More Votes for Women Blocks and A Book Review

Jack's Delight: Ridicule as Humor

Still catching up on the Grandmother's Choice: Votes for Women Block of the Week.  These blocks are from January-February. 

I realize that I can either keep up with sewing, keep up with blogging, keep up with reading blogs & social media, or keep up with replying to emails but not all four in the midst of all the myriad of other things in life. 

Modern life is crowded. Isn't it?

Girl's Joy: An Ounce of Persuasion

True Blue: Too Smart

The Carrie Nation Quilt 

I thought it would be fitting to add the latest book I finished to this post since it relates to women's history and the changing role of women in America:  The Girls of Atomic City:  The Untold Story of The Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history in general, women's history, World War II history, America during the early to mid-20th-century, social history, or just a really well written book about something that is not well known.  The book was particularly fascinating to me because although I've read a lot of WWII books, I never read a book that focused on the Manhattan Project and development of the atomic bomb.     Most of the books I've read have focused on the beginning of the war or the war in Europe.  This book is more of a social history about the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, development and the workers, particularly the women, who worked there.   Intertwined throughout the book is a discussion of the discovery of fission and development of the bomb to provide context.  In fact, I think I liked this book so much because the author did a great job of putting gender roles, ideas, social mores, this part of the country (the South during Jim Crow), and the time period in context.  Ms. Kiernan also discusses the stories of women from a wide range of socio-economic classes, education, and life experiences and most importantly, includes the stories and experiences of African Americans at Oak Ridge.  In my opinion, this was a fascinating read and it is amazing to think that a place as large as Oak Ridge and the development of atomic bombs could be kept secret for so long, particularly as compared to today's world of everything everywhere being facebooked, instagramed, and tweeted.  If you read this book, let me know what you thought of it.  

If you made it all the way to the end of this post, here's a gratuitous Remy photo just for you!

Patrick McDonnell's New Book

Long time readers of my blog may remember that Mutts! and Patrick McDonnell's books are among my most favorite things EVER.  I wrote a review of his book Me...Jane last year.   And in 2008, I saw him speak at the Decatur Book Festival.

Two Saturdays ago, September 1st, Patrick was once again a featured speaker at this year's Decatur Book Festival discussing his new book called The Monsters' Monster.


The book is just magically wonderful.   All of his art is magically wonderful.

Patrick talking about the character Stinky Pudding

Patrick spoke twice at the festival, first at the Children's Stage, where he drew Mutt's characters and read his new book.  (He was under a tent and the photos didn't turn out very well.  I didn't want to use a flash because I figured it would be distracting.)

Patrick McDonnell drawing Earl

The best thing about author's talks at the Children's Stage are the questions by the kids.  Adorable, honest, open questions.  Too cute.  All of you that have kids know this but it's always new to me.

After the book reading, there was a book signing.  I had my copy of The Monsters' Monster signed and a collection of the Mutts comics called The Best of Mutts. I also was able to tell Patrick how much joy his comic strip brings to my everyday life.

Love. This. Book!

Look he drew a little Mooch for me!!!

I did not ask him to sing the Little Pink Sock song for me.

Although I really wanted too.












Of course we had to buy a copy of The Monsters' Monster for my niece Mackenzie.  S. asked Patrick for a special inscription and Patrick added a great drawing of the Monster.  Wow!  How cool is that?!?!

I've had a "monster" thing going with Mackenzie ever since she was wee tiny little.  I am probably the only person to buy a sweet baby girl a Tim Burtonish-onesie (see here).  And when she was less than a year old, I taught her to make all kinds of monster noises (cause that's how this aunt rolls).

Anyway, I can't wait to see her (next month!) and give her the special book!  And we can read it and make monster noises all week.

Better.

Remy and Edgar Poe

Did everyone have a good Mother's Day?   The cats were on their best behavior yesterday and enjoyed another day in bed.  The cats loved the peace and quiet, all piled on the bed napping.

