A good day

Yesterday was a good day. (Pretty much the only thing on my list I didn't find was the table/bench for my plants, but I suspect I'll find one eventually).

First stop was Quilt Asylum. I found the perfect backing for the quilt I'm planning, plus found a pattern for the Aneela Hoey "Little Apples" jelly roll I got a while back - I like the pattern I found better than the one I was considering for it, and I also got the 2 yards or so of plain white that I will need for sashing on that quilt.

And I dropped off the Linus quilts, and got them oohed over a little bit. And I found a book on feedsacks and their history that I think I'll give to my mom for Mother's Day. (She's interested in feedsacks as well; in fact, she had a few dresses out of feedsack fabric when she was a kid).

One of my favorite "feedsack stories" is the Pullet Poll of 1948. In short: The Staley company decided to conduct an (unscientific) poll of feedsack purchasers to see who they picked to be the President. The Pullet Poll (so named because it was sacks of chicken feed that were involved) had you buy from one set of prints to register a vote for Truman, and from another set to register a vote for Dewey. The Pullet Poll showed Truman winning with an 8% margin (which I think was not so far off of the actual margin). The newspaper polls (probably "run by a big Eastern syndicate" Lucy van Pelt would say) said Dewey would win, which led to the famous photograph of a grinning Truman holding up a paper with the (inaccurate) headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman." So the Pullet Poll gave more accurate results.

(I used that example in my Biostats class this fall to show that what a sample "tells" you about a population can sometimes be biased depending on where you take the sample and how. But also, I think it's a neat story).

The book also reprinted a few comics from the feedsack trade magazines. Most weren't very funny - or at least, weren't very funny to someone not in the industry. But there was one that was not so much "funny" as it was "interesting." The title was something like "Never underestimate the power of a woman" and in the first frame, you saw a woman picking out chicken feed in a printed sack at the store. In the second panel, she is feeding her chickens wearing a dress made from the fabric in the sack. (Perhaps I like that because I'm someone who feels like she's talented in a number of different ways, and it makes me happy to see that kind of diversity-of-purpose being celebrated).

I also got to Morningstar Treasures and bought a few small items...the tiny knit shop in there is evolving; apparently it's hard for the woman who runs it, as a very small businessperson, to work with the distributors from the yarn company...so she's slowly closing out the yarn she has, and is going to stock handmade items like hats and woven rugs and things instead. Which is sort of sad, but I can understand not wanting to deal with the hassle.

And I went to Loco Cowpoke. Like the people who run Morningstar Treasures, the owner remembers me (even though I'm not in more than a couple times a year). This always surprises me because I have such a poor memory for faces - I guess some people just remember other people well. But it IS nice, it's nice to be recognized and remembered and have someone who recalls the things you particularly liked. (Also, I'm happy to report that Loco Cowpoke has expanded and carries more stuff).

I visited a bunch of other places as well...and went to the second quilt shop in McKinney (Happiness is Quilting) for more fabrics.

And I went to the new artisan-foods shop...bought some cheese and a jar of fig-walnut preserves for my morning toast. (Figs are supposed to be really good for you - antioxidants or something - and I like figs, anyway).

And I went to the candy shop (Well, there are actually 2 there now; this is the one that sells candy and popcorn). And they had Pop Rocks. (Which are now made in Spain, interestingly enough). I bought a couple packages for old times' sake. (Pop Rocks were a big huge deal when I was like 9 or so...then they went off the market for a while, which fueled speculation about the old urban legend about the kid blowing up his stomach by drinking Coke and eating Pop Rocks...but then they came back under a different name...but the "real" Pop Rocks are apparently back, if you can find them.) (I wish they'd bring back those big ropes of Bubs Daddy bubble gum - it was like a three foot rope of bubble gum that came in flavors like grape and sour apple. I remember those very fondly from the same era as Pop Rocks.)

On the way home, I stopped at Target. Two important items acquired: first, a nice set of glass canisters (including one large enough to hold a full five pounds of flour). And second, a mini Rainbow Dash "brushable*" to go into the swap package I am now ready to send out.

(*These are the toy plastic ponies with the "saran" hair (or whatever the synthetic is they're using now. When I was a kid, they used to talk about that rooted doll's hair being made of "Saran," presumably like the wrap).

My swap partner is a big Rainbow Dash fan, so I was thrilled to find a Rainbow Dash item that still kept me (technically; I'm not counting shipping costs now) within the cost-limit of the swap. (The swap-leader warned us, "Don't be a jerk in either direction," and I presume she meant by that, "Don't embarrass your swap partner by sending out a $50 package when she sent out one that was $20...")

Tomorrow I have the day off, and while there are abundant volunteer opportunities (both my campus and my church are having workdays, presumably to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.), I think I'm going to take the day and work on quilts. (I do plenty of volunteering at other times and in other places).