Early Dark, a Book, and RSC 2025 Nine-Patch & Snowball Progress

As the evening dark begins descending earlier and earlier it signals to me a time to slow down, stop hurrying, reset priorities, especially where daylight is concerned, and enjoy the slowness of the season.  I love these early and long nights.  They're just what I need and, I suppose, just what the earth needs, too.  I couldn't get this song out of my mind and decided to share.   


I think I've mentioned before that our local library has a little shop where they sell used books and give away magazines and some children's paperback books.  A few weeks ago I picked up this book, The Home Builders.  

I love children's book for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes they just make me laugh--a little surprise at the end, or just-perfect illustrations, or a funny story line.  Other times there's a subtle truth presented so simply that a child can understand and an adult can understand more.  And other times, the illustrations wow me.   

The illustrations are what captured my attention in this book.  I fell in love with the colors the illustrator, Simona Mulazzani, used. But it isn't just the colors, it's also their intensity and tone and how she uses the colors together.  I think they are beautiful and sometimes the combinations are surprising.  I couldn't figure out why they were so appealing.  And then it hit me:  these colors are similar to the ones I use most often in quilts (minus the oranges).

As I've been making blocks for my 2025 RSC quilt, I've been frustrated with how few medium value fabrics I have.  They are mostly darks and lights, with very few mediums.  Some of the blocks look like a muddle.  This may turn out to be a boring quilt.  I'm glad each 9-patch is surrounded by white snowball blocks!

Anyway, it was an interesting observation.  I need to buy a few fabrics with lighter tones and values.

I've been feeling a little scattered lately.... 

  ... what with trying to find the best, yet least expensive, retirement health insurance policies (one of my policies more than doubled its rate from last year to this year!); trying to stay motivated on the sewing/quilting front; and trying to lay out my RSC blocks to consider placement and size.  Kitty Bitsy thinks those blocks on the floor are a free ride.  She jumps onto one in a way that lets her slide across part of the floor like it's a skating rink and the blocks go flying.  She makes quick work of my efforts.
 
They were arranged as I thought I wanted them but I need to make several more edge blocks and cut some more for around the edges.  Sadly, I didn't count before Bitsy skated through.  I should have taken photos and counted as soon as I put the blocks on the floor.  I need to decide whether to make the quilt larger or the same size as Jolene's, 9 blocks by 11 blocks, which equals about 54" x 66" before quilting and shrinkage from washing and drying.  That seems like it would be a short person's napping quilt.  (I like to tuck the end of a quilt under my feet and pull it up to my neck and across my shoulders for a nap.)  Anyway, this will most likely become a donation quilt so it matters much less what my preferences are.  I'm so close to having the blocks ready to sew into a top that I might just call the blocks I have enough.  However, that leaves me a short stack of unused, one-color, 9-patch blocks in several different colors....  Hmmm.

For anyone who may be wondering:  my headache persists and my energy waxes and wanes.  Have you tried or do you know anyone who has experience with acupuncture?

Okay, that's it for today.  I need to get on with some other things.  I hope you're having a good weekend and are enjoying whatever weather and activities come your way.

--Nancy.

Autumn Nine-Patch, an Owl, and the book *Still*

Summer is slipping into fall here in central Ohio.  The leaves of trees are in their slow transition from green to bright autumn colors, and the honey locust leaves are already blanketing the ground in gold.  The groundhog tells us whether we'll have more winter or spring will come early but, as far as I know, there's no animal that tells us if we'll have a long fall or an early winter.  I'm okay with that.  The seasons change all in due time and I know autumn is nearly upon us because the days are growing shorter and shorter.  I love this season of early dark and longer evenings and nights, of cool, crisp air, of bright colors reaching toward the sky, then carpeting the ground.  For me, it's a little heaven on earth. Do you love autumn?  

I've not done much sewing, or quilting, or much else, either.  I don't do much, as in my days are not busy, and I still know where the times goes.

I finished this 9-patch top a few months ago, sans border, was ready to be done with it, and put it aside.  

I decided to use double gauze for the backing and realized that this quilt really needed a border, so added the dark maroon.  I chose a teal backing, but it shrank in the washer and dryer so I had to remove a row of blocks from one end of the top so it would fit on the backing.  Then I reconsidered that backing's color and thought maybe orange would be better.  When I bought a longer length and washed it, it shrank even more than the teal.  I decided against it not because of the shrinkage but because the color was too bland.  This quilt had mostly autumn colors but it has plenty of tiny teal squares, too, so I think the teal back will work.  You can see that the batting is also just barely large enough, and I hope it will be enough.  It will get quilted very simply with big stitches using perle cotton.  With all its challenges, this quilt might turn into nothing worth the time!  (I started hand quilting it last night and the gauze grabs the needle so it may be slow going.)

Instead of more greens and blues for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, I pulled out some fabrics that lean toward army green and some that lean toward golden browns.  I pinned them last week and will sew them this week.

My daughter and I went to the Ohio State Fair in August.  The Natural Resources area must have had a youth art competition because there were many drawings and paintings by children. 

This gorgeous, primitive-style owl captured my attention.  I thought it a fabulous drawing.  (I think the white fluffs in the sky are a reflection on the glass/plastic covering the drawing.  Ignore them and delight in that gorgeous owl.)
 
Have you seen the book Still by Mary Jo Hoffman?

When I saw it recommended and looked at the cover, I guessed it was a book of nature essays in a small format.  I was wrong.  It is a gorgeous book of photographs of natural objects--seed pods, leaves, shells, flowers, etc.--and it's about 9" x 12".

