Friday Links

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1. This was a grim read: Older women are only putting the last 10 years of experience on their resumes so they don’t get ageism’d out of consideration. “Andrew Martin, a career coach with Crisp Resumes, explained that ‘Women in their 50s usually see much better results if they take 20 years off their resumes.’”  Thanks! I hate it!

2. How I feel when I think about trying to get hired anywhere:

 

3. But let’s learn about the history of colors instead of contemplating the job market. Storied Colors gives you an ongoing index of “One color a day, traced to the people who made it and what it cost them.” Absolutely my catnip–I read the article on Lincoln Green and was hooked.

Seasonal Poem

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This is a good November poem. Now I’m going to think of the library at Alexandria when I crunch through the leaves.

 

The Death of the Self
by Linda Pastan

Like discarded pages
from the book
of autumn, the leaves
come trembling down

in red and umber,
each a poem
or story,
an unread letter.

Think of the fires
in ancient Alexandria,
the voluminous smoke
of parchment burning.

Open your arms
to the dying colors,
to the fragile
beauties

of November.
Deep in the heart
of buried acorns,
nothing is lost.

Tuesday Book Arts Roundup: Souvenir Book

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I made another concertina-fold travel souvenir book for our trip to Mt. Carmel and St. George in September. Like the first one, I used the paper I marbled myself, some Fabriano colored paper for the pages, and elastic from the sewing supplies.


 

This time around, I tried making an inset on the front cover for a photo–I saw the idea in a book I got (from the library! free!!) and you literally just carve away a layer or two of bookboard and smooth the paper over:

 

A fun little project! And if you’re wondering if the kitty boys helped–yes they did, very much.

November Sun

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The leaves are mostly off the trees, the light’s at a certain angle, and there’s even haze in the air–it’s starting to feel more like winter than fall, even if the sun is warm.

 

The winter angle of the light means it’s coming in on the couch all afternoon, and the new houseguests have discovered it’s a great spot for some brother baths:

Remembering Toby

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Today marks one year since we lost Toby–my little shadow, my BFF for so many years. Nobody can replace him; the new boys are a delight and a solace and their own silly personalities, but they’re not Toby.

His last six months were so hard and I still wonder if we waited too long to say goodbye. But I wanted all the time I could get with my boy and I’m glad I had it. We love you, baby.

Mid-Week Retiree Nature Walks

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Doc had an extra day off for an appointment this week so we went up Big Cottonwood to see how low the snow had gotten and to check out a waterfall.

Hidden Falls is literally 500 feet off the road, so not really a hike, but neither of us had any idea it was there! Just lovely!

 

Because we’d already paid our recreation area fee for the waterfall parking lot like good citizens, we decided to just walk around Silver Lake (another fee area). A couple thousand feet higher, it was getting frosty up there in the late afternoon and that snow on the north slopes is probably there to stay.

This Is What 2024 Should Have Felt Like

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I really really hope this blue wave turns out to BE as huge as it feels right now, because it feels GREAT: First Muslim in the US Senate, first (openly) gay man in the Senate, first Native American woman in the Senate, first Latino and Latina governors, first Black woman governor of ANY state, first Black governor of Wisconsin, and first woman governor of Ohio.

It was also a GREAT night to be online:


OK wow is this what hope feels like again? Keep it up!

 

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A post shared by Carter Wright (@carterandwright)

Tuesday Project Pondering: One More?

Karen

My freelance projects are wrapping up and I’m going to need something to do all day. A 12-week sewalong for a quilted coat kicked off this week. Perfect timing?

One of my Instagram friends is doing it so it was on my radar, but I decided I didn’t need yet another quilted coat after I made three in three years. I also thought I didn’t need yet another coat, period, since I have a lot for someone who leaves the house three times a week.

BUT THEN I remembered that you can make quilted LETTERS like Carolyn here (posted back in August, too):

 

And suddenly a jacket that was only pieced in a few places, with contrast binding on the outside seam lines and letters that spell out “AI COULD NEVER” down the back, leapt into my head.

Kind of like this…
A collage of quilted jacket inspo

…with one of these alphabets (clockwise from left, Spaghetti Western Sewing, Patch and Dot, and Sew Hooked).
A collage of three diferent foundation paper piecing aplhapets. One is cowboy font, one is gothic, and one looks hand-drawn.

 

I dug around in the stash to see if I could make this project without spending money and the only things I’d have to buy are a yard of fabric for binding (the burgundy in the photo is actually sweatshirt ribbing, just to help me visualize) and a pattern for the letters, if I don’t use the free one.
Fabric scraps laid out on a white rug. The main fabric is olive green and there are piles of burgundy, pink, and orange fabrics on top

 

I’d like to get a pattern for the jacket, too, because the Daughter Judy Thompson Quilt Coat would be perfect for this, but we’ll see. I can always start with the letters.