books

Quilting With a Modern Slant (Weekend Reads)


When you say the words Modern Quilting I find there are three basic responses:

Yay!
Huh?
Ugh.

Hard to put an exact definition on it and full of its own contradictions, not to mention definitions applied and reapplied and adapted. It can be difficult for the curious (quilter or not) to really figure out what modern quilting is to the community.

Quilting With a Modern Slant doesn't necessarily define it either. But what it does is share a group of quilters who lead and inspire quilters. It profiles 70 quilters and their patterns/techniques that inspire modern quilters. Some may be modern quilters themselves, some may identify differently. It frankly doesn't matter really. The book is chock full of inspiration for nearly any quilter. Interspersed within the profiles are a handful of patterns as well as some basic quilting info.

If you are the Yay! kind of quilter then this book will be an excellent introduction to quilters you may not know, not to mention the eye candy.

If you asked Huh? when modern quilting is mentioned this book will serve as a great peek into the community. Of course there are a million more quilters doing a lot more things, but you can't get them all in a book. And while it won't define modern quilting for you, it will help with the 'knowing it when you see it' response.

For the non quilters who come across this book I think it serves an excellent introduction to the craft and the community. In fact, if this had been offered as more of a coffee table book and the profiles expanded a little bit more then the audience would have been wider. But with the emphasis on the profiles and quilts, and quilting info running like a television ticker on the bottom of the page, it would have been great as a solid resource as opposed to a soft cover.

If you answered Ugh. when asked about modern quilting then I wouldn't dismiss this book either. It would do well as way in to the community or at least trying to understand the aesthetic. I have books on Baltimore Album quilts and art quilting because I believe in learning about the tradition and craft, regardless of my personal tastes in making. If you feel this way too, or are open to exploration, then this book would be a good start.


Rachel May is based in Boston and is one of the founders of the Modern Quilt Guild there. She clearly knows a lot of people in the community and worked to follow and discover more. She's compiled a pretty extensive list of artists. Most were familiar to me, but there were certainly some new artists that got me pretty excited.

My one complaint about the book is that the profiles are pretty lean in most cases. Now I can appreciate that the choice was likely made to have more quilters over more detailed profiles, but I would have liked to learn a bit more about people. If you follow some via their blogs then this book doesn't really provide anything you don't already know. Then again, not everyone reads blogs.

I do have one mention in the book (I am not profiled). Rossie Hutchinson included a pattern for her Fraction Quilt, which was, in turn, inspired by a quilt I made called Your Parents Are Cool. Her profile in fact focuses on the importance of identifying and sharing your inspiration. With so much eye candy in the book, there may be people sourcing the book a lot in the future.

Full Disclosure: Storey Publishing provided a copy of the book for review. And Rossie was kind enough to share a copy as well. And I, in turn, shared one with a friend.

The Baker Street Translation (Weekend Reads)


There are a lot of people with stipulations about beach reads. While I'm not generally looking for something heady or overly challenging, I'm not about to pick up a romance novel. it just isn't me. My last beach read was perfect. Same bookstore, different aisle. Very different results.

The Baker Street Translation is the third in a series of modern-day Sherlock mysteries. The books revolve around the mysteries that seem to appear in front of the characters working at 221B Baker Street. Lawyers, of course, with a penchant for getting involved. Seeing as I am a big fan of the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries and the BBC series I had high hopes for some fun reading. And the book was just, okay.

The pace was a little too fast for me. It felt like it was racing to get to the point as opposed to letting the story unfold a little. I'm sure I would have appreciated the characters more had I read the previous two novels in the series as well. There were appropriate twists and turns and a couple of creepy characters to keep it engaging.

Was it fun? Yes. Was it entertaining? Sort of. Did it suit the beach read genre? Of course, it was a no brainer. I'm not a huge mystery reader so I can't say where it compares with others. And I didn't like it enough to want to read the other two in the series. But since I was reading it while I was sunning my toes on a Caribbean beach I really can't complain.


