with needle and thREAD {and a giveaway}

This was certainly an interesting week! Crazy heat, crazier storms. Power outages. Phone outages. Internet outages. Big holiday in the middle of the week. Talk about rhythm-wreckers.

This week, I tried to sew the same dress in three different sizes, a la the assembly line. I'm not sure yet if it was more efficient. I haven't finished any of them, so it feels unproductive at the moment. Then again, they're all about three steps away from completion. I'm proud of myself because the sewing room is still super tidy (mostly because I was so afraid I would lose track of all those pieces and where I was in the process). I managed to keep all the different fabric pieces organized and orderly. And I can easily finish them before the weekend, which is when I promised Katie she could wear hers. All good, I think. 

My reading is all over the place. I'm still reading several of the books previously mentioned in this space. Maybe I need a "needle & thREAD" sidebar with book links? I have had Joanna Figueroa's With Fabric and Thread on a book rack on my desk lately. It's just such lovely eye candy! Yesterday, I read more carefully the apron pages. Last year, we determined that we'd make a new apron every July in honor of the feasts of St. Martha and St. Anne.  With Fabric and Thread  has the perfect retro reversible apron. Now to choose some fabric...

This book is so lovely that I'd like to share it. Anyone who links up here at needle & thREAD this week or next will be entered to win a copy of  With Fabric and Thread. Winner will be chosen and announced two weeks from today, July 19. 

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

{oh and the Fat Quarter Shop giveaway winner announcement got lost in the wind and the rain and the internet craziness. I'll announce this afternoon, so go enter if you want to squeak in under the wire;-)}