In the photograph to the right, she has arranged stems from a tree into star-like shapes.  This captured my attention because we need a new star for the top of our Christmas tree, and these seem just about perfect.  I need to borrow the book again to remind myself what tree these are from.

I cannot tell you what kind of branches/stems/grass she used to create the arrangement to the right but it intrigued me, as did many of her photos.

If you like seed pods, seeds, branches and stems from trees, and other nature bits, you might enjoy this book.

Hoffman takes a nature walk every day, quietly looking at the detail of whatever holds her interest.  She brings the objects home and photographs them, capturing details.  Often her photographs look like flat lays, with leaves or nuts, seedpods or flowers carefully arranged.  Some of the photographs are of objects that she's gathered over time reflecting their growth from spring to fall or that show the variety found in an object. 

She wrote and included several essays as well as clear, concise details about how she photographs the natural objects.  

This is the kind of books that makes me wish I'd thought of taking photographs of the natural things I collect!

I'm going to bed soon, but I should go and DO something so I can write an interesting blog post!

What have you been up to?

--Nancy.

Help for Mending Clothes (or, To Mend or Not to Mend?)

Two things about me.  First, when I find clothes I love to wear, I wear them until they are almost threadbare.  Second, I really dislike repairing clothing.  These two facts are in opposition to each other, but I do mend clothes sometimes.  Until lately my thought was that mends should not call attention to themselves, should be as close to invisible as possible.  These days, along comes the idea that patches on clothes can be an accent, a point of interest, a fun way to show individuality.  I'm not quite there yet.  After all, how can a 75-year-old lady not look like a bag lady when she's walking around with patches covering her clothes?!  But I'm game to give obvious mends a try on the clothes I wear only at home.

I think these three books I found at the library are very helpful.  Mending is a popular topic these days!

Disclaimer:  To be honest, I did not read every word of every page of these books.  I used them more as reference manuals.

Make Thrift Mend. Stitch, Patch, Darn, Plant-dye & Love Your Wardrobe by Katrina Rodabaugh

Topics include 

• making new, embellishing, making something new from used fabric
• making natural dyes and dying clothes
• mending, tools, techniques; darning knit clothing (socks, gloves, sweaters)
  

There are well-explained examples, clear photographs, and detailed how-tos for every mend and every process.  I was pleased to see she included mending holes, rips, or tears in crotches and underarm seams.

The author's choice to make, thrift, and mend is based on sustainability, ethical soundness, and creative satisfaction.


The Mending Directory. 50 Modern Stitch Patterns for Visible Repairs by Erin Eggenburg

Eggenburg's reason for mending is to honor the work of the many  hands who grew the fiber, wove and dyed the cloth, cut, and stitched the garments we wear. 

Yes, this book is primarily stitch patterns for both woven and knit clothing.  She moves from planning the mend, explaining how to patch, the tools to use, and then explanations of how to mend.  Following those explanations are large photographs showing the stitches and how to create them.  

Also included in a pocket at the back are iron-on transfers for each of the stitches. 


Mending with Love. Creative Repairs for Your Favorite Things by Noriko Misumi

The author says, "Mending is love."  She makes sketches of ways to mend items of clothing.

She covers

• Mending socks.  My mom taught me to darn as close to invisibly as possible.  These socks have bright, colorful heels, toes, and balls of the feet.  Lots of detailed instructions.
• Mending holes and frays and to cover stains in ways that they seem natural to the item of clothing and blend in or enhance the item of clothing.  In this section, she covers felting to repair wool clothing.
• Basic patching techniques
• Covering stains with stamps
• Remaking old items into some other useful thing
  

All of these include directions, photos or illustrations, and refer to the appendix of mending techniques.

Of all three books, this is the book that encourages me to mend the old clothes I have that I so dearly love to wear.  I have a silk/wool blend sweater that I've worn for years.  I've mended it many times, but finally, a year or so ago, a worn place from just below my collar bone and about six inches long appeared.  Do I dare try to mend it--a large mend right over my breast?  The sweater also has holes in the sleeves....   My underwear wear out after a few years and I can't buy the style I like now.  They are starting to have patches on patches.  Cotton socks, elbows in knit shirts,....

The most fun mending I've seen among bloggers is in this post (scroll down) at Cynthia's blog.  She's shared other mends but I couldn't find them. 

Do you have favorite clothes that you don't want to let go, and do you mend them?

--Nancy.

Links to Enjoy #21

I found some interesting posts about books, nature/weather, a quilt, Daylight Saving Time, and some tapestries.  Maybe one or two will be of interest to you.

I've always loved all kinds of paper and books, even when I was a child, so of course, this video about Sophia Bogle, book restorer, appealed to me.  Her work is amazing.  You can read more about her here but I think this video is better.



Here's another book highlight, this time about a library of handmade miniature books.  Read a post about Tomas Mayer here. 

How cold the temperature must have been for these geyser spouts to freeze when hitting the air!

Here's an interesting quilt post from a quilt restorer:  A Tale of Two Victorian Crazy Quilts - and a Fabric Mystery

How do you feel about Daylight Saving Time?  I'm one who intensely dislikes it.  Why Daylight Saving Time Messes with Your Brain is an interesting post citing research of its effects.  

The tapestries at this post, Communal Art-Making Is at the Core of Sanaa Gateja’s Monumental Paper Bead Tapestries, look like fiber to me.  Who knew paper beads were still a thing?

Enjoy!
--Nancy.

Links to Enjoy #19

Here are just a few links (with too many words to introduce them).  I hope you'll enjoy one or more of them.

