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Monday, June 30, 2014

It Works!

Here are those pieced half square triangles from last week, now that the white half square triangles have been added and I've pressed them with my new-to-me iron


The triangles are fine. They'll be adorable in the baby quilt once I get the other units pieced and assemble them into churn dash blocks...



It's the iron that I'm excited about! And I don't know why. I've got a decent iron that I've been using for the past twenty years. I should probably retire it, or start using the iron that the hedgehog won, but it never seems like the right time for the learning curve of a new iron with different settings and an auto-shut-off feature.

This iron is easy. You plug it in and turn the dial to set the temperature. It heats up fast and it gets hot.  I've always wondered about those old movies where the distracted housewife holds up a shirt with an iron shaped hole in it. My regular iron couldn't do that if I was trying. This one, I'm sure, could. I won't be turning my back on it when it's plugged in, but I'm not sure we should be turning our backs on our irons no matter how many safety features they've got.

I'm linking this post up to Patchwork Times.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Did I mention that I love embroidery?

I stitched two more designs for the Garden Party Quilt this week. Both are from the same tranfer sheet as last week's spinning wheel. From the size of the paper and the staple holes, I'm guessing they came from a magazine. 



This brings me up to five stitched designs. In my imagination, the quilt is made of lots of different size blocks, using coping strips and sashing to make everything fit together. 



Weekly Stash Report

I picked up 2 1/2 yards of muslin this week to use for the embroidery blocks. I want them to be deliberately mismatched and I didn't have any unbleached muslin in my stash.

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 11 3/4 yards
Added this Week: 2 1/2 yards
Added Year to Date: 43 yards
Net Added for 2014: 31 1/4 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 2975 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 1500 yards
Net Used for 2014: 1475 yards

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times and Slow Sunday Stitching

Saturday, June 28, 2014

For the Dollhouse

For a first attempt at wooden dollhouse furniture, it's not a complete disaster. 


There was no bloodshed. And by the time I got the bits of paper towel caught in the glue, I'd realized that the pieces weren't fitting together right and decided that this attempt probably wasn't going to be a keeper. I'll do better next time.

If I do try another cradle, it's not going to be from this pattern (which I found in a library book.) I don't like the proportions.  It seems too short and chunky. Probably because the life size cradle my boys slept in was way too long and skinny. There's got to be some happy middle ground somewhere.

I don't think I've shared the link for the $2 Thrift Store Dollhouse Makeover yet. Erin at Lansdowne life found the saddest looking dollhouse at a thrift store, covered in crayon scribbles and Disney contact paper. I don't think I would've looked at it twice, but she used stuff from around the house and furnished it for her little girl. It's adorable, not to mention durable enough for little fingers. There are so many gorgeous dollhouses online, and drooling over them is just the distraction I need lately.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {6/27/14}




Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.








Thursday, June 26, 2014

New to Us!

Hubby has a new thermos and I've got a new iron. Judging by the condition and packaging, it's a good bet that neither has ever been used. Which has us both wondering -- why do you keep something for that many years, still in its original packaging, and never bother to use it? 


I know it happens. I've seen it at estate sales before. But at this sale, where there was so little stuff, and most of it was so well used, it felt out of place.


My iron still has its original mailing label and postage. It was sent out on my birthday, ten years before I was born. I don't know why that tickles me, but it does.


We tried to buy Teenage Daughter an almost amazing carved wooden bed (it's got potential, if it was cleaned up and a crack in the post could be somehow fixed), but the old guy wouldn't budge on the price.  Maybe it's worth what he's asking, but not to us. Five days later, the sale is still going and you can still see it from the road. Guess he hasn't found that "right buyer" quite yet.

This post is linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday, Thriftasaurus, Share Your Cup, Ivy and Elephants, We Call it Olde, Savvy Southern Style, Thrifter Maker Fixer.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

{Yarn Along} Rhinestone Jesus


The Flamingo socks are coming along, sitting on the edge of my treadle for evenings when I have a few minutes and need to keep my fingers moving.


