A book that makes me want to quilt

6 weeks ago, I received two books in the mail that I love.  I wanted to write a review immediately, but each time that I've sat down to put my thoughts into a coherent review, my words haven't feel good enough.  So, this morning, I am just going to write what I think--quickly and as clearly as I can!

The first book is titled Quilting With a Modern Slant, by Rachel May.  A few months ago, my kids and I went to the Baltimore Museum of Art.  At the museum, there were four art quilts.  I was intrigued.  Quilting With a Modern Slant is about how to make such quilts.  There are beautiful examples of quilts throughout the book, with both descriptions of the quilting artists and their approaches, as well as instructions about how to make several quilts.  I loved perusing this book and considering how the quilts were designed and pieced together.

Traditionally, people picture Amish quilts with repetitive patterns and cotton fabrics when they think of quilting.  Likely, that picture also includes only women doing the quilting.  Art quilts do not fit these stereotypes.  This new form of modern art is done by both men and women.  All of the elements of art and principles of design come into play as these artists work with fabric as a new medium, which gives new room for them to explore their ideas.

I absolutely love the quilts in this book.  I appreciate the author's explanation of how to make some of them.  But, the nature of an art quilt is really that it would be unique, so one wouldn't necessarily make the quilts in this book, but rather use those ideas and techniques as a springboard to design one's one quilt to make.

If you quilt and love to travel off the well trodden road, this book is for you.  If you love to design your own quilts and play with color, shape, and form--art quilting would be a grand adventure.  When I began quilting thirteen years ago, I never followed a pattern.  I made up my own.  It was fun.

But, if you've always followed other people's quilting patterns and have wondered how to design your own, then this second book is for you.

Also on my desk sits The Quilt Design Coloring Workbook by Thomas Knauer.  I love this book! But, so has everyone that I've shown it to.  First, I took it to a retired Art Appreciation professor.  He thought it was well organized and interesting.  Then, I took it to a community college art professor who loves modern art and asked her to take a look at it.  She lit up when she looked through it.  Her wish was that she could order a copy for herself (or not have to give the copy in her hands back to me).

What was it about the book that they loved?  Why did they love this book?

The Quilt Design Coloring Workbook is unlike most art books that I've seen.  It begins by explaining the history of modern art and what makes modern art "modern art".  When I have walked

into art museums, I have been at a loss to understand most of what the museum considers modern art, so I found the authors explanation and information extremely helpful.   It is the first book that has ever helped me understand a type of art that has seemed so nebulous to me.

The book examines important elements of art and design principles in light of their relationship to art quilting.  As I noted earlier in this post, many men have entered this area of art that was once traditionally a "woman's" craft.  This book is written by a man, Thomas Knauer.  For each facet of modern art, Knauer scaffolds the reader through different steps so that they can begin to design his/her own art quilts using grids.    I was impressed by how the author did this.  The college art professor I spoke with loved it and felt that it very easily could be used as a high school or community college art text.

The retired professor that I shared the book with appreciated the author's explanation and inclusion of different examples of modern art.  He also thought the quilts were beautiful.  He hadn't heard of art quilts as an art form, because he had focused on earlier periods of art in his classes.

As a quilter, this book made me want to sit down immediately and dig in.  Both quilting books inspire me to quilt--just as cookbooks with beautiful pictures of food inspire me to cook.

This workbook is formatted well.  The text is written in two columns in many parts of the book--which makes it easier for one's eyes to follow and track the text.  The photography complements the text well and makes it easier to understand how to complete the design exercises.

My oldest daughter loves painting.  She doesn't understand yet the value of exploring other media, but later in her high school years, I plan on her working through this workbook as part of her homeschool curriculum.  It will challenge her to work with the elements of art and principles of design in ways that watercolors don't because of the differences between fabric and paper.

Please note that I received copies of these books from Storey Books for review.

Cold Brew: The New Expensive Coffee

Cold Brew is everywhere these days--it's even at Dunkin' Donuts!

I have friends who like the Pioneer Woman's Recipe, but a few months ago, I had a coupon and bought a coffee sock for my husband when it was on sale.  Here's what I've found...

I use 2 cups of beans (which equals 2 cups of grounds) for 6 cups of water.  

Most people I know use the Pioneer Woman's method, so I did try it, but it didn't work or me.  It was a bit of a big mess when I tried to strain the coffee afterwards.  

So, I have one of these.  It's much neater to use.  I did notice on Amazon that now there are also kits with a stainless steel mesh insert which would I think would be very nice.  

