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

10 Years… A Class Reunion

By Andrea | September 27, 2013

Last weekend was my 10 year class reunion.  I’m feeling a little old, but it might be worth it since I the reunion gave me a chance to visit with people I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I even got Matt to take a picture with me.  Though, we are going to have to…

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Let’s Read Some Banned Books!

By Andrea | September 25, 2013

It’s banned books week! What better time to talk about reading?  You know that the banned books are always the best. When I recently looked through the list of banned and challenged books, I was really surprised by the number of them that I had read, and loved.  Books that remind me of my childhood,…

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Amy Butler Trunk Show

By Andrea | September 23, 2013

My local fabric store, Let’s Sew, recently hosted the Amy Butler Alchemy Studio Collection Trunk Show. I enjoyed getting to see the beautiful clothing made in Amy Butler’s fashion fabrics.  It’s given me a lot of ideas. There were lots of coats and jackets made from the heavier weight fabrics like corduroy and linen blends.…

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Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

By Andrea | September 22, 2013

It’s the first day of fall and I that means I can start making some of those wonderful fall flavored dishes.  And what better way to start my fall cooking out right that to make a batch of Mamaw’s homemade cinnamon applesauce?  It’s great fresh if you need a large amount, like for a family…

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Coming Up – Purse Palooza

By Andrea | September 20, 2013

I am super excited to announce that I will be participating in Purse Palooza 2013 over at Sew Sweetness. I’ll be reviewing the Michelle Patterns Pleated Wristlet (her versions pictured below) on October 4th.  That’s in exactly 2 weeks! So be sure to stop by Sara’s blog to see my finished product, what I thought…

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Selfish Sewing Week

By Andrea | September 20, 2013

So apparently next week is Selfish Sewing Week.  That means doing sewing for you and not for other people.  I sort of find this funny, because I always sew for me.  Maybe if I had kids I sewed for, like some of my friends, this would be an interesting derivative from the norm, but around…

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Rainy Days

By Andrea | September 18, 2013

It looks like rainy days are here again.  The weatherman is calling for a chance of rain every day for the rest of the week. On the plus side, rainy days like this put me in a mood to sew, so I might actually have a new project to share with you next week.  I…

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Graphic Prints

By Andrea | September 13, 2013

For those of you who don’t know, this week was New York Fashion Week.  And while there were many styles on the runway, one look really stood out to me.  It was the use of bold graphic prints, mostly in black and white. I mean if it’s wrong to want all three of these mix…

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Art Exhibit – David Rodenberg

By Andrea | September 11, 2013

One of the perks of being the webmaster at my university is getting to go out and take photos of lots of the events happening on campus.  And that includes exhibits at the university’s art gallery.  The current exhibit is a beautiful pottery collection by David Rodenberg.  The pieces presented in his current exhibit are…

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Missoni Knit Tee

By Andrea | September 9, 2013

I had plenty of left over fabric from my Missoni Maxi Dress, so I decided to use the left over fabric in an experiment.  I wanted to take my Kitschy Coo Skater Dress pattern and see if I could make a top. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I…

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Making Progress

By Andrea | September 5, 2013

I’m slowly but surely making progress on my latest crazy quilt.  These are usually quick sews for me because it’s simple not to match up corners.  However, thanks to some inspiration from Gloria McKinnon and her book Glorious Embellishing, I’m taking my time with this quilt top and adding some real crazy quilt detailing. In…

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Fall Sewing Time

By Andrea | September 4, 2013

It’s not fall yet, but it’s time to start thinking about sewing for fall.  And I was certainly reminded of that while browsing the Fashionable Fabrics website the other day.  Right there on the home page was a fabulous Halloween print that I know I need to get and do something with. It’s completely ridiculous…

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