I've been reading Kristen Welch's blog, We Are THAT Family, for years. When she started Mercy House, a maternity home in Kenya, it boggled my mind that someone could create something that amazing, from scratch, halfway around the world. After reading her posts, I could completely understand why it was needed, but how one mom in America could make it happen was beyond me.  As soon as I saw her posts about her book, Rhinestone Jesus: Saying Yes to God When Sparkly, Safe Faith Is No Longer Enough, I knew that I wanted to read it, if only to find out how she accomplished what she did.

We have very different ideas about parenting. It's safe to say that I'm never going to take my kids to Africa or do anything as huge as Kristen has done, after reading her book, especially the story of one of her blog readers who, with a very well-written letter to just the right people, accomplished something huge for Mercy House I can see the thing that I should be doing. It's not something I can post about here, not right now at least, but it's something that might make a difference. Or, more likely, add up with what others are doing to make a difference.

For more fun projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis


Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance ARC.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Keeping Library Fines Under Control



Over the years, I've met several mothers who refused to take their children to the library because they had problems with the fines. These same moms were trying -- and failing -- to get their kids excited about books.

I don't get it. Maybe because I met my husband in a used bookstore and was tromping around the library's annual book sale when I was in labor with my second.

My four children all love books. I love books. Between the five of us, we've usually got more than a hundred books checked out at any one time. (I'd love to know how many books we borrow over the course of a year. It's definitely more than a  thousand.) And we manage to keep our fines and lost book fees down to almost nothing.

When I only had two kids, I would go through the entire house and search every drawer and closet and shelf to find every last book before it was due. I was terrified of library fines. These days, I have more kids and less energy and I just do my best. We lose a book or two a year and occasionally something is overdue. But my kids have all the reading material they could possibly want and I think that's a fair trade.

Here are my tips for keeping our library fines under control --

Know your library's policies on overdue fines and lost books. 

Our library is fairly easy to work with. As long as you pay overdue fines and the fees for lost books, they're happy. But cards are frozen if the rack up more than five dollars in fines (which can keep you from renewing other books, which leads to more fines) and accounts are automatically turned over to collections if there is more than forty dollars due. That could be one or two lost books, so I keep a close eye on our card balances and pay any fines immediately.

Keep track of what you have checked out and when it's due.  

The library gives us  printed receipts each time we check out books. Five people, five receipts. Sometimes a book that was reserved from a different library has an unexpected due date. Some books get renewed and others get returned before they're due. I don't even try to keep track of those little paper receipts.  Once a week, the day before our regularly scheduled library run, I log onto the library's website and pull up a list of every book we have checked out and sort by due date. Anything coming due before the next week gets returned or renewed. I try to return most books a week before the due date to give us a buffer in case we miss a week because someone is sick or the weather is bad.

Know how many times you can renew each item, and for how long.

Our library allows for three renewals, but my younger kids don't know that. I allow them to renew books twice. That third time is a safety cushion for me if a book goes missing.

Keep an eye on which books you return.

A handful of times a year, the library fails to check in one of our books properly.  Once, a book that I'd been searching for for months completely vanished from our library records, along with the associated fines, the day I went in to pay for it. I never did get an explanation for that one. It's easier to deal with when I've been watching titles as I slip them into the book drop and I know for a fact that a book was returned. (My kids realize by now that the library isn't perfect, and they've been known to blame the library for books they can't find at home.) If you're sure  you've returned a book, ask for a shelf check -- or check the shelf yourself. If you're not sure, check under your couch and the seats of your car. It's embarrassing to return a book after you've already insisted that you don't have it.

Try to prevent fines before they happen. 

