jcaroline

I love unexpected packages

I love when I pre-order books from Amazon, because the package shows up at my door completely unexpected.  It's like a little gift.  That I paid for.  Anyway...

Amanda Blake Soule of soulemama blog fame has a new book The Creative Family:  How to Encourage Imagination and Nuture Family Connections. I read her blog occasionally and usually feel a little guilty that I don't do nearly for my one child what she seems to pull off for her three.  And the first thing I flipped to in her book was "Making Your Own Knitting Needles" to knit with your children.  What??  First, I don't make my own dinners, so I doubt I'm going to whip up a set of knitting needles.  Secondly, my child would definitely stab someone with the needles.  So I was not very optimistic that this book was for me.

However, I am a book freak and haven't met a book I didn't like (mostly) so I flipped through some more pages.  That's when I hit Chapter 9 "Everyday Rituals".  I glanced upon this paragraph:

"Don't slip into the habit of relegating your creative projects for 'after everything else is done.'  Work, housework, chores-- the lists go on and on, and so does the work.  'Everything else' is never done.  Creating needs to be as important a part of your life as anything else you consider a necessity."

Now wouldn't that be a great lesson to impart to my child and a great thing to remember myself?  And I can only assume Chapter 10 "Celebrating Your Family" holds some more nuggets of wisdom.  So, no, I am not going to make my own knitting needles, but I am going to sit down and read the book.  Clearly it is about a lot more than crafts.

Simple Start Stunning Finish

Valori Wells's new book Simple Start Stunning Finish arrived yesterday.  Valori is the designer of Sole fabric that came out a couple of months ago.  She also designed Fleurish, Estrella and Eclectic if you are a fabric stasher.  She and her mother are quilters and own The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon.

Anyway, I've already told you I'm not a quilter, so why this book, you say?  One, I'm a book-aholic and am scared to death a book will go out of print and what if I don't have it at my disposal when I need that information to save the world?  I also wanted the book because I really like Valori Wells's work on fabrics and her quilts.  She is a very contemporary, artistic quilter and the quilts in the book are stunning.  She provides patterns and instructions for 15 different quilt designs, as well as basic applique and piecing techniques.  My favorite quilt in the book is the Circle Around Quilt, which is pieced and appliqued entirely with solid fabrics.

I would recommend this book to:

• a quilter wanting to make some fantastic artistic quilts
• a fabric admirer who loves looking at how fabrics are used together
• a sewer interested in piecing and applique techniques (I can see these concepts translated to placemats, table runners, curtains, handbags)
• a sewer or fabric artist interested in how another artist puts fabric designs and colors together

There is only one quilt in the book that is quilted with a longarm quilter (the Circle Around Quilt shown), while all the others Valori does with her standard sewing machine. I would love to see that in action, because I don't know how you handle a big quilt with a regular machine and how you handle intricate shapes.  And this book may well make me a quilter... at least once.

Blog Ideas

I didn't think I needed ideas for my blog, but clearly I do, since I've been persona non grata ¹absent for a week.  Sorry- my mother called last night to see if I was okay- clearly my absence has gone on long enough.  I don't have an excuse because I haven't achieved anything profound in the last week.

Well, lo and behold, guess what came in the mail yesterday?  Margaret Mason's book, No One Cares What You Had for Lunch   100 Ideas for Your Blog that I ordered here off her blog Mighty Girl.  I can't even remember how I found Mighty Girl, but she founded Mighty Goods, which is basically a window to cool and interesting shopping finds on the web.

Anyway, I ordered the book merely because of the title and she offered to "sign it and caress it lovingly before mailing it".  She signed mine "You are fantastic".  It's as if she knows me.  Anyway, the book does have some good ideas and more importantly, it's hysterical and a quick read.  Idea #47:  Promote truth.  "You're a font of wisdom, and you're getting sharper every year."  (She really does know me, doesn't she?)  "Outline ten truths you believe to be universal.  You can tell us how you came to your conclusions, or explain how your beliefs have changed over the years."  Two of hers are "Don't fill up on bread" and "Wear sunscreen".  If you blog or just like humorous writers, pick yourself up a copy.  Though I can't guarantee that she thinks you're fantastic too nor do I have evidence that the book was caressed lovingly before mailing.

Oh, and don't scroll down the book page if you are offended by offensive language.  (Of course, you will now, but don't say I didn't warn you.)  She sells a T-shirt including a particular word that horrifies many.   No! Not THAT word!  The f word.  Of course, I had to buy one of those too because it made me laugh.  I'll wear it for special occasions.  Sorry, Mother.

Footnotes:

1. While looking up persona non grata for spelling purposes, I discovered it really means "personally unacceptable or unwelcome".  But it sounds so cool- I wish it meant absent.

New Eye Candy via Amazon

Amy Butler's new book, Midwest Modern arrived today.  It's a "sit down and read" book, but also has lovely pictures (her husband is the photographer).  From a quick run-through, I like it.  Did I mention the beautiful photographs?  She also shows her home and design ideas, talks about her artistic inspirations, and shows a ton of her fabrics and designs.  I will sit down and read it, but I also think it will be a great "pick up occasionally for inspiration" kind of book.  The concept of the book is to focus on design from the Midwest, but since I'm from the Midwest, I didn't realize it was a defined "style".  (I'm very heavy on the quotation marks today, "aren't I"?)  I would define it as we take the best of the West and East coast and do whatever the heck we want with it.  A practical, frugal approach to design, if you will.

Anyway, I promise a full book report later.

Bend-The-Rules Sewing

Amy Karol, who writes the blog Angry Chicken, has written a beginning sewing book that even has some nuggets for the experienced sewer. 

This book is very approachable for the beginning sewer. Her writing style is very casual and she covers topics from choosing a sewing machine to setting up your sewing workspace to applying bias binding. She talks about the threads tangling in your machine and what to do about it, which happens to every sewer and can really frustrate a beginner.

The projects are good beginning projects- not too complicated, but you can probably find something in the book that you want to make and will actually use. And if your project doesn't turn out perfect, you won't feel like you failed-- the author explains why mistakes are an okay thing.

If you are an experienced sewer, you probably won't see any projects that you haven't seen or tried before. However, reading the first part of the book reinforced some habits I need to follow (changing my sewing machine needle often, pressing often) and gave me some technique ideas that I didn't know. I love her attitude about mistakes-- when to redo, when to take a rest and when to proceed with abandon. (I call it the "burning" stage and she is correct- it usually passes in time.)

A great beginning sewing book. Not as valuable for the experienced sewer, but worth a read for those wanting to build more confidence in their sewing style.