Baby Quilt Binge - Day 3

Instead of sewing binding before bed last night, I put together another quilt top. I can do binding no matter what else is going on. Time to lay out diagonally set blocks without little feet stampeding over the top of them is harder to come by.



It's just Pumpkin Carving without the pumpkins. And another excuse to play with the blue sheet. I think there's just enough of it left for a fourth baby quilt, if I plan the blocks carefully.

The kaleidoscope quilt is quilted and the binding just needs to be hand stitched. I originally bought the fabric to make an Irish Chain, but this is so much better!





One of my biggest fears with two color quilts like this is what to use for the backing. I was sure I'd have enough if I pieced the two colors, but I still had to find a twelve inch strip of something else to bring it up to size. Not quite what I had in mind, but it works.



This post is linked to Patchwork Times and Fabric Tuesday.

Baby Quilt Binge - Day 2

Late last night, I was sewing bindings and watching old television shows on Netflix, keeping an eye on my cell phone's clock to make sure that I didn't stay up too late. With the time change, I figured that as long as I went to bed by two, I'd get enough sleep before I had to get up at seven. And then somehow or other, I completely missed the part when the clock jumped back an hour and wound up going to bed an hour later than I meant to.

But I got the binding on the mouse quilt (Baby Quilt Binge #2) I'm still not wild about that wide border, but the quilting makes up for it.



This morning I pulled out my isoscoles triangle die and some cotton yardage that I bought last January and started making kaleidoscope blocks.



I love the illusion of overlapping curves, maybe more than I love real pieced curves. I definitely won't be up as late tonight, but hopefully I'll be able to get this one quilted and bound. After that, I've got one more top to quilt and the third blue sheet quilt...and then I'd better think of something new to start.

I'm going to stay home!

Finally, I've got a stretch of days where I don't have to leave the house. I can go somewhere if I decide I want to, but there's no place I have to be. After weeks of running here there and everywhere, staying home sounds like the best idea ever.

So I'm planning another baby quilt binge - ten quilts in ten days. The last time I tried, my sewing machine died around day five or six. But I still wound up with six completed quilts and four new tops. This time, I don't have a head start, just the mouse quilt top and the blocks for Blue Sheet Quilt #1.

Saturday was day one. I got the blocks for Blue Sheet Quilt #1 assembled and cut the blue pieces I'll need for Blue Sheet Quilt #3. It looks like there's enough left for that fourth quilt I was hoping for.

And here's Blue Sheet Quilt #2 (Also known as Baby Quilt Binge #1) --



I made the blocks and assembled them Saturday afternoon, then got it quilted and bound before bed.

The applique mouse is quilted and waiting to be bound. I love the way the quilting makes the mouse and cheese stand out.



Weekly Stash Report

Fabric Used this Week: 5 1/2 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 62.25 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 1012 yards
Net Added for 2011: 949.75 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 6640 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 14075 yards
Net Added for 2011: 7435 yards

Except for the yard of Ghastlies Mom gave me, I haven't brought any fabric home for a solid month.

To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

blue sheet quilt #1

The blocks for the first blue sheet quilt are done. Somehow, I keep coming back to Churn Dashes, even though it's not one of my favorite blocks...maybe one of these days I'll figure out why!

I do like the way they look in this project. There are twenty different fabrics in each block, except for a couple I made at the end when I was running out of triangles.



Once I get the sashing on these blocks, I'll cut the rest of the squares I need for blue sheet quilt #2. And I'm almost positive I've got enough fabric left for #3.

I'm keeping my eye open for more bright solid sheets -- this is fun!

purple and white finish

More proof that everything looks better once it's quilted!

This little purple and white top has been sitting since I cut the pieces while I was making the video for the Two Color Quilt. It was a wrinkled mess and I must've assembled these blocks in a hurry -- nothing lines up quite as well as it should.

I wasn't ever going to take those blocks apart and put them back together, so I pressed the worst of the wrinkles out and backed it with a purple striped sheet.

And I got the tutorial for the bats done before Halloween. And helped my daughter with a finish of her own that I can't blog about here because it's hers, but believe me, I'm glad to see it done!

This post is linked to >Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

How black does black have to be?

With just a little bit of digging, I came up with some more blacks.