With our library system, once a fine shows up in the computer system, there's no changing it. A friend who uses a different library has been able to work off fines by volunteering, but ours are set in stone.  When a book (or bag of books) has been temporarily lost and I've explained the situation, the librarian has been willing to override the system and give us an extra renewal. They can't do it for new books with holds on them, but in that kind of situation I'm happy for any break I can get. They've also been willing to extend renewals when an emergency kept us from getting to the library. As long as I ask before the books are overdue, I can usually get help, but I only ask for that help as a last resort.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Pieced Triangles

A little bit of piecing for the next baby quilt... I've had the 2" blue strips cut for quite a while and hugely overestimated how long it would take to cut them into squares and triangles and get this part of the piecing done. 


Now I've got some white HSTs to cut!

To see what other quilters are up to, head over to Patchwork Times.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Spinning Wheel

No new blocks to show off quite yet -- not after last week's fun little baby quilt binge! 

I saw this spinning wheel on several different sites and had the original hot iron transfer in Mom's tole painting patterns.  The real thing is a lot smaller than I was picturing it and those lines of embroidery are soooo close together.... The stitching was a lot quicker than I expected it to be.  


Some of the details are off  because the lines were hard to interpret, but I don't think I'll have many actual spinners critiquing it once the quilt is together. And if anyone is tempted, I already know that the parts don't look like the ones on my real spinning wheel!

Weekly Stash Report 

Fabric Used this Week: 6 3/4 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 11 3/4 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 40 1/2 yards
Net Added for 2014: 28 3/4 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 2975 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 1500 yards
Net Used for 2014: 1475 yards

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

{Kindle Freebie} Soup...Er Myrtle!

Just a quick post to let you know that Soup...Er...Myrtle!, the fourth book in the Myrtle Crumb series of cozy mysteries by Gayle Trent, is available on Amazon as a free download right now. I haven't read this one in the two days since it came out, but  since I've already blogged about the other three books in the series, I wanted to let you know that there's a new one.



Summer Rainbow Socks

These aren't mine. They were going to be mine, but Teenage Daughter asked if I was ever going to wear them and pointed out that she needs a pair of long socks to wear with her boots. She's less likely to lose them than I am, so I handed them over. I've got plenty of pairs of handknit socks, which I don't wear half as often as I should, and she likes them more than I do. 


This is the yarn that had the weak spots. Several readers suggested that I complain to the company. If it was new yarn, I definitely would, but I really don't know where this stuff has been. I bought it at an estate sale and it's been sitting in my own stash for several years. I don't know what was wrong with it, just that judging by the damage it wasn't a little boy with scissors or a mouse.  There was more than enough undamaged yarn in the skein for a pair of socks with long cuffs, so I'm content.

For more finishes, check out  Sew Much AdoFinish it Up FridayCan I get a Whoop Whoop? , and Freedom FridaysWonderful at Home, and Inspired Friday.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {6/20/14}

I had a very good week. There was a stretch of two and a half days with no appointments and no commitments, so I dug out my sewing machine and fabric and got to work quilting two older tops and starting two more baby quilts from scratch. Meet Fred, Jonah, Norma, and Bianca!  


My schedule is still unpredictable and mostly out of my control, but I'm hoping for another quilting day soon. I'd forgotten how much I can get done in just a few hours!

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.








Thursday, June 19, 2014

Meet Bianca!

I've been wanting to try the Star Dresden Tutorial from Snips Snippets. I thought I remembered how it was done, so instead of going back and re-reading the directions, I pulled out one of my specialty rulers and cut the wedges....which is why my Dresden doesn't have the star center that drew me to the project in the first place.


Now that I remember what I meant to do, I want to make another one the right way. I just need to find another combination of fabrics that work as well as this one did.


The background and backing are both from the same vintage sheet. I didn't realize how much I liked that print until I had it quilted and bound.

This post is linked to Needle & Thread Thursday.

