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.
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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.
On the Blog
Closure
I’ve been working on the fit of my Bombshell Bodice for a couple of weeks now (along with a few other projects of course). I’ve got the fit almost perfect, so I figured it was time to find my zipper. Lucky me, since I’m making a top instead of a dress, I need a separating…
Modern Crazy Quilt
I’ve been working on another crazy quilt for the last few weeks, and am super excited to say that the top is done. After the first one I said I’d never make another because it takes so long to put together, and can sometimes be really frustrating. However, when my box of scraps got full…
Rain
Today I got up, so excited for the day. There isn’t anything special going on, per say, but I did finish a hacked version of my Linda Skirt last night (it’s the one I made to go with my Bombshell Bodice), and I wanted to wear it to take some photos. You know me. I…
More Muslins
Over the last week, I’ve been working some more on my Bombshell Dress top. I started with the first muslin that I made, which fit perfectly, except for the length. Since I wanted it to be a top and not part of a dress, I needed to add a full 4 inches to the length.…
The Dress Form
The dress form has been used for ages, and I do mean ages. The earliest known example of the dress form was a chest form found in King Tut’s tomb, making it circa 1350 B.C. Obviously, there have been many updates to the basic dress form since then, but the basic concept is the same,…
Finished School Days Quilt
You may remember this quilt from a few months ago. It started with a charm pack of School Days by American Jane for Moda, and some yardage from my stash. I’m happy to say, that it’s now completed, after a LOT of hard work by my wonderful mother-in-law, who hand quilted the entire thing for…
It’s a Craftsy Class
I am currently taking my first ever Craftsy class, and I’m pretty excited about it. For those of you who don’t know what Craftsy is, it is an online community where you can take video classes to learn new techniques, and create projects. I debated about taking the Sew Retro Perfect Bombshell Dress class for…
Fashion Friday – Styling the Pastille Dress
As you may remember, I recently made the Pastille Dress from the Colette Patterns Sewing Handbook. With the way the weather has been, it has been difficult to get out and take good photos of the dress, but when I wore it one day this week I had several people comment on how much they…
Chicken Gnocchi Soup Recipe
This recipe for Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is one of my favorites. I absolutely love this soup. It tastes exactly like the chicken and gnocchi soup at Olive Garden – all creamy and delicious, but I don’t make it very often because Matt isn’t a big soup person. However, with the cold weather lately, I decided…
Dream Kitchen
My husband and I rent, so I can’t make any changes to our current house, but lately, I’ve been dreaming of the perfect kitchen. I dream about it a lot when I’m spending a lot of time in the kitchen cooking. This happens a whole lot around the holidays and any time I’ve got a…
Poppy Seed Thumbprints
I love thumbprint cookies, and these Poppy Seed Thumbprints are just special enough to make a great treat for Valentine’s Day. To make them extra special, roll your cookies in sugar before baking. Printable Recipe
Frog Quilt
My fried Laci is having a baby, so I wanted to do something special for her. She’s doing her baby boy’s room in frogs, so I decided I would make her a frog quilt for him. I went through several iterations of the design before I settled on the final one, which has a big…