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Carolyn E Holmes

@carolyneholmes.bsky.social

4.4K followers 890 following 3.5K posts

Assistant Professor of Political Science. African Politics, Nationalism, and Democracy. Also quilting. Lots of quilting.

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · Nov 1

New quilt! All made of home-dyed cyanotypes, with plants I collected.

It’s been about 2 years in the making, and I’m so pleased with how it’s coming out.

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 12h

Signed,
A Hetero-married, quilting and baking enthusiast, with two great kids.

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 12h

I honestly hate it SO MUCH.

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 13h

The whole “Taylor’s a would-be trad wife” discourse just makes me earnestly wish for the time to do my politics-of-online-crafting-communities project that I’ve been dreaming of…

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 14h

You can also make your own, to suit your space, and make it look a bit nicer.

www.diaryofaquilter.com/how-to-build...

How to Build a Quilt Design Wall | quilting | Diary of a Quilter

Top US quilting blog, Diary of a Quilter, features a tutorial on how to make your own DIY Quilt Design Wall. Click now for step-by-step instructions!

www.diaryofaquilter.com

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 14h

That’s it, exactly! It’s just a felted side with a printed grid, and the felt has enough friction to (sort of) hold up the blocks, but I also used to put pins through it for security.

I had it in our old house. We don’t have the space for it in our current setup, but a design wall is really so fun.

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 14h

Yes! So I seam ripped out the background on the big star, then y-seamed the little stars into the angles there, and then just sort of cut-as-you-go to make it into a square, and then a square-in-a-square (to put the center medallion on point)

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 15h

Thank you so much!

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 15h

Thank you!!

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 16h

Some quilts just belong on beds! I started it maybe 2.5 years ago, inspired by an old wild star quilt I saw in a book. I abandoned it when it was all separate stars (picture 4), because I didn’t know what to do with it…In my finish-it-Fall-2025, I decided to take it apart and put it back together.

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 21h

Next bit of hatemail I get, I'm just going to respond:

No one has hated my own writing more than me in the third round of revisions. Get. in. line. Sir.

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 1d

I’m just researching the length of the runway at Mswati International Airport…

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 1d

The implications here for US-South Africa relations are…enormous.

Noah Lanard @nlanard.bsky.social · 1d

Some background on the absolute monarchy where the Trump administration is now paying to imprison people deported by ICE

Story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 1d

I mean, I'm pretty sure I got a job because of my winning online personality**

**may not apply in all situations, and certainly does not translate IRL. Terms and conditions apply. Void where prohibited.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 2d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 2d

Absolutely plain salted pasta.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 3d

What foods do you love that you fully acknowledge make you a pervert for loving them?

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 2d

I *know* its politically productive and an unqualified good to build a big tent coalition. I also know that giving people an off ramp is vital to de-radicalization. I that welcoming people in is right.

BUT ALSO.

like...You definitely *did vote* for /the guys/ who *said* they would do all of this.

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 3d

“I voted for none of this."

Prominent influencers, including Theo Von, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Schulz, are starting to distance themselves from the president they helped propel to the White House.

Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 2d

I feel like everyone up in arms about Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl should just be sent a copy of Daniel Immerwahr’s book.

www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/b...

‘How to Hide an Empire’ Shines Light on America’s Expansionist Side (Published 2019)

www.nytimes.com

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 3d

All muppets except Billy Zane!

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 3d

I’m not trying to chime in to the “Male Loneliness Epidemic” discourse, but as the mom of a 5 y/o boy, I gotta say…

….it’s rough out there being a boy trying to navigate the world with feelings…

…because there’s a lot of forces out there working against boys actually feeling their feelings…

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 3d

As a reminder:

1) Elon Musk is not an Afrikaner

2) lots of Afrikaners/Afrikaans and other white South Africans think this is some real nonsense
2a) yes, even many of the real conservative folks are calling BS

3) this is growing out of a decades-long obsession of the American right

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 3d

Ah, so we’re still doing this, I see?

NO REFUGEES**

**except “Afrikaners” - we love those guys. no idea who they are or who qualifies, but love those whi…I mean…guys!

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

Trump Administration Is Said to Plan to Cut Refugee Admissions to a Record Low

www.nytimes.com

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 4d

Don’t dim your light to make others comfortable, Prof Dayal!

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 4d

I regret to inform you that saying “Taylor Swift has clearly *never* read Hamlet” will win you exactly as many friends in your middle age as it would have for you in High School.

So, like…just know that.

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Reposted by Carolyn E Holmes

Shane Burley (Blue Sky Edition) @shaneburley.bsky.social · 5d

For those lucky enough to not know this is a neo-Nazi meme normally found on TRS and the Daily Stormer being shared by the official DHS account.

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Reposted by Carolyn E Holmes

Josh Michtom @rsgat.bsky.social · 5d

Today, I drove an hour and a half with my wife and a couple friends to pick up a neighbor who was summarily, inexplicably arrested by ICE at a check-in ten days ago and then just as inexplicably released, 100 miles from home today. It was a happy occasion, all things considered, but...

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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 5d

$5 thread spool organizer from the thrift store = way more than $5 of
🌈rainbow JOY🌈.

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