What I've really got to do is stop looking at finished quilts and seeing the black fabrics I've already used up. They're not in my stash anymore. I love the quilts I used them in. There's no point in wishing I had just a little bit left to add to my black pile for Orca Bay!



Before I took the picture, I was a little more concerned about my choices. The background of the witch hats is a bit brownish. The polka dots are polka dots. But they all seem to play nicely in the picture.

I've dug out my Easy Angle ruler, which I bought because one of Bonnie's other patterns called for it, and one that I thought was the Companion Angle but isn't. (It's actually part of a different set that I bought for a different project that I never made.) I'm sure I bought the Companion Angle when I bought the Easy Angle...hopefully I can find that one before the step that calls for it.

getting ready to plunge into Orca Bay

Bonnie has announced her new mystery quilt, Orca Bay. I hadn't really thought about participating in this one until I read her fabric requirements. Then that little voice in the back of my head, the one that gets me started on so many different projects, started to remind me that I've got plenty of reds and blues and neutrals -- lots of neutrals... and this quilt is little enough that it doesn't scare the heck out of me!

It's the black I'm not so sure about... I've got blacks, just not a huge variety of them. But I'm sure I'll find more when I'm cleaning up my sewing corner. And if all else fails, Mom's got lots of blacks and maybe I can mooch a few pieces from her.

Back when Bonnie announced the colors for Roll Roll Cotton Boll, I had stacks of pink and green right in front of me, but decided not to go through with it. Bad decision.

This time I'm going to try not to let myself get too intimidated before the first step is released.

wfmw - Removing Glass Splinters

I couldn't think of anything good to write about for works for me Wednesday this week. Now I'm wishing that I still didn't have any ideas!

My teenage daughter was doing the dishes and had nested two juice glasses in the strainer. I picked them up to remind her not to do that because they suction together and it's almost impossible to get them apart...They came apart. Very easily. And left me with shards of glass in the palm of my right hand.

Splinter removal is not one of my skills. I got rid of the glass bits that were visible, and I think I might've snagged this last one out when I was pressing on it with a towel to stop the bleeding, which was almost nonexistent, but any amount of blood gives me the heebie jeebies lately.

Just in case, I Googled "glass splinter removal" to see if there's a method that doesn't involve digging blindly with a straight pin.

Suggestions included pressing a piece of tape onto the area and then peeling it off. Or applying a layer of white glue and letting it dry before peeling it off. Or applying a paste of baking soda and water to draw the splinter. And there was one article on how to remove a splinter with bacon fat...we won't be trying that one! There are also a lot of different suggestions at NaturalNews.com.

The best bit of new-to-me information was to apply a bit of Baby Oragel to the area to numb it before trying to get the splinter out with tweezers or a needle. With a pack of kids who insist on running outside without shoes, I'll be using that trick next summer!

Regrouping

re·group v. To form into a new grouping; To reorganize

Yup, that's what I need to do here! I'm done with deadlines, for the moment at least, and it's time to figure out what I've got in all of these piles next to my sewing machine.

There's Quinn's green quilt....and the alphabet sampler....and the first two blue sheet quilts...the pattern and fabric for Swoon....cheddar bow ties...some 1 1/2" strips I started cutting because I want to make a Lego quilt...Texas Braids...some little tops that need to be quilted...Scrap Vomit, if I can ever figure out what safe place I put my red and black Kona in...the applique mouse with the wedge of cheese...the hobo quilt...North Pacific...By the Lake...

And then there are the things I still want to start, and the possibility that Thanksgiving is coming and maybe I should move most of the fabric out of the corner of the dining room...

I've got a lot to do!

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

Apple Core Bats

Halloween is tomorrow?! How did that happen? I'm nowhere near ready for this. But I did get my bats, which I've been planning for months, finished this morning.

Did you realize you can make bats with the AccuQuilt Go! Cutter and the Apple Core die? Want to try some of your own?



In addition to the Apple Core die, you need some black cotton and paper backed fusible web.

For each bat, cut two rectangles of black fabric and one of fusible web. I cut my rectangles 6" x 8". If you're using a different apple core pattern, measure and cut a rectangle slightly larger than the cut shape. Iron the fusible web to the wrong side of one black fabric rectangle, then peel off the paper backing and iron the second black fabric rectangle to the exposed fusible web. You're creating a slightly stiff sandwich of fabric.



