Randomness

There are days when I am focused, I am driven, and I know exactly what I’m doing. Whether it’s cleaning the house, working on a quilt, or dealing with one of my many work duties, there is nothing that can tear me away from my single-mindedness which keeps me on the path.

Then there are other days when my mind flits around like a small bird looking for a good place to hang out – three seconds at a time. It’s days like this that push me to question my sanity and long for just 10 minutes of being able to focus on a single task. Today is one of these days. *sigh*

I’ve been thinking about the conversation I had with Chris about our budget and saving money. One of the things he said to me was, “I just hate telling you ‘no’ even when I know I should.” That’s incredibly sweet, and no one has ever felt that way about me, but as I told him, I depend on him telling me no when we really don’t have the money for something I want. I may pout, I may be unhappy about it, but in the long run I know he’s doing it for all the right reasons. I told him that he must become better at saying “no” to me. I am going to hate it but there it is … more no, less yes.

Valentine’s day is less than a month away, and while I’m not a big fan of V-day, I do like the crafty things that appear for the holiday. I would like to find a way to purchase maybe just a yard or two of Valentine’s fabric to use for pillow slip covers. I have no real idea where I’d put them (the game room maybe) but I have this idea to make pillow slip covers in a variety of fabrics over time so I can switch them out on a whim. I got the idea from a woman I met in the quilt store over the weekend, who was buying fabric for pillowcases for a bench she has in her hallway. I don’t have a bench in a hallway, but I have two couches, a chair and a loveseat. Surely some of them could use a pillow or two? I already have the pillow forms …

I finished a book yesterday called The Other Daughter. I will admit I was intrigued by it, but was irritated when the author employed poetic license and changed Houston to suit her own needs. For example. Huntsville has moved south about a hundred miles to be at the corner of I-45 and I-10. Anyone who’s from the area knows that the intersection of I-45 and I-10 is right at downtown Houston … which is about 75 miles from Huntsville. Furthermore, I had no idea – having lived here my whole life, I was a bit surprised by this actually – to find that houses are “cut into the hillside”. I am trying to find the hill. I didn’t know they called overpasses “hills” nor did I realize that houses were “cut into” them, because I assure you, the only hills in Houston are those that are man made, i.e., overpasses. In one passage, there was a car chase – “up one hill and down the next.” I really have to find these hills! It really bugs me that an author would be so obtuse as to even suggest such things in their books – do they really think the locals don’t know the landscape of their homeland??

Work is very slow right now. I’m bored. And I may not have a job much longer anyway because this position could be moving to another country. So I’m looking for something else, but I’m not really finding anything that thrills me, nor anything that pays nearly what I’m making now. If I can’t find a job making near what I make now, we’ll have to file for bankruptcy. There are worse things, I suppose …

Someone told me yesterday that because of failed crops, cotton is set to go up 85% in the coming months, which means that fabric and thread will also go up … great.

At what point does the government decide that the cost of living has increased? Because they’re saying it’s remained basically steady over the last couple of years, and yet … it seems like prices on everything are steadily increasing. I’m not sure how anyone trying to support a family on the city’s median income of $40k-ish can survive. We’re struggling at twice that!

 

Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett

This book first came to my attention on the website goodreads.com. Having only recently finished Pillars of the Earth, I was somewhat eager to listen to this book (I listen to almost as many books as I read, since I can do that while pursuing other activities such as sewing, driving and working) and I watched for it to come to audible.com so I could download it. The unabridged reading is several hours long – I think it surpassed 40 hours – and it took me several weeks to get all the way through it. If you haven’t read the book and you don’t like spoilers, you should stop here. I’m not one to retell the story, because I think the original telling was just fine. But there are a few specific points I plan to make, which will give away some of the plot line.

First of all, let me say that out of five stars, I would give this one three and three-quarters. It’s a really good book, but as with Pillars of the Earth, I think Follett over-extended himself and took on a project including too many main characters. He attempts to follow the lives of at least eight people over the course of the incidents leading up to the first World War and for about four years after it ends. Even though the book is several hundred pages long, the reality is, the characters aren’t as well fleshed out as they could be had there been fewer of them. Because of this, we skip several years and events in lives that could have been so much more interesting, if only Follett hadn’t split his attention (this was my primary complaint about Pillars of the Earth as well). And really, because there are so many characters whose stories he tries to tell, none of them really emerge as THE main character. So in my opinion the story is a bit disjointed and a little chaotic.

