Jelly Roll Rug and Thread Treat

So here’s the most recent project that’s caught my eye: the jelly roll rug. I know some of you have been making them. And I’ve been admiring.

You may recall that one of my goals has been to use up my boatload of jelly rolls and 2 1/2” strips. I’m not sure where a rug like this would end up being used in my house but I’m sure it will be! 

I ordered the pattern and two rolls of the 2 1/2” batting today from The Fat Quarter Shop. Yeah, I know I don’t really need the pattern as there are tons of videos and tutorials out there on it, but I’m not in the mood to think at the moment, plus I like supporting indie pattern designers. Also, I know I could cut my own dang strips of batting (and have scraps I could use up) but, again, for now, there’s the “not wanting to have to think” thing paired with the “instant gratification” thing I’ve got going on. So little time to sew, don’t really want to spend most of it slicing and dicing and piecing mini batting strips together to get the length I need. Maybe for a second rug down the line... 

I have two weeks off between my jobs and yes, indeed, I plan to spend a lot of that in the sewing room.  

And maybe I’ll end up with a cute little area rug to brighten up my new office in November.  

Oh, and the thread treat? While I was on the Fat Quarter Shop website I succumbed to the lure of their Aurifil Thread Club. I haven’t bitten that hook for a couple of years now because I don’t want to end up with boatloads of odd-colored thread (I mostly use neutrals). But I’m an Aurifil girl, so maybe having pretty pretty threads hitting my sewing room every month will keep me in said sewing room, you know, sewing! 

A Life Update—Significant Changes

So for those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you now know (although you may not have realized it) why I haven’t been posting a whole lot these last few months. I was in a process that I couldn’t talk about publicly—and that was the main thing taking up all my brain power, so I never felt like I had much else I wanted to talk about. I have just accepted a new ministry position that will start in early November. I finish my current position in late October. Although I’m still denominational staff, it’s in a very different way: the new position will be REALLY new for me—all sorts of a learning curve. I. Can’t. Wait. It feels very, very right. I’m already being welcomed in by my new networks-to-be and my calendar is already filling up with requests for my time. I’m looking forward to having new challenges in front of me.

On the other hand, I will really miss the women I’ve been working with for the last 17 years. I’ve been getting wonderful messages of support since the news went public. I joked with a friend of mine that reading Facebook and email has become a sort of “This Is Your Life, Sandra Hasenauer,” with people sharing memories and moments that I’d entirely forgotten about. It’s been very bittersweet. Fortunately, we’re a small enough denomination that I know I’ll keep running into many of them at denominational events in the future. Still, I’m going from a network of relationships I’ve grown quite comfortable with and close to, to having to build an entirely new one. We’ve talked about that introvert thing before! 

What that has meant for the blog and podcast is that I just haven’t felt like I had much to say since I couldn’t yet talk about the thing that was taking up most of my attention. I haven’t been at my sewing machine much, I haven’t done any embroidery, and there are even bigger cobwebs in my dye studio than there were when I was in school. I have been sort of living life in limbo, in a way. Funny how our mental state can have an impact on everything else. It’s not that I’ve been particularly busy or anxious. I just had difficulty wanting to focus on anything. 

And now, having officially gotten the new position, I’m still not sure what my future will look like. I strongly suspect it will be a lot busier than it’s been. I’ll have a lot more travel on my schedule, although it’ll largely be more in my control rather than being told where I need to be and when. I’ll be preaching a lot more, and bringing greetings and generally being present at congregational and community events. I think there are a lot of chicken and spaghetti dinners in my future. I’ll be on the phone a LOT, and I’ll be spending a lot of time in coffee shops with folks, and I know for sure I’ll be in meetings. And then there’s all that administrative stuff that will still be on my desk for when I am not in coffee shops or on phones or eating chicken or preaching.

I haven’t officially gotten myself to put the podcast to bed, but I will be honest with you and say it’s extremely unlikely I’ll have the time to get back to it. I think the only reason I haven’t just cut it off is more from affectionate memory of enjoying doing it than a realistic expectation it will ever happen again. (I think iTunes may have cut me off at this point anyway.) I’m trying to get my mojo back for quilting because I know that it’s great stress relief. I think I have to start putting it into my calendar like everything else instead of just thinking “well, I’ll do it if I have time.” When I have time, I’m still more inclined to sit down with a novel. 

But now that the deed is done and I have been officially voted in and notification has gone out to my current organization so we can all just move on, I am working on setting up new schedules, new habits, new plans. The podcast won’t be a part of it. But quilting and embroidery will be. So this blog will return to talking about interesting sewing stuff and not just be about clothing subscription boxes. Although there will still be some of that—after all, I’m no longer working in a home office and have needed to ratchet up the ol’ work wardrobe! 

Thanks for your patience, and stay tuned! 

Trunk Club Try-On--Input Needed!

I have extremely mixed feelings about Trunk Club, but every time I decide I'll never do it again they come through with a bit of a win. Frequently the stylist sends me things I'd never in a million years wear, and some things that, although I might normally consider them, the price point is too high. This time, however, there are several things in the box that I'm seriously debating, so I need your input.

Here's what the box looks like when you open it up--not very fancy like some of the subscription boxes, but you're also getting a lot more stuff. It varies by box, but this time I had two pairs of shoes, two pairs of pants, two cardigans, two jackets, three tops, and a bracelet. I feel like maybe there was even more than that. Between the pics and video below, you'll see all of them.

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The jewelry included this time was a very nice gold (plated) bracelet with an interesting pull-tie type of closure. It's pretty and, if I weren't keeping other things, I might have seriously considered it.  At $35, it's higher than I normally go for bracelets (most of mine have been bought at flea markets for around $10!) but still reasonable, especially for Nordstroms. However, I don't wear bracelets all that often and I've got plenty for the times I do wear them, so although I liked it, this is a return.

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I've returned to the try-on videos for everything else. Let me know what you think! By the way, I said in the video a few times I only had three days to decide. Trunk Club is actually a five day decision-period. So I'll wait to do my return until Monday. That gives you the weekend to help me decide! (And by the way, I've already decided to keep the coral "babydoll" style top--in fact, I'm wearing it today because it's stinkin' hot and muggy out!)

As I'm posting this, YouTube is still processing the video. I have to run out the door for appointments so I can't wait. If you try to watch this immediately and you can't get the video--try it again later. The video is about 12 1/2 minutes long. You can use YouTube's tools to click through faster if you'd like. When I get back from my appointments I'll try to remember to update this blog post with more information about the clothes--in a hurry right now!