Snowflakes fascinate me and with snow swirling around the Northern Hemisphere, this seemed like the perfect time to post a brief video explaining the history and science of snowflakes.  I found Professor Brian Cox's voice, with it's British accent, delightful. 




I enjoyed 15 Lessons I've Learned in 15 Years of Diary of a Quilter posted by Amy Smart a few weeks ago.  I particularly liked #11.

When you can't take a walk in the woods, Tree might be a good substitute.  There you can (hopefully) hear the sounds of many different forests throughout the world.  I was able to hear the first few forests' sounds but then there was a disconnect on either their end or mine.  (I included the link because of the beautiful forest photographs and because it might work for you.)  I scouted around and discovered the sounds at Tree came from Sounds of the Forest where there is a world map with pinpoints where forest sounds have been recorded.  You can choose a location, click, and listen. Amazing!

Another post about trees....  Do you know about Pando?  It is an enormous forest of genetically identical aspen trees in Utah which are all connected to the same root.  It is one of the world's largest living organisms and may also be one of the oldest.  How am I just now learning about this?!

Some of the beautiful photos of rural America in Brendon Burton Captures Intimate Portraits of North America’s Metamorphosing Rural Landscapes include abandoned homes.  They brought to mind Sophie Blackall's children's book, Farmhouse.  Blackall bought property in New York State on which sat an old, falling down farmhouse.  She salvaged some things from inside, learned about the people who'd lived there, then, in loose rhyme, told and illustrated a story about the house and the family.  What a delightful book!

And back to snow again.  Snowball fights are the subject of this post.which is a collection of paintings from various locations and different centuries. 

Below is an 1885 painting by Gerhard Munthe entitled "Sneballkasting."  It caught my eye because it brought back the childhood memory of making snowmen by trying to roll snow into big balls.  Instead, the snow seemed to roll into a shape more like toilet paper on a tube, exactly what's happening in this painting.

At the link above, scroll down about a third of the way to see the paintings.  Click any one of them and it will enlarge.  Enlarge them more by using the plus and minus signs in the upper right.  Click the arrows on either side of the paintings to see the others. 

Enjoy!
--Nancy.

Going on about Bramble Blooms (You do go on....)

I haven't been up to much the past week or so but I finally finished stitching down the flowers, stems, leaves, and circles (under the petals) on my Bramble Blooms block.  (The crock and its motif are still undecided and unstitched.)

The center has some changes from an earlier (unstitched) version and another version, below, both with some ideas in progress.

• The crock fabric was a brown/coppery color that looked more green in some lights.  Because of the green it had to go.  The brown in this version (top photo) has some red flower-like shapes.  It is more in keeping with the Albany Slip glaze on our crock.
  

• Originally I had the pointed-oval shapes at the base of the flowers (photos above and below).  I really loved them in my original doodle of the flowers, but I couldn't come up with a good color/fabric.  I thought green might work but I didn't have a green that looked great.  So, for now, they're gone.  I will add them if I can find/figure out a color or fabric for them.  I think they added a lot, but maybe they are too much with the motif on the crock?
  

• I added leaves.  They are a little quirky but I think they're okay.
  
• I stitched the circles but now I think the ones at the top near the petals should be at the bottom of the other two so they're near the stem, which would accentuate the curves of the stems.  It's not a big deal to unstitch 18 or 24 stitches per circle and restitch them.  I just want to make sure before I do it.
  

And the last decision is the motif for the crock.  I made some doodles, some based on images I saw on old crocks.

If I use a circle in the center of the crock, it will be no bigger than 2" and I'll use the middle brown of the ones in the lower right corner in the photo at right.  Originally I thought a circle within a circle but then that seemed boring.  But what?  What image would fit in a 2" circle?  On the other hand, knowing what the next border will be, maybe I should choose a motif that I can use again in the next border...?  And, of course, there is the decision about color and fabric for any motif in the circle....

I was concerned that Bramble Blooms might be on hold for a while longer but I see that Audrey posted the next prompt today.  That means I really need to make some decisions quickly!  Many, many thanks to Audrey for the great detail she includes in her posts for these prompts.  I read only part of her new post but will return tomorrow to read the rest and begin playing.

For all of my adult years that I can remember I have been indecisive.  This, or that?  Or would the other be better?  When it's something that requires several decisions (color plus shape, or shape plus placement, etc.) my indecision could go on for weeks or months.  When I do make a decision, I often second- and third-guess it. 

I just started reading The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control and have already learned that this indecision is/can be a result of being a perfectionist. The author, Kathleen Morgan Schafler, takes the view that perfectionism is not a negative personality trait/attribute to be overcome.  (Hooray for her.)  No matter how much I try to talk myself out of it, I haven't been able to dissuade myself from aiming at perfection.  Yes, I do want things to be well-done and as near to perfect as I can make them, but when I begin, I realize that perfection is impossible.  It can be daunting.  I'm looking forward to seeing what else she has to day on the topic.

I hope you dear readers have had a great beginning to the new year.  For my part, I hope 2024 will be better than the past two years!

