Monday Miscellaneous

Quilters Know How to Spoil Other Quilters:

And spoil me, P. from The Way I Sew It did!   I was the lucky recipient of one of her adorable little clutches.  We've all been admiring the pictures of her clutches, but seeing first hand all the work and care she put into these, well it's just darn impressive.

See, even the inside has such nice detailing.  I love the musical print she used for the inside (I don't know if she remembers, but I happened to send her this one--how cool is that?).  And it's got pockets for carrying your driver's license and credit cards.





Since the purse I use isn't much larger than this it will be easy for me to make the switch.  The clutch is so pretty, I almost hate to use it, but then I've had people say that about quilts, and I really want my quilts to be used, so I'll be using this clutch.

And pillowcases!

I love the way she made the edging on each one from a different fabric.  Such a delightful bit of whimsy. 

Lighting:

In the sewing room, it's so important to have the light right.  We've been struggling with that.  The house came with these light fixtures.  They're pretty, but the frosted glass cuts out more light than one would expect.  The fixture holds two bulbs.  We tried changing the two bulbs to brighter bulbs.  Not good enough.  We tried changing them to CFLs called "Daylight".  It's bright, but weird.  Kind of like the light you would expect standing next to a blue O class star.  Made me feel creepy.

Then we decided to change out the light fixtures.  There are two in the sewing room and we managed to get one done.  This arrangement is much better:  3 bulbs, uncovered, and we can point them any direction we'd like.  It was our first time changing out a light fixture, and I must admit to feeling a bit of accomplishment.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand:

Every once in awhile I get it into my head to read a novel considered classic instead of my usual mystery or sci-fi genres.  Apparently Ayn Rand has somewhat of a following.  People either really like her work or really hate it.  Their opinions seem to be based on some philosophy she is supposedly promoting through her novels.  Eric, my cousin, and I had neither one read any Ayn Rand, and so he bought The Fountainhead, read it and passed it along to me.

I've made it only slightly past halfway and have put it down.  It's looking very unlikely that I will resume reading it.  I can't tell you how rare that is.  First off, if she's promoting any particular philosophy I don't see it.  I'm still at a loss about all the hullabaloo surrounding that issue.  I'd say it was because I haven't finished the book, but Eric has, and he doesn't see it either.  My reason for discontinuing the book is that I simply despise all the main characters.  I've found that I really don't care what happens to them.

Now, what I'm wondering is have any of you read it?  What are your thoughts on this book?

Redecorating the Blog:

Following in the footsteps of others, I've redecorated my blog.  Honestly, I'm not sure I'm pleased with it.  It seems a bit loud and busy to me.  However, I'm also a person who takes awhile to get used to change, so this often clouds my opinion.  We'll see if this remains or not.

The Gift

Every once in awhile we are lucky enough to receive a gift that is so thoughtful, generous, and perfect, it just blows you away. Saturday, I was the recipient of such a gift. P, over at The Way I Sew It, has been participating in the The Dresden Plate Party over at So Happy. She made three lovely Dresden plates and blogged about them. On her blog she noted that two of them had been made into pillows for her daughter. I made the comment that if her daughter didn't want them, I certainly did. Although my comment was very true, I never expected anything. I've made that beg quite frequently to various quilters, but it's never worked. Until now. P surprised me when she wrote that she was sending the third plate to me. It came with the instructions to do with it whatever I'd like. WOW!

Not only did P, share her beautiful work with me, she shared it in such a way that I can add my own bit of creativeness to the project. I must say, it really got my creative juices flowing--which was sorely needed as my temperamental shoulder has had me in a quilting funk. So far, I've decided the Dresden will become the center medallion to a wall-hanging. My mind is all a swirl with what borders to add to best do her lovely work justice. It just doesn't get any better than that!

For those of you participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I now return to your regularly scheduled viewing.