S. brought me ice cream and good (soft) food to eat. And many cups of tea.  He's a good nurse for someone who is not a very good patient.

I Skyped with the family in Michigan and explained to Mackenzie how I had an "ow-ie" And then we talked about how everyone has teeth--Aunt Gretchen, Grandma, Shiloh doggie, Remy kitty, Mackenzie.  I love conversations with two-year olds; they are very factual.

 

Today, I am finally starting to feel better.  My last sick day off of day job and Starbucks so I better be right as rain tomorrow (or at least tolerable).

I finished reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  I am so happy I had a great, big, well written book to read as everything else made my teeth hurt.

Watching TV, eating, noise, talking, sitting, smiling, forget it.   I didn't even sleep that much.

It was a really great biography and a wonderful insight into a person who has revolutionized our modern life.  It made me love my Apple products more and really really really wish he had developed an iIron. Can you imagine an Apple iIron?  A quilter's dream!!  A perfectly designed, weighted, proportioned, temperature controlled iron.  Perfect steam. Perfect heat for different fabrics. Sigh.


I did venture out of bed to do laundry and iron S.'s shirts and decided that I was going to sew a little.  I finished two blocks of Doc and have the rest sorted.

The color placement is tricky in these blocks so I used my block design board that I made during retreat in February, which I had buried in the sewing room handy and ready to use.

Today was a fun mail day too.  For last month's Schnibbles parade, I won 2 charm packs of the new French General fabric from Sherri.  Thank you so much Sherri!!!  I can't wait to use these in a Schnibble later this year.

I also had a sweet note with some funny stickers from my dear friend Karmen.  Love you Karmen!!  You are the best!  Let's all be jealous of her going to Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City.  I can't wait for the report on all the great new fabrics and wonderful photos. (Karmen is a great photographer.)  Make sure you wear your boots for Sample Spree so you don't get your feet trampled.

Oh and look at how pitiful that is.  I am at 99 followers.  Anyone up for being #100?  I'll do a giveaway soon if someone will round up the number to three digits.  Just sayin'.

Mardi Gras!!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!  King Bacchus this year in NOLA is none other than Will Ferrell.  How fun is that??!!!  I hope to visit NOLA for Mardi Gras someday.  Today, I'll just have to settle for wearing beads to Starbucks.

Image courtesy of The Times-Picayune on nola.com

Not much partying going on here in Stellabellaland. I have been working working working  these past two weeks (70 hours last week and 65 this week) as we are short-handed at Starbucks and I have my usual 40-hour week day-job (no President's Day off for us).  That means not much sewing and not much of anything.  Le sigh.

I did finally finish reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy (or Millennium trilogy). I may have been the third to last person on the planet to read this (two of my Twitter buds are the others lol!). I enjoyed it a lot and am anxious for the next two movies to be filmed.  My current book is Just My Type: a book about fonts by Simon Garfield. I think I qualify for an uber-geek award with this selection.  I admit I am a font noticer and prefer serif fonts to sans serif fonts (old fashioned in this regard).

In other miscellaneous news, Downton Abbey has ended for US audiences and now we have to wait for Season 3 along with everyone else.  I already miss the Dowager Countess.  I think I liked Season 1 better than Season 2.  Season 2 was a little overdramatic and soap-opera-y in my opinion.  The last episode (Christmas episode) was much better although ended a bit abruptly. I guess to set up for Season 3.  What are your thoughts Abbey fans?    

PS:  I got rid of the new, annoying, incomprehensible word verification so please comment away without having to decipher.

PPS:  If you do comment, please let me know what you think of my new plain-style blog layout.  Too boring? Too dreary? OK?  Need different colors?  Don't have an opinion?  I hope to add a colorful photo banner at the top with quilts/cats/something. S is supposed to work on one for me in exchange for doing his taxes for him.  Hint hint S!  Thanks!!!

