library love: A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home

So one of my new favorite blog discoveries has been A Beautiful Mess. I just love the style of the sisters who share their crafting and decorating loveliness online. And they even have a subscription service called "Happy Mail" where you get cool stationery and stickers and greeting cards in the mail every month. LOVE that idea. These ladies live on the same page with me!

So imagine my delight when I found their book A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home: Painting, Crafting, and Decorating a Cheerful, More Inspiring Space upon my library shelf. There is just so much happy and color on the pages – a true visual delight to savor on a cold, snowy day. As I write this I am not even done with it yet. I keep picking it back up to enjoy again. One of these days I will probably read it cover to cover to make sure I don't miss anything inspiring.

Full disclosure: This post contains an Amazon Affiliate link. So if zillions of people read my post, click the link, and then buy the book I earn a handful of change. Or something like that.

quilt reading

Over vacation, I took along a few nonfiction books on quilting. My favorite by far was the slender and inspiring book The Practical Guide to Patchwork: New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker by Elizabeth Hartman. As you can see, the cover art is gorgeous as are the twelve quilt projects she has compiled within.

The book starts out with a concise how-to section. For overly excited and ambitious crafters like me, it is definitely the perfect amount of information. There is just enough detail to give you the confidence that yes, you too can quilt. I was particularly inspired by the fact that she is self-taught. That seems to be the route I am going with all things sewing and quilting!

As for the patterns, I loved them all and want to make them all. The instructions very helpfully explain exactly how to cut the fabric so you efficiently end up with all the little pieces you need. The designs utilize patches, which my beginner quilt project did not. I can see a lot of possibility in working on a patchwork project patch by patch. I also enjoyed the fact that each pattern was showcased in 3 different fabric combinations.

Hartman writes in a friendly and encouraging tone:

As you work, keep in mind that every step of this process is achievable. You may need to take out some stitching and redo it. You may end up with some wrinkles or unexpected wonkiness. You're very unlikely to end up with a quilt that you can't use.

And with that encouragement, my friends, I resolve to finish my daughter's quilt (yes, it will be functional!) before winter and perhaps even embark on a brand new quilt project!

PS In the interest of full disclosure, I want to let you know that this post represents my first experiment with the Amazon Associates program. Basically if you, dear reader, happen to click my link to Amazon and then happen to buy the item I would earn some money. I hardly expect to get rich off this blog but I thought it would be worth a try!