26
There are different types of embroidery frames. Sometimes, the mere choosing of the most proper embroidery frame for your canvas can be as exasperating as the stitching itself. That is why you should be presented with the various opportunities that different embroidery frames offer.
The first opportunity is not to pick up any embroidery frame. In some cases frames are not necessary, as in canvas work, like painted canvas kits, tassels and Hapsberg lace samples.
Another thing to have in mind is that embroidery frames differ in their price. The inexpensive frames are suitable in some cases, but can be inappropriate in more sophisticated embroidery projects. The inexpensive frames are Ring frames, Q-snaps and Stretcher bar frames.
1)Ring frames are best when the frame is 1 inch deep. If the slot is narrower, the fabric can easily slip. The frames can be wooden or plastic, wooden are the better. The fabric must be kept tight in the frame, but with ring frames several difficulties occur. With smaller fabrics, narrower frames are sufficient to keep the cloth taut. But when the fabric is bigger and the embroidery work more complicated, ring frames are easy to let the canvas slip, they cannot hold it tight enough. Plastic frames are easier to let go of the fabric than wooden ones.
2)Q-snaps are another inexpensive type of embroidery frames. Plastic bars are slotted together and the fabric is clipped on a plastic frame. Another piece of plastic is also slotted over the fabric. But the cloth is not taut enough and can easily slip, compared to the scroll bars, stretcher bars and slate frames used in stitching.
3) Stretcher bars are fairly inexpensive and can be the best possible solution for any kind of embroidery. The stretcher bar frames are wooden and the fabric is kept perfectly taut. The bars are sold in pairs, and every bar has dog teeth that keep the tightness of the fabric. Pairs of stretcher bars can be combined together for bigger fabrics. You can form a rectangular shape for the frames by using two pairs. This type of embroidery frames is perfect for Goldwork kits, Shadow embroidery, Whitework kits, Needle painting kits and modern Jacobean kits.
Then come the more expensive types of embroidery frames used on special projects. They are the following:
1) Scroll frames. They have two pairs of bars screwed to one another so that a rectangular shape is acquired. The only drawback is that sometimes the screws get loose and the fabric is not kept tight. But if this is neglected, scroll bars are perfect, as they can be left on a floor or a table, on virtually any kind of surface, and leave your hands free: you don’t need to hold the frames all the time. The side bars that fit into holes with the main top and bottom bars can sometimes be too short for your fabric, so you must be careful when choosing the size of the frame. Being too short, the side bars can influence the smoothness of the fabric and can leave creases.
2) The second embroidery frame is slate frames. The main bars have tape staples onto which you fit the fabric. Slate frames also have trestles, with which they stand on stable surface. They are extremely comfortable. The side arms are slightly longer than the scroll frames, so that the fabric is protected from creasing.
3) Lacing. It is an improved version of the scroll frames. Scroll frames use only the main bars for tension over the fabric. With lacing, the fabric is sewn on the four sides, on the side bars as well, to ensure better tension so that the canvas is better stretched. If the fabric is soft and tears easily, sew a tape of curtain cloth on the edges and then attach them to the bars.
Article by Robbie Darmona - an article writer who writes on a wide variety of subjects. For more information click Embroidery Frames
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May
25
The case of Kitzmiller v. Dover (ruling made on Dec. 20, 2005) concerned whether Intelligent Design (ID) could be mentioned as an alternative explanation to evolution in a ninth-grade biology class. The school board had directed that the following statement be read in the class:
The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and eventually to take a standardized test of which evolution is a part.
Because Darwin’s Theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.
Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin’s view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People, is available for students who might be interested in gaining an understanding of what Intelligent Design actually involves.
With respect to any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the Origins of Life to individual students and their families. As a Standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on Standards-based assessments.
District Court Judge John Jones, himself a regular church-goer, ruled that ID is only Creationism relabeled, and as such is definitely promoting a particular religious view that includes belief in the God of Christianity. Judge Jones noted that the testimony of expert witnesses for the defendants (the Dover Area School Board) confirmed the religious mission of ID organizations. He further pointed out that the 1987 Supreme Court decision in Edwards v. Arkansas has already declared the teaching of “scientific creationism” in public schools as unconstitutional.
After Edwards, the editors of the ID textbook, Of Pandas and People, merely changed the numerous references to creation and creationism in prior editions to Intelligent Design, with no other change of the content. His conclusion: since the teaching of “scientific creationism” in public schools is unconstitutional, and since Intelligent Design is “scientific creationism” with a new label, teaching in public schools it is also unconstitutional.