Recent Reads & Simple Times Quilt Along

Gomez as Library Sphinx

I didn't get much sewing done over the long holiday weekend as I thought I would. The weather was intolerable with high heat and high humidity so I stayed inside in the air conditioning and succeeded in not being very productive.  Although I did read two books so I guess that's something.  I read Marie Bostwick's latest book Threading the Needle and Tina Fey's Bossypants.  Both were enjoyable and perfect for long holiday weekend couch reading.

 This week I did get caught up on the Simple Times Quilt Along. 

1930s fabrics just make me smile.

Having a short week at work also makes me smile.  One more day and it's the weekend again woo hoo!

Too Many Books and A Funny for Cat People

Hello and happy Monday (happy because it's one day closer to the next weekend...) I don't have anything new sewing-wise to show today.  Yesterday, inspired by Laurie at Crazy Aunt Purl and the fact that my local library was asking for donations for a book sale, I went on a wild tear and sorted through my way-too-many-books book collection.  Being a English literature/history/anthropology/historic architecture/cookbook/general collector-type person, all my book shelves were overflowing into piles on the floor (let's not even start to discuss quilt books OK?). I am happy to report that five, full, paper grocery bags of books went bye-bye out the door to new owners and there are no longer piles of books on the floor (however some shelves remain double-stacked).

Why is it so hard to get rid of books? Does anyone else have this problem?  What are your attachments to books?   I think I still have the university mentality that I'll need some of them for reference again.  Or maybe it's because I spent hard-earned money on them. Or went digging through used-book stores for this book or that book. Or because I love how eclectic collections of books make a house a home. 

Do you think people find personality clues about people from the books on their shelves (thinking "oh how weird" or "well she's well read" or "doesn't she ever dust??!!?" ?

Some books I'll probably keep forever (author-signed books or my absolute favorites), but others I wonder why I keep hauling around from place to place when they are readily available elsewhere (Stephen King, I love you, but I'm talking about the 200 lbs. and endless linear feet your stories take up).

Has anyone gotten rid of physical books and replaced them with e-books yet?  (I really can't imagine this world but probably need to visit every now and then...)

Comment away....I'm really interested.

And now for something completely different....a very funny slideshow for cat people out there courtesy of Slate (via S. who emailed it to me) follow this link to (the tongue-in-cheek) article:

Cats of War: The Pentagon's top-secret feline special-operations program, revealed
 
PS:  This would be right up Edgar Poe's alley but Stella would beat him paws down in stealth.

"Me...Jane" A Book Review

One of my favorite authors and illustrators of all time is Patrick McDonnell.  He draws and writes the Mutts comic strip and also childrens books.  His books are magical.  That's the best way I know how to describe them.  The drawings and words are works of art and I just adore every one more than the other. 

In today's mail was a package from Amazon of the latest Patrick McDonnell children's book called Me...Jane about the childhood of Jane Goodall. 

As always, it is magical.  Simple words, each one filled with meaning.  Beautiful art that makes the heart full. 

I am biased because I admire Dr. Goodall and her life's work but I wholeheartedly recommend that you
pick it up at your local bookstore for your favorite child person. 

Snow-pocalypse Days 3-5

Greetings from Hoth-lanta!  Yes this is Day 5 of most of the metro area being under ice.  You need a Tauntaun to get around this city.

I don't have a Tauntaun so I've been at home all week.






Why can't people in Atlanta get out of their house when it snows? 

This photo says it all!

Not to mention we had freezing rain on top of the 4-6" inches of snow around the city.

The ice is the worst because we don't have enough sand, salt, or gravel to spread on all interstates let alone the major streets and secondary roads.  Small streets, subdivisions, and everyone else are on their own. Seriously, I saw a postal worker sprinkling salt from her truck yesterday.  It appeared to be coarse salt that one would use for cooking.  Poor Atlanta....

"creme brulee snow" an icy crust on top of snow

In case we needed to get out sometime. I went out yesterday to shovel the driveway....







with my garden shovel

For future reference, garden shovels are not every snow-efficient. 