Cut out your apple core. The die leaves a little triangular tab in the center of each curve to aid in piecing. Trim those off so that the outline of your bat is smooth.






To give the wings some dimension, sew a straight seam down the center of the piece, using the longest stitch length on your sewing machine. Leave long strings on either end and do not back stitch.



Gently tug on the threads to gather the bat's body. When you've got it how you want it, knot the thread at both ends and trim it.



For the body of your bat, cut two 1 1/2" wide strips of black fabric. This time, you'll add the fusible web to both pieces.



Lay one 1 1/2" strip under the wings and one 1 1/2" strip over them, carefully lining up the edges. I used one of the bigger pieces of paper backing left over from the wing sections to make sure that none of the fusible web got onto my iron. Gently press the pieces together until they're fused. It will flatten your bat's wings a bit.





Trim the ends of the strips to shape the bat's head and tail.



I plan on joining a dozen or so bats at their wing tips to make a bunting.

Weekly Stash Report

This is the third or fourth week in a row that I've resisted temptation. I think I'm starting to hit that point where the longer you go without shopping, the easier it gets.

Fabric Used this Week: 1.25 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 56.75 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 1012 yards
Net Added for 2011: 955.25 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 6640 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 14075 yards
Net Added for 2011: 7435 yards

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Birds in the Air

It's Blogger's Quilt Festival time again, and because I haven't finished anything big or ambitious in a while, I'm pulling out one of my favorites.



I'm honestly not sure how or why I made this quilt. At the time, I'd never worked with triangles before. I certainly didn't know how to do applique. About the time I was starting this one, my best friend had decided to do an improved nine-patch, complete with curves and templates. Compared to that, maybe this project looked easy!

Many quilts after I'd finished this one, triangles still made me nervous. I remembering stumbling across it at one point and having this weird "Hey, I've done this many triangles before -- what am I so scared of?" moment. It's also proof that I can manage enough blocks for a bed size quilt. I originally wanted to make it smaller, but I didn't want to sacrifice any of the blackbirds and didn't want to crowd them together.

This is my favorite leap-before-you-look quilt, and it proves what you can accomplish if you don't think about it too hard before starting that first block.

being afraid

Why is it that so many of us are afraid of our quilting tools? Not the sharp rotary cutters and hot irons -- that's the kind of fear that makes sense. I'm talking about the fear where you're afraid to take your new toy out of the box.

I've got a basting gun I've never tried, and a Cricut I got for Christmas last year that I haven't even touched. And then there's my Featherweight -- I'm beyond scared of breaking that! What if I can't get them to work?

I've been having trouble with the bobbins on my Janome for a couple of years now. They just don't wind properly anymore, even after I've had my machine serviced twice in the past year. I have to turn the speed down and hold my breath and sometimes rewind the same bobbin four times just to get one I can sew with.

This week, I finally broke down and bought a Sidewinder. If it saves me even a fraction of the time I spent fighting with the bobbin winder on the Janome, it'll be an absolute Godsend. But anything to do with bobbins stresses me out lately.

If I didn't need something to blog about this morning, it would probably still be in the box.



It wound my bobbins -- now I guess the question is whether they'll work for free motion quilting. Are they wound evenly enough? I think I've forgotten what a properly wound bobbin looks like.

getting it done before we go trick or treating

I set the second drab top aside while I worked on baby quilts. Once something in my sewing corner gets set aside to work on something else, it can take me a while to find my way back to it, but Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts is giving me some motivation. So I could get this one photographed this morning, I hand stitched the binding late last night while the kids were at a Halloween party and I was off in a corner with the other moms.

My first drab quilt started as a way to use up some scraps that wouldn't work well in the baby quilts. Then I pulled in some favorite scraps from my darks bin and really started to fall in love with the combinations. And now I want a big version of this quilt for myself!

I'm linking it to the Abundant Thanks linky party over at I gotta Create. I'm very thankful for my abundance of scraps and warm quilts to snuggle under!

I've entered Carving Pumpkins in the Halloween quilt contest over at Quilting Gallery. Voting is open through 11:59pm Sunday night and there are some fantastic Halloween quilts over there to drool over!

wfmw - just let them enjoy themselves

When we took the kids to the Denver Zoo a couple of months ago, I got a case of the Mommy Guilts. We'd been wandering through the zoo for hours and come to the fish. I don't think anyone in our family was too enthusiastic about the fish -- by that point, we were trying to find the komodo dragons so we could see them and get back to the car.