I'm linking this post to
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
Thank you for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

Books in 2023

I'm a little behind with this post....  These are the books I read in 2023, along with some I didn't finish, and a few quotes that I appreciated.  I listed my favorite books of the year at the end of this post.

| Indicates a children's book.  x indicates an unfinished book

January

• The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie.  Rachel Linden  
  "When we make a choice, we necessarily limit all the other choices.  Every path narrows our options, every decision closes many other doors.  Yet we make a choice hoping we’re trading all the other options for the one that will be the best.”    p. 81-82
• x The Old Place.  Bobby Finger
• x The Measure.  Nikki Erlick 
• x The Book of Longings.  Sue Monk Kidd
• The Ascension of Larks.  Rachel Linden 
• The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle.  Jennifer Ryan 
• The Sisters of Sea View.  Julie Klassen  

February

• The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett.  Annie Lyons
• Whose Waves These Are.  Amanda Dykes 
• The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip.  Sara Brunsvold  

March

• |The First Notes.  The Story of Do, Re, Mi.  Julie Andrews & Emma Walton Hamilton.  Illustrated by Chiara Fedel
• |Special Deliveries.  Alexandra Day & Cooper Edens.  Illustrated by Alexandra Day  
• All the Lost Places.  Amanda Dykes 
• Feed Sacks.  The Colorful History of Frugal Fabric.  Linzee Kull McCray
• The Hideaway.  Lauren K. Denton  

April

• The Great Passion.  James Runcie  
  Nagel, the teacher: “When I was your age, my father taught me how important it was to find something to celebrate each day.  It didn’t matter how small it was, or how long it lasted, but each simple pleasure needs to be marked.   It can be something as honest and straightforward as the sight of the first hawthorn blossom or the light on the path ahead through summer trees....   It can be the smile of a friend who is pleased to see you or the silence at the end of a piece of music; as long as it is something precious and private to store up and treasure by nightfall.  They are moments of grace.  My father called them ‘amulets of time.’” p. 133 ¶4
• These Tangled Vines.  Julianne Maclean  
  

May

• A Cup of Silver Linings.  Karen Hawkins 
• xAtlas of the Heart.  Brené Brown
• The White Lady.  Jacqueline Winspear 
• Beneficence.  Meredith Hall  
  

June

• Yours Is the Night.  Amanda Dykes 
• Beyond That, the Sea.  Laura Spence-Ash
• Well-Read Women:  Portraits of Fiction’s Most Beloved Heroines.  Samantha Hahn
• xThe Wishing Game.  Meg Shaffer  
• The Museum of Ordinary People.  Mike Gayle 
  “All I’d been hoping to do was draw a line under my grief, to shake the feeling of exhaustion that had been with me all year.   Because that’s the thing about grief no one ever tells you:   it’s greedy....   It eats up every last scrap of energy you have, leaving you spent and empty.” p. 12 ¶7

July

• All the Days of Summer.  Nancy Thayer 
•  Foster.  Claire Keegan  
  The wife suggests the man take a lantern for a night walk.   He doesn’t find it necessary but takes it anyway, and needs it.
  “‘Ah, the women are nearly always right, all the same,’ he says. ‘Do you know what the women have a gift for?’
  “‘What?’
  “‘Eventualities. A good woman can look far down the line and smell what’s coming before a man even gets a sniff of it.’” p. 66 ¶2-4
• Love Has No Age Limit:  Welcoming an Adopted Dog into Your Home.  Patricia B. McConnell, Karen B. London 
• xCassandra in Reverse.  Holly Smale 
• xWeyward.  Emilia Hart 
• |I Like Airedale Terriers.  Linda Bozzo 
• Dreams of Falling.  Karen White  
  

August

• The Secret Book of Flora Lea.  Patti Callahan Henry
• Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly.  Marie Bostwick  
  “... Over the years I had learned that the best way to tackle any problem is to ignore personalities, check your emotions at the door, and focus on facts.”    p, 65 ¶4
• Rules for a Knight:  The Last Letter of Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke.  Ethan Hawke 
• At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities.  Heather Webber
• The Bookbinder.  Pip Williams  

September

• The Door-to-Door Bookstore.  Carsten Hen   
  “Some families show their love with food—an extra thick layer of butter on your bread, or a second slice of wurst on top.  Others hold each other close and often, sharing warmth to keep the cold of the outside world at bay.  For generations, my family have shown their love through books.”    p. 68 ¶2
• The Sound of Glass.  Karen White 
• xThe Echo of Old Books.  Barbara Davis 
• The House on Tradd Street.  Karen White     (Tradd Street #1)  
  

October

• The Girl on Legare Street.  Karen White   (Tradd Street #2)
• |We Are Starlings:  Inside the Mesmerizing Magic of a Murmuration.  Robert Furrow, Donna Jo Napoli.  Illustrated by Marc Martin

November

• The Strangers on Montague Street.  Karen White   (Tradd Street #3) 
• Chance Encounters.  Temporary Street Art by David Zinn.  David Zinn
• xTom Lake.  Ann Patchett
• Return to Tradd Street.  Karen White   (Tradd Street #4)  
  

December

• The Guests on South Battery.  Karen White   (Tradd Street #5) 
• |In the Dark.  Kate Hoefler.  Illustrated by Corinna Luyken
• |The Book of Mistakes.  Corinna Luyken 
• The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street.  Karen White   (Tradd Street #6) 
• |The Baby Tree.  Sophie Blackall  
• The Attic on Queen Street.  Karen White   (Tradd Street #7)  
  

Books I loved and recommend

• The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie, Rachel Linden
• The Ascension of Larks, Rachel Linden
• The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, Jennifer Ryan
• The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, Annie Lyons
• Whose Waves These Are, Amanda Dykes
• The Great Passion, James Runcie
• The Museum of Ordinary People, Mike Gayle
• Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly, Marie Bostwic
• Rules for a Knight:  The Last Letter of Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke,  Ethan Hawke
• The Door-to-Door Bookstore,  Carsten Hen
• The Sound of Glass,  Karen White
• The Tradd Street series by Karen White

Have you read any of these and, if so, what did you think?