The downside of the Pioneer Woman's recipe is that you have to use cheesecloth to strain it.  I found that the cheapest cheesecloth I can find is the basic package at Target. I use cheesecloth to make Lebnah, a middle eastern cheese, but I don't like to regularly use things that can't be used more than once.  

I do follow the coffee sock's directions.  Place the sock in the jar with the coffee grounds in it.  Then, I wet the coffee with a little of the water and let it sit a minute or two.  Then, I pour the rest of the water through.  I put it in the fridge for 24 hours before I take out the filter.  My sister law's use the method of letting it sit on the counter for 8 hours, but I get nervous about bacteria...  so, I put it in the fridge. :)

I really like making cold brew at home because I can make half-caf.  My coffee is a blend of World Market's whole bean Terrazu or Island Blend and their decaf whole bean Italian Roast.  

Best Vacuum Ever!

Several months ago, my Oreck vacuum cleaner stopped working right.  In my disposable consumer mindset, I set it aside in the back of the closet until I had the money to take it in to get it fixed.  I had a second, very heavy vacuum cleaner that I've been using every since.

I bought my Oreck when my husband was deployed six years ago.  I had gone through three vacuum cleaners in 9 years and I wanted something that was going to last longer.  So, I did some research and bought a commercial Oreck at Costco for $200.

It has done very well for me for 6 years, but in the spring, it stopped picking anything up.  I wasn't sure what to do and I wasn't in the youtube mindset at the time, so I stuck it in the back of the closet, started using our beast vacuum cleaner instead, and waited until I felt there was some room in our budget to take it in.

I hope you don't mind rabbit trailing with me...

Fast forward to this week.  My husband and I purchased an older car for fun.  We both have cars that run.  This car is meant to be a fun Sunday car for me, because I enjoy driving.  He loves driving as well, but his preference is his motorcycle.  My van isn't exactly fun to drive (it can't zip around corners), though I'm so thankful for how well it drives!  So, this new used car is my motorcycle on 4 wheels.

This car has changed my thinking drastically.  Two days after we had it, the check engine light went on.  Ugh.  I talked to my husband and learned that I would need to take it in to have the code read.  But, then the next day, I learned that I could order a code reader online for as little as $15 dollars!  I pondered this but knew I didn't have to take care of it immediately.

I went to the library and I learned from the gal at the circulation desk that I could take it to Autozone and they would read the code for me for free!

I went home armed with this new knowledge, and read online that a loose gas cap is the most common reason for the check engine light to come on.  So, I went back to the gas cap and clicked it a little harder.  I tried to start the car one last time with just a little bit of hope and the light was off!

That afternoon, I youtubed a video to help me see how to replace the battery in one of the key fobs for the car.  I did it!  The previous owner of the car had mentioned youtube and it's helpfulness in replacing the battery instead of taking it to a dealer for them to do it.

I had this great feeling of satisfaction that I had taken care of something instead of jumping the gun and taking my car in for a very expensive inspection!

This morning I woke up thinking about the car, the check engine light, and tackling the key fob.  I decided to pull out my vacuum cleaner.  I googled youtube for a good video and found this one:


I followed the directions and discovered that I had a big (BIG) clog in the main pipe.  I cleared it out and Voila!  My vacuum cleaner works again!!  The video was easy to follow and understand.

I don't think I would ever buy anything but an Oreck again.  It was so simple to fix and I honestly missed (!!!) how light it is.  I haven't asked my kids to vacuum in months because the other vacuum was so heavy.  But, now I can comfortably ask them again!  Yahoo!

What Oreck does well is be simple.  It separated the hand vacuum from the upright and streamlined the vacuum so it could be very, very light.  It is only 8 pounds!  My Miele is 21 pounds and a bear to push.  It does an amazing job, but it is better for heavy duty jobs and the Oreck is nice for weekly vacuuming.  Also, because the Oreck is simple, it can be fixed.  In a day and age when everything is disposable and when something breaks it gets thrown away, I was so thankful to be able to fix my vacuum myself and not spend $170 on a new one.

I know that many people are concerned about HEPA and pet dander features on their vacuums.  My Miele is the pet vacuum edition.  My Oreck is not.  I have three family members with allergies and I don't feel like their allergies were worse when the Oreck was our regular vacuum than with the Mielle the past four months.

If you ever feel exasperated about your vacuum cleaner or you know someone who has a shoulder injury, then there isn't anything out there that compare with an Oreck!