Snowy Sewing

OK, we don't have fresh snow yet.. but a storm is on its way to my area, starting tomorrow, so I'm already in the "snowed in" zone and am sewing as much as I can.

I got these three blocks in the mail to Tammy for Sunshine. As I looked at the photo, I thought that arrangement would make a cute quilt pattern (alternated in each row). Another idea to add to my bank of zillion other ideas.

Today I got this top put together. It really came about through cleaning in my sewing room. I found a bunch of these crumb blocks in mid-progress, so I finished them up and made this top. It's small, so I plan to quilt it myself and donate it to my guild project, Bundles of Love.

Now I'll sit back and wait for the real snow to come so I can do my Snowed-In Sewing, which I love!

Friday Books: Slavery

Books unlock doors (which is why it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write)!

This week I read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. At first I didn't want to read it, because it is classified as "science fiction" which is not my usual cup of tea. But it sounded interesting, so I gave it a try.

What a good book! It is about a young black woman and her white husband. She finds herself suddenly being transported from the year 1976 back to the mid 1800s on a slave-owning plantation. As a black woman, she must adapt quickly to her new status and prepare for danger at every turn. She travels back and forth in time on several occasions, always back to the same plantation and then back to her home in 1976. Once her husband goes with her, causing new stresses as their perceived status inequalities put a strain on their relationship. Usually she "flies" solo. It is never her choice; she just goes. Boom. There she is.

The juxtaposition of the times was so interesting! Butler did a great job of conveying the fear and oppression and anger and very mixed emotions and experiences that happen among slaves, between slaves and slave owners, and of course, with a modern woman confronting a radically different past. I read the book in a day and a half. I could hardly put it down.

I so appreciate a well-told story that helps me further understand the nuances of our history. This one gets 5 stars.

Zumba Gold

I went to Zumba Gold. Good thing I didn't go to plain Zumba. Zumba Gold (for old people) kicked my butt! I was exhausted. In fact, I left early, because I was that out of shape and pooped. There were 5 women and 1 man. All the women but one were "traditionally built". Even the instructor was not a svelte young thing. I am not sure if I like Zumba Gold (or any other color). At least this one class was reminiscent of aerobics classes I used to try back in the old days, cardio moves to music. I never liked those classes too much, and this was just a jazzed-up version of aerobics.

It was a good work out, though, and I could use a good kick in the butt at the gym, so ... maybe I'll convince myself to attend this class weekly and see how long it takes for it to become easier for me. I'm stiff and sore this evening, but I must admit it hurts in a good way.

Our annual quilt show (my local guild) started today, and I can't wait to go take a look. I'm going tomorrow. I have not seen any of it yet as I was unable to help on set-up day.

This is a quilt I made (and Diane S. quilted) but it's not hanging in the show... it belongs to someone else, so the show organizer allowed me to display a photograph of it instead.

Loving Life

Things are going really well these days. I'm most-of-the-time happy! Life is good.

As you may recall, I joined Anytime Fitness on January 15. I have actually been going! I get three free sessions with a trainer, and I have completed two of those. Most of the time I'm on the treadmill, but I'm slowly and gingerly branching out, thanks to the ideas I got from the trainer. I still can't remember most of what she taught me, but I'll get there, eventually. I'm not trying to be Body Builder Queen, just to work some of the other muscles besides what I do on the treadmill.

I kept my goals low and realistic (for me), hoping to go three times a week, which I have accomplished so far. Tomorrow I am going to do my first Zumba Gold class (Zumba for old people).

I am feeling really good. After the first two weeks of exercise I noticed a difference in my general well-being. I just feel better. So that makes me happy.

Hubby and I are both happy, sometimes working, sometimes hanging out, getting plenty of sleep, and feeling very little stress. It rocks!

Sewing and reading and doing church stuff fills my other hours, and that's all good, too.

Can't complain about much, so I try not to!

I'm thankful for:
1) fresh, new snow - so pretty
2) feeling great
3) good books
4) my mom, still perky at almost 92
5) making quilts - such fun!

(Almost) Too Much Sewing

This was a fun sewing weekend! My on-line guild, Sunshine, decided to dedicate the Super Bowl weekend to sewing for Wrap a Smile. We had little prizes, and had volunteers for various positions, posted lots of pictures, and kept track of numbers.