--Nancy.

Does Anyone Else Love Feed Sacks?

I found Feed Sacks: The Colorful History of a Frugal Fabric by Linzee Kull McCray at the library.  I learned more than I ever imagined there was to know about those sweet cotton bags.

The book includes the history of feed sacks from barrel to bag; from growing and harvesting cotton to weaving cloth; from creating the print for the fabric through the printing and sewing of the sacks; and the transition from bags with company names to printed fabric and paper labels; and so much more.

This is a photo-heavy volume with images of advertisements, photographs of families wearing clothes made from feed sacks, photos of sacks from various times, advertisements, patterns, news articles, and, of course, feed sacks in all their variety.

I was surprised to learn that pattern companies like McCalls created a selection of patterns particularly for use with feed sacks.  I was also surprised to learn that some companies that printed and made feed sacks also sold yardage of some of that same fabric.  Ideas for ways to use bags included aprons, smocks, pajamas, rompers, middies, mattress covers, handkerchiefs, dish towels, shoe cases, laundry bags, pillow cases, curtains, ironing board covers, bibs, and on and on.  Quilts were not at the top of the list but there are examples of feed sack quilts in the book, likely made from leftover fabric after making clothing.

Bags were printed with all-over patterns, with border patterns, embroidery patterns, patterns for stuffed toys, aprons, and cloth dolls and their clothing.  The string used to close the bags was sometimes used to make crocheted doilies, as well as for other uses. 

Many of the photos in the book are placed on top of a photo of a feed sack, a great way to show more feed sack prints.  The last third of the book is of swatches of feed sack prints, many of them full pages.

I was surprised to learn how much consumers influenced companies to sell products in printed bags and how responsive companies were to the desires of consumers.  Way to go, consumers!

I appreciated this statement from the book (on page 357):  "Reusing feed sacks was a way to survive, but it also allowed families to thrive.  Making use of what they had was not based on assuming some high moral ground; it was simply a way of life.  Feed sacks also proved to manufacturers that there was value in products whose reusability was enhanced."

I learned that at least 18,000 prints were created for bags.  One collector quit counting at that number and was still finding bags with prints she didn't have.

This book is a small 6½" x 8" but weighs a hefty two pounds because it's printed on beautiful paper.  My only two complaints about the book are that the font on many of the pages is small.  I reasoned that if they'd made it bigger, there may have been double the pages (and weight) or larger pages and still double the weight.  My other small complaint is that there's no index at the back.  Often when I read a book I'll remember something and when I want to go back to find it, I use the index.  Not possible with this book.

If you love feed sacks this book is worth the time to at least browse through it for the pleasure of the photographs.

I have a few feed sacks amongst my stacks of fabric.  I wasn't sure about these two, below, whether they really were feed sacks or not, but the book told me that one way to know is by the stitching across one end.  The needles and large string used to close the bags left holes that don't easily disappear.  It seems that these two were both used as pillow cases because they've been hemmed.

The other three printed sacks I have are these. The two on the right are a slightly coarser weave than the one on the left, possibly used for meal or feed and not flour or sugar.  All three of these are still in their original bag condition with only the stitching removed from one end. 

The bag with blue flowers is practically square, so it is probably a 5# meal bag.  Bag sizes and weights eventually became standardized.  I suppose that's helpful for collectors to know.

If you love feed sacks you won't want to miss this wonderful book!

--Nancy.

Books, 2022

Last year I categorized books from "most-loved/enjoyed" to "it was okay" with several categories in between.  This year I'm going back to a list of books but have put my absolute favorites in bold print.  The ones I liked a lot or thought were really good, but weren't absolute favorites, have a > before their titles.  The ones with this symbol | indicate a children's book. 

One of my favorite places to learn more about a book and to see what others have rated it is goodreads.com/.  You can also read reviews by other readers there.  But I've found that just because someone thinks a book is fabulous doesn't mean it will strike a chord with me.  There have been a number of books this year that people raved about that just didn't do it for me and I sent them back to the library unfinished.  .

January

• The Moonlight Child.  Karen McQuestion
• >The Christmas Dress.  Courtney Cole
• One More for Christmas.  Sarah Morgan
• Patch Work:  A Life Amongst Clothes.  Claire Wilcox
• |The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits:  A Christmas Story for Advent.  Ulf Stark and Eva Eriksson
• Things Organized Neatly.  Austin Radcliffe
• Wintering:  The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.  Katherine May
• >The Consequences of Fear.  Jacqueline Winspear

February

• The Keeper of the Bees.  Gene Stratton-Porter
• The Butterfly and the Violin.  Kristy Cambron
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.  Charlie Mackesy
• |The Children of Green Knowe.  L. M. Boston
• One Summer in Paris.  Sarah Morgan

March

• >The Sewing Machine. Two families. Three secrets. Millions of stitches.  Natalie Fergie
• >The Summer Seekers.  Sarah Morgan
• Small Things Like These.  Claire Keegan
• >The Magnolia Palace.  Fiona Davis
• |The Moorchild.  Eloise McGraw

April

• A Glitter of Gold.  Liz Johnson
• All the Flowers in Paris.  Sarah Jio

May

• >D-Day Girls.  The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II.   Sarah Rose
• >Summer at the Cove.  RaeAnne Thayne
• With Love from London.  Sarah Jio
• The Path to Sunshine Cove.  RaeAnne Thayne 
• Make Your Bed:  Little Things That Can Change Your Life ... And Maybe the World.  Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired)
• Goodnight June.  Sarah Jio

June

• |Goodnight Moon.  Margaret Wise Brown.  Clement Hurd, illus.
• |Mister Dog:  The Dog Who Belonged to Himself.  Margaret Wise Brown.  Garth Williams, Illus.
• A Sunlit Weapon.  Jacqueline Winspear
• Family for Beginners.  Sarah Morgan
• |>I Wish You More.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld
• |>That’s Me Loving You.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  Teagan White, illus.   
• |Dear Girl:  A Celebration of Wonderful, Smart, Beautiful You.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal. Holly Hatam, illus.
• |One Smart Cookie:  Bite-Size Lessons for the School Years and Beyond.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  Jane Dyer and Brooke Dyer, illus.