I saw another mommy who was reading every sign to little ones, making sure that they understood the fish in the tank was the one who kept its babies in its mouth, "like the one in Finding Nemo!" She was so perky and so enthusiastic, puffing out her cheeks and everything.

And it hit me that I hadn't read my kids a single sign in the entire zoo. I'd skimmed a couple myself to answer questions, but I definitely wasn't being a perky tour guide. The kids have watched enough Animal Planet and National Geographic that that probably know most of what's on those signs...but I still felt a bit like I was shirking my mommy duties.

Then last week my littlest one came running up with a book about fish showing me a picture and telling me, at the top of his enthusiastic little lungs, that it was a glass catfish, just like we saw at "that place we went that time" and he could see right through it.

THAT'S why we took them to the zoo -- so they could have fun and learn about the animals for themselves.

For more Works for me Wendnesday posts, visit We are THAT Family.

Barns and UFOs

Old barns fascinate me. Since we moved to the country five years ago, I'm lucky enough to see them every time I leave my house. Actually, I can see a couple just by looking out the window.

The one is at our favorite nursery. I always find myself wondering what it was like before it was converted to a gift shop...what dusty treasures might be hiding behind those upper windows...





Because there are never enough neat old barns to drool over, check out Barn Charm Tuesday.

I'm getting a little work on my projects done. Now that the 100 Quilts for Kids challenge is over, I pulled out and pin basted drab quilt #2. I'm wavering between really loving this flannel as a backing and just thinking it's good enough. Either way, I'm using it.



And I'm getting ready to cut up this pile of 4" squares that I found in one of the scrap bags. The very darks and very lights will get cut into strips for my next log cabin variation, and the rest will get cut into 2" squares for By the Lake, a long forgotten UFO.



It feels so good to be working on projects again!

This post is linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Design Wall Monday

Here are the first two of the blue sheet baby quilts.

My little helper insisted on laying out the last two blocks himself, but you get the idea. My older helper walked past and thought it was going to be one quilt with a churn dash border around a nine-patch center. I think I like that idea and will try it later with a different background and scrappier fabrics to make it more of an everything-goes scrap quilt.

One quilt leads to the next, which leads to the next...

To see more design walls, head over to Patchwork Times.

Weekly Stash Report

This is the second straight week that I've managed to avoid temptation. I haven't even looked at Craigslist, have stayed out of the thrift stores, have avoided Joann's... I might've walked quickly through the fabric department at Walmart, but that barely counts. And I did go to Ben Franklin Crafts, but they got rid of their quilting department a while back, so that doesn't count at all. And the yarn prices were too terrifying for me to even be tempted.

That one yard of fabric I'm reporting? It's a yard of Ghastlies Mom picked up for me on a shop hop. I'm counting the days to the Ghastlie Event so I can figure out what I want to do with it.


Fabric Used this Week: 1.5 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 55.5 yards
Added this Week: 1 yards
Added Year to Date: 1012 yards
Net Added for 2011: 956.5 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 6640 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 14075 yards
Net Added for 2011: 7435 yards


To see more weekly stash reports, click over to Patchwork Times.

130 Mini Quilt Blocks

I've been to the library again, adding to my list of books I'd like to own.



130 Mini Quilt Blocks
A collection of exquisite patchwork blocks using ready-made fabric bundles
by Susan Briscoe

This is a neat little book. The hundred and thirty blocks promised by the title are divided into ten chapters. Many of the blocks are familiar, but there are quite a few that I've never seen before. If I've got one complaint about this book, it's that the blocks aren't all the same finished size, so if you plan on using it to make a sampler quilt, you'll have to pick all of your blocks from the same chapter.

The few necessary templates are all included in the back of the book and are all full size. There's an introductory chapter that briefly covers fabric selection and cutting, different techniques used to assemble the blocks, and quilting. Scattered through the book are suggested uses for the blocks. I found several little quilts that I'd like to make. Those tempting little projects are what sets this book apart from other block collections.

the accidental purple quilt

The accidental purple quilt is quilted and bound. I was planning to go back and make the quilt I thought I was making once this was done, but now I'm thoroughly distracted by that blue sheet and my plans for it.

