Limbo Week

Until this morning, while listening to a favorite but soon-to-be-retired WHO (Des Moines, Iowa) radio announcer, I'd never heard the term "limbo week" - the period between Christmas and New Years. The name suits though, doesn't it? 

It sure applies to my she-cave activities. Projects are in limbo... in the works; not finished. 

On Christmas eve day I pin-basted Italica. On Christmas day, after taking a neighborhood walk and enjoying a lasagne dinner for two, I started quilting Italica. I'm keeping it simple, walking foot quilting with 50-weight pale gold Aurifil on top and 100-weight beige Wonderfil (poly) on the bottom. 

As many of you know, I love making Kawandi - the Siddi-style (India) hand-stitched quilts that use scrap fabrics. Since finishing the last one with Grandma's vintage fabrics (see previous post), and still having vintage fabric scraps on hand, I hand washed more of them for another Kawandi.

I think this particular piece of fabric is interesting. Doesn't it look like a feed sack that was meant to be sewn into a pillow case? Maybe I'm wrong. Do any of you know how it was intended to be used?

Not only do Grandma's scraps include leftovers from garment-making (shoulder cuts; armhole cuts; collar cuts), an old shoebox revealed pile of squares and hand-pieced four-patch blocks. 

I selected a variety of squares to hand wash and enjoyed pressing them in preparation to add to Kawandi. Three different-sized cereal box templates were with the cut pieces.

Smallest...

...medium-sized...

...and largest.

I've made the first "lap" around the outside.

This one will be 16" X 32". 

Book Recommendations 

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel is a delightful read based on the life of Susan Elizabeth Jarvis, born in 1965, who grew up in Mooreland, Indiana. This coming-of-age story is about her family: a devout Quaker, book-reading mother; a whiskey-drinking, gun-toting dad; an unspeaking, fossil-collecting older brother; a beautiful older sister who is forever pinching Zippy; and a menagerie of defective pets. Life in a town of 300 people meant growing up and living life with them. Haven relays incidences with wit and humor.

A Girl Named Zippy is read by the author, who delivers her observations with deadpan inflections that will have you giggling. I also discovered that Ms. Kimmel narrates at a fast pace! For the first time, I intentionally slowed the book playback speed to .75, so I wouldn't miss a thought! 

Linda's score: 4.8/5.0

Upon finishing Zippy, I read the sequel that Haven wrote to answer her readers' question: "What happened to your mother?"

She Got Up Off the Couch continues at the end of Zippy, when Delonda (Dee) Jarvis, Zippy's mom, climbs onto Zippy's homemade bicycle and pedals away. Zippy continues her anecdotal narrative with more - for me - "Oh! I remember that!" moments woven throughout. 

With many obstacles to overcome Delonda attends Ball State in Muncie, graduates with an English degree in 23 months, and in the doing, exposes Zippy to key moments and ideas that will help define her future. 

Linda's score: 4.8/5.0

If you grew up in the 60's and 70's, these books will have you reminiscing about things you may have forgotten: camping with the family; friends in school; hating elementary school; being in love with Glen Campbell and Telly Savalas; broken bones; canning days; slumber parties; and a Volkswagen Beetle. (I have a soft spot for a VW Bug because I drove one from 2000 to 2011 - a surprise college graduation gift from my hubs.) I laughed out loud through sections of both books. At the least, you'll be nodding and smiling!

What great reads to end the year!

2020 Book List

These last two title bring the total number of books I listened to in 2020 to 70 - a surprising number (or perhaps not) in light of listening to 43 books in 2019. More at-home time (sewing and quilting) and more self-led exercise time meant more audiobook time. 

I've compiled my 2020 book list and my scores into a document that you'll find above - a tab on this blog's home page. Feel free to reference it when looking for books to read. If you want to read the review, go to that month of blog posts to find it. (Note: As I prepared this document, I discovered three titles I'd read but never reviewed. Oops. "No review," also means "no score.") Hope you find this useful!

Linda