Me and C&T Publishing - An Instagram Takeover


This is going to be a fun week! Not to say that the last few weeks haven't been. But this week is pretty full and I am going to share it all with the world in the pretty - not the gory - detail. This week I am taking over C&T Publishing Instagram feed. 

From the Arctic to my basement. From a teaching gig to a book deadline. From being a tourist to being a mom. You can see it all through my experience, and lens. At the end of it, not only will you know more about me and what I actually do to get it all done, you've got a chance to prizes! 


To follow along, check out the Instagram feed here.


And check out these prizes! C&T will be giving away a full set. Details will be announced on all their social media streams.
Sunday Morning Quilts
A Month of Sundays
fast2clean™ 2-Piece Modern Dot Mini Microfiber Static-Cling Cleaners
Sunday Morning Quilts Eco Pouch Set


I'm not going to lie, it all feels kind of like bragging. But I am proud of the work I've done and proud of the audience that wants to share my life. That's you! I hope you join me on my adventures this week.

The Orenda (Weekend Reads)


As a reader, one of my biggest pet peeves is when a novel peters out at the end. The story is trucking along and then what should be a climax is really just a pfft of storyline. And in two pages is wraps up and you are left wondering what the heck happened. Following quite closely is an ending that is a little too perfect, especially after the imperfections of a life in fiction.

The Orenda has neither. A brilliant story builds to a violent and fascinating climax, with little surprises that make you gasp. At the same time expectations are met and the story continues as it should. The ending fits, it just makes sense. And it made me not want to stop reading yet hug the book with the satisfaction of a well written novel read.

At first I struggled with the novel. It is told from the point of view of three different characters and it jumps between them every chapter. It's actually quite frustrating at the beginning. But once the story builds it ends up being the perfect structure for telling the story. The three main characters are Bird, a Huron warrior, a Jesuit priest named Christophe trying to convert souls, and Snow Falls, an Iroquois girl taken in by Bird after he kills her family. Being able to see events from all three perspectives ends up being exactly the way the story needs to be told. The parallels in the characters are both obvious and subtle and only truly reveal themselves in the latter half of the novel.

The story, beyond the one about survival, battle, and clanship, is rooted in the history of the Jesuits in Quebec and their ultimate role in the demise of the Huron nation. It is a story I know well, one I remember writing about in my youth, and the reason I have an anthropology undergraduate degree. It parallels the story told in the novel and movie, Black Robe, but it frankly does it so much better. Less about the history (albeit accurate from my memory), however, The Orenda is a masterpiece of storytelling.

Joseph Boyden is a Canadian author that captures so much of the spirit and struggle of our First Nations. Three Day Road is one of my top ten novels. He is clearly meticulous in his research and epic in his writing. He can capture the details of an event in a way that leads you into the space of the story and writes of the events in a way that make you breathless. Now, with The Orenda, he delivers a  tome destined to define a moment in time.

Currently up for Canada Reads, our national contest for the best book - this year focused on books that all Canadians should read. My vote definitely goes for The Orenda because even if you put aside the storytelling brilliance, it is a story that we all need to read. A moment in our past that is ugly, brutal, and defining of relationships in Canada (and in many other places of the world) between First Nations and the rest of us. And a reminder of the mistakes made, the hopes misguided, and the spirit of all.

Slabs Meet Low Volume


No doubt about it, scraps get overwhelming at times. And other times the scraps are so inspiring and excited. This time it is the latter.

When I was working on A Month of Sundays all my scraps ended up together in one large messy pile. Then that pile moved to a bag. And that bag moved around and was shoved in different corners. I'm not sure why I felt the need to keep these all together, but I'm glad I did.

Ever so slowly I've been sewing together slabs from the scraps. It is like both my books are colliding into a beautiful mess. I'm in love! I didn't, however, want to just make slabs. I wanted to be a bit more creative, experiment a little.

At some point I read Denyse Schmidt's Modern Quilts Traditional Inspirations. Her interpretation of Shoeman's Puzzle struck me the most of all the quilts. Without a moment's hesitation I started turning my slabs into Shorman's Puzzle blocks. She uses templates, as she usually does. Because of the slabs and the proliferation of bias edges I chose a different route. My blocks are paper pieced. Each block has three seams, about one of the easiest paper pieced options ever. It was a smart choice as it is keeping the blocks in check.

Now, to find the time to make more. I've got more slabs sitting there waiting. When I teach a slab class this is the demo fabric I use. I just need a bit more time and some freezer paper patterns. I made the blocks 10'' square which means I can't print them. So freeze paper it is.

Aren't they fun?

Brave New Quilts (Weekend Reads)


Brave New Quilts is the latest and last book by Kathreen Ricketson. Inspired by Twentieth Century Art movements it speaks to inspiration and translating that inspiration to a quilt.

Kathreen died earlier this year. I woke up to the news one morning during Quilt Market. I'd woken early to actually answer some emails for her, only to get the news. Many others had the same story. And we all walked around in shock. And we were just fellow quilters and writers, colleagues and friends from online, not her family reeling from the tragedy.

Now, her book is out and travelling the world without her. A final legacy to her work.


Kathreen and I were working on our books at the same time, clearly with very similar deadlines. We would exchange tweets and emails about our status on the work. We knew what the other was going through. So, even though our books are quite different from a content perspective, they parallel each other in the timeline of my mind. That leads me to what I want to talk about today on this last stop on her Legacy Tour.

For all the book reviews, Amazon reviews, and social media comments it is important to remember two things. One, there are people behind these books. And two, these books are a creative enterprise as much as a quilt is, they are a work of art too.

The author of any book pretty much gets all the credit, or critique. But they are team efforts (unless self published). But for any and all credit and critiques you have to remember that these are real people. They have feelings, thick or thin skin, and real emotions. It seems easy to think of the book as an independent entity, free from its creator. That makes it easier to dismiss or criticize. I get that, it is a part of human nature to complain. But it is important to remember that these books do not exist without the people behind it.


That leads me to the second point: these books are a creative expression of the author and designers. When someone is writing a book they aren't just thinking, "Hey, I'm going to make a bunch of quilts and someone else will take pictures and we'll put them all together in a book and then people will read it." No, we think about themes, and details like illustration style, layout, styling of each quilt photo. We agonize over fabric selection more than you ever have, we tinker and run out of ink on red pens, we obsess over a block that won't lay flat. For the authors and designers, the quilts and their patterns are only just a part of the book, not the be all and end all.

Every author has a different reason for writing a book. Some want to translate their teaching to the written page, some want to share inspiration, some are looking to collate patterns, some love to write. All of them are coming to the book as a form of creative expression. Writing the book is as much that as designing and making a quilt.

Now I'm not saying that we authors are immune to critique and I, personally, welcome comments and constructive criticism. But when you make any comments on a book - good or bad - remember that there are people behind it and we put a lot of personality and creativity into that book. (Keep all this in mind as well if you are contemplating writing a book.)

That's why, when I read Brave New Quilts, I think of Kathreen. I think of her frantically sewing to make deadlines, photo shoot styling flying through her head as the stitches go in. I think of her cleaning and organizing just so for the shot to be exactly as she wants. I think of her spending an hour on a single paragraph to make sure her intentions and directions are as clear as they can be. I think of her anxiously anticipating the Pages for review to see how the designer put together everything.

Perhaps I am projecting my own experience onto Kathreen's, I will admit that. But we did speak of the process together. And now that I see her book I have a bigger picture of her own process. More importantly, I have a picture of Kathreen, a glimpse of her inspiration and translation, and of her creativity that goes beyond 12 quilts and beyond the emails and tweets we shared. I'm glad to have this bit of her in the world. A legacy to her creativity indeed.


To read more about the book and other takes on it, make sure you visit the other stops on the Legacy Tour for Brave New Quilts.