Also, I think that some of the situations are more than a little far-fetched. Yes, it is a novel, but Follett himself says that if it couldn’t have happened, he doesn’t write it. That’s why I think that the secret marriage of Maud and Walter is unrealistic. I doubt that anyone could be secretly married to someone for four years without another person finding out by accident (one person does know, but that’s hardly even a sub-plot in the book). Even separated as they are by war (Maud is English and Walter is German), and without any real communication save one stolen night somewhere in the middle of war, their love perseveres and she gives up everything – home, family, money, and all that is dear to her in England – to move with him after the war to a poor, disenchanted, disgruntled, Germany. Love may conquer all, but I find it hard to believe that it takes an English aristocrat and turns her in to a piano-playing barroom performer.

In fact, to be honest, all of Maude’s relationships are odd. She can forgive Walter for being a German and all the horrible things that Germans inflict on the British, but she can’t find a way to forgive her colleague and friend Ethel for supporting a suffrage bill she herself disagrees with. Maud callously cuts Ethel out of her life and never really shows any remorse at all, nor fear (Ethel knows about her secret marriage to Walter).

Meanwhile, Maud’s brother Fitz sleeps his way across Europe, while his Russian wife waits for him to return home from the war. Never mind his own transgressions, when he finds out that Maud has married without his permission (she was 23 when she dared do it), he cuts her off and out of his life. What a hypocrite! No wonder the spoiled Maud is playing piano in the bar.

The story twists and turns and touches on some very important subjects of the time – mine safety, women’s rights, WWI, and racial strife – but it never really delves into any of them. As entertaining as the story was, there just wasn’t enough. Not enough details about the lives of characters, not enough discussion about important themes such as the Russian Revolution, not enough depth.

In my opinion it wouldn’t be worth the $20 it costs to purchase the book … I’m glad, frankly, that I got it from audible.com using one of the two credits we get with our membership every month. And there is NO WAY I’d pay $20 for the eBook version!

 

Michael Connelly’s Lost Light

My latest foray into Harry Bosch’s life is the Lost Light, which is the ninth book in the series by author Michael Connelly. This is also the first book in which Bosch isn’t an LAPD detective; it takes place about a year after he “pulls the pin” and retires from the department.

A little less than a year after retirement, Bosch is back to pissing off people – this time in the FBI rather than the LAPD – when another former cop asks him to look into a heist that involved $2 million. He would probably have done it himself, except that he’s now an invalid who is wheelchair bound and not capable of breathing on his own, let alone investigating a robbery that took place four years prior. The case was originally Bosch’s in the Hollywood division, but then was transferred to Robbery Homicide division within a few days. It also ties into two other unsolved crimes, including the one that put the invalid cop in the wheelchair.

All of Connelly’s books are somewhat dark – or rather, most of them hover at the tunnel to darkness. You know what I mean if you’re an avid reader … as you read the books, you get a sense of the truly gruesome side of human nature most of us refuse to acknowledge in real life. However, Connelly is a master at not submersing us completely in that darkness. You hover there, looking in, but not entering that total darkness that is the underside of humanity. This book is a bit darker than his usual offerings (save The Poet, which I review soon) … you step into the tunnel, which I think is what Connelly wants us to do. You see the underside not so much of humanity itself, but you do catch a glimpse of the darkness that threatens to engulf people who are charged with protecting us from that darkness. Cops that have gone bad, FBI agents that go too far to make a point, and others who are perched on the edge watching but not stopping all of this are brilliantly portrayed in Lost Light.

In fact, of all the Bosch books I’ve read, I would say this one is by far the most interesting. I’m not sure if that’s because of the subject matter, or maybe it’s that Connelly wrote it in first person, looking at the world through Bosch’s eyes and letting him tell us “in his own words” what his life has become that made the difference.

This book also holds a huge surprise for Harry and for the readers, and it changes Bosch’s life forever. It wasn’t something I saw coming, even though I had been warned about it, sort of, and it was an interesting twist in the storyline.

Maybe that’s the lost light Bosch looks for, or maybe it’s the ability to tell his “own” story … either way, for anyone who’s a Bosch fan, this is one of the best in the series.

