Ramped-Up, QC Entries

I can't believe more than a week nine days have passed since my last blog post! That's not like me, but it's indicative of ramped-up activities this month. 

I completed the two quilts shared in my last blog post, and have submitted four quilts to QuiltCon 2023 (October 31 entry deadline), as well as submitted a quilt (about two months ago) for publication consideration: QuiltCon magazine. A new entry rule this year is that a MQG member may have up to four quilts displayed at QuiltCon. Honestly, I'm hoping one will be accepted. QuiltCon competition is always stiff. 

This is Harborage that began as an Instagram #30daysofimprovqal, and finished at 50" W X 44" H with a faced edge. This is the first time I've entered a quilt in the "improvisation" category.

Harborage, 50" X 44"

A couple close-ups of the quilting - free motion; and big stitch hand quilting with three different colors of size 8 Wonderfil Eleganza perle cotton.

          

This is Log Jam, made for the QuiltCon Log Cabin Challenge. It finished at 68" X 70".

Using a walking foot on my Bernina 770QE, I spiral quilted the center, on-point section. 

Then I quilted each of the four corner sections with straight lines spaced ¾" apart. 

Let me tell you, this was a bear to get squared-up! I began by placing lots of rulers along the sides along which I drew lines. But when several measurements across the width and length weren't equal, I pulled out my square, corner laser pointer.

Since buying this gizmo about nine years ago, other laser square-up thingys are available (like at Lowe's or Home Depot). To make it work, I had to put my hand under the quilt to lift it a smidge so as to see the red laser line which I then drew onto the quilt top with an air-erase marker. 

This isn't how I actually used it, but I thought you'd like to see the tool, and the red light line it makes.

Once I'd drawn the lines with the laser gizmo, I measured and double-checked measurements to ensure all lines were on the square. They were. Then, with my walking foot and a long basting stitch, I stabilized the edges along the drawn line. This worked well to keep everything in place as I sewed a black and white striped binding to it. I used No Tails Binding: Mitered Corners by Machine method (available as a webinar on the MQG site, and my blog tutorial is here) and am very pleased with the end result. 

After QuiltCon entries were photographed, written-up, and payment made ($20 per entry), it was time to get back to a Patchwork Pony!

"Patches" on the right, is truly a patchwork pony made with 477 squares that finish at 1". How 'bout his green mane and tail? Boy, this pattern is fantastic for using up leftover batting pieces. For some reason, it's extremely gratifying to rotary chop batting bits and stuff them into a pony. 

Three ponies are now in my stable, ready to give to Children's Home Society of Florida. Though I'm hoping to make one more before Big Cypress Quilters has its November 8 baby shower for the organization. If you think this pattern is as cute too, you can buy yours here from Jo Avery in the UK.

In between all the above, and other things (like line dancing, power walking, two Bible study groups, quilt groups, and a doc appointment) I've been playing with my new tenor ukulele (the blue one) that arrived last Saturday night at about 7 pm. As you can see, a tenor ukulele is larger than a concert ukulele. 

Blue is really pretty, with its two-tone glossy finish. These are the original fluorocarbon strings that I've already had replace at local music shop. 

This picture is a truer representation of the uke color, and the new Aquila Red strings. Between the larger sound capability of a tenor uke, and these Aquila strings, the sound is truly amazing! It reverberates the mellow tones of a guitar. I've been practicing daily to learn the Travis picking method. 

Though the uke came with a gig case, it's plain 'ole black. Ugh! You know me... I need to make a color statement with my uke case, and this is the Riley Blake print I picked up at my LQS. It will be on the outside; the aqua behind the print will be cording and lining. I also bought two Pellon products to give the case structure, and ordered a 36" separating zipper from an Etsy shop. I must make a strap too.

In case you're not on the Curated Quilts email list, I'm sharing that this past week's email promoted CQ's Triangle issue. My small quilt, which appeared in the gallery of that issue, was mentioned in their advertising. Funny though, the quilt was shown upside down! 😁

What do you think? That way?

Or this way, as it was shown in the magazine? 

I kinda like it upside down! 

Book Recommendations

Catherine de Medici by Leonie Frieda is a book I intentionally chose to listen to because we've been watching the Starz series The Serpent Queen. It's about Catherine de Medici, a 14 year-old girl from an Italian merchant family who marries the Dauphin (son of the king) of France. Catherine is initially barren, but eventually gives birth to ten children, three of whom become king of France. However, due to the young age that each son ascends the throne, she's the Regent Queen, retaining all the power to govern France. The country's greatest challenge is a rising division between the Catholic Papacy, and Protestant reformers such as "heretic Lutherans" and "Calvinists." Yet there's enough personal intrigue and information, that Catherine is a fascinating person. Her life story covers the years from approximately 1540 to 1590, and is an excellent look into what court looked like and how people manipulated and treated one another. 

This is definitely a biography - about 20 hours of audiobook listening! - and several times, I floundered through it because many different names, and different castles/residences, and provinces, as well as skirmishes and treasonous acts were narrated in such a "history book" sort of way that my mind wandered. No doubt, I would likely have retained more of the story by reading it in print. But I'm certainly glad I read it. If I ever get to visit France, I will re-read this book so I am sure to find some of Catherine's castles and locations such as The Tuileries in Paris, and Chenonceau. 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

Ready for a complete change of pace after reading about Catherine, The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain met every expectation.

It's 1944 and young Tess DeMello has her life planned. She'll finish her nursing degree while her fiancé, Vincent, begins working as a pediatric physician. Their wedding is only months away. But when a severe polio outbreak takes Vincent from Baltimore to Chicago for a far longer time than either of them expected, Tess makes a huge mistake. It's so big and unforgivable that she knows Vincent will never understand. Tess heads to Hickory, North Carolina where she begins a new life that makes her very unhappy. In her kind and loving way, she endures the gossip and unfriendliness she faces in Hickory, including dealing with a harsh mother-in-law, and finds a different way to overcome her challenges. 

Listening to the author's notes at the end of the book, I was interested to learn that much of what happened in Hickory - related to a polio outbreak - was true. Hearing about how prevalent polio outbreaks were in 1944, and how it mercilessly attacked people regardless of age or ethnicity, made me think of how we endured COVID. This book reminded me of how much we need available vaccines. 

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

If you've made it to the end of this post... well, thank you! I just had too much I wanted to share. Linda