Books make a great gift for birthday's. Check out our
latest Off the Shelf Book Review by our contributing editor Gina Smith.
This one is a must have for all of the sewing divas in your life.

That
Alicia Paulson is a sneaky one. First, she charms the west coast with
her store, Ella Posie. Then, she puts her MFA in writing to use on a
blog that sucks us in: Posie Gets Cozy .  And even the closing of her brick-and-mortar
store mesmerized us as now the whole country could see her wares and
buy them at Rosy Little Things.

      No
surprise, then, her book STITCHED
IN TIME: MEMORY-KEEPING PROJECTS TO SEW AND SHARE FROM THE CREATOR OF
POSIE GETS COZY is a smash.
(Alicia Paulson, Potter Craft, 2008, 160pp., $22.95 or Amazon, $17.90,.

      Alicia’s blog readers love to ooh and aah over
her embroidery and sewing projects, her luscious photos of recipes made
and Portland scenery seen. Heck, her corgi Clover Meadow could probably
have her own blog. That’s how much people like to read Posie Gets
Cozy.

      And
so it is with Stitched in Time. Alicia’s fans are buying the
book for many reasons. Oh, of course, the projects are charming and
au currant.  There’s something for everyone: sewing, embroidering,
appliqué. Some probably even bought the book hoping for glimpses of
Clover or Alicia’s too-cute-for-words Nurse Husband Andy or darling
niece Arden.

      I
bought it, and I don’t even sew! Or embroider. Or do any of the things
described in the book. Well, except blog and take pictures. Alicia even
discusses how to be better at that. In truth, I bought the book because
I thought Alicia might write in even more depth than she had in Hallmark
Magazine recently about the life-changing accident that nearly cost
her mobility. In the article she described how the lengthy recovery
from the accident led her back to stitching and, little by little, to
a new way of life.

      As
with many bloggers, I found Posie Gets Cozy the blog by following a
link on a fellow artist’s blog and so on and so forth until I landed
at Alicia’s. I was hooked with the eye candy. But when I read that
she has a master’s of fine arts degree in writing, I was sucked in
even further. I spent hours going backwards through her blog to read
her posts. To a writer there’s no better blog than one that is well-written.
Even those with the most beautiful photos, artwork or sentiments and
soul-searching posts still lose something with grammatical errors and
typos. Posie Gets Cozy is the cream of all its crops.

      She
has blogged most poignantly about anything and everything: not only
her accident (hit by a garbage truck while walking) but the sudden illness
and loss of her precious dog, Audrey, while she was writing this book.
When I read on her blog she would be writing a magazine article, I waited
months for it to come out so I could buy it. Which I did. The laid-bare
emotions as she talked about her ordeal, although intended to promote
her stitching book and her web business, assured her many fans simply
of her homespun, folksy, down-to-earth, honest writing style. Including
me.

      But
back to the book. As amazing as I find all of the above, it is even
more amazing to note that the book was not only written by Paulson,
who simultaneously designed and created all the projects within, but
she also prepared all of the project photography, sketches, photo styling,
jacket photos and even her own photo! Who can say that? Most artists
who get book deals will find themselves helped along by an editor or
ghost writer and will most certainly have all of the projects photographed
by the publisher’s studio and sketches done by a contracted graphics
person. So Stitched in Time
is truly amazing.

      If
I could sew, the slumber party/sleepover pillow case is my favorite
project from the book, with its large call-home phone number done in
colorful rick-rack. Family-oriented project artists will enjoy the family
tree, brag book, photo mobile, growth chart, placemats, coasters and
birthday banner. There is also a discussion of basic sewing techniques,
hand-sewing, embroidery and appliqué stitches, supplies, glossary of
terms and resources.

Paulson
is already at work on her next book. Maybe I’ll learn to sew by then.
Even if not, I’m sure I’ll still be ordering it as soon as it comes
out. Or pre-ordering it, like I did for this one. Well worth the wait!

– Contributing Editor Gina Smith aka Lilly*s of London*ish,
started making jewelry about six years ago and has since tied this in
with a love of vintage finds, Blythe, crochet and altered art in her
etsy shop.
Growing up in an antiquing family gives her a background and
appreciation for all things vintage, especially dinnerware, jewelry and
Americana advertising prints and products

{All contributed content Gina Smith © Lilly*s of London*ish}