I first saw this fabric over at True Up (a great fabric & sewing blog!) I knew I wanted it, but I wanted to decide what to make with it before I bought any - so I knew just how much to purchase! That's always tricky when you fall in love with a fabric. For whatever it's worth, I like a quantity of 3 yds. It's enough to make a knee length skirt (even with some pre-shrinking with cotton,) and plenty of Home dec items, and I guess that's what I enjoy sewing the most.Rachel was very good about communicating with me, even though we're a half a world away - literally! She's 12 hours ahead of me, so I thought her communication was better than most, considering her time zone! She quickly gave me a private listing for my 3 yds, but I had to wait while it was in transit to me! It was a hard wait, because I really love this print! Check out the selvedge - it's in Thai, and I think it's so beautiful.It actually came a bit quicker than I expected, for as far as it was coming from! That's always a good thing, though. I haven't made all of my design decisions about my skirt yet, so I think I'll sew a muslin first; this fabric is just too limited to play around with, design wise. There's only 20 yds of it anywhere, and less than 5yds available through EmilyMe on Etsy. I don't want to cut something wrong, and then hate myself for it! Hahaha!
I also received a package of buttons with my order, and aren't they pretty? I know I'll have to save them for something really special, they're chunky, shiny and awesome! I love getting freebies with my Etsy orders, and I really liked sending them out, back when I was selling. Do you guys like getting a little something extra when you buy handmade? Is it an expectation, or a hope?
If you missed the link above, here's her shop!
I've been reading science fiction books for over a decade, but it recently occurred to me that I haven't shared that many of my favorites on my blog. It's always been one of my greatest interests, the realm of sci-fi and the future. Although I'm not certain, I believe it all started with Yevgeny Zamyatin's WE. I had to write a report on it in high school, and it really sparked my imagination for all things forward thinking. In it, the protagonist takes a journey from conforming citizen of the republic, to free thinking individual, despite the fact that he doesn't fully understand his new self. There were many lessons in it, but the one I appreciated most was to not let society tell you who you are. Only you can define that for yourself. Don't be just a number, D-503!One of the next highlights that sticks out in my memory is Dreaming Metal, by Melissa Scott. It absolutely captured my imagination with it's thoughtful insights into how a society might deal with the personal rights of an emerging artificial intelligence, as well as it's detailed description of that society. I love in-depth details because they help me paint a virtual world in my mind's eye. And, I really enjoy "seeing" the plot unfold inside the world I've created. Call me weird, but it's why I mostly prefer books to tv or movies, although I do watch a fair bit of both.Next up on my tour of scifi is Alfred Bester, although I have so many favorites of his it's hard to point to just one. I started with Psychoshop, and then read Virtual Unrealities (a series of short stories.) I absolutely loved them both. Even though Bester's work is half a century old, I found it to be so brilliantly funny and bold, it reads much better than a lot of more recent work (IMHO.) I fly through his books, and am dying to get my hands on older printing of any of them! Hahaha! I should also mention that Bester's The Demolished Man won the very first Hugo award for exceptional science fiction in 1953. No other way to say it, this man's work is classic!Another great one is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It's a chilling portrait of what Huxely though the future might be, and it's a little scary how close to home this dystopia strikes now. People on drugs to keep them happy, caste-like class systems and a society totally devoted to their own distraction, Huxley says it all - Remember, brute force is not the only method an oligarchy can use to influence, manage, and finally control our hard-won freedoms and liberties; it can be done with over-indulgence and the deliberate fertilization and promulgation of apathy through self-absorption, as well.
I can't finish this post without mentioning a few others I really enjoy (in no particular order) - What's your favorite genre? What books do you love? What can you reread a hundred times and not be sick of? Or am I just a nutty whackadoo? Hehehe. I know I am, and I suspect some of you reading this might be too - although, you know... in a good way! ;)