Modeling Monday (StitchFix August 2018)

Okay, so I got some feedback that you really prefer seeing the clothes on. Much as I'm not keen with post-foot-surgery-weight-gain, here goes. 

I got my StitchFix box on Friday and it would've been 5-for-5 except this canvas tote that was way too close to one they'd sent me the first year. I use that one all the time--in fact, it's currently my flute lesson tote--but I really don't need a replica. In the grand schemes of things, other than the fabric, color, and materials, it's a different tote--this one is more hand-bag sized and shaped, and I like the little zipper pouch, but it's nothing I really see myself using all the time at the moment. However, I have a sister-in-law that expressed interest so it's already been passed along.

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I'd asked my stylist for "transitional" items--things I could feasibly wear now in the summer but would transition easily into cooler weather in the fall.

This sleeveless top totally fits the bill! It's a Daniel Rainn Marcelle Tie Neck Top. I'm not good at identifying fabrics that aren't 100% cotton (hazards of being a quilter and not a garment sewer), but it's got sort of a silky feel to it, although it's not sheer. It fits beautifully and absolutely makes my boho side happy. And due to the colors, it'll easily work in the fall under cardigans of various fall hues. I've already worn this to a family event this weekend and was very comfortable in 85 degree heat. Definite keeper!

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Speaking of "under a cardigan..."

This is the Honey Belle Rivington Textured Open Cardigan. It does work perfectly with this top, although I'd probably usually go with a navy blue cardigan (or a rust or gold, which will go on my next "ask" for my stylist). It's arguably not the best color for me but, honestly, up here in snow country, people don't tend to quibble about what thick, comfy cardigan you're wearing when the snow is flying outside. This is a good mid-weight knit. Too warm to wear right now but won't break me into a sweat in the fall. (I have another comfy cardigan that I can only wear when it's at its coldest outside because it's too heavily knit.) This will be a good office-cardy. 

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I can't wait until I can start wearing this one! It's a very lightweight knit but it's so hot and humid today that I immediately wanted to rip it off as soon as I took this pic.

This is the Laila Jayde Bowie 3/4 sleeve Dolman Knit top. Again, it's a lightweight knit so it'll be absolutely perfect as our nights get cooler and then into the fall. I do have to wear a cami under it as the neckline is a little low--and it's a slouchy design so the neckline tends to work its way even lower pretty quickly. 

It's casual but given my normal work environment I could wear it with nicer pants and maybe a cami with a little lace on top and still get away with it for a lot of my work events, which is nice. And with a funky scarf in the fall? Sold! 

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I like this shirt, I'm not happy with the way I currently look in this shirt, but it'll be good motivation to get back on that bandwagon. If I can focus, I should be easily able to look a little more "smooth" in this shirt by early winter, and it's a shirt I'd easily wear until next spring.

This is the Daniel Rainn Darrel Crochet Yoke Knit Top. Although it's a bit clingy, it's not actually at all uncomfortable or tight. With the pleating down the front it would actually be pretty slimming, so for now I'll likely just wear it under jackets or blazers or whatnot until I can deal with some issues. Meanwhile, I like the fact that it has the crochet top but isn't as revealing as many lace or crochet tops are. The shape of the hem is also pretty flattering--or would be, anyway.

It's a basic navy top I can easily throw on with jeans or dress pants and feel presentable. The fabric is nicely breathable too, so even though this is long sleeve I didn't feel as immediately warm in it today as I did in the dolman knit top. 

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Now, back to my first Dia & Co box and the deliberation over the yellow top. I thought, as long as I was modeling clothes for you, I'd go ahead and snap a pic of me wearing the top so you can see what I mean about the color. 

Although it's a little tough to see in the bathroom lighting, you can tell I immediately look washed out. However, I just love the shape and feel of it, and I do think it would work well under a navy cardigan with some gold shiny jewelry--that would help pick up the color in my face again. The tie can go front or back but I do actually like it in the front, especially if it's under a cardigan. That would be a nice unexpected little detail. 

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to find out if they have it in other colors. I'll keep you posted on that.

If you're interested in trying Stitch Fix, here's my referral code! Thank you in advance!

Togs Thursday--Dia & Co

Okay, so that doesn't work quite so well as "Wardrobe Wednesday." Still, I have a bit of a clothing subscription box update.

I tried out a new subscription clothing box (new for me, anyway). Actually, I talked my daughter into trying it out first and then succumbed myself. I've had a pretty stressful summer, and am unhappy with how I've regained weight from the foot surgery and all my wonderful new clothes from before no longer fit quite right, so I indulged in some retail therapy. I don't know if I'll keep this one up but I have to say I was really impressed with their customer service, regardless.

So the new one is Dia & Co. It's a subscription that focuses solely on plus sizes: 14-32. My daughter and I wear close to the same size although we have very different heights and body shapes, and we're 28 years apart in age, so I thought it might also be interesting to see how they dealt with both of us.

DD got her box a couple of days before mine, and hers was a 5-for-5. She was really happy. It had two very cute tops, a pair of dress pants, a pair of jeans, and a necklace. I wasn't as keen on the dress pants on her but she said they were really comfortable and would work great for work, and she's 25 so her choice. Everything else looked fantastic on her, though. The jeans fit her perfectly and looked great--although, like with most pants, she really ought to have them hemmed. (She's my fun-sized daughter at 5'2".) She wouldn't let me post pics on the blog--sorry about that! 

I was encouraged by seeing her box, but I wondered if the company would do as well with someone of advanced years. There are a lot of things DD and I can swap out--we have similar tastes in style, too--but I've tried other boxes (translate: Wantable) in the past that just skewed way too young for me. 

I got my Dia box yesterday. When I first pulled the items out of the box (at 9:30 pm after just having walked in the door from a one-day turn-around flight down and back to Philly for meetings, requiring me to have gotten up at 4a), I looked at all of them and said, "meh, I doubt I'll keep any of these." Today, when I was feeling marginally more fresh and definitely in a better mood, I actually tried them on. At the moment, I'm definitely keeping two, likely keeping a third, and will only keep the other two if my daughter wants them. 

It comes in the usual bundle, with a letter from the stylist. It didn't feel overly personalized to me at first (you fill out the usual quiz when you sign up and let them know what you want/don't want), but after I thought about it, I realized she probably had tried to personalize it to me as best she could given the comments I'd made.