The sun shining on the ice

 What else was going on these past few days?  Very little.  I read a Stephen King book, Full Dark No Stars (a really great book to read on cold winter nights and one of his better books of late in my opinion.)

We watched a lot of local news, always entertaining to see 15 mile backups on closed interstates, cars sliding around on ice, and reports of empty grocery store shelves.

I worked on work stuff from home.



I worked on the endless Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt.

The cats stayed warm by sleeping on heat vents. 


 





I wished I had some sled dogs.

I just have erstwhile sled cats....

Instead of sleeping curled up in the snow like sled dogs, "sled cats" sleep curled up in quilts. Go figure...

Limbo Week (no not the dance...)

Yes it's the week between Christmas and New Year. I don't know why I've been so slack in blogging; I just it's just the slow-down-quietness of the week.  I've been one of the few people at the office this week (I love driving to downtown Atlanta during Limbo Week--no traffic :) Trying to get projects done before the end of the year when the phones and emails are quiet.  I love Limbo Week.

Let's see what have I been up to...

working on the gazillion of 1 1/2" finished half-square triangles for the Bonnie Hunter mystery. I have 240 of the 600 needed so far. I'm using Thangles to make these and it may never end...




Here are a couple of cool lucky wins I won right before Christmas
from Sinta and Sherri's Le Petite Projects of the Year monthly giveaway a gift certificate to Quilt Taffy.  Here's my loot with a sweet note from lovely Corrie.  You can visit her blog here and the etsy shop at the link above--great prices and fast shipping gotta love it!






and a giveaway from the most wonderful Alma of Blackbird Designs
Little bitty cutie charm packs of 2-inch squares of their new line for Moda called Antique Fair.  These are too cute and precious to open! 

Ah hem I also bought a wee little bit of a present or two for myself during those great holiday sales that kept overflowing my inbox (I have no willpower....)
A fat eighth bundle of "Morris Tapestry" (I CANNOT resist William Morris fabric especially in purple and especially with the Strawberry Thief design) and a couple of charm packs of the new Kate Spain "Central Park" (great new line love it!) from Crazyquiltgirl Fabric Shop (another great shop with super fast shipping!)  And a couple of patterns from Fat Quarter Shop's sale.

And lastly, a recommendation of an excellent book for history buffs.  I borrowed my copy from the library but lots of you bloggers out there got those spiffy new e-readers so you may want to check it out electronically. I really enjoyed Simon Winchester's previous books:  Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded;  The Meaning of Everything:  The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary; and A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. If you like well-written, accessible, and interesting  history, science, natural phenomena, weather, naval history, military history, social history, oceanography, biology, anthropology, and many many other ologies, you will probably enjoy this book.  I like lots of ologies but that's just me.

OK I think I'm all caught up.  One more day of 2010 to go.

All Hallows Read: A New Halloween Tradition

A splendid idea from my favorite author, Neil Gaiman.  Last Saturday on his blog, he proposed starting a new tradition involving books.

From his post:  "I propose that, on Hallowe'en or during the week of Hallowe'en, we give each other scary books. Give children scary books they'll like and can handle. Give adults scary books they'll enjoy."



What scary book would you give?

For people of all ages, I would give Mr. Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, a wonderful, fantastic story that I think resonates with everyone who has felt different or alone or both at some time or another.  The magical depth of the characters will stay with you long after the last page is turned. It is a book that I didn't want to end, which may be the hallmark of the best books of all. 

For older readers (teens and adults) you can't go wrong with Stephen King.  In particular, try some of his older books:  Skeleton Crew is one of my favorite for short stories that are sure to give you chills; Salem's Lot and The Shining are top-notch creepy page-turners that make you stay up way past your bedtime and way past the time you won't freak yourself out by hearing strange noises or a fleeting shadow in the hall; and of course there is It, CLOWNS need I say more??? 

For some Halloween reminesces and thought from Mr. Gaiman see this article from a few years back.