July

• The Cartographers.  Peng Shepherd
• >Bloomsbury Girls.  Natalie Jenner
• |Every Dog in the Neighborhood.  Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell   
• Beach House Summer.  Sarah Morgan
• |If You Come to Earth.  Sophie Blackall
• |Hello Lighthouse.  Sophie Blackall
• |Negative Cat.  Sophie Blackall
• High Conflict:  Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out.  Amanda Ripley   
  

August

• >Take Me With You.  Catherine Ryan Hyde
• >Haven Point.  Virginia Hume
• |Finding Winnie:  The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear.  Lindsay Mattick.  Sophie Blackall, illustrator
• Just After Midnight.  Catherine Ryan Hyde
• The Best is Yet to Come.  Debbie Macomber

September

• The Scent of Water.  Elizabeth Goudge
• Missed Connections.  Love, Lost & Found.  Sophie Blackall   
• Farmhouse.  Sophie Blackall
• Flying Solo.  Linda Holmes

October

• |Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life.  Maurice Sendak
• Eden Hill.  Bill Higgs   
• Fresh Water for Flowers.  Valerie Perrin

November

• A Man Called Ove.  Fredrik Backman
• In the Middle of Hickory Lane.  Heather Webber
• >Ellie and the Harp Maker.  Hazel Prior

December

• The Christmas Escape.  Sarah Morgan
• Snowed in for Christmas.  Sarah Morgan
• |>The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.  Susan Wojciechowski.  P. J. Lynch, illustrator
• >Christmas at Holiday House.  RaeAnne Thayne
• >The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  Barbara Robinson.  Judith Gwyn Brown, illustrator

What have been your favorite books this year?

--Nancy.

Quilt Blocks, Out and About, Christmas Movies

I'm making progress on Burgoyne Surrounded blocks.  These are six of the last eight blocks. 

The pattern for this quilt is so strong that I it would look fine if it were really scrappy, with lights/darks only.  I think that was my original intention.  But I admit that the colors add a lot of interest.  Below are pieces of the last two blocks I'll stitch.  Maybe I will get them made before Christmas.  (Or maybe not.)

My daughter and I went to a trolley hop in the city last weekend.  Kelton House is usually our first stop.  I always look forward to seeing how they've decorated, always with Victorian pieces, some original to the house.  One of the Christmas displays was of small houses made from cardboard. 
They looked so festive.  I think my mom had some cardboard houses she used to put out at Christmas, too, but I doubt they were from the Victorian era.  A few days ago I was surprised to see a wreath made of paper houses and was pleased to see that patterns were included in the post.  I think the wreath houses are about a third the size of the ones at Kelton House.  The patterns could easily be enlarged.  

A day or so ago Ann Wood posted a pattern for scrappy Christmas tree ornaments.  I made one, then two, then three.  They finished at about 4 3/4" high.

I don't love these particular trees but I may make a few more with other fabrics.  Lighter colors would stand out better against our fir-green tree.

I'm sharing some Christmas movies we watch and love, sharing mostly because some of these are ones I don't see on others' lists.  The first three are comedies from about the 1940s, as is White Christmas. 

• It Happened on Fifth Avenue
• Christmas in Connecticut
• Bachelor Mother
• Home Alone
• The Santa Clause
• The Forgotten Carols
• Mixed Nuts
• White Christmas
• While You Were Sleeping
• A Child's Christmas in Wales
  
• The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, which was new to me this year.  I expect I'll watch it again next year.

And these are three of the Christmas books I love.

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  (Listen on audio of you can.) 
• Christmas at Thompson Hall by Anthony Trollope

For some reason I'm not feeling very Christmasy yet.  I don't know what that's about but I hope it changes soon.   And I hope that's not so for you, if you celebrate Christmas.

I'm linking this post to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Judy.

--Nancy.

Things to Look Forward To

I love this book!  It's not that I haven't looked forward to things so much as that I've taken looking forward for granted.  Just another part of life, just another part of a day, week, month, year.  No big deal.  This book, Things to Look Forward To: Large and Small Joys for Today and Everyday, reminds me how important having things to look forward to can be, how they can add a little spark, a little light to our days, especially after more than two years of a pandemic and all the limitations it put on us.

For each of the 52 things in the book, the author, Sophie Blackall, includes a painting and a few lines or paragraphs with her thoughts about it. 

Some of the things she names are the first snow, seeing eggs with painted faces when she opens her refrigerator, finding something she thought was lost, and coming home--plus 48 other large and small events in a day, a week, or a year.

Sophie Blackall has won two Caldecott Awards (for best children's picture book).  I can see why.  Her paintings, done with Chinese Ink and watercolor, are delightful.   

After reading her book I decided to make my own list of things I look forward to, things that happen spontaneously as well as ones I anticipate or plan for in advance.  (You know the delight of anticipation!)  These are some of them, in no particular order. 

