Reading Blogs Is Even Easier!

I made a new discovery by reading this post that has made reading and commenting on blogs so much easier and more efficient!

I shared it with my sister, and she is loving it just as much as I do. Maybe some of you have already discovered the Google "Next" button. But it's new to me, as I'm sure it may be new to some of you.

I've been using Google Reader to subscribe to and read blogs and it's been great. But the Google Next button takes it one step further and the greatest thing is that you can actually read the posts right from the actual blogs, and the button just takes you from one blog to the next from your Reader list with just one click.

I have Window's Vista and Internet Explorer. So if you use something else, it may be different. But here's what I did to set it up...

First you need to add the Links Bar on your browser if it's not already there. Find the Tools menu on the right side at the top. Click on Toolbars, then make sure there is a check by Links.

Tools>Toolbars>Links

This should put a Links toolbar up there below where the webpage address is.

Next go to Google Reader (if you already have subscriptions set up in Google Reader) and at the upper right click Settings, then click on the Goodies tab.

Settings>Goodies

There you will find the Next button that you can drag to your Links toolbar.

Now every time you click on the Google Next button, it will take you to one of the blogs in your Google Reader that has been updated. You can read the post right on the blog itself, comment, then hit Next again and go to the next blog on your list.

You can also drag other links up to the links bar, like webpages you want easy access to. Just go to the webage you want, click and drag the icon to the left of the address to the Links bar. Here's a picture of my Links bar:

See the little Google Next button up there at the end of the Links bar? Pretty cool. try it, you'll love it!

Piecing Batting

I cannot throw away the strips of batting that are left over after cutting off a piece of batting for a quilt. The pieces are too small for a baby quilt, yet it seems like such a waste to throw them away. Lately I've been using up my batting scraps pile by piecing them together so that they are large enough for a baby quilt or wall hanging. It makes me feel like I'm saving money and using what I have. And that's a good feeling.

Maybe there's someone out there that hasn't tried piecing together batting for a quilt. So I thought I'd share what I do.

I lay the pieces next to each other so that they are overlapping by a small amount.

Then I lay my ruler over that small double layer and cut a straight line all the way from one end to the other.

As you can see you end up with your two sides with a nice straight edge for sewing, and two small strips that are to be thrown away.

Next I take the two pieces to my sewing machine and choose a large zig zag stitch. I butt my pieces together with them centered under my foot, and guide with a hand on each side to make sure it is feeding evenly.

When you're done sewing, your batting is ready to use in your quilt. And no one will ever know that the batting inside is pieced.

But my secret is out...yes I pieced the batting for my DQS4 quilt. And now on to the quilting!