Ex Libris Juliae

Either to reflect my status as pretty much a PhD dropout at this point, or to more readily inspire my creative work, which is lately mostly focused on handicraft, I reorganized my bookshelves this evening. I moved, from their ready-reference position over my desk, my collection of foreign language dictionaries, grammars, and canonical book lists, and replaced them with my collection of mostly kitschy, mostly thrifted, handiwork books. My personal handiwork reference collection to date:

• Today's garage sale purchase--for 50 cents! All 101 have full-size patterns for foundation piecing.
• Happy Endings - Finishing The Edges of Your QuiltAnother garage sale purchase today, another 50 cents! This one shows rounded bindings, pieced bindings, pleats, points--you name it.
• Reader's Digest COMPLETE GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK: Embroidery, Needlepoint, Knitting, Applique, Quilting, Patchwork, Macrame, Crochet, Rug-Making, Lacework (WITH COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED INSTRUCTIONS)This gift from my partner in the Bargain Hunter's swap has me pretty stoked by its section on rug-making. I've been considering making a rag rug from denim or old T-shirts...
• I'm not happy with the baby bottle pattern, which actually had caused me to not purchase this one earlier, but I love Jenny Hart so much that I can't stay mad at her.
• When I was crazy, literally crazy from studying for my qualifying exams (I later failed them--thanks, politically-driven, anti-family administration!) and I somehow convinced myself that I NEEDED to learn to solder, this book saved me. It saved me, y'all.
• Singer-Quilting by MachineI really like the clarity of the definitions and instruction in this book, particularly, again, for bindings.
• Sewing for Dummies I'm still too dumb for the more advanced instructions in here, but I'm totally making the sewn holiday cards.
• From the prairie: A child's memoriesFirst rainy day, the girls and I are going to make these rag dolls and doll clothes all freakin' day long.
• This is probably more eye candy than actual instructional book, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be satisfied with any block unless it looked EXACTLY like the perfect one in the book, and since the book blocks were made by the artists who made the Muppets, well...
• Things You Can Make for ChildrenHmmm...Should I make a loft bed with a slide or a smocked sundress?
• I kind of want to knit the flames and the devil tail on everything. Everything.
• Sew Fast, Faster, Fastest: Timesaving Techniques and Shortcuts for Busy Sewers (Rodale Sewing Book)Okay, her taste is a little tacky, but man, does she know her way around a shortcut.
• It's kind of my dream to find a vintage quilt made from this book--huge patchwork flowers in vivid colors, etc. If it clashes with everything, then it also kind of goes with everything, right?
• Woodstock Kid's Crafts The section on how to perform a play (Kind of a craft, sort of? Um, no) includes a photo of a small child with a cigar in his mouth and a Budweiser can in his hand. Awesome.
• The Woman's Day Book of Weekend Crafts: More Than 100 Quick-To-Finish ProjectsYou know what they think you can do in a weekend, women? A needlepoint lion. A stained glass lampshade. A hanging planter. A stuffed clown head for the nursery.

What does your kitschy library consist of?