Thank YOU + Thank Barbara Jacobs at the ALA

Hi Everyone! Busy busy here. I am on the way to Boston this morning to take Julia to see her eye doctor. It is a long ride but he is a fantastic guy and he fixed her strabismus when she was 4. Forever grateful for the talent and knowledge of surgeons. Seriously. 

Photo by Rikki Snyder

(This is Charlie - our head cat - in the photo above. If you are a fan of cats and kittens, you will have fun looking for them on the pages of Crafting A Patterned Home. And that is a photo by Rikki Snyder who did all the gorgeous photos in my last two books. Such a talent she is. Follow her on Instagram here.)

I want to thank you all for the orders for Crafting A Patterned Home. Books are on order and should be in at the beginning of next week. I will be signing and packing them and getting them out by the end of the week.  

Since I decided to be transparent with my number of books sold - Drum Roll - I am up to 96 copies. Only a little more than 400 to go until I match the 2015 sales amount of Crafting A Colorful Home. Thank you to all who have ordered. Pub Date is 4/10/18. I can't wait for you to see this new title. I worked on it for over a year and a half and to see it going out in the world is so exciting but terrifying in its own right. I think it is good but the jury is out. 

Are you wondering who Barbara Jacobs is? I don't know her but I know of her. She just wrote the most wonderful review of Crafting A Patterned Home and it was published in the American Library Associations' Booklist. Here's what she said......

Many might recognize Nicholas from her colorful retinue of knits (e.g., Kristin Knits, 2007; Color by Kristin, 2009). More recently, she applies her creative hues to embroidery. With this latest, the western Massachusetts crafter declares subtly that all crafts are her province, especially when directing home-design projects. Her thirtysomething patterns feature color washing and stenciling, other painting gigs, knitting, crochet, and ceramics, all with intricate directions and upfront notations about pattern, style, repeat, and techniques. Don’t skip to the designs. Start at the very beginning, where she shares insights on patterns and combinations. It’s clear, from the abundance of color photographs and her occasional sidebars on topics like Charleston, the Bloomsbury group’s English house, or Canadian folk-artist Maude Lewis, that sharing knowledge is the next best thing to providing colorful art. A worthy successor and companion to the likes of Brandon Mably, Kaffe Fassett, and Tricia Guild. Includes 20 pages of templates.— Barbara Jacobs

Did you read that last line? Gee whiz - I am in good company. Seriously psyched and humbled. 

And here is what my book got - a Star! 

In publishing circles this is a big deal. It means that many librarians will order the book to keep on their shelves and share with their clients. There are a lot of libraries in the USA so that should help book sales. I am so over the moon about this. I am a very frequent library visitor and user and to know that those who cannot buy their own copy may have the opportunity to view my work - it is awesome. 

Thank you Barbara Jacobs. And thank you to longtime reader Sally from Ohio for letting me know. Sally is a librarian and she gave me the scoop.

Help me get to my goal of 500 books. Here is where you can order directly from me and I will ship it out along with some goodies. If you prefer to order on Etsy - you can order from my Etsy shop here.