More Childhood Toys

Teenage Daughter needed leather for a project this week and wanted to dig through the Goodwill bins. My original plan was to stay in the car with the boys, but I went in on the one-in-a-million chance that they had that one specific thing I'm searching for. They didn't. The bins were emptier, and dirtier, than I've ever seen them.

Alex found her piece of leather....and a wool blazer.... and an army uniform in the style she needs for a project. Except it's got American buttons. She needs buttons from an English uniform...anyone have some unwanted ones gathering dust?

While I was urging her to shop quickly, because we had someplace else to be in ten minutes, I took this picture.



This was going to be a post about how I was good and didn't buy the two pieces of a toy that's been seared into my mind since childhood --


Then  I walked another two steps and saw the gangplank and started to actually sort through the junk in the bin a bit. The whole thing was there, minus Noah and his animals..... 0.46 pounds at $1.89 a pound... I've never seen one of these arks in my adult life, except the one that they had on display at the post  office at Christmas time, the one that made me remember having one in the first place.

I don't know what I'll do with it, or even if I'll keep it. But for eighty-seven cents, it needed to come home with me. If I ever make those little bitty felt animals I was drooling over a couple of months ago, they could live in it. Or maybe I could take out the deck and plant some hens and chicks. I'm sure there's a wonderful idea waiting for me on Pinterest!


I'm still just as in love with that wood grain and the little molded nails as my two-year-old self was. (And yes, I realize that I can't remember playing with this when I was that little. It must have been around for a while.)




I've still got the Fisher Price houseboat from the picture, and if I ever stumble across one of those little pianos, I might not be able to resist. That thing was so much more fun than the clunky yellow plastic one my own kids had.

Do you buy back bits of your childhood? I've got a lemon yellow Tupperware colander that I paid a dime for because it was just like one my mom had.  I use it a couple of times a week and it always makes me smile.

This post is linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday, Thriftasaurus, Share Your Cup, Ivy and Elephants, We Call it Olde, Savvy Southern Style, Thrifter Maker Fixer.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

{Yarn Along} The Phantom of Fifth Avenue

More Opal! Those striped socks from last week are finished and will get their own post later this week. Right this second, I'm more excited about these...


This is Rainforest Flamingo and I have no memory of buying it. It wasn't an estate sale, because estate sale Opal is worth remembering, especially if it's a color this pretty. If it wasn't that, it must've been a Woodland Woolworks purchase around the time I bought the Crocodile I'm using for my Mock Croc Socks. They both sat for years in the "too good to cast on with" portion of my sock yarn stash, which I'm rapidly depleting. Once this project is done, I think I've only got one skein of Opal left.




I'd never heard of Huguette Clark until I picked up The Phantom of Fifth Avenue: The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark. The idea of a woman who had spent twenty years in a hospital room and decades before that confined to her luxurious apartment absolutely fascinated me. But it takes a very long time for the book to get around to Huguette and what made her tick. It opens with a family reunion that she chose not to attend and group of relatives who have never met her, but become suddenly concerned about her well being. (Which makes me wonder if they'd have cared quite so much if there weren't shares of a three hundred million dollar estate to be had.)  It wasn't until after slogging past the concerns of her relatives and the story of her father and how he amassed his fortune that I finally got to learn much about the woman herself. She was fascinating. I would love to have read more about her younger years and the collection of dollhouses and antique dolls that she built after her retreat from society.

For more fun projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis


Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance ARC.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Meet Norma!

This is the almost twin of Marilyn, the one I made because I didn't take any process pictures and needed some for the tutorial. The top sat unquilted for a couple of months because I was having fun making the itty-bitty version and playing with different color placement and wasn't sure what to back it with. I wound up using a pretty butterfly print from the stack of fabrics that Mary Ellen sent me.  


Meet Jonah!


Jonah is one of the cover blocks from the newest Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks (A Whale of a Block by Debbie Taylor) sized up to 36" square. The fabrics for the half square triangles came from solid sheets. The whale and binding are estate sale scraps, and I'm not sure where the backing fabric, a blue print with lighthouses, came from. Mom gave me some of it, I think, but this print has turned up in a lot of different scrap bags over the years.