I'm glad I dragged my feet a bit once the top was done. The fabric I planned to use as a backing, just to get it used up and out of my stash, will be much better for the blue sheet quilts.

This post is linked to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts and Can I Get a WHOOP WHOOP? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

our coconut puzzle

Hubby bought a coconut at the grocery store. I'm not sure what his ultimate plans for it are -- guess that's the first part of the puzzle!

After he'd baked it in the oven and split it open and somehow got the meat separate from the shell, he left the pieces out. That's when the fun started.

This has got to be the BEST wooden puzzle ever!



All day, my little guys were putting the pieces back together and karate chopping them apart. They made it into a little building like the African huts we saw at the zoo a couple of months back. They did not lose a single piece. Not until I decided that I wanted a picture of it.

As wonderful as I think they are, I gave up on wooden puzzles a long time ago because as hard as I try, we cannot keep them intact. But my sons will take care of a coconut. And, really, it is neater than the puzzles were. I'm betting they'll find that missing chunk by the end of the day.

Should I mention that this thing is not that easy to reassemble? I'll stick to wondering how many baby quilts I can get out of that one blue sheet. I'm guessing at least three...but now I've got five ideas I want to try.

I needed a new project...

I've been wanting to experiment with some big Churn Dash blocks since I started dreaming up the extra scrappy pinwheels. When I put it together, this will be a 12" block. I'm thinking that nine of them with some sashing will make a good baby quilt.



I do not remember buying this blue sheet. I know I bought one when the thrift store was closing, but I'd have sworn it was a totally different color. Usually when fabric and yarn changes color while I'm not looking, it's changing away from the color I want. This blue is going to be a perfect background, and I've got a print for the backing that I think will go well with it...assuming it's wide enough. I really should go measure that stuff!

WFMW -- Itty Bitty Apples

My little guys love to eat apples, but only if they're whole apples. Cutting them into slices ruins them -- at least that's what they tell me. They want whole apples, but they rarely eat more than a few bites.

That's why I'm loving these itty bitty apples that I found at Wal Mart. They were about the same price per pound as the regular apples and my little guys will eat almost the whole thing before deciding that they're done. More apples in my kids, less apples in the garbage or the chicken coop... definitely works for me!

For more Works for Me Wednesday posts, click over to We are THAT Family

It's all in my head

I've got all of these ideas for things that would be on my desgin wall today...if I'd had time last week to work on them. This week is going to be different! Giving up my quilting time and going to bed early didn't leave me any less tired than staying up and quiting does (twice the sleep, and I'm more exhausted -- I blame the increased dose of blood thinners) so I think I'll stay up and quilt.

These little tops need to be finished --



And I've got a bunch of other projects I want to start!

resisting temptation

No new fabric or yarn or anything to report this week. I did order a new die for my Go! Cutter, but I used Swagbucks gift certificates, and it isn't fabric or yarn, so that doesn't count. (If you're wondering what Swagbucks is, I've blogged about it before here. Basically, it's a search engine that rewards you with random points you can use to earn Amazon gift certificates. I've bought quite a few dies that way.)

No fabric used this week, but I did deliver three baby quilts to the pregnancy center and get the pattern for the pumpkin quilt done.

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 54 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 1011 yards
Net Added for 2011: 957 yards

Yarn Used this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 6640 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 0 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 14075 yards
Net Added for 2011: 7435 yards

To see what everyone else is up to, click over to Patchwork Times.

my Nutella didn't swirl

I'm not sure what the proper technique for swirling Nutella into pumpkin bread batter is, but that's okay. This whole project was mainly an excuse to eat pumpkin anyway. And there was just enough Nutella in my piece to convince me that it would be fantastic if I could figure out how to get it through the whole loaf. Without it, it was darn yummy.



I used this recipe and made big loaves instead of muffins.

It was supposed to be dessert after we finished the pot roast, but my husband dind't know what I was up to and brought home ice cream. So the kids had blackberry ice cream and pumpkin bread. Except for one, who had leftover pot roast with her ice cream. I can't decide which is the weirder combination.

having a nice morning

It's kinda chilly outside, damp but not really raining. I've got a pot roast and lots veggies to put on the stove later. The activity we were supposed to attend (and I was guiltily planning to skip) was cancelled at the last minute.

This is nice. I like staying home.

