bits and pieces

[bits and pieces for a quilt]

Bit and pieces from the last couple of weeks.

Thank you for your contributions to the haberdashery discussion. It's such a wonderful word in every context and the reason I asked is because I'd really like to use it in a book title, but have been told that it would cause problems. I'm not sure I agree and think the comments show just how much interest unusual words can generate even where there are multiple meanings. Anyway, if the creative world can accommodate  Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes , 'haberdashery' can't really be that fraught with danger.

I am very unsuggestible. If someone tells me I should read The Last Runaway, it's the last thing I'll read. I might know that it has quilts and Quakers in it and is right up my street, but I won't read it until all pressure to read it is off. Which is why I read it covertly a couple of weeks ago and couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. It's a fine read, and I loved the way quilts and methods of quilting are described, put together and used as metaphors. 

I also read How to be a Heroine (probably because no-0ne told me I should). I'm a Jane Eyre person and simply can't stand Cathy in Wuthering Heights, so I start out on the opposite side of the Jane/Cathy heroine debate to Samantha Ellis. I enjoyed this book, but what I admired most were her readings of so many classics which were fresh, clever and perceptive. I liked the element of looking for a heroine role-model less, especially in the matter of love, and wondered why SE pursued the idea of looking for one for so long (way into her thirties) instead of learning to trust her intellect and instincts.

I taught a quilting workshop at Ray Stitch yesterday, hence the cutting out of bits and pieces of fabric on Saturday. It was a very productive and enjoyable day. There's another one coming up on Sunday 13 April. If you want to get moving with your quilts and/or want to experiment with different fabrics, do have a look at the details. I can promise a good time with fabric and machines.

[I can't write 'bits and pieces' without singing and thinking of the Dave Clark Five. ]