But none of these subscription box stylists seem to know what the words "bright colors" mean. Apparently true bright isn't the thing these days, because I NEVER get anything I think of as actually bright no matter how many times I ask.

I'm using the pics from the app of what was in my box because trust me, with yesterday's trip, I do NOT look good enough for style photos today, LOL. You'll just have to imagine what these look like on!

This blouse is the one that sent me into a conversation with Dia's customer service. I love the blouse--it fits beautifully, it's a great material, and I love the fact that the tie can go in front or back as well as being able to adjust how form-fitting it is. It's very flattering. At least, it's flattering in terms of the cut and style. The color, not so much. This is not a great shade of yellow on me. I need more saturated, more golden yellow. This made me look even more overtired than I already am. I checked in with customer service to see if it's possible to exchange it for color. It comes in two other colors (coral and teal) but they were sold out in both of those in my size. She gave me an extension on my return date to see if they get any more in their next shipment (she has no way of knowing ahead of time). If they don't, I'll keep this one and just, in true Tim Gunn form, make it work. It would be adorbs under a navy blazer or cardigan--of which I own both--which also makes it a good transitional piece summer to fall. And if I wear it by itself, I'll just wear shiny gold jewelry and really, really good make-up that day.

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This blouse was a total miss for me. The color is worse on me than the yellow blouse above--I looked even more tired (like, totally strung out, death-warmed-over, should-be-crashed-on-the-couch-the-rest-of-the-day tired) in this color. It also had no shape on me. It just hung all over.

My daughter is going to try it on when she comes over this weekend as with her different body shape it may work better on her than it does on me. This isn't her usual color or style, but I think the color would look better on her too. The only reason I even asked her if she's interested is because, in the way these subscription boxes often work, I only save $10 if I send two things back rather than keeping the whole box, because of the various discounts you get. So for $10, if she likes it, she can have it.

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When I first pulled this out of the box, I thought, "Nah, I don't really need another dress." Then when I tried it on today, that changed to, "But hey, I really need THIS dress." I absolutely love the way this fits and feels on me. 

The neckline is great--it's pleated to have the visual effect of a deep-V which is best for my neck and chin, but it has a panel that comes across keeping it appropriately modest enough for work. The overall cut is extremely flattering, and it's a great color on me. I also tried it on with an off-white, deconstructed blazer I bought recently and it looked good, so that makes this another very versatile piece. 

I don't have a history of wearing dresses much but that doesn't mean that habits can't be changed. Dresses like this might make me tempted. So I'm keeping this one.

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I'm a sucker for a great necklace but this one didn't do it for me. Partly, it's not nearly as prominent a green/blue color IRL. It's quite a bit more muted than this photo makes it appear. And somehow this just looked old fashioned to me, and not in a good way. I already have another necklace I got over a year ago from Stitchfix that's in similar colors that I really love, so I'm not keeping this one. However, DD might take it off my hands. Again, $10 difference. Go figure.

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And now I really do have to tell all these boxes to stop sending me pants. Again, as I pulled these out of the box, I thought, "Nope, don't need another pair of navy work pants." And then I put them on. Boy, are they comfortable and they fit beautifully! They've got stretch to them but still look structured. And I think they'll travel really well. Surprisingly, some of my other dress pants wrinkle in my suitcase. Ain't got time for that on a work trip. These are more like a Chino than a formal dress pant, which means I can dress them up or down a little more easily if I want something slightly nicer than a pair of jeans, but they'd still be fine for most work events. 

For most of my adult life, I'd have gasped at spending this much on a pair of pants. $25 was my upper limit. $35 felt like a luxury pair. What I've learned over these last couple of years of subscription boxes is that, often, you really do get what you pay for. A good, comfortable pair of pants is well worth the money!

So my experience with Dia & Co is fairly positive to start. They have an athletic wear box you can do instead, so I may give that a try next time as I really don't need much in the way of clothes at this point, especially as I have another Stitch Fix on its way that I've already peeked at and am looking forward to! I also did another Trunk Club which I'm not as excited about--I don't know why I keep going back to them. Anyway--I'll give that report when it comes. 

Here's my Dia & Co referral link if you want to check it out for yourself!

Meanwhile, I really have to get back on that "healthy lifestyle bandwagon." It's amazing what a stupid thing like toe surgery does to your entire psyche. Well, that and stress. But really--it's time for me to just get over myself and get back on that elliptical!

Sew Sampler Unboxing July 2018 and some bookish sundry

I got home from my work trip Monday afternoon and have had yesterday and today as comp days. On top of the usual exhaustion of board meetings followed by running a conference, I was sleeping in a dorm room, drove four days round trip with people in my car half of both ways, and had a lot of significant interactions with people while I was there. So I've been in Introvert Recovery Mode and trying to talk to as few people as possible the last couple of days, even via social media. 

However, I did come home to Happy Mail: My July Sew Sampler box was waiting for me! If you haven't gotten yours yet, SPOILER ALERT! You may not want to read any further!

Once again, there are some very handy tools and notions in this box, although it's all built around a pattern I'm not sure I would actually make. It's not entirely my style. It's a Dresden Plate block, which I do like, but I'm not keen on the setting. However, I'm glad to have the tools to make a Dresden Plate as I could see me putting those to use someday!

I'm just dumping everything into a gallery--it's on automatic but you can also use the forward and back tools on either side of the photos to move at your own speed. If you're reading through through a blog-reader, you may need to go to the web version to get the gallery.

See below for some bonus material...

The best thing for Introvert Recovery is a cup of tea and a good book. I've been merrily sipping away at more of my Plum Deluxe teas: Oregon Breakfast Black Tea is my current go-to AM tea for after I'm done with my coffee but before I cut myself off of caffeine at lunchtime. In the afternoons, I switch to iced tea made with whatever blend strikes my fancy. Somehow, caffeinated tea does make it into my iced tea brewer but I think that's because the ice cuts the caffeine significantly so it doesn't bother me the way a normal cup of black tea does. So lately I've been drinking Spiced Berry Refresher Iced Tea Blend. I make so much iced tea over the summer that I got impatient with my former "sun tea" method using a glass pitcher on my back patio, and ordered myself the Takeya Iced Tea Maker from Amazon. Well worth it. Now I can have fresh brewed iced tea in about 15 minutes. 