From Friday afternoon to Sunday night, I got six quilt tops put together, and I finished 8 blocks. That was a lot of sewing, and by the end I was tired of sewing. I settled down to watch the Super Bowl and promptly fell asleep! When I woke up, they were doing nothing, due to the power outage, so I watched Downton Abbey. After the break from sewing I'm once again feeling refreshed and ready to face the world. I might even sew some more!

When slapping quilts together in a hurry, they don't always end up to be masterful beauties, but they'll look cuddly once they're quilted and bound, and will keep some little kids warm after cleft palate surgery.

Here is what I made:

Started a day early and made this from scratch

made from blocks that I won

made from orphan blocks

I used blocks that were made by a friend

made from scratch

on this one I only had to replace an ugly border

blocks were made from challenge fabric that one of our members sent out


My only regret is that I stayed up sewing way too late on Saturday night, so I slept in on Sunday and missed church.

Oh - almost forgot - on Saturday I had a sewing break and enjoyed a fun gathering with my knitting and crocheting friends.

JW with hat she crocheted


I'm thankful for:
1) quilting friends and the fun of sewing together for kids
2) staying home most of the weekend
3) time to squeeze in a gathering with my yarny friends during a busy quilting weekend
4) yellow curry chicken with fried rice from Big Bowl
5) remembering to make this gratitude list!

My February Goal

The Lovely Year of Finishes is asking me to name my February goal. What I hope to accomplish this month is to create four more verb blocks.

I am making these gradually, plus have collected some from friends, to make a quilt commemorating my 60th birthday which was last fall. I am hoping the 60th birthday quilt will be done by my 61st birthday, but that is waaayyyy down the line (7 months from now.. I know the time will fly). For now I am hoping to create four more verb blocks for this to-be-done-later quilt.

Here's an example of one sent to me by Brenda S.:

Click here to see other quilters' February goals.

Friday Books: The Good and The Not so Good

Four Souls by Louise Erdrich
I love Erdrich's writing, but I must admit that sometimes I don't feel smart enough to grasp everything in her books. Part of it is the world view of American Indians spirit-based view juxtaposed with my western European science-based education. I just can't wrap my mind around some of the differences. Wish I could, but, it takes a lot of time and effort... and lots more reading. I keep trying.

This book was so beautifully written; I felt that each paragraph was full of so much deep thinking that floored me. It took me a while to get through the book, though, so I don't think it was a favorite, though some of the characters were such interesting conundrums that they endeared themselves to me. I give this book 3.5 stars.

My Secret Mother: An Adoptee Speaks to the Girls Who Went Away by Robert J. Bannon
Last spring when I read The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler, I also found out about this book, My Secret Mother by Robert J. Bannon.

The first book is about girls who became pregnant and then "went away" to give birth and then place their babies for adoption. This focused on the years after WWII up to the 1960s. Mr. Bannon read the book and was instantly amazed at the insights it gave him about his own life. As an adoptee, he learned from that book what his birth mother might have experienced - something he had not thought much about up until reading The Girls Who Went Away.

He then wrote his book, My Secret Mother, which describes his thoughts as an adoptee and mostly his messages to his unknown birth mother. (Now in his mid-60s, he has never met his birth parents.) It was an interesting idea and an issue that interests me. Luckily, it was a very short book, because it was not well written. It reminds me of my own autobiography, which I started working on a few years ago. My own story is interesting to me, but is written by an amateur (me) and would surely not interest anyone else. That's what My Secret Mother reminded me of.. amateurish attempts at writing a life story.

Sorry, Mr. Bannon, to be so rough on you. I know this project was very important to you. I hope your birth mother was able to find your book and read it. But for me, it was not something I would recommend to anyone else. It's a good tale for you and your family to hold onto... a gem for them, showing your thoughts on this important topic. That's about where its value ends, in my opinion. This book earns only 2 stars from me.

Emerging From Hanging Sleeve Hell

Whew! I did it! I got all my hanging sleeves attached for the quilts I plan to hang in my guild's annual show. I kept putting them off, forgetting that there is a lot of hand-sewing involved, which takes time! I spent a good two days getting them attached by machine and then sewn down by hand. Oh... a couple of the quilts needed to be bound, as well. So all this prep work has prevented me from doing the fun stuff that I want to do: creative sewing, aka PLAY time in the sewing room. But I have now emerged from the Hanging Sleeve Drudgery and will be free to play.