 

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

Let me preface this review with a note that I did not know what this book was about – I chose it based upon it’s title. You see, I was in a hurry to pick a book before Chris used my audible.com credit, and I love history. So I had no clue this book would be a variation of the Dracula tale, for if I had, I probably would have skipped it. I haven’t read a single Twilight movie, nor watched a movie. I haven’t, in fact, seen or read any vampire tale since I first read Bram Stoker’s Dracula back in high school. You could say that I avoid them like … well, the undead!

But I needed a break in my Harry Bosch series of books, so I chose to listen to this one. I knew it was long, I knew Chris hadn’t cared much for it. I couldn’t resist. Chris and I agree on many things, but movies, books, and music are not usually among those things we share. At least, not willingly. Don’t get me wrong; we DO agree on some things – we both love all the Harry Potter books, but thought the fifth movie was crap. We both enjoyed the Outlander series, which he listened to at my urging (but I will say, he was very reluctant at first). Usually, however, we have very different ideas of what makes a good book or movie, so I felt that if he hated this book, I would adore it.

I can’t say that I adored The Historian, but I did enjoy it immensely. Set in the early 1970s, the story tells the tale of Vlad the Impaler – or more accurately, of his modern-day victims. The daughter, whose name I’m not sure is ever revealed in the book, finds information in her father’s belongings that hint he is hiding something from her – something she senses is sinister in its very nature. Her father, Paul, tells her the story of his journey to find a beloved professor who disappears while Paul is a doctoral student at an unidentified American college. Along the way, he finds love, tragedy, friends, and the truth about Vlad the Impaler, known by his more recognized name, Dracula.

I thought the book was entertaining – the first thing I look for in a work of fiction. That seems reasonable, doesn’t it? So why did I find reviews on the internet calling the book “unrealistic”? I mean, it IS a work of fiction, and it’s not meant to be taken as the definitive Dracula textbook. I liked Kostova’s spin of the classic Dracula tale, how she worked in Stoker’s connection to vampire lore, and the general feeling of the book – I felt a bit unnerved while reading it. And shouldn’t one feel a bit unnerved when reading about pure evil? Yeah, I think so, and I think vampires are the epitome of evilness in fiction, or at least they should be evil, instead of romantic creatures who are simply misunderstood (as one friend described Twilight to me. I mean, seriously?!?).

Near the end of the book, characters meet in an almost anti-climatic way, and yet I think it fit the storyline well. But the ending … oh, the ending leaves open the possibility of another book, another chance to follow the story of Dracula as Elizabeth Kostova sees him. I thought it was a perfect ending, but then again, I’m not really one who likes all the ends tied up neatly in a bundle.

 

Michael Connelly’s The Concrete Blonde

I’m still trekking through my Michael Connelly series here, and I just finished up City of Bones, so yes, I’m a bit behind in reviewing them. But today, let’s talk about his book The Concrete Blonde.

This book takes place during a civil trial meant to settle the question of whether or not our hero, Harry Bosch, killed a man in cold blood four years earlier. Bosch shoots the man he believes to be The Dollmaker, a serial killer with a penchant for the throw away women in society (I’m beginning to see a pattern in Connelly’s books at this point) – those he believes to be “bad” women – prostitutes, mainly. The family of the “victim” files the civil suit alleging that the man was not the serial killer and that he was no threat to Bosch when he was shot, being that he was unarmed. We see the trial, all of the evidence that is gathered against the man (mostly, it appears, after the shooting has taken place), and the subsequent verdict. Unfortunately, on the opening day of the trial, a possible new victim Dollmaker is found – and it is clear that the man Bosch shot could not possibly be responsible since the woman in question had been alive within the previous two years. The story follows a series of twists and turns, as all good detective novels must. I’m not disappointed in the way the book turned out – but I have to say that it’s a bit predictable. Not in the sense that I knew mid-way through the book who the bad guy was, but more because by this point, I see a clear pattern in the way Connelly’s books are laid out.

I guess every good detective novel has to have the red herring to begin with, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a book. But after a few Connelly books it’s become clear – Bosch gets a new case, he thinks he knows who did it, he gets in trouble with IAD’s Chief Irving, he gets suspended or otherwise told to stop working on the case, he goes off on his own and he solves it – and the bad guy is never the person you expect, but usually it’s a cop or someone who’s close to the cops. Utterly predictable, honestly. With the exception of who actually committed the crime in question, the rest of the book is definitely “formula.” You know what I mean, don’t you? You may not have all the details, and there may be some plot twists, but it’s always going to be the same basic story.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy Connelly’s books. I like his ability to mask the person who’s at the heart of the trouble almost till the very end. I’m just saying that it’s obvious he found a formula that works for him and he rarely deviates from it. Is that a bad thing? I can’t really say … it can be a bit annoying, but it’s not irritating enough to overshadow the story itself.