Stash Books
Heather Jones
Kristin Link
Maya Donenfeld
Alexandra Smith
Sonya Philip
Ellen Luckett Baker
Andrea Jenkins
Shannon Cook
Mimi Kirchner

Shucked (Weekend Reads)


Have I ever told you that my five year old - The Evil Genius/Death Wish - has a thing for oysters? Raw oysters. And preferably the East Coast varieties.

She tried them once when we were out for brunch. Hubby and I were sharing a dozen so we doled a bite out to the girls. The One Bite rule, right? They were both rather meh about them so we didn't think anything of it. Another trip to the same brunch spot a month or so later and she asked for one more. We're generous folks and don't mind sharing, especially with the kids, but before I had a chance to have my second oyster she'd had 6!

From there she went straight to eating dozens, literally, at a time. Taking her out for dinner or brunch is getting expensive!

So when I saw this book on the shelf at Anthropologie, of all places, I had to grab it. Purely for parental research, you know? Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm is the personal story of a food and lifestyle writer in Boston. Erin Byers Murray is feeling jaded and bored and without too much thought decides to take a year off and work on an oyster farm. She describes her brutal, cold first days  - cleaning and culling just harvested oysters on the frozen Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts. Then summer comes and the work is backbreaking but thrilling. There are the challenges to her marriage with her now an oyster farmer at the mercy of the tides and her husband the bartender. There are also the highs of food festivals and post work beers and new relationships. Behind all that is the story of an oyster from seed to table. Not to mention all the farmers who make it happen.

My five year old is too young to read this book just yet, but I'll be keeping it on the shelf for her. And I predict she'll read it round about the time she starts paying for her own oysters.

In My Hands, And Yours - A Month of Sundays


In the midst of vacation and gathering quilts and blocks for Just One Slab my next baby came out! A Month of Sundays is now available in stores! (And on-line.)

A Month of Sundays is about everything we do on the weekend - Eat, Explore, Relax, and Shop. The quilts, sewing projects, and essays are all inspired by these four themes. And each theme includes a number of prompts and tips for embracing the lazy Sunday afternoon.

There is so much to say about this book, about the book writing process, about the photography, the photographer, and oh, the quilts! Then there are the essays, recipes, and 8 other sewing projects. This book is so intensely personal and I want to tell you everything about it. But I don't want to bore you with the details (and I want you to buy the book to see for yourself).

There are two quilts and two sewing projects per theme, that means 16 projects in total. All of them are designed with ease of use and creation in mind. They aren't necessarily meant to be finished in a single Sunday afternoon, but they can easily be picked at like a bowl of cherries - devoured at once, red fingertips to show for it, or nibbled each time you walk through the room.

Oh, and did you know ALL the projects feature low-volume fabrics? Indeed, my own fascination with low-volume fabrics fueled the book. You could easily turn up the volume and embrace all your modern brights with each project too.

I do hope you all love it. I'm looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming months, in addition to hearing from you. If you have any questions about the project comment here and I will try to  add those my discussions, over a loverly cup of tea.


The Importance of Storytelling (Weekend Reads)


It's been slow on the reading front the last few months, for two reasons. One, I've been moving full speed ahead and barely have the energy to fall into bed for a few hours of sleep each night, let alone read. And two, the last two books I picked were a little heady. It made reading them a bit of a challenge.

Both books were quite good, but slogs to get through at times.

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald was actually painful to read at times. Incredibly well written, wry, and full of great storytelling, it was also full of not a single likeable character. I spent the first half of the book alternating between cringing and wanting to reach into the pages to slap someone. But the details, the rich descriptions, and the subtle but incredible turns in the writing kept me going. Bad writing and mediocre storytelling would have had me toss the book early on, simply because of the characters.

It's a story that follows a family through their rural Cape Breton Island life, with a stint in New York City, that captures young love, abuse, racism, ugly marriages, music, evil, obsession, strength, and light. Not a single character is flawless and it isn't until the end that sympathy actually grows. And that's my experience. I wonder if a reader with a different perspective of many of these issues feels the sympathy differently? As the story unfolds and history is clarified your heart takes leaps and plunges. Without good story telling this is just a book about an family's ugly history.

