Me, I'm a Part of Your Circle of Friends,

and we notice you don't come a-Round Up.

OK, that was just pathetic. Please comment with zesty blog titles related to "round up." It takes a village to raise a blog.

Inside: home improvement lifespan, DIY laundry soap, consumer safety legislation, Barney Frank sound bites, new to me food media blog, not your ordinary army surplus, paper downloads, floor tile quilt inspiration, baby sewing, sheep quilt block, and a surprise wedding.

This Old House has an article about how long various stuff in your house is supposed to last. Via Re-nest.

Contemplating making laundry soap.

Yay! Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was signed into law on the 14th! Consumer Union is so happy.

The Citizens collect the yummiest Barney Frank sound bites from his address to the Democratic LGBT Caucus. My personal fav, about the alleged radical gay agenda:

What agenda? We want to get married, join the Army, and get a job. Some agenda!

In my desperate attempt to find decent places to eat in the culinary wasteland that is North Orange County, I started to peruse Chow. Not nearly as deep on NOC restaurants as I'd like. But Chow also has a blog, The Grinder, about food in the news. For example, a recent post talked about the Marketplace piece on rising commodity costs leading manufacturers to substitute cheaper ingredients in processed foods.

Kind of like an international, higher quality, higher priced American Science & Surplus, Deutsche Opticks carries all sorts weird things you'll want to look at, if not purchase. Looking for a Belgian Postal Musette? Look no further. And how much do I want to make a quilt based on the designs of Czech Army Cold War Field Maneuver Warning Signs? Via Letter Writer via Angry Chicken.

Less expensive, free in fact various formats of paper you can print on your home printer (or sneak into work and print on their color printer) at the aptly named Printable Paper. Again via Angry Chicken. Reminds me of the free online graph paper that makes quilt design so much more fun.

Tile floors = quilt inspiration. I haven't a clue what the blogger is saying. Something in Portuguese maybe? Design is a universal language. Via Wee Wonderfuls.

Amy Butler has just come out with a book of baby-oriented patterns. I love her fabrics. I'm working on a baby quilt using her Midwestern Modern collection in the Ohio Skies colorway. Via Not Martha . . . but don't post a comment to win that book unless you plan to give it to me, please.

Loving Spirit Cloth's sheep quilt block. Who do I know that might like a sheep quilt?

Allsorts describes and ingenious surprise wedding. Not that I'm in the market for a wedding, but I have been on the periphery of my maid of honor's nuptial planning and I wonder if this little ingenious plan wouldn't have been exactly what they wanted had they not gone and spilled the beans to everyone already. Again via Wee Wonderfuls.

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