Coffee Break Reading

The other day I was listening to the Fresh Air  while out on my errands and it was a great show with Pamela Paul of the NY Times talking about her book  My Life with Bob.  I really enjoyed the interview.  She spoke about being a life long reader, and there were so many things about her childhood reading that reminded me of my own experience.  I remember in seventh grade English we were tasked with listing each book we read on a 5 x 7 card, including a short review.  During that school year I read almost 400 books  and received a certificate, which was pretty cool in 1968.

 

I also loved the segment on book reviews and writing.  I've always love writing but am not very good at it, mostly just writing in the same manner   I speak.  Anyway, during the interview she shares a favorite  review  by Michael Lewis.  She remembers   the first sentence being something  like "he's written a good book, let's get that out of the way."

 

Which brings me to Blue and White by Minick and Simpson.  Let me get it out of the way, it's a great book, and I loved every page.

 

Blue and White is a  coffee table style book,  with wonderful photography by Brent Kane, published by Martingale. It's the perfect book to linger over, and to return to time and again.  It's divided into three sections, Americana, Coastal and Classic, and feature quilts and hooked rugs in a variety of settings through out the home.

 

I enjoyed the narrative that accompanies the pictures, insights into the creative process, and personal stories. 

 

And I'm not going to lie, I'm a complete fan-girl for the sisters, and I'm not afraid to admit it.  Meeting them at quilt market and having the opportunity to chit chat now and then has me barely able to control myself on most occasions, just hoping I won't say something stupid.

 

There are no instructions included for projects, but many of the quilts and rugs do have patterns and they're listed in the back for easy reference. You can find them on their website and you an follow along with their exploits on their blog.  

 

So to recap. LOVE THE BOOK. I highly recommend it!

 

Ok that's all for me today!

What's new?

Morning friends!  How was your weekend?  The weather has warmed up a lot here (no complaints yet.. but lets face it they're coming) and so it's perfect early morning porch weather.  Coffee and magazines or quilt books are a must. 

 

This past weekend was Quilt Market and I enjoyed watching the sights and scenes on Instagram and Facebook. Did you follow along? It's so exciting to see what's new and coming our way soon. 

 

I have had fun visiting with peeps lately.  My friend Joyce needed some fresh greens  the other day and I went thru my stash to send some her way.  She asked me over to show me the cute quilt she made for a baby shower and you can see it here. I also had lunch with Holly last week, it's been far too long since I'd seen her.   I've missed being out and about with people so it made for a fun week. 

 

Hope you have a good week friends! xo

Good intentions

HI there!  How are you?  What's new on your side of the screen?  Same old thing around here.  Lots of sunshine this week, and I've spent time outside working on deadheading roses and trimming back things that need trimming.  My roses all bloomed out at once, in a beautiful showing.  The rain has been wonderful for them!

 

Last week did you see the really cute tea towel over at Boughs of Holly?  I saw it on Instagram and LOVED IT.  So totally had to have it.  We'll see if I make even one flower. 

 

Also saw these low volume prints on Sharon's Instagram and had to have them.  Since I began quilting background prints have been my favorite.  These will make a nice addition to my own fabrics.  I saw Amanda's Irish chain quilt and fell in love with it so I'm thinking about that. 

And to really mix things up I saw something out and about that gave me some ideas, so I have something else that I want to do.  We'll see how it works out.

 

I have good intentions to all of these things.  We'll see how it all works out.  Tell me what you're working on!  I'd love to hear.

TGIF

Hi there!  How did the week go for you?  Hot here, and I'm not complaining, YET, because today is a cool down.  I thought we had some rain coming too but looks like they took that off the schedule. 

 

I haven't done much sewing lately.    I know my problem is fear of commitment. Every time I look online I see something I want to make but then before I can do anything there's something else.   So for now I just made a little star.  I was looking through my block book and found this pretty Star of Hope so yesterday I made it. Not perfect by any means, but I enjoyed making it.  It's a 4 in finish, and features my biggest challenge, making those inner triangles meet nicely. I made it from scraps on my cutting table.. tiny pieces  used up.  

 

Just in case you missed it on Instagram, I did finish my cute scissors fob from Monday! Super fun.  I'm not used to doing that type of sewing and it was fun, Roseann encouraged me to get busy and probably thought that was the last she'd see of it.   Thankfully her book A Little Something,  had everything I needed to know to complete it.  So cute.  I've got it tied onto my red scissors as you maybe saw on Instagram. 

 

Hope the weekend is fun!  Thanks for stopping by friends! xo

A Little Something Delicious

Hi there friends, how are you?  We've had some lovely sunny spring-into-summer weather here in PamKittyville.  The rain has stopped for at least the coming week so it will be perfect for coffee drinking out back in the morning.   

 

My friend Roseann sent me a copy of her new  book A Little Something and it's super cute. (check the Martingale site for more images from the book.) I'd had a few sneak peeks here and there but wow it's filled with the most adorable projects.  All the photography and graphics in the book are wonderful, I love all the details.  It's so nicely done.   Roseann also snuck in an adorble kit for the scissor fob on the cover, all I had to do was cut out the strawberry pieces and the flower.

 

And believe it or not, I'm on it already.  In fact, after I took these photos I stitched the little seeds on the strawberry, and now I need to find just the right red and green for sewing those together. I'm not a sitching genius but there are nice little photographs of all the stitches used so you can get going fast.

 

You can order an autographed book from Roseann here.  Roseann has a great Wool Workers group on Facebook you can join and keep up to date with Roseann and a other wool working friends! I love seeing all the projects. 

 

I hope you check out Roseann's book.. it's super cute.  I'm lucky to have such a clever friend! Thank you Roseann for sending it to me!

 

Have a great week everyone!