In terms of good books, my almost-niece (my nephew's long-time girlfriend) and I both belong to the same Book of the Month Club so we've started coordinating what we order each month and then swap. Plus she'd belonged longer than me so she had a stack of books from before I'd started that she handed over to me a couple of weeks ago. I pass books along to my MIL, and she passes them on to Almost-Niece and/or my SIL, and eventually they make it back to me to pass along to my other-niece-from-another-sister. It's very complicated, but it keeps us all in novels! Here's what I've recently read:

Still Lives by Maria Hummel: And here's my Goodreads review of it. I was fair to middling on this one. I liked it as far as it goes, but would've liked it better if she'd pushed some themes a bit more.

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The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs: And my short review that tells you almost nothing about the book itself. (I've been busy--sorry!) I can saw that I enjoyed this more than Still Lives, and it surprised me how much I liked it as I read it, for some reason.

I've put Pillars of Earth by Ken Follett on hold for a bit. I'm struggling to really get into it and decided I wanted to read other things for a bit. I haven't completely abandoned it, though. Maybe I'll be more in the mood in the deep midwinter when snow falls and it feels more the thing to be immersed in a slow-moving epic.

I'm still reading Us Against You by Frederik Backman. This is the sequel to Beartown and it's just as good--it drew me in from the first couple of pages. If you decide to read this, you do really have to read Beartown first as this one assumes you know everything that happened in that one. There's not a lot of time spent on backwards exposition.

Hey--did you know that if you use the Goodreads app you can super-easily scan the cover of a book to get all the information about it and add it to one of your shelves? Honest--I don't get any kick-back from Goodreads. I just use it ALL THE FREAKING TIME to decide what I want to read next, check out books in the bookstore or on my neighbor's lap in an airport waiting area, and add what I'm reading to my shelves. Their scan feature got super-fast and easy in a recent update, so I highly recommend it!

That's all my catch-up for now. I only have one short turn-around trip in August for work, and then vacation at the end of the month. Meanwhile, I'm hoping to have some quiet time for sewing and embroidery--and maybe more blogging and podcasting!

Quilt Spotting at My Friend’s House

I’m halfway to my work event and am spending the night at a friend’s house near Columbus, OH. As she was pointing out my bedroom and sundry this evening, she took me into a spare room to pick out a pillow (she had quite a selection!) and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a gorgeous antique quilt on the bed! She had planned on showing it to me anyway, as she knows I’m a quilter, but I don’t think she expected me to then spend the next 10 minutes or so fondling it, pointing out to her the difficulty of particular techniques, and snapping pictures!

I introduce to you her great-grandmother’s absolutely gorgeous Dahlia quilt. I’m guessing something like early 1920s—she thinks it may be in the 1910s given when her great-grandmother lives. (Apparently her great-grandmother died at age 51 of a heart-attack—tragic.) I’ve strongly encouraged her to get it appraised for insurance purposes, but also so she can hear the story of the fabric, pattern, and time period that I was so fascinated by why I had my family quilts done. 

Check out the border and what it must’ve meant for binding!  And be sure to take a gander at the beautiful hand-quilting!

Because I’m on my iPad and in a hurry to go to bed (another long day’s drive tomorrow segueing directly into meetings), I’m just sort of dumping these pics up there. Sorry if it freaks out your blog readers! 

Gorgeous colors! The lighting makes it a little yellow but you can still get the beautiful color combo. 

Look at this corner! I mean, Shut the Front Door!

Here’s the border close-up. I pulled a part of it up onto the bed to show it better. The room was small so I couldn’t get a good shot of the whole border. The binding has frayed significantly—I told her she could have that repaired if she wanted to but I actually sort of like it with the original. Shows it’s well-loved.

And a really poorly lit picture of the hand-quilting. There were so many beautiful spots I couldn’t decide where to get the picture and I could’ve easily taken about 10 more detail shots but, you know, bedtime and all that.

I love seeing beautiful antique family quilts. I don’t see myself ever collecting/buying those that I don’t know, but seeing them in their natural habitat, with family history attached, is just lovely.  

Now I’ll sleep well and dream pretty quilty thoughts... 

Welcome and Upcoming Schedule

With thanks to Martingale Press, I suspect, I have gotten a bunch of new blog subscribers in the last few days. Welcome! That’s so exciting! I’m glad you are interested in checking out my blog! 

I just wanted to post a quick note that I’m leaving town today for a work trip and won’t be back for about 8 or 9 days....and then recovery time...so it’ll be a bit before I post a new blog entry. 

But after this trip (it’s our major work event every year that takes a huge amount of time and energy), and after I get a few days of sleep and introvert recovery from having been “on” for a full week, I swear I’ll get back to my sewing machine and have interesting things to say again.  

I swear it. 

I do also see a new podcast episode sometime in the not too distant future, although that aforementioned sewing should probably happen first, just so’s I have something to actually talk about, donchaknow. 

Meanwhile, have you been listening to Frances Dowell’s Quiltfiction podcast? It’s a good one! 

I’ll leave you with a picture of my bubby, Auggie, who just got home from a two week vacation at the lake with my daughter. He’s a little smelly from all his fun, and very sleepy, but I’m glad to have him home. He and I are overdue for some bonding time—lots of cuddles when I get home again!​

For Your Summer Reading List—Some Books I’ve Enjoyed

So, the secret’s out: I haven’t been doing much (read: any) sewing lately. May was a busy month with lots of travel (all fun, but still) and tons of evening conference calls when I was home. June has been almost as busy with a couple of work trips and more evening conference calls. I’m finding myself, when I do have unscheduled time, just wanting to bury my nose in good book. So bury I have! Here are some books that have stood out for me over the last year or so—some from BOM, others I just bought on my own. I figured I’d share them in case you were looking for a new read! 

A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)--This book had a very well-done literary device of exploring Russian history through the eyes of one man who never left the inside of a hotel. I really enjoyed this. My short review on Goodreads

Circe (Madeline Miller)--Circe takes a Greek myth and creates an entire fictional world around it. I wasn't sure I'd take to it and ended up completely engaged, to the point where I put Miller's other books of the same ilk on my to-read list. My review on Goodreads

Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You (Celeste Ng)--My review of Everything is here on Goodreads, I gave Little Fires 5 stars but didn't write a review. (I was still working on my thesis while I was reading some of these and didn't have time for reviews!) Both of these books address family ties, the realities of immigrant life, and the realities of living in American (suburban) society. Characters are well-drawn and the story line kept me engaged.

