Pin-Basting and Book Listening

My bias tape appliqué quilt top is complete. It doesn't come close to resembling the design I began with, but here it is in it's uber-pinned glory. Several quilters who saw pictures on IG commented about the abundance of pins. Yes, I used a lot. In fact I used every safety pin I had available! It was important to me to keep those four layers very secure as I'm quilting. 

The finished quilt will be somewhere around 64" X 72". 

I've begun quilting. It took quite a bit of wrangling to make eight passes from top to bottom, stabilizing on both sides of the newsprint strip, and echoing the zig-zag. 

Now I'm getting into the more fun, freehand quilting part.

During pin-basting and quilting time, and while vacuuming and folding laundry, I tuck my iPhone into my back pocket, put in my earbuds, and listen to an audiobook. I listen to books more often than I read a print book. My audio books come from the local public library; I download them through Overdrive. 

My latest listens have been totally captivating! I highly recommend them. The books are a trilogy beginning with The Selection, by Kiera Cass, published in 2012 by HarperTeen. I guess that says a lot about the kind of books I enjoy! Light and entertaining reading. Not surprisingly, I also thoroughly enjoyed the Harry Potter series, the Twilight series, and Hunger Games series.

The Selection plot is a combination of story lines very similar to Twilight and Hunger Games. The main character, America Singer (yes, that's her name) faces challenges and choices in a competitive, yet romantic, environment.  

The second book is The Elite, followed by The One. I was fortunate to get the first two books right away, but was crushed to learn that the library doesn't have the third book in audiobook format. Really?! Now I'm on a wait list for a print copy.

Last Saturday was a special day for my husband. With much help from a neighbor, including months of challenging research, Dan was accepted and officially inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution. Documentation requirements are rigid, so that makes his honor a pretty big deal. I'm very proud of him!

Dan, on the left.

Anticipating my balloon/stent procedure this coming Friday, and being unable to use my sewing machine for several days afterward, I have prepped a resting time project. I've sewn together dozens of one-inch scrap strips to make this fabric "yarn ball." I plan to crochet a rag rug according to Amanda Jean's tutorial at Crazy Mom Quilts.  

Thanks for everyone's well-wishes with that procedure. If I haven't replied to your comments made on my previous blog posts, it's because you're a "no-reply" commenter. More and more of you seem to be no-reply, so without your email address, I can't send my personal thanks. Still, I do say thank you! Linda