I mentioned in a recent post that I’d bought myself a book nook off Amazon and assembled it.  Prior to this experience, I’ve never really understood the appeal of miniatures.  But after putting this miniature library together and installing it in my actual library, I totally get it.  I had a blast messing with all these tiny fake books, itty bitty scrolls and paintings, miniature furniture…it was fabulous from start to finish (my assembly mistakes notwithstanding) and now I get to look at it nestled amongst my real books.  So of course I bought two more…

I believe I might have mentioned once or twice that I watch a lot of YouTube.  At the moment, I’ve been watching a lot of quilting videos, which got me to thinking about small projects that use up scraps.  Why not coasters?  They’re quite small, done quickly, are pretty and useful, and make lovely gifts.  Oh, and they’re fun to make.  So today, two different methods of doing patchwork and quilting to make a set of four coasters.

“Quesadillas…aren’t those Mexican grilled cheese sandwiches?” Yes. “No, wait, they’re nachos in sandwich form.” Also, yes. More importantly, they are quick and easy to make, delicious, adaptable, and almost universally enjoyed. Do you really need me to tell you how to make a quesadilla? Probably not. Is that going to stop me? Definitely not.

Part 2 won’t make much sense if you haven’t read Part 1, which you can find here.

I’ve never made a quilt.  I’ve done very small quilting projects (placemats and the like) but never a proper big blanket.  But this did not stop me from volunteering my sewing “skills” when my favorite sister-in-law mentioned that she’d been saving up my oldest nephew’s T-shirts and wanted to make him a T-shirt quilt for his high school graduation.  How hard could it be?  Well…the answer to that is lengthy but the simple version is…harder than I thought.

I both knit and crochet.  Both crafts use yarn.  Both produce cloth of some kind.  But beyond that, they are very different. 

I keep a list on Amazon.  Well, I keep a lot of lists.  I keep a list of gift ideas for each of my family members, I keep my own personal wish list of things I’m considering purchasing, I keep a list for each blog project I do which uses a lot of Amazon projects.  And I keep a gift list for myself of things that I would like to have but can’t really rationalize purchasing for myself.  If someone asks me what I want for my birthday or for Christmas, I can just give them access to the list.  It’s handy.

I grew up in a rural area on a single acre of property.  My family was not exactly poor, but we did have to watch our money carefully.  One of the ways we managed to be frugal was by cultivating a large garden (about 8000 square feet) that the whole family worked to tend:  weeding, tilling, planting, harvesting, watering, etc.  We had so much food out of that garden that harvesting days were a whole family affair.

During the heat of the summer, I find it hard to eat. This is always an odd sensation, since at most times, I like eating above most other pleasures. But in the sticky heat of a Pacific Northwest summer, food is unappealing and if I manage to eat a normal meal, heavy in my stomach. But. Humans still gotta eat.

Mise en place, the French term meaning everything in its place, is usually used in the kitchen.  But it can be more widely applied to any space where specific organization is required.  For example, the part of my studio where I do my sewing.

Do you like quirky science fiction?  Like maybe authors Douglas Adams and Jasper Ford mixed in with a little Doctor Who?  Well, have you ever watched the TV series Warehouse 13?  No?  Then you should give it a try.  Be aware, there will be minor spoilers ahead.

PI Day and St. Patrick’s Day come in quick succession, which is perhaps why I was thinking about pie.  And then green pie.  Which naturally led to Grasshopper Pie.  Thinking about pie led to googling about pie.

One of the big requirements for a wrist pincushion is that there is something present which prevents the wearer from jabbing a pin all the way through the pincushion and into their wrist. 

I was FaceTiming with my mother recently, and we were knitting while we chatted.  Every time my mother needed some knitting notion (an extra needle, a stitch marker, a darning needle, a longer cable, a cable cap, the little key for interchangeable needles, scissors, etc), she had to get up from her work table, trot off to retrieve it, and then come back.  Then, when she was done with whatever little tool she’d most recently used, she’d lay it on the work surface and promptly lose it.  “It was right here a second ago!”

I don’t really care for politics.  I recognize that it’s a necessary evil in any civilized society but I still don’t want to understand or participate.   A more civic-minded friend of mine would probably say that I am failing my duties as a citizen if I don’t take pains to at least understand politics, but in some ways, I’ve always been a slacker.  Any political knowledge I possess was acquired in spite of my best efforts to remain oblivious.

People who sew need pincushions.  Yes, pincushions plural.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Elizabeth Zimmermann could reasonably be considered knitting royalty.  She’s written a number of books, has done a knitting series on PBS with her daughter Meg Swanson, and is widely considered to have brought the art of knitting back into vogue in the United States.

Picking a favorite author is often like picking your favorite child…most people have a favorite but won’t admit to it.

Visible mending is an ornamental approach to repairing an item. Rather than trying to mask the area where the item was damaged, the goal is to highlight these imperfections in a creative, eye-catching way. A combination of techniques and materials can be used to extend the life of an item which is otherwise in good condition, save a small hole, rip or tear.