The Underground Railroad (Coleson Whitehead)--I have a very short review on Goodreads. This is my most recent finish on the list and it was a very moving book with an intriguing premise--the Underground Railroad is a physical railroad. Whitehead uses a Gulliver's Travels-esque motif to look at slavery's history and continuing impact. It's obvious why it's an award-winning novel. 

All the President’s Men (Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward)--My review on Goodreads and see my previous blog post.

The Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch (Book 1: Midnight Riot, Book 2: Moon over Soho) Here's my short review of Midnight Riot on Goodreads--my review of the second book was just that I still really enjoyed the series. Sort of a fantasy-cozy mystery blend, very fun. These are definitely great light-hearted summer reads.

The Astonishing Color of After (By Emily X. R. Pan)--I gave this one 5 stars on Goodreads but never wrote a review of it. I was surprised at how much it grabbed me. It felt honest and mystical at the same time. Wonderful book. Sad but redemptive.

The Philosopher’s Flight (by Tom Miller)--I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads but never wrote a review. I was expecting this to be a rip-off of Harry Potter so I was actually expecting not to make it through. However, although it has a similar feel, it's a completely different story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It's in the fantasy genre. Another good light summer read.

Anything by Frederick Backman (i.e., A Man Called Ove, Beartown)—I just yesterday discovered he’s got a new book out, Us Against You, the sequel to Beartown, and started reading it today. He's a Swedish writer and his books always get at least 4 stars from me on Goodreads. He's got a very spare, clean writing style but wonderful characters and believable emotions and reactions. Most of his books are fairly light, even if dealing with difficult topics. Beartown and Us Against You are significantly darker, but still excellent.

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (Kate Moore)--Nonfiction. Gave it 4 stars on Goodreads but didn't leave a review. This wasn't an easy read as it has some graphic detail of illness that can be a little tough to get through, but this is a part of American experience (and particularly women's experience) that I had never heard of before. Pretty incredible stuff.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President (Candice Millard)--Nonfiction. Short review on Goodreads here. Really interesting questions raised about who really caused President Garfield's death.

SeaBiscuit: An American Legend (Laura Hillenbrand)--Nonfiction. Goodreads review here. And no, I've never seen the movie--but I thoroughly enjoyed the book!

And some that I read a long time ago but still stand out for me as some of the best nonfiction books I've read: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (You haven't read it yet? Really?? Here's my Goodreads review) and Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David von Drehle (Goodreads review here).

And, of course, my usual favorite authors: Frances Dowell, Marie Bostwick, Louise Penny, and Ann Cleeves.  

Hope this helps add to your own to-read list! Friend me on Goodreads so we can swap recommendations. If you're not on Goodreads (and why aren't you?) let me know what your most recent favorite read has been in the comments below.

OT: On a Watergate Kick

I’ve been going through a whole bunch of new-to-me podcasts in recent months and one of my surprise favorites was one named Slow Burn: A Podcast About Watergate. It was a miniseries of episodes featuring stories behind the story of Watergate—things related to the main story that were the lesser-known stories. I found it strangely fascinating. 

Mind you, I was about 7 when Watergate actually happened, so my main reaction to it was “But I’m tired of watching the news, Dad!” I do always say, though, that by “cutting my political eye-teeth on Watergate,” I have a deeply embedded cyncism about politics. I was a little too young to see “All the President’s Men” in the movie theaters when it actually came out but I vaguely remember seeing it somewhere in my older teen or college years and finding it fairly boring and very confusing. I mostly just spent the movie appreciating Robert Redford.

After listening to Slow Burn, though, I decided I really wanted to read the book All the President’s Men so I had a better handle on the history. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be able to finish it. I thought I’d be bored silly, skim to get the gist of things, and probably end up abandoning it before the end. Instead, I was hooked. It’s not a political book so much as a journalistic who-dunnit. I loved following Woodward and Bernstein’s trains of thought, following threads, hitting dead-ends, making mistakes, and making critical discoveries sometimes almost by accident.

Fascinating.  

The book honestly had me almost on the edge of my seat, even though I knew the story.  

Once I finished the book, of course, I treated myself to some Redford and Hoffman. The movie wasn’t as confusing this time around. And it’s Redford and Hoffman. So there’s that.

All in all, I’m glad I just learned more about something that so totally shaped my attitudes towards politics from such a young age. It’s impossible not to see how much history repeats itself. But Redford and Hoffman. Hmm. 

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately—fun reading. It’s so good not to have to worry about citations and notes and just plain ol’ enjoy reading. I’ll do another blog post sometime soon about what I’ve been reading because I’ve got some recommendations! 

May Sew Sampler Unboxing

I'm really catching up on posts this weekend. I got my May Sew Sampler box a couple of days ago and didn't have time for a video unboxing, so here's another photo gallery of pics. 

I'm going to keep doing Sew Sampler for awhile. I'm loving the tools I get! Aurifil thread! Woot! Creative Grids rulers! Woot Woot! (And in a size I don't already have, which is pretty amazing given my collection.) Not entirely sure how the label letters work--I have to do a little research into those. The pattern doesn't really flip my switch but the fabric is cute. It's a new pre-cut size to me: 5" by 10" (or half layer-cake size). There was a pattern specifically for that size rolled up in the fabric so technically I got two patterns this month. I don't know if I'd make the pattern that came with the fabric either, although it would be a relatively fast project if I needed a quick gift or something. We'll need to brew on that one. 

(Remember, you can use the controls to forward photos faster than their auto-rotation. If you're reading this on a blog-reader, you may have to go to the website to see it.)

Graduation!

Since most of y'all have been with me on this journey over the last few years, I thought I'd share a few of the photos from my graduation on May 19 with my Doctor of Ministry degree from Boston University School of Theology. Good times!

May Cotton Cuts Unboxing

Hello, it's been awhile! May was a very busy month! Between a quilt retreat, Mother’s Day, graduation weekend, and going away with my husband over Memorial Day weekend, I haven’t actually been home all that much. I have a couple of work trips in June but frankly, this month feels like it’ll be a much quieter month all around even with those trips thrown in.  

I probably should do an update on my quilt retreat progress, although I basically made myself a lot of UFOs to work on in the future. Lots of things started, nothing finished, but I had a great time! 