Fall Reading and More Treat Bags

Tiny Treat Bags from Quilts and More fall issue

I made four more little treat bags.  These are just too fun and cute.  A few will be staying here and the rest will be mailed to Michigan for my Halloween-loving family.  This is going to be a short post because I am declaring today "binding Saturday" and am sewing miles of binding on my Mardi Gras quilt and maybe two more. 

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I read mostly nonfiction books.  Lately, I have been reading a number of World War II books.  Here are two that are really interesting and well worth checking out.  The Women Who Wrote the War by Nancy Caldwell Sorel is an excellent book that explores the lives of women reporters and photographers in both the European and Pacific Theaters.  An amazing book about amazing women and the first time women were allowed to report from combat areas.  

 

The second book is American Nightingale:  The Story of Frances, Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy by Bob Welch. This is another wonderful book about an amazing woman. Ms. Slanger and her family survived World War I in Lodz, Poland and immigrated to the US in 1920 when Frances was seven.  The book details the struggles the family faced living in the 1920s and 1930s in Boston and how Frances defied her family, went to nursing school, and worked at Boston's City Hospital. Against the wishes of her family, she enrolls in the US Army Nurse Corps and is among the first US nurses to land in Normandy on June 10, 1944.  I triple highly recommend this book. In fact, if I was Steven Spielberg, I'd option this book right away.  It's high time movie studios made some decent movies for women that are not the same ol', tired, retread-story chick flicks.  Hear that Steve?!  Good. Off to bind.   

Summer Reading

Here are two books I highly recommend for your summer reading pleasure. (note: if you like light, beach reads for summer these are not it!)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is an amazing book. It's a true story. I don't know where to begin with how this book affected me. Here's the New York Times review. Read it and understand a little more.

The second book is My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliviera. A novel about a 19th-century
midwife who is refused a medical education and takes it upon herself to serve as a nurse during the Civil War. If you liked Widow of the South, you'll like this one too.

Anyone else read anything good?

Memorial Day 2010

A day to remember and honor the brave men and women who served our country.

Similar to last year's post, I finished an incredible book about soldiers at an appropriate time of the year. War by Sebastian Junger is a book that will stay with me for a long, long time. And I, for one, will never forget.

Have you forgotten yet?
Look up, and swear by the green of the Spring that you'll never forget.
from "Aftermath" by Siegfried Sassoon, 1920. Thanks CM.

A Grumpy Morpheus

Not a whole lot going on around here lately. Morpheus has been grumpy this week. Earlier in the week, I took him to the vet for his annual check up and bloodwork. Morpheus will be 17 in August and sometimes he is a grumpy old man, particularly if you wake him up from a nap and haul him off in the car to the vet. He also had to get a little biopsy done on a bump on his shoulder area, which required a shot and two stitches. Not a happy camper at all after that. Luckily, he didn't have to go home with an Elizabethan collar or a cape like last time.
But it was sore nonetheless and he let me know how horrible everything was by looking alternately pitiful and mad. I'm sorry Morph really I am.

Saturday was Silver Thimble Quilt Club day. I decided not to work on the 895 million 3" nine-patches I have left to make for the Scrappy Nines quilt and worked on the finishing kit for the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery Quilt. Didn't get much accomplished because I spent a lot of time visiting with my quilting buddies. So now I'm going to alternate between these two quilts and hopefully have something finished soon.

I finished a good book recently. It's called For All the Tea in China by Sarah Rose.
The book recounts how Robert Fortune, a British horticulturalist smuggled tea plants out of China for the East India Company, which led to the establishment of tea growing in India and ended China's monopoly on tea. I enjoyed the book as a good, relatively short, well written and researched, popular history about tea--second only to coffee as my favorite drink.

National Library Week

This week was National Library Week and the honorary chair this year is one of my all time favorite authors Neil Gaiman. I discovered Neil's brilliant writing a long time ago when he wrote comic books and I'm glad that everyone else (who perhaps do not read comic books) has discovered his wondrous stories.

His recent children's book (or young readers as it is called now) The Graveyard Book won the 2009 Newbery award. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book. Another great book is Coraline, which was made into a fabulous animated movie.