Here are the six quilts I will have in the show. You may be interested to know that almost all of these were inspired by fellow bloggers.

inspired by Tonya of Lazy Gal Quilting

inspired by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

inspired by Victoria of Bumble Beans

inspired by Wanda of Exuberant Color

This one was inspired by the pattern which looked easy, and an impulsive purchase of fabric.

This is a quilt block painted on a chunk of wood. It was a guild project after our speaker on Barn Quilts. We're going to have a fence row with our barn quilts displayed on it. I discovered I am a lousy painter. See where it is pink in the patterned part? I was trying to be smart. I poured the yellow background paint into the red paint, hoping it would make orange. It didn't. It made pink. Oh, well. Live and learn.

This is the small quilt I am putting in the small quilt auction part of our store. It was inspired by Victoria of Bumble Beans.

If you can make it to the Twin Cities, Minnesota on the right days during the month of February, go on over to the History Society building in South St. Paul and check out our show. Here are the details.

My January Finish

Yay, I did it! Here's my finish: my goal was to get this quilted and bound in January, and I managed to get 'er done!

I love the look of stripes for bindings.


This is 50" x 70" which is a little big for me to comfortably do on my domestic machine. I managed, but it's not my favorite thing to do. I admire people who can do beautiful free motion quilting on little domestic machines! I may never get that mastered, but at least this quilt is done. Hooray!

I'm linking up to the Year of Finishes.

V's Fabric Challenge

I have been wanting to finish this challenge for quite some time. "V" from Bumble Beans sent out swatches of the fabric that I used in the middle of the string blocks, the darker fabric with flowers in it. In desperation I made the string blocks, then set it aside.

Now I'm wanting to work on her next challenge, Tea Towels, but I figured I should finish this one first.

I didn't have a clear idea in mind. I made some "made fabric" squares and thought about setting them on point around the border, like this.

It just didn't do anything for me. I tried it in a few different arrangements, and didn't like any of them.

Finally I gave up on the "made" squares and, again in desperation, went with this setting with flying geese in the corners. I went ahead and put it together and am working on quilting this. I'm still not in love with it, but it's OK. Hopefully someone will like it enough to bid on it. I'm putting it in my quilt show store where we have a small quilt auction. I need to get it done and bound in the next couple of days. Quilt show set-up is next Saturday!

It is approximately 24 inches square.

Friday Books: Juliet in August

Juliet in August by Dianne Warren -- I love this book! It is a simple story about a small town, Juliet,Saskatchewan, over the course of one night and one day in August. The characters are so loveable. They have the regular human foibles that we all possess... not understanding each other, feeling hurt that we are misunderstood, falling in and out of love, wondering where our lives are leading, what might have been, and working through our hum drum days as well as the exciting ones.

It's a very readable, human story. Since I finished the book, I have been thinking a lot about the various characters.

Definitely 5 stars.

I think you know I love to read. I also love photography. I found the coolest blog that combines these two loves: it's mostly photos of people reading on the NY Subway system. Here's a link:

Underground New York Public Library

I was mesmerized by these photos and stayed up too late looking at them. Neat photography, and I was impressed with the wide range of books being read.

Who Made My Barbie Doll Clothes?

I am wondering if you smart readers have answers for my question.

Am I buying the services of slaves?

About a week ago, more or less, I caught an episode of Katie Couric's talk show. Her guests were discussing the problem of trafficking of girls and women (and sometimes boys). Often they are forced into a sex slave nightmare. Sometimes it is a work slave situation. For example, girls are removed from home, passports and IDs are taken, they are locked up with no access to and no contact with the outside world, and they are forced to do whatever the prisoner dictates.

I know this goes on. Sadly, the trafficking happens even in my own state. One thing the show talked about was the consumption we do and whether it encourages the existence of work slaves. Children are often forced to do labor in fields or mines, for example, and not allowed to go to school. If we buy the products of that field or mine, we are economically supporting slavery. Sadly, they said that the cosmetic industry is a big culprit.. some of the chemicals used in cosmetics are typically produced by child slaves. (There's another topic -- how to make purchases wisely so that we don't support slave labor. Where is the transparency?)