As I've grown older I've realized that good storytelling is what appeals to me more than anything in a novel. So many novels are character driven. And that's fine, but the storytelling has to be there too. If not, I'm happy to put the book aside and move on to something else more interesting.

I nearly did that with The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Very much character driven and rather pretentious through the first half of the book, I came very close to moving on. But I'd been warned that this might be my response. So I forged ahead, helped by the short chapters. A few pages a night and progression through the book was what I needed before bed, that's all. Then I came to this passage:

"Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain beauty. When you speak, or read, or write, you can tell if you've said or read or written a fine sentence. You can recognize a well-turned phrase or an elegant style. But when you are applying the rules of grammar skillfully, you ascend to another level of the beauty of language... I get completely carried away just knowing there are words of all different natures, and that you have to know them in order to be able to infer their potential usage and compatibility."

And it goes on. I literally sat up in bed and read this passage over and over again. It explained so much for me as a reader and a writer. And it made me pay more attention to rest of the book, caught up in the stories of the characters now.

Words make stories, but in the hand of a good writer - someone who can ascend through language - they make beauty, even when the stories are ugly. That's what good storytelling is and I will always pursue that.

Piles of Books (Not a Weekend Reads)



No such thing as too many books, right?

My husband and I are on opposite sides of that answer. but one of us is a reader, the other is not. You don't hear me complaining about too many Top Gear magazines filling the house.

I am rather impatiently waiting the arrival of the built-in bookshelf for my studio space. So, for now, these books pile around me on the floor. Until the other day they were in my son's room/house dumping ground but I went on a spree and did up his room this past week. So now the books are piling up on the floor in my room. And that's not counting all my non-sewing related books (novels, bios, non-fiction, etc.) piling up on the floor of the bedroom. Also not counting the boxes of books stored away, hoping for a glimpse of the light.

It's no lie, I've dreamt of a home library for years. Just like Lord Grantham with his red couches, impressive writing desk, and a tray of crystal and hard liquor. Or perhaps a slightly more modern version. A girl has to dream right? Because libraries are exactly what the architects of these 50s tract houses had in mind when designing boxes to inhabit.

Any suggestions or pin boards on book displays/storage for a mid-century girl?


Homemade With Love (Weekend Reads)


Both the joy and annoyance of knowing someone writing a book is the anticipation. As an author I know the work, struggle, and excitement of producing a book. The time lag between the emotions of writing and the actual publication. Then the revisiting those emotions. When you know someone else going through these things the empathy is strong. So is the joy when that book is given to the world.

Jennifer Perillo recently published her first book, Homemade with Love. A testament to her from-scratch cooking as much as it is to love. It is filled with both stories and good food, the kind that make you wish you had doughnut pans and a food processor and extra long arms to hug everyone. I've had the book for about a month now and have made at least a half dozen recipes (including the incredible Golden Vanilla Birthday Cake seen above and currently covering half my cake stand). All have worked wonderfully and tasted like they cared about me.

The book is, of course, tinged with both happiness and grief. This is the book Jennie always wanted to write. And then her husband suddenly died, plunging her and her girls into an unimaginable world. She writes of her grief in snippets in the book (more so on her blog, In Jennie's Kitchen). What you see in the book - even in the photography - is the light that comes from food, from making and sharing food cooked with love. And that light can shine through grief.

One day I hope to meet Jennie in person, to cook with her and laugh over wine. I have a feeling she has a lot to teach me - about honest motherhood, food, and dreaming big. We can talk writing and 5 year old girls. And I will toast her and this wonderful cookbook, one of my favourites in a long while.

Take some time today to laugh with your partner and share a piece of homemade cake.

Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil (Weekend Reads)


Cooking with my kids is something I do almost daily. I started when they were toddlers, more or less as soon as they could stand beside me in the kitchen. We've included knives from the beginning, and so much more. I thought I was pretty great, cooking with them. I wrote about it many times, I spouted off advice to anyone who would listen. I thought I was a bit of a rock-star mom. Then I read Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil by Kim Foster.