• Ice water, especially in the morning but any time, really.
• Rainy days
• Being with my grandchildren again
  
• Gathering and drying lavender and sweet grass
• Clean sheets.  Even though it's a weekly event, it still feels like a luxury.
  
• Seeing a row of birds on an electric wire.  We see them gather in late afternoons along the freeway, which is about the time we're coming home if we've been up north.
  
• Autumn with its glisten, crunch, and glow
  
• The fragrance of honeysuckle
• Watching a well-loved movie
• Trader Joe's chocolate croissants.  We bring them home frozen then let them rise overnight and bake them in the morning.  Fresh from the oven they are delicious.
  
• Sundays, for worship and physical, mental, and emotional rest from daily activities, concerns, and challenges
• Thunderstorms 
• Spending time at the ocean
• Fresh, homemade, crusty artisan bread with Jai Lai butter.  The Jai Lai restaurant no longer exists but its butter recipe (with the perfect blend of herbs) lives on.    
  
• A murmuration of starlings.  I love watching them dip and sway, then turn on a dime to fly another way.  Amazing.
  

How about you?  Do you have things you look forward to?  What are some of them?

--Nancy.

Covid, Doing Little, 2021 Books

I'm recovering from Covid and at the point where I really want to do something but have nearly no energy, either physical or mental.  It's a strange situation because I'm not one to sit and do nothing.  Sometimes life gets so busy I think, wouldn't it be nice to be able to just sit for an hour.  I'm not so thrilled now that I can do that. 

I finally picked up Cheddarback and began a little slow quilting.  And I've been reading.  And napping.  And just started taking walks again, such slow walks, around our neighborhood.  By all I've read, mine has been a mild case of Omicron.  (It felt like a sinus infection to begin with.)  I've been able to weather through it at home.  It didn't sink keep into my lungs though I do have a cough and I didn't lose my senses of taste or smell.  I haven't have much of an appetite.  I'm ready to feel good again.

We just took our Christmas tree down today but other pre-Christmas things are still cluttered around.  The nisse along with her patterns and papers sit in her box with unfinished neck scarf, Dear Prudence lays under the cutting mat awaiting a choice of binding and a trim, the Christmas wreath is still on the door, and a bag of Christmas gifts sits near the couch in the family room.   

I've missed all the end of year wrap-up posts (too late for that now) and all the planning for 2022 posts (I don't have the mental energy yet), but I thought I could share a list of (most) of the books I read last year.  I came up with a new system to rate them:  loved them, liked them, ho-hum, strongly disliked them.  I tried to include notes about language and intimacy and whether light fantasy.  I may have missed some language notes, though.  If you have questions I'll respond to comments or you can check goodreads for reviews.

I Loved These Books

• This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing: A Memoir.  Jacqueline Winspear
• South of the Buttonwood Tree.  Heather Webber (light fantasy)
• Hamnet:  A Novel of the Plague.  Maggie O’Farrell  (positively lyrical though the ending could have been stronger, one intimate scene)
  
• The Lake House.  Kate Morton
• Midnight at the Blackbird Café.  Heather Webber (light fantasy)
• The Kitchen Front.  Jennifer Ryan
• The Downstairs Girl.  Stacey Lee
• The Lost Spells.  Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris (breathtakingly beautiful)
• Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting.  Lisa Genova
• The Paris Library.  Janet Skeslien Charles
• The Lights of Sugarberry Cove.  Heather Webber (light fantasy)
• Every Secret Thing.  Susanna Kearsley
• The Dictionary of Lost Words.  Pip Williams
• The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive.  Lucy Adlington (non-fiction, amazing ways the women worked together to save each other!)
• The Rose Code.  Kate Quinn
• The Keeper of Happy Endings.  Barbara Davis
  

I Enjoyed These Books, Worth Reading

• WinterFrost, Michelle Houts (children's chapter book with a nisse)
• The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding.  Jennifer Robson
• At Home on Ladybug Farm.  Donna Ball
• Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family.  Cameron Bloom & Bradley Trevor Grieve
• Growing Up.  Russell Baker
• The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin (children's)
• News of the World.  Paulette Jiles
• The Second Sister.  Marie Bostwick
• On the Wings of Morning.  Marie Bostwick
• The Last Garden in England.  Julia Kelly
• The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America.  Elizabeth Letts (non-fiction)
• Seven Perfect Things.  Catherine Ryan Hyde
• The Shadowy Horses.  Susanna Kearsley (some language)
• A Desperate Fortune.  Susanna Kearsley
• The Paris Apartment.  Kelly Bowen (some language in difficult circumstances)
• The Nature of Fragile Things.  Susan Meissner
• Pumpkin, The Raccoon Who Thought She Was a Dog.  Laura Young
• I'll Be Seeing You: a memoir.  Elizabeth Berg
• Hannah Coulter.  Wendell Berry
• The Keeper of Lost Things.  Ruth Hogan (some language)
• The Last Thing He Told Me.  Laura Dave
• The Last of the Moon Girls.  Barbara Davis (light fantasy)
• Never Fall for Your Fiancée.  Virginia Heath (a fun farce; some intimacy)

Good Enough, Not Fabulous

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.  V. E. Schwab
• The Uncommon Reader:  A Novella.  Alan Bennett
  
• A Piece of the World.  Christina Baker Kline
• The Promise Girls.  Marie Bostwick
• The Lost and Found Bookshop.  Susan Wiggs (placed here because of the ending)
• The Last Year of the War.  Susan Meissner
  

Books I Disliked and Wish I Hadn't Wasted My Time Reading

• The Lincoln Highway.  Alex Towles

I hope you're having a good new year!
--Nancy.