I've been collecting these magazines ever since they started putting them out because some of the blocks are just so cute I can't resist. I think this is the first time I've actually used one! After flipping through the issue, I can see a lot more blocks that I want to incorporate into the baby quilts.

For more finishes, check out  Sew Much AdoFinish it Up FridayCan I get a Whoop Whoop? , and Freedom FridaysWonderful at Home, and Inspired Friday.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Meet Fred!

I finished the top for this one back in January. The pattern, Dancing Nines, is one of Bonnie Hunter's and this was a test run to see if I wanted to make a bigger one for myself. I do -- it was a fun little project!


I love quilts that can use every print in the scrap bag and this is definitely one of those! I used 2 1/2" squares because that's what I cut for the baby quilts, but I think I'll use the smaller size if I ever find time to make one for myself.


One of the reasons that this one sat so long was that I wanted to try something different with the quilting -- spiraling squares inside the nine patch blocks and meandering in the white border pieces. I thought it would take a lot longer to do, but it quilted up quickly once I actually sat down and got to work on it.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

I am Making Baby Quilts


For three days in a row, I won't have to leave the house.  The plan is to have some fun with my fabric and make a few new baby quilts.

Would you believe that I forgot how to use my Easy Angle? I was cutting bigger triangles than usual, but that's absolutely ridiculous. (And it's proof of how long it's been since I got to do any quilting.) I'd make the first cut, turn the ruler for the second one, struggle to figure out how it lined up right...then forget again by the next cut. I've never had trouble with that ruler!

There's a new embroidery square, too, because I'm finally getting a chance to watch a movie that's been on the DVD for months.

This post is linked to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

This Week's Embroidery

The more I play around with these old embroidery patterns, the more excited about this project I get. This quilt that I found on HenHouse combines vintage embroidery and piecing.

The pattern for this little bird with the scissors was a hot iron transfer I found in in Mom's stash of tole painting patterns. It had already been cut from the rest of the sheet, so I don't have any clues as far as the original source. 


I've got to admit that I'm feeling guilty about cutting the old sheets apart.  They've remained intact for so long....should I just trace them and leave them undamaged for whoever owns them next? Cut them apart and keep the images together in envelopes?  Or just have fun with what I've got and stop over-thinking the whole thing? I think that last plan gets my vote - ironing is SO much easier than tracing!

Weekly Stash Report 

My son and I went to the thrift shop to look for roller skates. There were none to be had in his size, but I found four pristine skeins of LYS quality yarn at really good prices. Three of them would have been perfect for baby hats, but I'm not knitting any of those right now. The fourth would have been perfect for mittens or something for the boys, but it was such a dark color it wouldn't show off cables.... I carried them around for a few minutes, then put them back in their place.  I've got positive numbers this year, for yarn at least, and I'm not quite ready to give that up for baby hat yarn.

Fabric Used this Week: 1/4 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 5 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 40 1/2 yards
Net Added for 2014: 35 1/2  yards

Yarn Used this Week: 400 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 2975 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 1500 yards
Net Used for 2014: 1475 yards

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Miniature Food

Thirty-some years ago, when my mom painted these for my dollhouse, they were the most amazing dollhouse food I could imagine. I  do swoon a bit over those little strips of bacon, and the edges of those plates are so thin. I'm glad they survived my childhood!



But have you seen the things they're doing with polymer clay now?  Hurry up and Google polymer clay dollhouse food images if you haven't. It'll absolutely take your breath away.  Especially the meats. I saw a whole display case of food at the miniature store in Lincoln City and it's even more swoon-worthy in person.

It's all completely out of my budget, but there are books and youtube videos and Teenage Daughter has a stash of polymer clay for her jewelry projects....