If I am a rock star mom then Kim is the royal family, the Queen Mum. She makes potato chips from scratch and then volunteered to teach a preschool class in a Harlem public school how to cook. Then she lived to write about it.

And by teaching these kids to cook I don't mean she set about to mix up some chocolate chip cookies or press the button on the food processor to make hummus. She made dumplings and spring rolls, pastry, cheese, stocks for soups, and all this after starting with meatballs. She is equal parts brave and insane.

I love her so much.

Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil is her self-published e-book documenting her year with the kids in the Harlem public school. But it also about documenting her changing relationship with her oldest daughter and her own relationship with cooking and enjoying food.

Kim is honest, funny to the point of downright hysterical, and speaks what the rest of us only think when it comes to personal criticism and relationships. I would kill to drink wine with her if only to hear her voice. And get all the stories that didn't make the book.

This book also includes recipes and some intensely personal admissions. I literally laughed and cried - what a cliche - through the book. But I did and so will you. And then you will want to make Chocolate Kumquat Spring Rolls and sit around the table with your family and a roast chicken. Because that is what Kim does, she makes cooking and people real, so real that you need to become a part of it too. Just like the kids she worked with did.

Charley Harper Board Books (Weekend Reads)


When I picked up the first of these books with a fabric order from Purl Soho I held on to them, keeping them away from the kids. Too precious, I thought. Then I picked up the third in an airport bookstore last month and brought them out. And now - no word of a lie - they are my little man's favourite books. He crawls around with them, eats them, hands them to me or his sisters to read... What can I say? The boy has great taste.

Side by Side (Weekend Reads)



With March Break in full swing here I've been looking for creative ways to spend time with the girls. I've also been looking for a way to prioritize my time with them, while still fulfilling my creative needs. I was hoping that this book would provide a bit of inspiration.

Side by Side from Tsia Carson is not your typical craft book. She pitches it as projects that you can do with your resident crafter. Not so much about setting them up or doing all the dirty work for them. That's the goal.

To be honest, I'm not sure she really succeeded in that. There are definitely projects that work very well when parent and kid work as a team. And some that show great parallel activities so that both get something interesting and appropriate for the skill level. But it didn't really read any different than most craft books to me, other than some language about working with your kidlets.

And the projects? Well, many are things I've seen before - with some notable exceptions. I'm trying to convince my husband to do some guerilla gardening in the park across the street for the Living Willow Tree Teepee. And my kids loved the Giant Newspaper Snowflake. But pom poms, making stuffies from your kids drawings, and hand sewn pillows I've seen many times over.

My other issue with the book is the inconsistency in project instructions. In some cases they are so basic. And that's fine, if you know what you are doing. In others they are nicely detailed. It reads like a reflection of the author's own skills. If she knew how to do it, she assumed others did. If she had to research and figure it out, she spelled it out for readers. There is, however, a detailed technical section at the back of the book for the skills needed for the projects, like crochet stitches. It's pretty handy.

Carson's website is Supernaturale. I love the site for tidbits of inspiration and ideas. The book,  I suppose, is the same. Tidbits that are good for picking.

I do think this is a good addition to my library, despite my criticisms. It serves as a good reminder to be with and work with my kids a bit more. And I'm positive that once the kids devour it I will be pulling out pom pom makers and fabric paint and staplers to craft with them, at their insistence, not mine.

Under This Unbroken Sky (Weekend Reads)



About the only time I read is right before bed. I snuggle under the quilts, a cup of warm almond milk with honey in hand and the book that generally lives beside the bed. Some nights I manage to make it through more than 2 pages before falling asleep. But if I don't grab those two pages I usually can't sleep. The next night I inevitably need to read one of those pages over to remind myself what happened.

You can see why it takes me a while to get through a book, at least since having my baby boy. Either through some miracle or because of good books, I've managed to get through two novels already this year! Two! The latest finish is Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell.

