No. 42

I had a great long weekend spent with my family celebrating the 4th of July in northern Michigan. We were on a lake in the north eastern part of the lower peninsula, and although the weather was cool for most of the latter part of last week, it was a nice break to get away from the bustle of the Detroit - Ann Arbor areas and settle into some quiet for a few days. If you follow me on Facebook, you'll see a few photos I posted of the trip up north - gorgeous blue skis, crisp green trees, and sparkling water. I sound like a Pure Michigan commercial!

A bit of a side track here, but I'm a huge reader - always have been - and I find that I often have to make a tradeoff in the evenings after work about whether I want to read or sew. Sewing is winning right now (which is okay), but while I was without my sewing machine this past week, I had a chance to finish a book and start a new one. I wrapped up Let's Pretend this Never Happened, which is a memoir of a blogger's upbringing in rural Texas and her personal stories about dealing with the twists that life brings. I enjoyed this book a lot; there were many times that my husband would hear me laughing in the other room and come in wondering what was so funny. It's a hilarious read and one that I kept coming back to in order to read what  wacky episode would happen in the next chapter. If you're looking for a fun, quick read that is in a memoir style (her writing is stream of consciousness so it's not always smooth, and also she is a bit vulgar with language), I recommend it. I appreciated that she had the ability to find humor in many of the odd and nearly unbelievable situations she has experienced in her life and the determination to learn a life lesson and move on from these experiences a better person. I'm currently reading Love Does at the recommendation of a few online blogs. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm back at the sewing machine after the holiday and designing the next Grounds tote. I haven't settled on a name yet, so let's call it No. 42. This is a brand new burlap print for the collection and one that was purchased from here in Plymouth, Michigan from a local coffee roaster. It still had some beans left in the bag (which of course I removed), but it's always a little bit fun to see the beans falling out of the coffee sack before I cut it apart to sew. It's a reminder of the previous life the burlap has had which makes these bags so special.
 
I'll be posting more photos as I wrap this lovely one up. I hope you're having a good start to your first week in July.

Erica