Now here is my question. Recently I started buying home-made Barbie doll clothes on e-Bay. One of the vendors I have purchased from sends me the doll clothes from China. At first I thought, "oh, how nice. I'm helping a fledgling entrepreneur in China make a cottage industry for herself." Then I began to wonder -- do these products come from a child labor/slave situation where the kids are made to work for pennies so that I can buy Barbie doll clothes on the cheap?

Some of these nice dresses go for as cheap as 99 cents. The exchange has gone very smoothly. I have purchased several of these fancy doll dresses (for various kids I know or as gifts for other kids). They come in the mail promptly and are well made and look cute on the Barbie dolls.

Is there a way I can find out -- reliably -- who is making these dresses? I don't want to support slave labor, but I do want to support someone trying to make an honest living and finding an easy way to work from home.

What do you think? What would you guess, when buying a dress for 99 cents from China? Remember it's on e-Bay where sometimes it has to go cheap so it'll sell, because of the glut of sellers... how can I research this to put my mind at ease?

Happy Birthday, Sister K!

Today is my sister's birthday. She is 65 years old! I think she would let me say that out loud.

K. has always been great at the things I can't do well. From an early age she was a good seamstress. She used to make doll clothes for me, and not from a pattern -- just from being creative. While we were growing up, K. was the one who helped Mom with sewing and cooking. I did not learn that stuff well - just wasn't interested - but was envious of K's skills.

She still is a skilled whirling dervish in the kitchen. She's a great cook and hostess. She can throw a good party at a moment's notice.

K. had her three kids before I had any of mine, and I was so glad! I got to watch her raise her babies, and learn from her. When mine came along, I felt much more confident about how to be a mom, from watching K's example. (Never quite reached her level of Mom Mastery, but.. who is surprised by that?!)

She's also an excellent seamstress. When I took up quilting, I knew she would, too, because she would be intrigued by the fabrics and colors. She was fabulous at quilting immediately. But she hasn't had time for quilting in recent years, because she opened a bookstore in her town. She does that really well, too. She's the energizer bunny, running a great shop, promoting literacy and books all over town, loves to read, loves to talk about books, and I've seen her make sales based on her enthusiasm for books.

Outside of sewing, cooking, and reading/selling books, she is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and of education. She has chaired a million different groups and boards and organizations. She's good at that kind of thing. She and her hubby have left a very positive mark on the town where they live, making contributions to art festivals and musical events, helping to fund-raise for the schools and help get an important school levy passed, among many other things they do for the town.

You can guess that I'm proud of my sister. She's talented and energetic. Compared to her I'm kind of a goofball and can't do many things right. When I visit her house, I always leave something behind, because I'm scattered and forgetful. But she seems to like me anyway.

So today I wish my oldest Sisty Ugler a very happy 65th birthday! (I'm the youngest, and there is a middle sister, too, and a brother... some day I'll write about them, too.) K., I hope you learn all you can about Medicare, because when it's my turn to get on it, I'll need someone to tell me what it all means.

Eat some cake today in honor of my sister, K.

Weekend Report

I visited my mom on Friday and Saturday. I helped her get rid of a bunch of recycling and threw away some junk she wanted to get rid of. Also helped her change the sheets on her bed. She doesn't like to feel that she is a burden, so she tries to stop me from helping her, but I made her accept my help. I wanted to help her! After all, she is 91 years and 11 months old. She has earned the right to have a little bit of help now and then. And after all she has done for me, I have the right to help! Yes? Yes!

On Saturday the wind blew in from Canada and brought blowing snow and plummeting temps. While I was out running errands for my mom, the temperature fell from 21 deg F. to 12 deg F in just over an hour. It is not even going to get out of the negative numbers for tomorrow's high. I'm planning to stay inside as much as possible.

When I wasn't at my mom's, I was home, sewing. This is a bit of what I accomplished over the last 4 or 5 days (none of these from start to finish, so don't have a heart attack). I'm not THAT fast:

I don't know who gave me these string blocks. I had to make 4 more to complete the top. It will eventually go to Wrap a Smile.

This is a scrappy top I'd forgotten I had. I found it in my "projects" pile. Added a second border to it, because it was on the small side. It, too, will go to Wrap a Smile.