I made eggs using the technique from this youtube video as loose inspiration. The ones in the video had a shiny gloss coating and pastel chalk along the edges to make them look just a little bit burnt. I was having enough trouble just getting my bits of clay small enough.


Those first two weren't to scale, so I made smaller ones. 


I'm so overwhelmed and intimidated by all of the tutorials I've been reading, but I really want to learn to do this!

This post is linked to Show and Tell Saturday, Inspired Friday

Friday, June 13, 2014

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {6/13/14}




Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules: 
Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.








Thursday, June 12, 2014

Tole Painted Daisies

When I was little, my mom was really into tole painting (which gave way to ceramics...which has since given way to quilting...)  Just mention "tole painting" and the first thing that pops into my mind is "Family Feud," because my mind works like that. When I was little and Mom went to her classes, Dad and I would watch The Family Feud with Richard Dawson. 


I think my mother painted these daisies, which found their way to my house via my paternal grandmother's estate sale. I didn't particularly love them, but I didn't have any of Mom's tole painting, except a Raggedy Ann and Andy clock that I spent my entire childhood thinking she'd painted for me. Turns out it was Grandma Wittenberg who made it the clock. 

No one else wanted them and I figured that I should have something from that era...and an evil little part of me was thinking that maybe I might use the frame for something else because the canvas is loose inside it. 

Now it turns out that Mom might not have painted these, because they're signed with her last name. She signs things with her first name, or a combination of her first and last initial. So did Grandma paint this? Or an aunt? (Did everyone paint daisies? I know there were multiples in the family.) I called and asked  my other Grandma and she says Mom never would have signed just the last name. 

It'll be easy  enough to ask Mom once she gets back from her trip, but it got me thinking about how we're always being told that we should label those quilts. In this case, the signature isn't enough. (I just got up and checked Great-Grandma's old painting. That's not signed, but the details were added to the back of the frame by my mother.)

We think we'll remember, but what happens when we've had the facts wrong since day one?

Update -- I talked to Mom and she did sign a few pieces with just her last name. So these are hers. And, judging by the date that I found pencilled on the back, she was probably painting these while Dad and I were watching Family Feud.

This post is linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday, Thriftasaurus, Share Your Cup, Ivy and Elephants, We Call it Olde, Savvy Southern Style, Thrifter Maker Fixer.



Wednesday, June 11, 2014

{Yarn Along} The Girl With All the Gifts

After I started my socks last week, I found a week spot in the yarn. It was minor enough that I just knit past it (bad habit, I know, but only one ply was broken) and kept going. Halfway into the foot, I found a second weak spot and had to make a decision. I like this yarn more than I thought I did and even though I didn't think those broken plies were going to cause me any real trouble (Have I mentioned how rarely I wear my hand knit socks?) I was starting to wish I'd done it right. 



Ripping out half a foot isn't an easy decision for me, but I unravelled the whole thing back to the beginning and started over after rewinding the yarn to look for any other broken plies. There were one or two, then everything deeper inside the skein was perfect.

Would you believe that I cast on the first sock and had it completely done along with the toe of sock #2 by the evening of day three? I think this stuff is a little thicker than my usual sock yarn.

I've got mixed feelings about The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey.




Melanie spends her days confined to her cell, waiting for the soldiers to take her to class. When they come, Sergeant stands with a gun trained on her while two other men strap her into her wheelchair, securing her arm and legs and neck. Once class is over, she's returned to her cell to wait for the next day's classes, hoping that her favorite teacher, Miss Justineau, will be there. Miss Justineau is the only teacher who tells the children stories and brings them leaves to show them what spring looks like.

I can't say much more without spoiling the plot. I loved the beginning of the book, which was completely different than anything else I've read, but by the time I was 3/4 of the way through the characters and plot were starting to feel an awful lot like like an old movie I just watched with the boys. It was a very good book, not a fantastic one.

For more fun projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis


Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance ARC.