Overall, The Concrete Blonde is a good read. And I have to admit that I was thoroughly surprised at who was responsible for the murder in the book. I just wish that Connelly would change up his formula just a bit every once in a while, to keep me guessing a little more and to surprise me with something other than the murderer’s identity.

 

Michael Connelly’s The Black Echo

I am a huge fan of book series. I’ve read dozens of book series, probably, starting with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series as a child. I revel in finding an author whose style I enjoy, which these days is not all that easy. My bookshelves are stuffed with books by Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, and Larry McMurty, just to name a couple. So I was interested when Chris suggested the Harry Bosch series of books, written by Michael Connelly.

The Black Echo is the first book of the series, where readers are first introduced to Harry, a hardened detective with the LAPD. He’s a veteran of the force, a detective who has a reputation for taking matters into his own hands. The case in this book involves one of Harry’s old Army acquaintances, a man who is found dead in a pipe at a dam in the LA area. Everyone else is ready to write the death off as a drug overdose, but Harry feels like it’s something else. Going with his gut instinct, he finds that he is correct, and he pursues the case in partnership with the FBI.

Connelly tells the story well, and his portrayal of Harry as a distant, emotionally unavailable man is quite good. I found the story to be plausible, to the degree any detective novel can be plausible. I suspect that in the real world, most detectives wouldn’t be quite as driven or focused on following a gut instinct, but at the same time, it’s the type of behavior that makes the reader believe, “This is what a really good cop would do.”

I listened to this book (it seems like I listen more than read anymore; who has time to read when you have a family, work and other hobbies?) twice before writing this review. I would LOVE to tell you more about it, but to do so would be to give the entire plot – and surprise ending – away. What I will say is that Connelly keeps you guessing till the very end. I didn’t see the conclusion of the book coming, and that’s the way I like it. Even though I think it’s a bit far fetched, it is, after all, just entertainment, and Connelly does that superbly. The book is very entertaining, and quite easy to listen to – I’m sure it would be equally easy to read.

If you can pick this up on audio to listen to, I highly suggest doing it. I listen to books when I’m in the car, at work, at home in my studio … I still love to read, but listening to a book means I don’t have to choose to do one thing or another – I can listen to a book and do something else at the same time. I will admit that when I’m reading something like instructions, I have to pause the book. But I have been able to get through more books this year than I have in the five years previous combined (yes, I’m way behind in reviewing them!).

If you’re looking for something that’s easy to read, or easy to listen to, and you like series of books like I do, definitely pick up The Black Echo. I just cannot think of a downside to it – and this is coming from someone who isn’t all that crazy about detective novels!

 

Gone With The Wind – A Book Review

Almost everyone I know has seen the movie Gone With The Wind, but few have actually read it. Nearly everyone is familiar with the heroine Scarlett O’Hara, and her infatuation with Ashley Wilkes, her marriages to Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy and Clark Gable … errr … Rhett Butler. The movie is an epic, sweeping drama about a young girl who is raised in the “genteel”, slave-owning South but grows up and comes of age after the Civil War. The book is much like the movie, but as with all novel adaptations for the big screen, it lacks the depth and story maturation found only in a book.

This is not my first time to read GWTW. In reality, I didn’t read this book this time. No, I listened to it, having downloaded it from audible.com. Even listening to it, it is quite long. At time it meanders and wanders through things that add little to the story but gives a history lesson on what happened in the South, for all that it is slanted toward a planter’s perspective – which of course is what the book is about, or rather, it’s about a planter’s daughter.

Written by Margaret Mitchell, the book explores Scarlett’s reactions to the war. She remains little changed until the siege of Atlanta, when Melanie has to stay in Aunt PittyPat’s house and Scarlett has little choice but to stay with her. From that point forward, the shallow, self-centered girl begins to mature and develop into a conniving, driven woman. I’ve heard and seen others criticize Scarlett for being self-centered, egotistical and mean, and she is all of that. But in short order it becomes apparent that the person who understands Scarlett the least is Scarlett herself. She wants to be a “Great Lady”, but the truth is, she’s far too driven to be anything but what she becomes – a successful business woman with a strong desire to save what she loves most – Tara. Scarlett is a woman that was well before her time, owning sawmills and a lumber yard, forging ahead with what she feels she needs to do and stepping on toes. She is nothing like the women of her youth, the women of her circle, the woman she claims she wants to be. In her time, Scarlett was a scandal. Today she’d be the head of a Fortune 100 company, I have no doubt.

