Stormy Seas and Black Dog Books

Storm at Sea in (mostly) Fairy Frost fabrics.

This is a detail of the Storm at Sea quilt I sent to my friend Stephanie. She and her husband spent several years living on board a boat, but they are now living back on dry land. I thought a Storm at Sea in these particular colors (some of her faves) would remind them of good times on the Brine.

The cool thing about this pattern is that there is not a curved line in it, it is all straight seams, but the eye sees curves. It's a beautiful pattern and these Fairy Frosts are very nice.

Last Saturday Thomas and I went by the library, and I found four books. It was not until I was in the car looking at them that I realized that three of the four had a picture that included a black dog on the cover. Here are two of the covers. I wasn't aware that I was choosing Black Dog Books, but I was!





I have also been reading a lot of books on Project Gutenberg lately. I read Dear Enemy this week. It is a sort of follow up to Daddy Long-Legs and is charming. The main character is Sallie McBride, Judy Abbott's college chum, who has been coerced into working as the Matron of The John Grier Home, the orphanage where Judy grew up. Sallie is going to drag the orphanage, kicking and screaming, into the 20th century. It's told in the form of letters from Sallie to everyone she knows, and it's really funny.

Something I've noticed though in all these old books, is that I am (stupidly) shocked by the casual racism. I shouldn't be, I know that it was a different time, and what seems just ignorant and unbelievable to me was ordinary.