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

Linen Floral Pencil Skirt

By Andrea | September 3, 2013

I am loving how much use I’ve gotten out of the pencil skirt pattern from Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing.  I’ve made a wearable muslin in a fun vintage quilting cotton, a classic version in twill, and now this version in a fun light-weight linen. Because this linen was so lightweight and loosely woven…

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The Original Crazy Quilt

By Andrea | August 28, 2013

As I was looking for photos of my first crazy quilt the other day, I realized that I never actually did a post sharing the finished quilt with you. I finished this quilt a year ago and sent it out to Cara of Cara Quilts to be quilted.  She did a fabulous job.  Each of…

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Missoni Maxi for Fall

By Andrea | August 26, 2013

It’s not fall yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ready for it.  I found an amazing knit poly from Missoni at my local fabric shop and it needed to be a dress.  The fabric comes in at least half a dozen colorways, but I finally decided on the pink and green colorway which is…

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Baby Doll Dress

By Andrea | August 19, 2013

This dress is a variation on the Pastille Dress from the Colette Patterns Sewing Handbook.  I made this dress before is a fabulous Tula Pink print, and wanted something a little more subtle for my next version. I started with the bodice from the pattern, sans cap sleeves and attached a simple gathered skirt. The…

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Chocolate Pour Over Icing

By Andrea | August 16, 2013

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for chocolate pour over icing.  It’s amazing served with yellow cake and ice cream. Printable Recipe

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Giveaway Winner & New Crazy Quilt Project

By Andrea | August 14, 2013

First a big congratulations to Kayla!  She was the big winner in our Rafflecopter giveaway of Gloria McKinnon’s book Glorious Embellishments. If you didn’t win, but would still like a copy for yourself, order one online from Amazon or stop by your local fabric and crafting store to see if they have it in stock.…

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Knit Skater Dress

By Andrea | August 12, 2013

Recently, I’ve seen tons of versions of the knit Skater Dress by Kitschy Coo all over the internet.  And it made me want to give knits a try.  So I downloaded a copy of the pattern and printed it out.  It took about an hour to tape the pattern together and cut it out in…

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Crazy Quilting & a Giveaway!

By Andrea | August 7, 2013

I had the great honor to meet the wonderful and amazing Gloria McKinnon last week.  For those of you who have not heard of Gloria, she is an Australian native, world renowned quilter, owner of Anne’s Glory Box, and author of several amazing books. Gloria was in Evansville last week, at my favorite local fabric…

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Crazy Cat Lady Dress

By Andrea | August 5, 2013

It’s no secret that I love cats.  If it weren’t for my husband, I would already be a crazy cat lady.  Right now he thinks that having Mouse in the house is enough. I certainly think there should be more fluffy critters in the house, but until I get them, I’m keeping myself content by…

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Dill Pickles

By Andrea | July 29, 2013

With over 6 gallons of Bread and Butter Pickles in my root cellar, I decided to try a new pickle recipe – Dill.  My handy cook book even had a couple variations of Dill pickles – regular and kosher.  I haven’t the slightest idea how one is more kosher than the other, but it doesn’t…

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Pickled Peppers

By Andrea | July 26, 2013

Right now, my garden is full of peppers, mostly banana peppers. You know the ones I’m talking about.  They come in the box when you order pizza from town (at least when you order it from Papa John’s). With just two of us, I think the 4 banana pepper plants he planted might have been…

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Flowers

By Andrea | July 24, 2013

This time of year is beautiful in my yard.  All the lilies are blooming, and my butterfly bushes are still going strong. Oh, and did I mention that they’re full of butterflies? What do you see when you look outside?

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