Let loose at the book store

I went a bit nuts in the magazine section last night at the book store.

I basically bought whatever magazines that were calling out to me, in order to gain some cheap thrills while I have some extra reading time on my hands.

The latest copy of Milk Magazine (fashion and style for kids) with English text included - who knew they offered this version?! - was calling out to me, so of course I took it home with me.

Artful Blogging Magazine also found its way home with me. Having this magazine in my hot little hands feels like a yearbook of sorts for all the lovely blogs I read on a regular basis. Represented here are pieces by Amanda from Soule Mama, Jude of Spirit Cloth, and many many others.

Ready Made was the last magazine to jump into my basket. I am going to subscribe to this one right away. So many DIY projects, ideas, and inspirational photos here. Current issue for Aug/Sept 08 has an antique sewing machine on the cover.

And for the pleasure of you uber-quilting-smartie-pants-nerds out there (like you, Amy) here's what I did after I washed the paper off of the baby quilt top:

1) Took the above photo since the light through the wet quilt made it look like stained glass
2) Hung it up to dry a bit since it was SOAKING WET...waited about 4 hours...
3) Put it on my ironing board and 'pressed it' (did NOT 'iron' it by running iron all over it, just pressed the iron down on each of the blocks)
4) Held it up, and said, gee, that's still pretty square - cool! I'll end up blocking it after it's quilted if it needs it.
5) Basted it by hand with batting and backing
6) Put in in my hoop and started to hand quilt it 'by the piece' which means you quilt lines just inside every seam where each piece is sewn to another piece.
7) FYI, looking good so far!