A friend loaned me this book solely on the premise that the story is about Ukrainian immigrants settling on the Prairies. Why, that's my background! No, I wasn't a settler, but my Dad was, after WWII. The setting, the descriptions of the home, the land, the people hit quite close to home for me. I saw my Baba in the women of the novel, both my Dad and my Dido in the men. I imagined the joy of a heart shaped rock in the children in the one room school house located uphill in both directions. I felt the dirt of the frozen floor.

I wonder if it was Mitchell's writing or my own experiences clouding the read. I mean, I've been on the farm my Dad's family settled and the quiet, tiny, drafty "cabin" they lived in. It was nestled on the edge of some trees, with a view to a massive stack of wood (for the stove), a slough, and the start of the farmland. Oh, how I hated going to that farm as a kid. So backwards, so scary. Now, however, I totally appreciate the labour, the hardship, the opportunity that cabin and farm provided. It only took me 25 years to get there.


This is also a story that goes beyond the hardship of settlement and tackles the struggles of family - abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, and sibling relationships. Or maybe that is still the story of settlement? There are painful, cringeworthy and heartbreaking scenes in the book that literally make you gasp and hold your stomach. There are joyous and beautiful moments of love that make you want to get up and dance.

Mitchell's writing is haunting. She captures turns of phrases familiar to this Ukrainian, she describes the farm in a way that has you digging out the dirt under your fingernails. And she captures the emotions of the characters so well too - one day you love one, the next day you want to smack the petulant child, and the day after that you desperately want to correct his confusion.

I'm a sucker for good storytelling, and this novel is it. Is it any wonder I managed to finish it in less that a month with my bedtime routine?

The Secret is Out

"Mama, are you a famous quilt writer person?" So asked The Monster at dinner tonight.

"To some people," she then added.

Sigh.

Well, maybe...


My next book is coming out this summer! It doesn't come out until August, but the monolith that is Amazon has it available for pre-order. A Month of Sundays focuses on my obsession with low-volume fabrics. It includes quilts and more, so much more. It demonstrates the trust my publisher, Stash Books, had in me to include more writing than your standard quilt book. It includes the phenomenal photography of Kate Inglis.  It celebrates the joy of the lazy Sunday, from sleeping in under a glorious quilt to shopping for flowers to dessert at Sunday dinner.

I am beyond excited to share this book with you. It's been an intense experience, coming on the heels of Sunday Morning Quilts, and written in conjunction with the pregnancy and birth of my baby boy.

I can't wait for you to see it all.

In other book news, Sunday Morning Quilts has been nominated for a 2013 Golden Quilter Award. How cool is that? I'm not a fan of shilling for votes, but if you've got a minute we'd love yours. Check out the other awards too, it is a veritable who's who of quilting. Thank-you to our anonymous nominee. And thank-you, faithful readers and supporters.

The Red House (Weekend Reads)


Well, I did manage to get a bit of reading done on our recent vacation. Not as much as I expected, but that's okay. I only got the chance to read during N's naps. But that would also be the time Hubby and I had alone so we often spent those three hours on our balcony chatting and drinking beer. I brought 3 books with me and only finished the one I'd started before we left: The Red House by Mark Haddon.

Haddon is a writer and artist. Take some time explore his works and blog. Fascinating at times, honest, and visually quite inspiring, especially for us quilters.

I was really looking forward to this book. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is one of my all-time favourite novels, also by Haddon. But the writing style that is so perfect for that novel was not as great when it came to The Red House. It is written from the point of view of every single character, jumping from each one constantly. Rather frenetic and it takes some getting used too. Kind of like reading thought bubbles in a comic book. Effective in telling the character's story, which is what this novel is about.

This is a novel of family history, family drama. There are certainly parts that many readers could identify with, and others that seemed completely incredulous. Then again, I'm not a hormonal teenage boy (one of the characters). It is also a novel of shortcomings, that is, of the characters discovering, accepting, and trying to overcome their own. It is like Modern Family without any of the humour.

It is a compelling read, perhaps not for vacation, but still worth finishing.

