Stitch it Good - Books!

 Well hello!

I've had such a hard time reading books over the last 12 months.  There are many possible reasons including moving, my spouse's cancer surgery, social-media, the election, etc.  But really I think the mental exhaustion from the Pandemic is the main culprit, at least for me.  My attention span has been distilled down to a few articles in The New Yorker, the "Home" section of the NYTimes and indie magazines including Taproot, Making, and In Her Studio.

But I'm not giving up on Books.  I just need to identify material that matches my current reading habits.  I'm delighted to shar my first find, Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes by Claire Wilcox.  I first learned about this book after reading a briefly-noted review in The New Yorker and truly believe it was the universe speaking to me.  Ms. Wilcox is the lead fashion curator at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Her professional career has produced beautiful exhibits of the work by x, x, and x.  But this book focuses on her life before and leading up to her current work.  Each chapter is a vignette connecting the threads in her own life.  I now once again look forward to reading and am having to pace myself so that I don't finish it too quickly.

Zines and self-published books are alive and well.  I recently purchased How to Cut up Shirts by Zac Foster, a $3 little publication you can print at home.  It's adorable and perfect for our age of upcycling.  Take those patches and turn them into quilts, draft-stoppers, and masks.  

If instead of cutting apart shirts, you want to make shirts by hand, check out Hand Sewing Clothing: A Guide by Louisa Owen Sonstroem. I'm currently on the waitlist for a copy and can hardly wait for it to arrive! You do need to have some basic sewing skills but don't let that deter you from learning. Sewing by hand is all about the process, not about the product.

Looking for those quilt patterns? The Personal Library Quilt by Heather Givans can be found here. To download the Little Library set of 6 foundation paper pieced blocks, visit this link and to download the Tall Tales Quilt Block go here. Another favorite book pattern is Book Nerd by Angel Pingel. And don't forget to to check out Patchwork Please by Ayumi Takahashi for a number of lovely projects including a book block.

And last but certainly not least, do track down a copy of Gwen Marston's delightful book on how to sew fabric picture books. Gwen passed away in April of 2016 but we are so lucky that she wrote many books, gave many lectures and created many beautiful quilts from which we can continue to learn. I count myself lucky to have discovered her early in my sewing journey as her pure love of creating inspired me to be fearless in cutting up fabric!

I wish you a safe week. If you can, please take a few moments to read something that inspires your creativity.

Happy Stitching!

xoxo