I’ve recently finished The Great Courses’ series entitled Epic Engineering Failures and the Lessons They Teach, taught by my favorite instructor, Professor Stephen Ressler.  Unlike my previous review of his course on Greek and Roman Technology, I think for this review, I will just summarize a few of my favorite lessons.

When I finished my recent QAYG quilt, I had bits of the jelly roll strips left over.  Enough, I thought (hoped), to make a cover for my new sewing machine (which I have named Henrietta).  A hat for Henrietta, if you will.  I cut down the remnants of the jelly rolls into 2.5” squares, hoped I had enough, and began.

I am not addicted to building book nooks.  I can quit anytime!

I don’t like buying certain things.  Clothing.  I just hate shopping for (and spending money on) clothes.  My mother and I were laughing about this the other day during a phone conversation and we agreed that if it weren’t for her and my dear friend Jane, I wouldn’t have any decent clothes at all.  Between the two of them, they have managed to force me to purchase enough pieces of clothing that I don’t go naked.  I’m very grateful.  Truly, I am, even though I’m a serious pain in the tush when the forced shopping is in progress…Jane, I’m very sorry about biting you.

I love strawberries.  Which is why I planted a bunch of them in my deck garden this year: Tristar day-neutral (ever-bearing) strawberries, among the sweetest and most flavorful I’ve ever tasted.  And of course it follows that I love the summer dessert, strawberry shortcake.

You’ll want to read Part 1 first, naturally.

Okay, I know I said in a recent post that if I never saw another quilt, it would be too soon.  Well, I’m allowed to change my mind, right?  This is still America, right?

As of June 17, it’s been two years since I started this blog.  Two years of posting a new article every Friday.  I’m quite impressed with myself.  So for this second blog-iversary, I thought I’d list a few random purchases that I’m quite pleased about recently.

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.