Libraries are such a vital component of our communities and they are even more important during tough economic times. I heard a story recently on NPR about how many people are left out of job and college opportunities and even students cannot complete homework assignments because they don't have a computer and internet access at their home. They rely on computers available at their local public library. Lots of cities and counties are looking for ways to cut their budgets. I am so lucky to live within walking distance my local library and use it all the time to check out books. I make sure that my local government knows how important my local libraries are to me personally and to my community. Budget cut elsewhere not my library!

Well there's my public service announcement for library week.

If you want to learn more about National Library Week check out the ALA website.

For more about Neil Gaimen see his website at www.neilgaiman.com.

I think it started with childhood...

I think my love for all things Halloween and spooky and weird started in childhood with one of my absolute favorite books The Witch in the Cherry Tree by Margaret Mahy.
I don't know what happened to my original hardback book over the years and every once and awhile, I would search for a used copy online. Well I finally scored one on alibris.com at a very cheap price and although it's paperback, I am overjoyed to have a copy again.

If you are unfamiliar with the book, here's the summary "one damp, dull day David's mother is baking cakes. Everything is fine until a naughty old witch comes to settle in the cherry tree in the garden. [The witch] tries to outwit David and persuade his mother to part with the cakes..." I think still think it's a fun story and am glad I haven't grown up that much.

I love this page with the witch dancing in the yard conjuring up a rainstorm of great big purple clouds and lightning. If I was a witch, I'd dance in the yard just like this.

I also love this page
The witch is sulking in the cherry tree because she has so far failed in her attempt to trick David out of some cupcakes. Look at those great red socks! And the shoes!! Pointy black shoes with heels and buckles. How cool!

Just so you are not in suspense, the story does have a happy ending and the witch does get some cupcakes. And she makes it stop raining so David can play outside. This is what I learned from the book and remembered all these years: everyone loves cupcakes and be nice to witches in red socks and cool shoes.

October at last

I'm so glad it's October. Fall has arrived in Atlanta with cooler weather, less humidity, and clearer skies. October is my birthday month and my favorite holiday, Halloween, wraps up the month with fun and candy purchases, always with the pretense that I'll actually get a trick or treater or two this year.

I took a little blogging break because I was just tired and didn't have much to say. No sewing this past week or last weekend. Just a lot of vegging with the cats, taking naps, and reading books. Working more hours at Starbucks and my feet hurt all the time and the house is a mess.

But now it's October, it's three days into the month, and it's going to be a better month. It's time for apple cider and Halloween mugs.
I feel better already.

I read two great books this past week. I highly recommend both of them. The first is The Confederate General Rides North by Amanda C. Gable.


I loved the main character in this book, 11-year old Kat McConnell. The author so realistically captures the imagination and spirit of an intelligent, curious girl trying to understand and comprehend the world around her while dealing with the uncertainty of the moods and action of an apparently bi-polar mother. It's a tale told with truth and heart.

The second book is Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper.
I liked Dewey, the Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World better. But really, I'm a sucker for a good, touching cat story. And besides, Homer is the most awesome name for a blind cat ever. Readers who are owned by cats will not be astonished at the capability, love, and fearlessness of Homer. We know that if cats had thumbs, they would rule the world.

I'm off to catch up on catching up now. Happy Autumn!

When all else fails...make cookies

That's a great motto to live by, don't you think? Feel free to adopt it too.
A rainy afternoon calls for some sewing and baking. These are black and white blondies from the More from Magnolia Bakery cookbook (dark & white chocolate chunks, I left out the walnuts).

I think a glass of milk has my name all over it.

For bar cookies and brownies, do you like middle pieces or edge pieces? I am a middle piece person. In fact, if you ask my brother, he will tell you a story about a certain pan of brownies that only had about an inch of edges all the way around the outside and no middle pieces.

He's prone to exaggeration though and maybe his memory is fuzzy. I'm just sayin'...