Meanwhile, I got my May Cotton Cuts box so here’s a quick post with pics! I love the batiks--they're gorgeous. I like the arrow fabric but not sure I needed it in two colors. I also like the wild flower fabric although at the moment it's not inspiring me towards anything in particular. I really don't know what I'll do with the panel. Maybe some sort of little throw pillow for a great-niece or something. 

I think I'm going to put this subscription on pause for awhile. I've enjoyed getting the fabrics but I'm now at the point where I've got more planned projects that need fabrics in particular colorways. I can always re-subscribe later if I decide I want more unexpected inspiration again. 

May Sew Sampler Unboxing (no video)

SPOILER ALERT: If you're a Sew Sampler subscriber and haven't gotten or opened your box yet, don't read any further unless you want to spoil your own surprise!

Still a little gravely in my speaking-box so I'm just doing pictures again. This was a well-timed Sew Sampler as there's something that will definitely come in handy during my quilt retreat this weekend!

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First thing I picked up out of the box was this nice little set of 20 marbled glass-head pins. A quilter can always use more pins, although I'm more a fan of long super-skinny ones but I tend to bend those at an alarming rate. Skinny doesn't equal sturdy.

In any case, I'll pull these out of the pack and bring them with me on retreat, if only to show off the pretty pretty marbled glass.

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Next up...

Whee! One of Olfa's endurance blades! I'm using one of these in my rotary cutter right now so I can't really tell you how long they last. Plus I'm really, REALLY bad at keeping track of that. I only change my blade when things start going horribly awry--I'm not particularly proactive. 

In any case, another very handy thing to bring on retreat!

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So, after the excitement of the endurance blade, the next thing I pulled out was a bit of a head-scratcher. 

This is an iron-on suede patch depiction of the house block that you'll see coming up later. It's 1 1/2" by 1 1/2" and it's suppose to commemorate the start of this box's new Sew Sampler Quilt Along. It says it "adds a striking finishing touch to any sewing project." 

Pretty sure I'm not ironing a gray suede square onto the back of any of my sewing projects. This will sit on the side of my cutting table, making me scratch my head more, for some time until I finally just toss it, not having found any inspiration for it whatsoever.

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Next out of the box is a three-piece acrylic template set that goes with the quilt pattern. The templates make the long rectangular flying geese block on the four sides of the four-patch in the picture. 

I don't much care for working with templates but if I ever get the yen to do it, these are nice, sturdy templates and would be better than cutting them out myself. 

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And here's the quilt pattern that goes with the templates. 

I'm not sure I'm in love with it, but I might like it better in other colors. I know it's all the rage in the modern quilting world, but I struggle to warm up to gray backgrounds. Now that I think of it, that statement is a bit of a pun, since I think gray backgrounds just feel cold. Get it? Warm up? Cold gray? Ar ar ar.

In any case, I've seen a few gray backgrounds I like but this one isn't doing it for me. I'm picturing this in different colors and the pattern still isn't jazzing me a whole lot. I'll hang onto it, though, as who knows--maybe someday it'll flip my switch. In my 20-odd years of quilting, I've gone through a whole lot of changing likes and dislikes. I'm a mercurial quilter. Yeah yeah, that's it. Mecurial sounds a whole lot better than fickle. 

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And here's the Sew Sampler sew-along block that goes with that strange little suede patch. 

I've been having a yen lately to make a house block, so this design is partially appealing to me. Not 100%, but I could stand it for one block. I may do this. 

Maybe I should bring it on retreat. It might make a nice in-between-larger-projects change of pace.

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And here's the fabric they included in the box, suggested for the 54-40 quilt.

It's a half-roll (20 strips) of Palm Canyon Aruba, by Violet Craft for Robert Kaufmann Fabrics. 

I do love the saturated yellow and turquoise of this collection. I'm debating just breaking it up into my overall stash collection, though, especially if I'm not a huge fan of the quilt pattern.

So that's it! A couple of very handy things, some things I may want to use in the future but not immediately, and a head-scratcher. 

Overall, not a bad box!

This is getting posted Thursday morning when I'm heading to my home office for a conference call. As soon as that call is done, I'm in my car and heading to my quilt retreat! Whee!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram where I'll be posting regular updates. I'll do one summary post on this blog when I get home. Here's hoping for a productive weekend!

Mojo Monday—Retreat prep (oops--posted Wednesday)

Woke up to this on Sunday morning. Blech. 

It didn’t help that I’m still under the weather with that cold. I’d planned on getting to church to sing with the choir but my throat was still a little uncomfortably sore and I had an alarming tendency to start coughing when I talked too much, so I figured singing probably wasn’t the best of ideas. And a little more rest and hot tea wouldn’t hurt.

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So we had a slow morning at our house. 

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In the afternoon my energy level had picked up a bit so, although I went to my sewing room to work on my current project more, I ended up starting to organize and pack myself up for quilt retreat this coming weekend. Yep, you heard me right—I’m going on a quilt retreat! Woo! It feels like it’s been forever. I will have my current project, of course, but I like to have options, so I took a little time thinking through new projects I could do that are retreat-appropriate. 

Knowing I wanted to use up some of my strip stash, I went to my strip drawer and...well...it was a stinkin’ mess. I hadn’t looked at it in a long time, other than piling more strips on top of it when I was cutting up scraps. It was in bad shape. I ended up spending about an hour, maybe more, pulling out all the strips, laying them all out again to see what I had, and re-stacking them in their color piles.  

I also broke down about three or four Jelly rolls—I had a couple that were collections of batiks, and a couple that were solids, so those got divided up into the rest of my stash. Jelly rolls that are fabric lines stayed together for now.  

For retreat, then, I found a table runner pattern that will be a nice seasonal one with one of a Christmas fabric jelly roll I’ve had for probably at least 8 years, plus I was able to pull all the accompanying fabrics from my stash. Bonus. I have another jelly roll pattern (throw quilt size) from another magazine that will use up the bulk of my batik strip stash, plus a black background fabric from my stash. I also have two fusible applique kits I’ve had for years that I’ve always thought would make good retreat projects, so those are coming with me in case I make a complete left turn in interest and energy while I’m there. But I think I’ll probably stick with the strip projects because it’ll feel so good to use up so much of that stash!  

I did get one more block done in my current WIP, plus four blocks partially done, and a few more even less partially done. I was chain piecing in units and just ran out of steam before I could finish up any more full blocks—my brief energy spurt faded quite suddenly. Oh well, I thought: I’m going on retreat!  