Her story is surprisingly tragic, because she doesn’t know herself, doesn’t realize that her “love” for Ashley isn’t love at all. It’s a habit, and a destructive one at that. She doesn’t realize that the man she truly loves is her own husband, Rhett Butler. Even when the thought crosses her mind that she may love him, she dismisses it as ridiculous because, after all, she loves Ashley!

And her relationship with Melanie Hamilton Wilkes – her sister-in-law and the rival for Ashley’s affection – is so much more complex than the movie would ever have us believe. No matter how she seems to feel about Melanie, she is the only friend, the only ally Scarlett really has, other than Rhett. Melanie understands Scarlett, understands that Scarlett needs her, even as Scarlett is certain she doesn’t. Together, they make a hell of a team. They are never divided, from the time that Scarlett goes to Atlanta at the beginning of the war. They are inextricably tied together, in a way that irritates Scarlett to no end. But it is a symbiotic relationship, one that brings the best of both women together and that is the only way they get through the war and the hardships to follow after – together. If ever there was a co-dependent relationship, it is embodied in Scarlett and Melanie.

I really can’t say why I love this book so much, but I have ever since the first time I read it. I think it’s because the reader sees the transformation in Scarlett, which really isn’t a transformation at all – it’s more of an emergence. Or maybe it’s that she’s grasping independence. She doesn’t really want that independence, but it’s thrust into her face by circumstances – a mother who has passed away, a father who has lost his senses. You can feel the self-centeredness of Scarlett eminate throughout the book (did you know she has three children, not one? It’s apparent that she easily forgets that at times!) but even through her self-centered ego, the reader sees that she is determined to take care of her family, save her childhood home, and she will stop at nothing to do it.

If you haven’t read GWTW, I highly suggest it. At the very least, it makes you appreciate the fact that we aren’t living in that timeframe! If you love the movie, reading the book is a must – it will explain so much about Scarlett, her relationships, and the time period in which she lived so much better than any movie.

 

Book Review: Mossy Creek, by Deborah Smith, Sandra Chastain, Debra Dixon, and Virginia Ellis

In my quest to read more books this year, and in honor of the fact that I am about to purchase a Kindle, I decided to try some literary digital downloads on my computer. I found Mossy Creek on Amazon.com’s Kindle bookstore, for the very reasonable price of … free! Who can resist a free book? Certainly not me.

Anyone who’s ever lived in a small town, southern or otherwise, will undoubtedly find someone in this book to whom they can relate. Mossy Creek is a small North Georgia town full of colorful characters, both native and transplanted, each with a story, a background and a heart of gold. From the outspoken mayor to the town’s Santa Claus, each one of them exhibits the toughness and vulnerability that make up small town life.

Mossy Creek is a collection of short stories about various citizens of the town, their lives and the challenges each of them face. Woven in between the stories is a series of letters written by the town’s gossip columnist, Katie Bell. These letters do little more for the story that tie them all together, as she corresponds with a displaced Mossy Creek descendant. In the opening story, we meet Ida Hamilton Walker, who sets the stage for the rest of the book. The town’s mayor, she is always at odds with her nephew, the governor of the great state of Georgia. The book closes on New Year’s Eve at the Hamilton Inn, where a strange shipment arrives and puts everyone into a “tizzy” (that’s a southern term for not quite panic).

I will admit that I enjoyed the stories, and the ending left me wanting more, which is provided in the form of Reunion at Mossy Creek. Mossy Creek is well written, and flows together nicely – something I was concerned about when I first saw that there were three authors for the book. But there was no need to worry; each story is part of the larger story, but also quite capable of standing on its own. You would expect each story to have a different “voice” anyway, since each one is supposed to be told by different people.

Since you don’t have to have a Kindle to get this book free, I would highly recommend you take advantage of “FREE!” and download it to your computer for a bit of light reading. It’s humorous, at times it’s moving, and sometimes the people are crotchety, but it is always entertaining.

