The Communique Layout

Popularized by Rhonda Dort, who uses the layout in her classes, the Communique Quilt Layout works for both featuring large fabric and panel pieces, as well as a basis for multiple block designs.

About Me

Welcome to Mouse in My Pocket! I'm Andrea, a web developer living in rural America with her husband and daughter. I'm excited to share my life with you as I explore some of the great things about living in the middle of nowhere.  Be sure to check out the blog below to see a few of the things that are speaking to me right now.

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On the Blog

Friday Favorites

By Andrea | July 21, 2017

Welcome to Friday Favorites, a place where I talk about some of my favorite things right now. The Hogwarts Collection from BlackMilk Clothing I just discovered that BlackMilk Clothing has a line of Harry Potter themed clothing items, and they are fabulous.  A lot of the pieces are sold out already, but if you’re interested,…

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Mildred Jane at 4 Months

By Andrea | July 11, 2017

Mildred Jane is 4 months old!  She has had a big growth spurt in the last month and now weighs in at  a whopping 12 lbs, and is 23 inches long. In the last month she has also learned the new skill of rolling over, which she only likes to do when she doesn’t think…

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Fashion Friday – Office Cardigans

By Andrea | July 7, 2017

It’s a nice hot summer here in southern Indiana.  And that means that they have turned the air conditioning on at the office.  For some reason, the temperature in my building always seems to be about right for a man in a 3-piece suit as opposed to someone who has dressed appropriately for the weather. They…

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Open Class

By Andrea | July 5, 2017

The county fair starts this Sunday, which means that I’m working on gathering things up to exhibit in Open Class again. Between the pregnancy and Mildred showing up. I’ve hardly had time to do much in the way of crafty projects in the last year.  I do have a couple of quilts that I haven’t…

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Bookish Questions – One Book

By Andrea | July 4, 2017

If you could only have a physical copy of one book, what book would that be? As we’ve discussed previously, I have a love for physical copies of books, even having multiple copies of them. That means that choosing only one book to have a physical copy of would be very hard for me.  But…

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My Quilt Design Process

By Andrea | June 28, 2017

Though it’s something I haven’t had much time for with the new baby, I love making quilts.  I think it’s the concept of taking a stack of fabrics that anyone could have and making something completely my own. My design process usually starts with a specific fabric or concept.  I often find myself attracted to…

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Book It!

By Andrea | June 26, 2017

I’m back at work now, so even my available time for listening to audiobooks has dropped.  But, I am still trying to make time to do a little bit of reading. I was able to finish 2 audiobooks this month, and made some progress on a couple of real books. Speakers of the Dead Speakers…

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Portraint Pouch

Get Organized with Redbubble

By Andrea | June 23, 2017

I am a messy person by nature, tossing all of my stuff into what I like to consider “organized piles.”  Unfortunately, those piles tend to get so large that they stop being organized, or worse yet, they are in places like my purse, which become a giant black hole.  That’s why I’m a huge fan…

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Bookish Questions – Paperback or Hardback?

By Andrea | June 20, 2017

Paperback or Hardback? As I mentioned in my last Bookish Questions post about Special Editions, I love hardback books. Especially hardback books that are pretty.  If I plan to keep a book to read multiple times, I would much rather have a hardback edition of the novel, but if it’s something I’m not likely to…

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Mildred Jane at 3 Months

By Andrea | June 12, 2017

At 3 month’s old, Milli is 9lbs and 14oz, just more than double her birth weight.  She is starting to make happy noises and look at you when you talk to her. Most of the time, Mildred is a happy baby.  When she isn’t being held, her favorite thing to do is to sit in…

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Fashion Friday – A Classy Diaper Bag

By Andrea | June 9, 2017

I have a big thing about carrying a classy looking purse.  I want my bags to be leather (or vegan leather) with no pattern.  Don’t get me wrong, I went thru a Vera Bradley phase back in the day, but I find that a nice leather bag with clean lines in a good neutral can…

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Bookish Questions – How do you feel about special editions?

By Andrea | June 6, 2017

How do you feel about special editions of books? Special editions of novels are the bane of my existence – or, at least my pocketbook. I mean, I love them, and I have the means to buy them, which is how I end up with so many different versions of the same novel. Fortunately there…

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