Maybe I'll try baking something yummy for us to nibble on while the roast is bubbling away. These look good.

We all know I don't have the time or patience to make a bowl full of felt pine cones, but that's not going to stop me from wanting to. I have some felt, but there's definitely not a Styrofoam ball to be had anywhere in this house. Because Styrofoam is just too irresistibly crumbly (remember, I've got little boys) and wouldn't last a second if it did find its way in here.

I absolutely want to tape vintage pie tins to my kitchen wall. And I know I could find some at the estate sales around here.

And I kinda want to make a Capri Sun Bag Tutorial like this one at Me and My Boys.

Go to Lilly's Lace and look at all of those old wedding pictures. I'm swooning over some of those bouquets.

Meridian Road has reminded me that I've got a really neat paper cutter of my own. We adopted it, I think, from my grandparents' estate sale. Or when the appliance store closed. Either way, it's been in the family since it was new. I couldn't let the kids know that it even existed so it lived in a pantry cupboard. Until I forgot it existed.

Have you seen the Pop Bottle Curtain over at sewtakeahike? I have got to learn paper piecing. I sorta get how it's done, but I'm nowhere near as good as I'd need to be to tackle the projects I keep falling in love with.

What are you all up to today?

100 Quilts for Kids - the second batch

I planned on making a bunch of new baby quilts for 100 Quilts for Kids. That didn't happen, so I raided my quilt ladder and the only baby quilts I found still hanging on it are on their way to the pregnancy center.







Now I've got to get the lap quilts to the nursing home. I was waiting for nice weather, then I was waiting for my knee to heal enough to make the drive, now I'm waiting for a free afternoon.

Pumpkin Carving!

Every year, I talk about making a Halloween quilt. And every year, I spend the fall months working on anything and everything but a Halloween project. This year, I've got a quilt done and hanging on the wall with a few weeks to spare.



Want to make your own little pumpkin wall quilt? It's easy!

You'll need 1/4 yard of orange for the pumpkins (add a little extra if you're using a different die or pumpkin pattern), 1/8 yard of yellow to light up their faces, 3/4 yard black or dark grey print for the blocks and binding, and a yard of tan for the background and blocks.



You'll need to make nine pumpkin blocks as shown in the video (place your pumpkins on point on 6 1/2" background squares.) The sixteen nine-patch blocks are strip pieced from 2 1/2" strips -- or assembled from individually cut 2 1/2" squares, whichever technique you prefer.



For the twelve side setting triangles, cut three 9 3/4" squares twice on the diagonal as shown -



For the four corner setting triangles, cut two 5 1/8" triangles in half as shown -



Lay out the quilt blocks as shown in the photo and assemble in diagonal rows -

Be sure to check out  my other free Halloween Tutorials -- Halloween Parlor Quilt , Haunted House Potholder, Potion Bottle Mug Rug, Pumpkin Carving Wall Quilt.   To be notified when new tutorials are added, follow my blog or like Michelle's Romantic Tangle on Facebook.

wfmw - reserving library books

With two little boys who still can't visit the children's section without an adult, picking out library books for myself can be a bit of a challenge. Don't get me wrong -- I totally agree that little kids shouldn't be wandering the huge library building alone!

Browsing the new fiction section with a five year old and a six year old is a bit challenging. The last time I tried it, I wound up hissing at another woman's little boy to stop bounding up and down and touching the ugly stained glass. I honestly thought he was one of mine, and I immediately apologized to her, and I still feel bad about it.

It's better for everyone if I can just spirit my youngest upstairs to the children's section where everyone is okay with bouncing and there's no tempting art to manhandle. That's where the online card catalog comes in. I can browse books from home, reserve the titles I want, and bribe my teenager to get them off the shelf for me.

The descriptions on the library's website are vague, if not non-existent. That's where Goodreads comes in. It's got all the descriptions and reviews I could ever want, and it lets me keep a list of books I want to read. I haven't had the best luck with the new recommendations feature - maybe because it's basing its suggestions on books I read a long time ago and not what I'm reading now. It works better for me to pick a book I just read and loved, go to Amazon, and look at the "customers who bought this item also bought" lists.

I decide what I want to read, add it to my list of books to read at Goodreads and pick a couple of titles whenever I'm running low on things to read.

Works for me! To see what works for others, click over to We are THAT family.