 

Beware the person of one book

Or so the Latin proverb goes. I love books – books of all sorts, but I really like books about sewing, quilting and other crafting techniques. I love them because it gives me the chance to see multiple ways to see how different people handle the same issue or concern, and I can use or modify whichever technique suits me the most. Like a cook who doesn’t follow a recipe to the letter, I seldom follow a pattern completely. I am, as a friend succinctly put it, a sewing hack.

Not a hack in the traditional sense of not knowing what I’m doing, but rather a hack in the sense that if I find, know or conceive of a better way to do something, I will do it. And like a good cook will tell you, experimentation has it’s limitations – sometimes you have success, sometimes rousing failure. But it’s always interesting (fortunately for my family, if something I do in the studio doesn’t work out like I intend, it doesn’t usually affect their dinner!).

Now, a confession. Several of my general sewing books – the “how to” sew books – have been lost. I don’t know where they are or what happened to them. My guess is that they ended up either left behind in my last move two years ago, or they’re still packed away hiding somewhere. And that is extremely frustrating to me. I haven’t rebought them yet because everytime I consider doing that, I convince myself that they may yet turn up. However, I know the books very well, and which ones I like the best, so I’m going to share a list of sewing books with you today.

So, here are my top five picks for books for new sewers, in no particular order …

1. Sewing for Dummies – yeah, I hate Dummie books too, but there is some really good advice in this book and it’s well worth the price. A must have for someone who’s a complete novice. I’m not a novice and I keep this one close all the time. It’s the one book I’ve replaced because I missed it and couldn’t live without it. OK, that’s not true – someone actually gave me a second copy, and I was actually quite happy to receive it.

2. The Sewing Book – I want this book, after reading it far too long at B&N recently. It starts out fairly simple – how to interpret patterns, measurements, etc., and then gets more detailed – invisible zippers, blind hems, and so on. It’s a book that will grow with you, definitely. And it’s a great reference for those who are a little more advanced in their technique without seeming too basic.

3. S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop – I bought this book for my daughter a year or two ago, because she wanted to learn to sew. She didn’t, but it wasn’t because of the book! It’s clear, easy to understand, and gives you some projects to practice on. I like the section on setting up your workspace – since my daughter is VERY disorganized, this was one part she actually followed, and it worked very well.

4. Simplicity’s Simply the Best Sewing Book – I don’t know if it’s really “the best” but it’s good. My mom gave me this one when she ordered it by mistake. I’ve used it a couple of times, but a friend of mine raves about it. She says it’s her “go to” book all the time.

5. Singer – The Complete Photo Guide to Sewing – This may be the only thing that carries the Singer name I would dare to recommend these days. My mother “won” an older version of this book several years ago and passed it on to me, as she didn’t feel she needed it. This has been MY go to book for ages now. I see they have an updated one, so it might be time to buy a new copy – mine’s pretty worn. I haven’t looked at this new version but the old one I have is a treasure trove of wonderful illustrations and directions – it only scratches the surface, but seriously, what book is going to be really in depth anyway?

I have to admit – I caught my husband looking at this book last night. At first I thought he was just trying to be funny, but then I realized that he’d actually read some of it. He was only in the first few pages when I emerged from my shower, and he looked thoroughly confused with the picture of the serger, but he had actually learned about bobbins, for all that he still didn’t completely understand how they work. LOL

There are a few others I want to check out but haven’t had the chance to do so just yet – Complete Photo Guide to Sewing, Sewing 101, A Beginner’s Guide to Sewing … Also, if you can get your hands on an older version of the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, snap it up. The new one I’m not so impressed with but the older version was incredible. I never bought one myself because I was too poor, but I must have had the library’s copy out at least half the time. LOL I have intentions to check out Half Price Books to see if I can find the older version because it’s well worth the investment of time and money.

For those who are interested in books about using your serger, I offer a short list below.

The Complete Serger Handbook

ABC’s of Serging

Serge with Confidence

Each of these books is wonderful; I don’t have enough good things to say about them. If you’re looking for something to help you with your serger and learning to use it, or if you know what you’re doing but just want a good reference, you cannot go wrong with any of these.

Hopefully soon, I will have a completed baby quilt to share with everyone. I sort of run into a small problem with it that I’m having to fix, but hopefully it will be ready to go by the end of this weekend. I can’t wait to share it!