Thursday, May 28, 2020

Still the Usual

Still Quilting
Quilting has been my main gig this week, as I continue working on my English paper-pieced Linda Nova (Tula Nova) quilt. I had put off working on it because I was completely burned out after quilting my temperature quilt.

However, the process for quilting has been enjoyable and immensely satisfying.

After stabilizing the overall quilt with walking foot quilting at intervals, I then worked from the center outward, using rulers to create straight-line and arc sections that I filled-in with free motion quilting.

A couple days ago I completed quilting the center medallion.

Outside the medallion, on the background fabric, I used rulers to quilt lines that mimic the medallion shape.

In the space between the lines, I free motion quilted circles. After drawing a 2" circle around an acrylic ring using a purple, air-erasable ink marker, I quilted the circles. 

Three different sewing machine feet have been used for quilting.

I plan to finish the background with free motion-quilted swirl hooks.

Still Worshipping
I am grateful I can worship online each Sunday, with Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa. Pastor Mike's Sunday message came from John 4:7-24, about the Samaritan woman at the well.  He focused on worship - not where we are when we worship, but who we're worshipping. I always appreciate the humor he also brings into his messages. I highly recommend watching.

Still Admiring
On Memorial Day, one of the bands that performs on our three "squares" (the squares are all closed), presented a show from the garage of a house on our street. More than 70 people attended. We kept social distance and watched/listened from a neighboring driveway. Returning home, our Bismarck palm looked especially beautiful with the waning sun shining across the fronds. Just lovely. That Bismarck has become my daily morning view during prayer time.

Still Reading
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman was another great read! For the first time in a long while, I found myself looking forward to exercising and quilting so I could pop in my AirPods and keep listening!

Erin and Mark are a happy couple living in the UK. Their lives are idyllic until Mark's work situation changes. Determined to look to the future, they move forward with their wedding, spending a glorious honeymoon in Bora Bora, leisurely snorkeling and boating. Their lives are changed when they find "something in the water" - an innocuous-looking black bag. Locked. Returning home to pick up their normal lives, they find themselves plotting, and  embroiled in something more sinister than they can imagine. Erin is determining their steps. The resolution to their problems is unexpected, and hair-raising. I'm telling you... this is a must-read.

Linda's score: 4.7/5.0

You Are Not Alone by Greer Henricks and Sarah Pekkanen was great! I previously read The Wife Between Us by these two authors who have perfected the art of collaborative writing. I gave them high scores for that book too.

Shay Miller is a young woman sharing an apartment with a male friend and his girlfriend in New York City. Feeling like a third wheel, and having lost her job, she feels alone and unsure about her future. When she witnesses a subway incident, her life abruptly changes. While attempting to deal with the impact of what she's witnessed, she coincidentally makes new friends, finds a new apartment, and gets a new job. Coincidence? Maybe life isn't as wonderful as Shay imagines.

Linda's score: 4.7/5.0

Still Smiling
I leave you with this picture from the Miami New Times. The Jacobs family from Georgia stayed at an Air BnB in South Miami and found this alligator in their pool... on an alligator-shaped float.

There's a word for this... not ironic; not coincidence. Obvious? Linda

10 comments:

  1. Oh wow. What patience you have to do that intricate quilting. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a LOT of quilting, Linda!! I don't have the patience for that. When my quilts say they want that much, I say FORGETABOUTIT!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fabulous quilting Linda. Did you ditch stitch your pieces? I thought that was a nono when you had seams that are pressed open as they would be with EPP. How funny is that alligator. Thanks for all the book reviews. I often try and get them through our local library, but don't always manage it. Maybe they are too new.

    Just a thought...what batting would you use for a lap quilt, for an elderly man, who still lives on his own in a retirement village. He is my uncle aged 95. I imagine the quilt would have to washed by someone else. I was going to use cotton, but I wanted it to be more cuddly and soft, and of course warm. Wool batting would be a risk.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your quilting in that medallion center is simply fabulous! We saw that alligator photo on the news this morning - I think that little guy was saying "Mommy!" when he found that float! Your Bismark palm is so lovely, and you were lucky to capture such a beautiful photo. Our church is going to parking lot services this week; they have purchased an FM transmitter so everyone can remain safe in their vehicles and listen on their radios. That will work for days that aren't beastly hot and humid, and hopefully we won't need to do that for very long.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with the patience comments above. Your patience and talents are certainly on display in this marvelous quilt. Thanks also for the reading suggestions. I'm always looking for something great to listen to, especially during these days. It is finally sunny in Iowa after 7 days of dreariness, so my mental state and everything else is looking up!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, the end result of your patchwork is very good. I like it very much. Continue to work, friend.
    Greetings from Indonesia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Loved the gator on a gator picture, thank you for sharing.

    Here's an important post about the Virus. It seems this lockdown was really unnecessary!

    http://inproportion2.talkigy.com/exponential_or_not.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wish I could simulate my waving both of my arms up and down in humble admiration for your quilting! So much patience! So many machine feet! I am far too lazy I think! Thanks for the book recommendations. Your pastor sounds great!

    What's this I hear about a new version of Blogger?? I will have to look into that! I ended up downloading Chrome to my iMac and I use that (right now) to comment on blogs.

    Keep smiling!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The background for your paperpiecing project blends so well. Not so stark but just enough pattern and color. You are making good progress on it. You palm is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad you are enjoying the quilting of Linda Nova. It looks amazing. I'm a regular reader as well but always physical books that I read at bedtime. I read the first one on your list last year. Am reading George Washington's Secret Six right now. Non fiction but good. Especially after watching the series Turn a couple of years ago. Have a nice weekend. Yard work for us.

    ReplyDelete

I reply to comments! If you are a no-reply commenter, or your profile appears as anonymous, I will reply to you directly on this blog post. Please check back!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin