The perks of working at a (used) bookstore!

I know I've bragged about my awesome job at the bookstore before, but this just had to be said.

I work at a used bookstore, we buy books from our customers and sell them on site. I run the Arts & Crafts section which is awesome! Yes we usually see a lot of older / not awesome craft books. But occasionally we get real gems!

Here's a really cool book about the quilts and quilters of Gee's Bend! You can find it here on amazon.com - let me tell you I didn't pay anywhere near that price! Eeek! I love that this book has individual stories about the quilters themselves, and their thoughts about quilting.

I've been flipping through and enjoying this book, reading a page or two here or there. The other day on my lunch break I read part of the introduction and it made me respect the quilters of Gee's Bend that much more. While I see their quilts as true american art, I hadn't given much thought to the fact that the seclusion of their town means that they really weren't exposed to other art. Creation without knowledge of other works. It makes me think about my own work - I'm inspired by so many things everywhere that it's hard to say where an idea came from. The ladies of Gee's Bend had only each other.

It's really grounding to read about them. I recommend this book - it's good to reflect on these things.

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Look at these awesome pictures!

Next book! "The Art of Manipulating Fabric" by Colette Wolff. It's so inspiring. I've played around with ruffling and ruching withing my quilt pieces, and this book takes it to another level! It's chock full of pictures of each technique and how to accomplish it. I'm looking forward to flipping through this a bit more!! (PS - This book was one of my guild members' "Favorite Things" from a meeting a few months back, I don't remember who, but thanks for the tip!).