I refuse to waste my time finishing books I don't find interesting. I've got little time to enjoy reading so I like to make the most of it. It took me years to come to this conclusion but I am much happier for it.

Thank-you so much for the book recommendations too. I've read a number of the novels you suggested and have noted the others for 2013 reading.

Creative Thursday (Weekend Reads)


A book with with pretty and cute, as well as some gentle kicks in the butt and encouragement for living a creative life. A short and sweet summary of Creative Thursday: Everyday Inspiration to Grow Your Creative Practice by Marisa Anne.

It's no secret that I've been a big fan of Marisa's for years. I've taken her on-line classes, participated in a creative community she led, and even created works inspired by her own. She's also been a big supporter of mine, sending me fabric treats and lovely prints when I order other ones. I'll be honest, I'm surprised I like her work so much. I don't generally go for cute and sweet, it just isn't my thing. But Marisa, and her work, radiate happiness. Positivity isn't something I instinctively grasp, but it is impossible not to smile when you see her work. I imagine it is the same thing when you meet her in person.

This is gushing, I realize that. but I do have to give Marisa credit for reminding me that happiness is sometimes a choice. It really is and choosing happiness makes a world of difference in getting through life.

Marisa's book is also about choosing creativity, about the active decision to live with creativity as a daily part of your day. Personally, this isn't a problem for me these days. I know that I thrive when I get the chance to write, sew, doodle, play with fabric, colour, and daydream. But it took me a long time to realize that I needed it as much as I did, longer yet to make the time for it. For people just beginning that journey Marisa walks them through it. No, she walks beside you, as if she's got a lollipop in hand and having the conversation right with you. All the way from intentions, resistance, to habit formation.

For people like me who feel very comfortable in their creative existence the book is still full of ideas for enhancing your practice as well as good notes on the doubts and conflicts we come across. The discussions about resistance we create and face, as well as the ever present comparison and competition issues are great. For me they are great starts to a discussion I know I could dig into with many a colleague and friend.

My biggest complaint about the book is her publisher's insistence on putting their website on nearly page. It's rather distracting.

This is Marisa's book, so the artwork is all hers and it truly is a reflection of her creativity practice. Don't expect a more general outlook on creativity. If you aren't already a fan of her work, you will be. It's hard not to get captured by her energy.

Note: I purchased this book myself.

The Creative Family (Weekend Reads)


The detritus of a Sunday morning. Paper snowflakes, tea, books for Mama and The Monster, plus a few random toys.

We no longer have a TV upstairs (saving the giant creature for the new basement). This means are mornings are quieter and more creative. I LOVE it. Friends thought I'd miss it but it is one of the best things ever. We've all simplified and slowed down a little. Mornings aren't so frantic and noisy. The kids don't think of TV all the time, and we're creating together just a little bit more.

This morning I pulled out The Creative Family to read with my tea. I come back to this book all the time. Written by the popular Amanda Blake Soule of Soule Mama, it a book all about slowing down, creating, and celebrating family. Since I was feeling grinchy and frustrated by this year's holiday season I sought out her gentle advice.

Now, I'm never going to move my family to a farm and despite my domesticity I will likely never be considered even an urban homesteader, but I love visiting with Amanda through her books and blog to remind me that my way is not the only way to be. I don't have to get caught up in crap, in the pursuit of perfection, in material thoughts. She radiates beauty and creativity and nurturing. I'm all city! Colour! Shouting! Maniac! Going to her spaces that she shares encourages and reminds me that I don't have to get caught up in the energy.

The Creative Family is a resource for me for activities and attitude to slow down and celebrate the simple for at least a moment. I get tonnes of ideas for presents (homemade cards!), for family activities like drawing nights, and an attitude adjustment. It isn't the prettiest of books inside, despite Amanda's photography skills, but it still works. The pursuit of the creative and the calm simplicity comes through.

And so, today, this weekend, when I think of children lost and families broken I am encouraged by the simple, by the rituals of my own family, by tokens for Christmas and holding my littles near.