Further, Judge Jones said that while ID “may be true, a proposition on which the court takes no position, ID is not science.” This is because science by definition “is limited to empirical, observable and ultimately testable data…. [Its] explanations are restricted to those that can be inferred from the confirmable data - the results obtained through observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. Anything that can be observed or measured is amenable to scientific investigation. Explanations that cannot be based upon empirical evidence are not part of science.”
Judge Jones agreed with the plaintiffs that selecting a supernatural explanation is a “science-stopper,” because “once you attribute a cause to an untestable supernatural force, a proposition that cannot be disproven, there is no reason to continue seeking natural explanations as we have our answer.”
No doubt this ruling will serve as precedent for future and pending creation vs. evolution cases throughout the country and will have a chilling effect on attempts by local school boards to introduce alternative explanations to macroevolution and its underlying religion, secular materialism (atheism relabeled).
The truth is that as long ago as 1859, Louis Pasteur irrefutably proved that spontaneous generation never occurs. We stake our lives on this truth every time we open a can of peas. To claim that life arose spontaneously in the past when experiments in the present demonstrate it is impossible is not science. It is not testable; it is incapable of experimental disconfirmation.
Yet secular materialism continues, not only to be taught, but in the public school science classroom to enjoy a monopoly sanctioned by court rulings such as Kitzmiller. The religion of atheism, under another name, is allowed free reign unchallenged while theism is excluded because of the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
Of course, this will not muzzle discussions of Intelligent Design. Several members of the Dover Area School Board who backed use of the above statement lost their reelection bids on Nov. 8, replaced by members opposed to the policy. The president of the new board, Bernadette Reinking, has revealed that the board now plans to remove ID from the science curriculum and place it in an elective social studies class.
Want to go deeper?
To learn more about Intelligent Design and the ID movement, check out the writings of Phillip E. Johnson, the man regarded as the founder of ID:
- Darwin on Trial
- Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law and Education
- Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds
- The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the Foundations of Naturalism
- Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law, and Culture
- The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning & Public Debate
- The Triumph of Design: And the Demise of Darwin
(Video)
Also valuable is
Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael Behe.
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Copyright ©2006 Steve Singleton
Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles. He has been an editor, reporter, and public relations consultant. He has taught college-level Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses and has taught seminars in 11 states and the Caribbean.
Go to his DeeperStudy.com for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore “The Shallows,” plumb “The Depths,” or use the well-organized “Study Links” for original sources in English translation. Check out the DeeperStudy Bookstore for great e-books, free books, and great discounts. Subscribe to his free “DeeperStudy Newsletter” or “DeeperStudy Blog.”
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May
24
I recently changed my backyard’s look by completing a series of labyrinth designs. As I am well off and have a hundred acres in rural Nova Scotia, I can afford to indulge my passions. One of the things I most desire is earthworks of all types, most especially I have a thing for labyrinth designs.
It probably all started with my studies of Greek myths as a child. I am referring to the story of the amazing Labyrinth designed by Daedalus to hide kind Mino’s dirty little secret, and the curse of the Theban youth, the Minotaur. I couldn’t get the idea of labyrinth designs worthy to a trap and hold such a monster out of my head. I imagined how the victims are forced into the labyrinth, being lost and not managing to find their way out, finally ending being eaten by the Minotaur.
However, I had a real experience in a labyrinth with my first girlfriend once which I will never forget. Sheila and I were sixteen and she was a Wiccan as opposed to her parents’ Christian orthodoxy. One day we happened to find a book of magic and witchcraft offering labyrinth designs. That is how we started building one in the woods.
Even though it is also possible to construct it with nothing but cornstarch, my girlfriend and I made our minds to cut it out of the overgrown hedges which grew down by the pond in the woods. We selected one of the more difficult labyrinth designs from the book but unfortunately didn’t manage to finish it as we ran out of shrubs long before we were done. Even though, we didn’t complete the labyrinth, it was a fun and pleasurable experience for both of us.
The kinds of labyrinths which I have been constructing recently are made of more sturdy stuff. They are build of huge flagstones located some thirty miles from my home. Every single day I drive out with my truck and come back with a flatbed full of rock. Then I spend the rest of the day laying. I made up the labyrinth designs myself. The first one is done while the second is on its way, due to be finished by the summer solstice. Then I will have many friends over to get drunk and get lost in the labyrinths. They will like this experience keeping it as a precious and fun memory.
Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning gardening. Learn more at Labyrinth Design
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