Cotton Cuts April 2018

I've been fighting off a mild cold for several days, and when I went out of town for a work trip and stayed in a hotel room overnight Monday (and had a 12-hour round-trip drive to get there and back to boot), my mild cold wandered merrily down the path into borderline-bad-cold-land. I can function, but I look terrible, I'm coughing, and I don't have much of a voice. So instead of posting an unboxing video and seeing/hearing me in all my sick-puppy glory, you're just getting pictures.

This month's added tchotchke was just a nail file. Meh. I'm not one who gets her jollies from patterned nail files. Still, it's functional and will eventually become handy so there is that.

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Here's a gallery of the fabric. None of it entirely thrilled me, but I may use the hummingbird fabric for some sort of little pouch or something. I like hummingbirds. The other fabric will all go in my stash. No immediate inspiration for any of it. Maybe I'm just too sick to be in the mood for fabric. Is that possible?

If you're viewing this in a blog reader, you might have to click through to the actual website to see the gallery. Sorry!

Mojo Monday--Too Much Excitement and a Few More Blocks

Last week I passed my oral review and submitted my final D.Min. thesis so it's just a matter of taking care of a few more bureaucratic details and I'll be graduating! Paperwork aside, I shouldn't have to deal with the thesis anymore, anyway, so it's free and clear for getting down to some serious fabric play!

However, there was some celebrating to do first. My brother-in-law was in from out of town so we spent a lot of time with family, and due to the timing, it turned into an impromptu celebration of the thesis submission too.  I thought I'd share this pic from one of the family events--this is one of my nieces and her (recently officialized) fiance. He's been part of the family for years but now we can all for-sure commit to him! He's a great guy, so we're thrilled.

I'm sharing this photo with you so you have faces to put together with what will soon become a continuing project you'll be following for awhile. They tell me I have a couple of years before their actual wedding as she's working on her masters in nursing and he's trying to work his way up the ranks of chef-dom. I'm not going to waste the time!

It was a great celebration but then Auggie threw a monkey wrench in the works by deciding to play with a skunk after we got home later--much later--that night. 

Goofy dog. He's celebrating his first birthday this weekend by making himself as obnoxious as possible. (Puppy brain in adult body. We have another year of this before he starts actually making smarter decisions. But even at that, they're only "smarter" in the range of Golden-dom which is a fairly narrow range.)

I was already pretty wiped out from a long week and a late night and got to spend time giving him peroxide-baking soda-Dawn baths Saturday and Sunday. Three baths later and he's now bearable, but still leaves a bit of a trail of Eau d' Skunk as he walks by. Fortunately the weather turned nice enough that we were able to open windows and try to air things out. Still a little stinky, but livable.

However, by Sunday afternoon, after church and the third peroxide bath, I was able to sit down and get some more sewing done. I'm now up to about 13 blocks done on the Flying Home quilt (the pattern from Jenny Doan) with the Nest jelly roll. If I recall, I have to do 36 total blocks. They're not hard, but a little pokey. I can only chain-piece about four blocks at a time because I don't want to get mixed up which fabrics I've paired in which blocks. Random is hard. 

I have a quilt retreat coming up on the first weekend of May. I'd really like to have all of these blocks pieced before then, so I can use the larger space at retreat to do layout and piece the top. Other than that, I don't know yet what I'll be bringing to retreat. That's a problem for next weekend!

I'm hoping to get a podcast posted next weekend and I'll be able to give a review of a couple of different tools I've used in doing these, and my opinions about them. I like my episodes to be useful!

Mojo Monday--A Finish (plus one) and A Start

Sunday turned out to be a very productive day. Although I'd planned on going to church in the morning and running a couple of errands on the way home, Mother Nature intervened. It's not unusual for us to have ice storms in early spring, but they're normally a March event, not a mid-April one. Oh well. We bagged all ideas of driving anywhere and, fortunately, didn't end up losing power either. So I was trapped inside with a working sewing machine. There are far worse fates!

I got a lot of other stuff done first--starting the process of switching from winter to spring/summer wardrobes (despite the ice outside), getting some random shelves cleaned and sorted, organizing some task lists, and the like. 

Saturday, while running errands, I had stopped at a former LQS that had closed and, shortly after closing, had been bought by someone else and turned into a new LQS. They've only been open a couple of weeks and I was curious. They're still largely empty--not a huge stock of fabric yet--but I did like her selections. A little heavy on the children's novelty fabric for the amount of stock she has, in my opinion, but a decent selection of other things. I know her offerings will expand and even out over time so I'm okay with it. I did pick up a few things as I'd definitely like her to stay open. Other than a big ol' can of 505 for some upcoming basting I've got on my schedule, I also picked up Deb Tucker's Wing Clipper ruler, some more mini-clips (have all three sizes now and find uses for all of them!), and the Nest jelly roll, because we all know how I feel about pudgy birds. I had no intention of buying another jelly roll but, again, I want her to stay open. Just doing my part for the local economy.

Pay attention, as part of this purchase becomes relevant again later.

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On Friday evening, I had finished hand-sewing the binding down on one of the two baby quilts I have on my UFO challenge list for guild. I can now officially call it a finish. Although, hmmm. Just remembered I think I'm supposed to have labeled it too, which I didn't. Time for a "hand-written with a sharpie" label. 

I did an all-over meander with a medium-gray thread to blend. I'm never positive about how to quilt big panel picture things like this (Take the time to outline everything in the picture? Do big squares to avoid quilting over most of the picture? What?), so I just went for fast and easy. I do like the wrinkly effect it gives, though--makes it look cuddly. 

I started this a month or so before said baby was born. It'll be a gift for her first birthday in May. That's still legit, right? I'm just glad it's complete and off my cutting table!

Because I finished a UFO, that left my way clear to start a new project. Woo! I spent a few minutes cleaning off the shelves in my cutting table on Sunday, as I was pondering what new project to do. I ran across an old Crafty class project on learning to machine quilt (don't recall which class it was--sorry). I had completely forgotten about this--it's not really a UFO because I never had any intention of actually finishing it. Yesterday, I decided to finish off the edge with a quick zig-zag stitch (no binding) and hang it in my "Rogues Gallery."

I never completed this project because the borders were supposed to have another layer of small circles in the outside ring of the feathers. I did about 4" worth and called it a day. I knew this wasn't something that would ever be displayed in public and I'd learned what I needed to learn. So the zig-zag edging was good enough for horseshoes.