This red one was the subject of a post where I asked for your input. Thank you for your comments and ideas. I decided to do the simple thing and just slap these on as regular borders. I liked the idea of slashing and adding the vertical whites, especially if done on a slant, but I just didn't want to take the time to fuss with it. So far I have no idea where this quilt will end up.

While sewing, I watched some football. This is the end of the Atlanta - SanFran game. My friend in Atlanta was bummed that SanFran won. Notice that piece of wood with things sticking in and out of it? That is our home-made TV antenna, made out of a clothes hanger. Hubby found the pattern online. It's not glamorous, but it works great! We don't have cable, but our antennas work just fine.

Found these nine-patches that I had forgotten about. I'm working on getting this top assembled. This and another one similar to it will be gift quilts for a family I know.

I almost finished knitting this sweet little preemie hat; I was at my mom's and had forgotten to take along all the supplies I needed. I'll finish it in the next few minutes. It is sitting on top of a quilt that I need to hurry and quilt. I did make progress in getting it laid out on the table, and I cut a backing piece for it. Next: cut the batting and iron the backing piece - then quilt!

I notice my readership is up to 135 which I feel is so fun and an honor! Thank you for being my blog followers, all 135 of you! Wanda H's link at her blog, Exuberant Color, helped bring some traffic my way. I think that accounts for the recent upsurge. I'll try to not bore you to death at my blog! Hang in there when I have my boring days, please. Hugs to you all!

Friday Books: Two in Progress

I am currently reading two books. Both are excellent.

One is Juliet in August by Dianne Warren. The other is Four Souls by Louise Erdrich.

One is from the Lucky U shelf at the library, so I have only one week to read it and return it. The other is for a book club discussion. I need to have it done in about ten days.

I'll tell you more about these fine books next Friday!

I started using my gym membership, and now my legs are sore. It's hard to walk up and down stairs. Must keep it up so my muscles get used to the new me.

Thanks for the comments on my previous post. I am still contemplating what to do on that quilt. I appreciate your thoughts on the process. Stay tuned to see the final piece!

Progress and a Question

Using the "dump and sew" method, I created this quilt using my red scraps. I posted the beginning photo a couple of days ago.

Since then I finished the five rows of red scraps, and I made sashing rows from white scraps. (Well, I'm in the process of doing white scraps... not quite done with them.) While taking photos of my progress, I noticed a different look with the white scraps on top, several inches inside rather than on the sides as borders.

To do this I would have to applique them on top. The blocks underneath are just long rows. They don't have blocks at consistent spaces where I could rip out a row and sew in the white. So... what do you think looks better? White scraps as horizontal rows and as outside borders...

...or white scraps set in, making this different look.. I don't know what to call it... a lattice look?

I'm hesitant to sew the whites on top as I would have to do.. I like them sewn onto the sides. But do I like the look of the "lattice" view enough to applique them in that inner spot? What do you think?

(Please ignore the curvy nature of the white vertical rows.. I would fix that on the final quilt top, plus some of that is from camera distortion.)

Yikes! I Did it Again!

Oh, me and my big ideas. I have been thinking that I need to get some regular exercise. I always tell myself that I'll start walking outside. But there are always too many excuses: too hot, raining, too cold, too icy, too dark. So then I go back to thinking about joining a club.

A while ago I finally quit my Y membership, because I was paying but not going. Now there is an Anytime Fitness near my house. I mean.. really near. I could walk to it. Any time I'm out and about, I drive right past it. It has been shaking its finger at me and making me feel guilty. So I went in today and joined. Oh, boy. Here we go again. I hope I can keep going, because this is the closest to my house a gym can get without being in my back yard. It couldn't be more convenient. I want to be healthier... I hope I can get myself to go to the gym.

Funny thing.. the manager was very friendly and personable. He admitted to me that he hates to exercise, too. Somehow that made it feel more like a friendly place where I can make it work.

And now I'm retired so have even fewer excuses for not fitting it into my day. I've done this and failed more than once, as you may remember. Crossing my fingers! You can cross yours for me too, if you want.

No to the "Shoulds" -- Yes to "I Wanna"

The weekend is coming to a close; I enjoyed my weekend activities. I managed to avoid anything tedious such as cleaning. I pampered myself and just did what I wanted to do all weekend. (I know, I'm spoiled.)

