Quilting, and QuiltCon Registering

This week has been about more of the same - domestic machine quilting. I keep going. And keep going - custom quilting my maximalist quilt.

Like me, you're probably getting tired of seeing it. I'm about half-way done quilting. 

The highlight of this week was Tuesday morning, registering for QuiltCon. For the second year in a row, the MQG has used a fair system for MQG members to choose workshops and lectures for QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh, North Caroina. Last year, I wasn't as fortunate as I was this year. 

Online registration began at 10 am, but members could enter as early as 9:45 am. I entered the online waiting room at about 8 minutes until 10. This was the screen I looked at.

At 10 am, I knew I was in line because the little green man on the left was me, walking.

At my first update, 151 people were ahead of me. Before I knew it, there were 132 people ahead of me. During my wait, I exchanged text messages with a couple friends who let me know their positions: 1,100 and 1,200! That's where I was when I registered last year!

The line moved fairly quickly because by 10:04 I was next in line!

By 10:10, I had selected my four-day show pass, two workshops, five lectures, and checked out! It was slick! 

The two workshops I'll be taking are: 1) "Improv Tiny Piecing" with Jo Avery @joaverystitch of Scotland (Jo and I, along with and Karen Foster, presented the MQG's "The Highs and Lows of Temperature Quilts" webinar together); and, 2) "Large Scale Minimal Improv" with Ashley Downs. 

Whew. So glad that's all done and dusted. I'm already anticipating the fun that's coming next February!

The MQG said on Instagram that this QuiltCon registration event was the largest one they've ever had. The event is going to be epic! 

This week's #30daysofimprovqal prompt is Triangles. This is what I pieced using quilting cotton, two linens, and already-stitched Kantha fabrics. 

That dark green triangle in the upper right, is cut from a Kantha patch. 

This week I used 1½" X 1½" leaders and enders to make a planned block, rather than the scrappy, use-all-the-colors block I made last week. Why? I changed my mind. 

A question from my New Zealand friend, Linda of Kokaquilts asking if I planned to make all my 1½" patches into scrappy blocks, made me give that a think. Hmm. Maybe I'd like a quilt that was more planned. So with that thought, and a cue from my friend Patty @elmstreetquilts who made this gorgeous Postage Stamp Scrap Quilt, I pieced a 36-patch block in one color way. That purple block will likely be the only purple block I'll make, because... well, I don't have many purple prints.

Book Recommendations

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline is the story of a happily married couple - Noah and Maggie. Though Noah's wife died, leaving him to raise his son, Maggie has come into his life. She too was previously married, but lost custody of their infant daughter, Anna, due to Maggie's severe mental depression following Anna's birth. 

Unexpectedly, Anna contacts Maggie. She's 17 now, and after living in boarding schools in France, she's in the US and wants to connect with her mom. Maggie is thrilled. She goes to Anna's school, meets with Anna's therapist, then Anna's lawyer, and arranges for Anna to come and live with them - a happy family of four. 

From the start, when Anna pushes to buy a new car, familial relationships become strained. When Anna accuses Noah of inappropriate touching, Maggie makes him leave their home. But something doesn't seem right. The worst happens, and Noah is on trial.

The book follows one of those patterns of "now" moments (a courtroom case), alternating with "before" moments. It's all about Anna, and who she really is. The author kept my interest through the entire story - an entertaining read.

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan takes place in Montana, and the whole book pretty much happens during a 48 hour period of time. 

For the past five years, teenager Kristin and her eight year-old deaf brother Ryan have been living on a ranch, living fairly normal lives in the care of a man they love. Kristin has learned to shoot a gun, track in the wilds, and be ready in case they need to run quickly to their hidden cabin. 

The book opens with the three of them running for their lives. While trying to take-off in a small plane, the plane and pilot are shot, forcing an emergency landing near Lost Lake. Knowing they're being chased, they take off into the woods. Behind them are the children's dad, Boyd, and his thugs; their Aunt Ruby whose former military; the ranch owner and his teenaged son; and law enforcement. The reason for it all is the family matriarch, Grandmother Frankie who wants the children back. She wants to force Kristin, by threats and manipulation, into the family business that is nothing but illegal activities. 

Once again, I found it amazing that an author could keep so many characters going at once, with each of them having a perspective on what's happening. This book includes brutal murders, hatred, and cold-hearted calculations... that I want to believe never happen this way in real life.

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

As you'll note by this book review, with another score of 3.9/5.0, all the books I've been listening to lately are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. They're all written in the mystery/who-done-it style. 

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda takes place at The Passage Inn, an upscale resort on the edge of the Appalachian Trail. The resort and community of Cutter's Pass have been in the news spotlight several times because people have gone missing. The latest man to disappear is a journalist who stayed at The Passage Inn while he researched and began writing about previous disappearances. 

For the past ten years, Abby has been living in a basement apartment of the resort, working as its manager, She's the one who, four months after the journalist's disappearance, checks-in his brother. He's determined to find out what happened. He stays in the same cabin his brother did, and with Abby's assistance, hikes the trail where his brother may have disappear, and he meets the local sheriff. When Abby discovers in the resort's container of left-behind items a backpack that belonged to a female photographer who went missing several years ago, she determines to find out why all the people who've disappeared are connected to The Passage Inn. 

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

Linda