An Undone Week

Much of this week was spent merrily walking foot quilting, for hours on end. After a long day of quilting, I proudly took these evening photos - the best shadows to enhance the quilting. 

I admired my work from every angle...

...including the design wall.

That's when I saw a huge, I-can't-live-with-it-like-this mistake!

In spite of being well-basted with pins, the large < shapes I'd quilt made the vertical columns all bow. What to do?!

Knowing that Amy Friend @duringquiettime is a die-hard walking foot quilter, I sent her these photos and asked. Might the curves be blocked out after washing? Amy graciously responded, suggesting that batting might be part of the problem. I had to agree that Quilter's Dream Puff (100 percent polyester), though having a wonderful depth for showing off quilting designs, might be a little "slippery" for the dense quilting I had done in clusters of matchstick quilting. I should have used a cotton batting. 

What's a quilter to do? Remove the offending stitches. It took about seven hours, but all of the quilting in the section of curry, yellow, and peach solids was undone - across the 70" width of the quilt. 

Then, I misted and steam ironed, tugged and patted, and generally did what was necessary to make those vertical columns straight. A ruler as guide, and lots of pins helped. This section has been re-quilted now, but still has a couple issued to fix. Finished pictures later!

Last Saturday was the Central Florida MQG "Improv Paper Piecing" virtual workshop with Amy Friend (one of the reasons I felt comfortable asking Amy about my quilting) and these rectangle foundation paper pieced blocks are the result of that workshop. 

Amy's concept for making improv designs is fantastic! It was suggested that we each make only one block, and then make a mirror image of it. She then taught us how to copy, multiple, twist and turn the design for different layout possibilities. I love the entire concept! I'm not particularly happy with my rectangle-shaped blocks, but I definitely want to explore this method.

The Alison Glass Stitch Club introductory e-journal arrived in Sunday's email. After thoroughly reading it several times, I excitedly shopped through my stash for fabrics I'll use to make a 54" X 78" improv-style Kantha quilt. The next journal arrives April 19 with cutting info. I can't wait! 

I couldn't resist any longer, and used my post-QuiltCon electronic discount code to shop at Morris Textiles for this Sally Kelly fabric. It's "Florissimo," from the Eden collection. I don't know why I'm so smitten with it - perhaps the colors? - as I usually don't like floral prints. I bought three yards! 

I also picked up these two Eden prints. Some of the Edan prints have insect designs, and those I definitely don't care for.  

As my friends will attest, I'm not a list-maker. However, I'm going on retreat today, and don't want to forget all the projects I have in mind to work on over the next six days. I expect that only two, maybe three of these items will be checked-off as finished because they're "ongoing" sorts of projects. 

When on this type of retreat, not only do all my quilt-y supplies, clothes, and toiletries go with me, but each of us brings our own food. It takes lots of planning to get ready for such a long time away from home. Not surprisingly, I'm looking forward to it, especially time spent with friends.

Book Recommendations

The Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson is not an easy read. I dislike saying so about a work of fiction, but the truth behind the story is what makes it painful. I like the slave woman, Pheby, for her resiliency in the face of helplessness and loss, but the story was tough-going. I kept expecting a small bright spot, a moment of "Yes, finally some good news!" but it never comes.

Pheby is a slave offspring of the master of Bell Plantation who finds love with the slave man who cares for the horses. Pheby lives with her mother Ruth, a respected slave who works in the loom mill. When the master leaves with Ruth, Bell Plantation's mistress makes life intolerable for Pheby, who is suddenly taken away to live in a Richmond jail that deals in the slave trade. When Pheby attracts the attention of the jailer, her life takes a different turn; she becomes the jail mistress. Raising her children in this hopeless environment, she means to ensure they're educated, and will do whatever must be done to ensure that their lives  will be different than hers. 

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

If nothing else, I like The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich, for the cover! Definitely a quilt there, right? 

The story takes place in Minneapolis, and is about Tookie, a gullible woman who gets into trouble when she steals a corpse for a girlfriend, and accepts money for doing it. Years later, after serving a prison sentence and early release, she goes to work in a book store that's haunted by a recently-deceased customer, Flora. What Flora does puts fear into Tookie, who tries to find understanding through Indian myths and traditions. Then, the pandemic...

This is only the second book I've read that incorporates the pandemic into the storyline, and in this case, also what happened in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. Though I wasn't fond of the haunting part of the story, I liked it for it's relevance to current events...after I looked past the author's political bias. 

Linda's score: 3.4/5.0

The Stories We Tell by Patti Callahan Henry takes place in Savannah, Georgia. It's about a distinguished southern couple, Eve and Cooper Morrison, who, respectively, own a print business and a digital magazine. Eve's converted-from-a-stable shop is on their family property, so it's not uncommon for her to spend all of her days and many evenings working. Eve's sister, Willa, who doesn't get along with Cooper, also lives on the property.

So when the police arrive to tell Eve that Cooper and Willa have been in a serious car accident together, she doesn't understand. Add to the scene, rebellious 17 year-old Gwen Morrison who adores her Aunt Willa who is now suffering from memory loss, and it becomes Cooper's job to explain what happened. When his responses to questions don't match the facts that Eve is learning for herself, she begins to question her loyalties. 

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

How is it that I managed to listened to nine books during the month of March?! It's probably a testament to the amount of time I spent quilting at the sewing machine... and un-quilting. April surely won't be a repeat of March! Linda