My Rogues Gallery is a display of my experiments, class projects, and other learning opportunities that aren't good enough for display in any public areas of the house, but serve to remind me of where I've been and where I'd like to go.

The Rogues Gallery is in the hallway leading in to my sewing room/home office. You can't see them from downstairs so it's not really a public display. Once in awhile I'll look at one of them to remind myself of a particular technique I haven't used in awhile. 

And yes, that's Chicken Butt hanging on the lower row towards the end. He's still my favorite. 

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So now with a UFO finished and a second sorta-UFO-class-project off my shelf and hung up, I really felt clear to start a new project! The first step is, of course, deciding what to do. I chose to put the Nest jelly roll to work immediately as I'd love to have pudgy birds to curl up with whenever spring does actually arrive. I perused my "2 1/2 strip" playlist on YouTube and came up with this quilt from Jenny Doan. I'm using some tone-on-tone white from my stash, so even though the jelly roll was a stash addition, I'm still making a dent in my actual stash! So...stay tuned!

Wardrobe Wednesday on Thursday

So, yes. My calendar is completely whonked this week. I'm still blaming jet lag and a red-eye. That's my story and sticking to it.

Last week I got a Natalie Attired box, my StitchFix, and a Trunk Club delivery all within the space of a few days. I did record an unboxing and try-on video for the Natalie Attired but didn't get it posted before I left town. I only had time to record the StitchFix unboxing before I got on the plane. I only took a picture of one of the Trunk Club keepers. I managed to get the NA video edited yesterday afternoon but when I uploaded it to YouTube, it said it was too long. No idea why, since it was no longer than others I've posted. And at that point, I decided to bag the whole thing. You're just getting one blog post with a small handful of pictures and that's it. 

So--Natalie Attired only warranted me one keeper this time around. I debated a couple of the pieces for a long time, but finally decided I didn't love either enough to spend the money on since I have other expenditures on the horizon.

So out of that box, I kept one pair of blue print pants that I immediately packed and wore on my speaking engagement. They're super-comfy, professional-but-fun enough to also wear casually, and were a nice transitional pair for what's supposed to be spring weather but hasn't quite figured it out yet. I wasn't sure when I first pulled them out of the box but absolutely love them! So, this one item definitely made the whole box worth it.

I paired the pants with one of two items I kept from Trunk Club. The knot-front lightweight blue sweater is super-soft and worked perfectly with the pants. Loved this outfit. Again, perfect for the weather at this time of year. I snapped the pick above in the hotel room before starting my second set of presentations on Saturday. I was in this outfit from 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. and never once had a yen for being able to change into lounge clothes, they were that comfy! 

The other item I kept from Trunk Club was a light weight duster cardigan but I don't have a pic of it. Sorry. It's an off-white with narrow black stripes so it'll go with a lot of my wardrobe.

I only kept one item from StitchFix as well, but boy was this one a winner! I didn't keep the photo of the outside but I have two pics of what it looks like in use. I had asked for a bag that would be big enough to hold files but still be fairly sleek and stylish. If you recall, Kathryn (my stylist) had sent me one in last month's box that wasn't actually big enough for files, so she tried again. And bang! Hit that nail on the head.

The top pic is from when I first opened it and tested out a file folder in it. 

The second pic is from the airport and you can see how much stuff I'd managed to cram in it. Actually, I'd even taken a couple of things out of it before I took this picture (namely, my large water bottle and my bullet journal). It worked very well for me. A definite win!

There were a couple of other items in this box that I also debated for awhile but, again, decided I didn't love them enough for the expenditure. I'm relatively well set for clothes at the moment--I just need to fill in a couple of minor gaps, so I can be very, very picky.

So there's the report on my style subscription boxes this month: Three boxes, a grand total of about 17 items therein, and I kept one pair of pants, one sweater, one cardigan, and one bag. 

I'll be getting NA and StitchFix again next month (I'm looking for outfits for graduation--woo!) but I've put Trunk Club on a three month delay so you won't be hearing about that one again for awhile.

Here's my StitchFix referral link.

Here's my Natalie Attired referral link. (Thanks to a reader who gave me a credit for this box! Much appreciated!)

Here's my Trunk Club referral link. 

Thanks to anyone who chooses to use any of them!

Making It Monday on Tuesday Phase 2

I got more sewing done! Woot!

I have now completed the top of the second baby quilt I had as a UFO. This one was a Little Golden Books kit I'd bought at a LQS somewhere in my travels several years ago. They had a sample hanging that I thought was cute, so I picked up their kit for it. 

Not sure why I liked the sample because as I've been making this one, I've not been particularly jazzed by it. I think I got sucked in by the fact that Poky Little Puppy was one of my favorite stories as a little kid.

As I've thought about it, I've come to the conclusion that my lack-of-liking of the quilt comes down to two things:

1. A lack of real contrast, other than in the puppies themselves.

2. The green blocks are just way too overpowering, especially with using the same fabric in the borders. 

I'm supposed to also use the same fabric for binding, and probably will at this point even though I'd prefer not to. I already have those strips cut, and there wasn't enough red in the kit to use it as binding instead, and I no longer have any similar reds in my stash. So, in the grand scheme of "get 'er done," I'm going to get over myself about it and just do what I'm told.

If I weren't being lazy and just whipping together a fast kit using their pattern--if I were actually thinking this through and doing something that would float my boat more--I probably would've used smaller blocks in general, I wouldn't have used the dark green in the pieced block, and I'm not sure I'd have used that sort of muddy gold color at all. I know it's meant to pick up the gold from the puppies but it's just a nasty color IMHO.

This is going to be a baby quilt for a little boy who will likely do all sorts of equally nasty stuff to it in his lifetime so I'm not sweating it. I'm giving the family a copy of Poky Little Puppy with the quilt so it'll be an all-over cute gift, even if I don't love the quilt itself. 

I'm just going to meander-quilt it--doing cute little doggie prints would take longer than I'm willing to invest in this, I think. I have that on the docket for this coming weekend.

Question from a reader: Does anyone have about a half yard or so of the fabric that looks like the inside of the Little Golden Book that they'd be willing to sell off or pass along? 

She asked me if I had any left and I don't, unfortunately. The kit gave you just enough and no more. 

Let me know if you've got some and I'll pass along your name to the reader who's asking!