Among the relics of my sewing days, I found just one blue spool of thread. Otherwise, I have the basics for mending: black, white, and beige. Once an avid sewer, never a full-fledged seamstress, I made dresses, little boy suits, pinch-pleated drapes โ€“ even my wedding gown.

When we moved, I culled my patterns from Simplicity and Vogue, saving just a few sentimental ones; for several years my portable sewing machine has stayed stashed under the laundry room table. You can see some other patterns by clicking here.

My life in Simplicity sewing patterns, a sampling

 

Recently, I read Anne Tylerโ€™s latest novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, which inspired this post. Then I reviewed the book, not that Tyler, a Pulitzer Prize winning author of twenty books needs a boost with my review. Typically, the reviews are for me and other readers. I review a book to preserve my thoughts, or record quotations I like, so I can retrieve them if/whenever I feel the urge.

 

My review begins . . .

Anne Tylerโ€™s latest novel (2016) is not about sewing unless you count the spool of thread on the cover.

A Spool of Blue Thread, the novelistโ€™s twentieth, stitches together four generations of the Whitshank family within the sprawling, lovingly constructed Baltimore house, their anchor through the passage of time from the Depression era into the early 21st century.

You can read my entire review, if so inclined:


 

โ€œKeep holding the thread, observing how it meanders,โ€ says this instructive verse by William Stafford, a poem that appeared serendipitously just as I began reading Tylerโ€™s book.

 

My Takeaway: Whether you or others understand whatโ€™s going on in your life circumstances, just never let go.There may be mystery and perplexity; just donโ€™t let go of the thread.

 

 

What is the thread in this poem, I wonder.

Your purpose? A God-ordained plan? Something else?

ย 

Do you have a spool of thread, maybe blue or black or ________?

 

 

Next week: Blogger friend Kathy Pooler hosts me on her website with “How Blogging About my Family Led to a Book.”