On Friday a friend and I went on a road trip to shop in a quilt store that was having a sale. Also, she had a gift certificate to spend. I knew I didn't need any fabric, but I caved and bought some. It was so beautiful and on sale, after all. It was raining, in January -- weird for Minnesota weather. We did not encounter any ice on our trip, although just north of there I understand they experienced some bad ice on roads and had cancelled school and even closed the freeway. We lucked out.

The cold came swooping in, and I spent the rest of the weekend warm and inside. I think the highs this weekend were around a balmy 12 deg. F on both Saturday and Sunday (is that around -10 deg. C?) So you can see why I stayed inside.

I sewed and sewed, did a little knitting, and wrote a letter. That's about all I did! I did not even open up one book (disappointing). I managed to NOT do the sewing I should be getting done for our guild's upcoming quilt show. The "oh this looks like fun" projects are so much more compelling than the "should get this done" projects. So here is what I did:

Made a table runner - spur of the moment, very impulsive - I just started sewing and it turned into this:

It's almost done; I am still working on quilting it. I decided to turn it pillow-style instead of using a binding, because I didn't want to cover up the cool fabric that is in the borders. (That is some of the loot I bought on Friday.)

Made blocks for Sunshine. TS will turn these into lovely quilts. The Ohio Star is my go-to block, kind of my signature block. I love to make it and almost always include at least one Ohio Star in my monthly Sunshine blocks.

Today, Sunday, I slept in and skipped church. It was so nice to stay cuddled in a warm bed instead of venturing out into the frozen wasteland.

And instead of the "should" projects, this is what I worked on today and while watching "Downton Abbey" :

I was putting away some fabrics and realized that a couple of my scrap bins are overflowing again. I love the randomness of grabbing and sewing them together. So I played with reds instead of finishing up quilt show projects. After all, there is always tomorrow! Right?

Snow Storm Flew to Alaska

A small snow storm that was very localized (my house) recently took flight and landed in Alaska, again very localized (at the home of S., my quilt partner of the month).

Here's a picture of the storm aftermath:

The children who live in that blue house made a snowman!

This is the doll quilt that I made as a member of the Doll Quilt Swap group. This is my first month as a member. Our theme was Snow. I couldn't post this picture until my partner received it, and I just heard word that the little snow storm arrived at her house today.

The 3-D snowman was not part of the original plan, but when it turned out to have such a big, white front yard, this house was just begging for a snowman. He is sewn on; he's not actually a "doll" that is to be played with.

I hope Snowman has found a happy home in Alaska. I hear it's a good place for snow-people to hang out.

Friday Books: Lithuania

Trakai Castle, Lithuania

This week I read Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I think this is a Young Adult novel, but it was so great, I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it just because of its classification. Also it has nothing to do with the popular Fifty Shades of Grey! Please don't get them confused. Please do read Between Shades of Gray.

The story is a fictionalized version of what really happened in Lithuania starting in 1939 when the Soviets invaded the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). The story was lost to history and left untold for many, many years.

Anyone who was deemed an enemy of the Soviet state was deported, most to prisons or to labor camps in Siberia. You can imagine the outcome. The so-called enemies were dangerous thugs such as teachers, librarians, artists, and social workers.

This story is told through the eyes of a 15-year old girl. She and her family end up in Siberia, being treated like criminals and nearly frozen/starved to death.

These events really happened. Even now it is rarely talked about. Sadly, I have a part in this and a confession to make. Years ago I knew a young woman whose parents were from Latvia. She told me about the horrible treatment of Latvians at the time of WWII at the hands of Soviet Communists. Here is the terrible part: I didn't believe her. I had never heard of it... I couldn't believe it was true. She was young; I assumed she was exaggerating or had misunderstood. Years later I knew better, and when I saw her again, I apologized. She was gracious and accepted my apology. It's hard to not still feel bad about my original disbelief, however.

So now you see that I am part of this history, too. When Lithuanians finally returned home, were their neighbors just as skeptical as I was? Did anyone believe their stories? In truth, they probably only rarely talked about their history because they could still get in trouble for discussing it, years after the fact.

We have the opportunity, finally, to learn about this important part of history. We owe it to the annals of history and to the people who suffered to read this book and others like it... and to finally believe their truth!