Book List, 2019

Albert Anker's
"Elderly Woman Reading...."

I published the lists of books I've read in 2014 and 2015 and then the habit fell by the wayside.  Jeanne's post reminded me this year.  I keep an annual annotated list on my computer but having the titles and authors on my blog makes for much easier searching when someone asks if I've read a book by a specific author or title.  I'll probably add the lists I haven't already posted, too.  Below, a vertical line before the title indicates a children's picture book.

January

• The Book of Mormon 
• Marilla of Green Gables, Sarah McCoy

March

• We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals.  Gillian Gill 
• The Bookshop.  Penelope Fitzgerald 
• The Friendship War.  Andrew Clements (children's but not a picture book)

April

• The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History.  Elizabeth Norton

May  

• The Forgotten Seamstress.  Liz Trenow

June

• The Clockmaker’s Daughter.  Kate Morton 
• A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers.  Hazel Gaynor 
• When Crickets Cry: A Novel of the Heart.  Charles Martin 
• Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World.  Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell

July

• The American Agent.  Jacqueline Winspear
• |Wendell’s Workshop.   Chris Riddell
• |The Bear Dance.  Chris Riddell 
• Britt-Marie Was Here.  Fredrik Backman 
• Be Frank with Me.  Julia Claiborne Johnson
• |Town Is By the Sea.  Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Sydney Smith 
• True Colors.  Kristin Hannah
• |Vera’s First Day of School.  Vera Rosenberry
• |Vera’s Baby Sister.  Vera Rosenberry
• |The Growing-up Tree.  Vera Rosenberry

August

• Tending Roses.  Lisa Wingate 
• Good Hope Road.  Lisa Wingate 
• The Language of Sycamores.  Lisa Wingate

September

• Drenched in Light.  Lisa Wingate 
• A Thousand Voices.  Lisa Wingate 
• The Summer Kitchen.  Lisa Wingate

October

• Where the Light Enters.  Sara Donati
• |What Miss Mitchell Saw.   Hayley Barrett, illustrated by Diana Sudyka 
• Mindset:  The New Psychology of Success.  Carol S. Dweck

November

• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.  Kim Michele Richardson 
• Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard.  Laura Bates 
• Down Cut Shin Creek:  The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky.  Kathi Appelt & Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer
• |Molly’s Pilgrim.  Barbara Cohen, illustrated by Daniel Mark Duffy
• |Grandma’s Purse.  Vanessa Brantley-Newton

December

• Winter Cottage.  Mary Ellen Taylor 
• When Angels Sing.  Turk Pipkin 
• The Lost Words: A Spell Book.  Robert Macfarlane, illustrated by Jackie Morris

Books Not Finished (for one reason or another -- no connection to the characters, due back to the library, didn't enjoy the writing style, etc.)

• Jane Austen’s Guide to Thrift:  An Independent Woman’s Advice on Living Within One’s Means.   Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones 
• The Gilded Hour.  Sara Donati 
• Merry Hall.  Beverley Nichols 
• The Man in the Brown Suit.  Agatha Christie 
• Adam’s Task:  Calling Animals by Name.  Vicki Hearne 
• The Shallows:  What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.  Nicholas Carr 
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette.  Maria Semple 
• Three Men in a Boat.  Jerome K. Jerome 
• The Sea Keeper’s Daughters.  Lisa Wingate

This list does not include the stacks of quilting and family history books I browsed or perused during the year without reading them from cover to cover.

--Nancy.
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Aerial Photographs & Art Map Quilts

This could be a Really Random Thursday post except that it's not so random because it is about quilts (in a way).

So.  I love aerial photographs.  I find them fascinating and beautiful.

Years ago, when I was in college I happened upon a large-format, inexpensive book of aerial photographs at a used book store.  I took it home and marveled at the colors, the arrangements of houses, fields, rivers, cities.  It is a treasure, buried now in a box with other rarely-used books.  These days I can use Google to search "aerial photographs" and find screen after screen of images I find interesting.

The images above come from Earth View with Google, a website where you can choose a location on earth and see photographs at both a far distance and closer to the earth.  In aerial photos I see a kind of beauty about the way people have organized and arranged the land -- farmlands divided into fields, towns and cities where homes line streets organized into communities -- and photographs where nature has arranged the land her own way.

A few months ago, at a library I rarely visit, I was browsing the shelves of quilting books and came upon Art Quilt Maps:  Capture a Sense of Place with Fiber Collage---A Visual Guide by Valerie S. Goodwin.  It caught my eye in the same way aerial photographs do.  Maps and aerial photos are similar in that they are both elevated views of a place.

I doubt I will ever make an art quilt map but I fell in love with this book and the creations I saw inside.  Here are a few pages.  You see maps, of course.  Do you also see improv quilts?

Improv, yet they capture the essence of a specific location.

Chapter topics include, among others:
> mapping out ways of working
> materials and tools for creating a fiber-art map
> background music:  the landscape layer
> step by step ways to create that background layer (paint, translucent fabric, etc.)
> materials and techniques to create lines and shapes
> fiber-art travel maps
> mapping personal memories and landscapes

Throughout the book are small galleries in each chapter showing finished quilts and how the techniques were used.  Also included:  gallery of work by the author, gallery of work by students, and resources. 

Perhaps this book will appeal to you. 

Do you like to look at aerial photographs?  Have you ever made a map quilt?

--Nancy.
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