Scrappy, Embroidery, and Improv

I wasn't looking for a new project, but... I'm always on standby for a good scrap quilt design. This little 3½" (unfinished) "Diamonds in the Sky" block was one of several blocks offered in Cassandra Beaver's recent along called Quilt Concert 2023. Though I didn't participate in the along, I downloaded the foundation paper pieced pattern during the four days it was available at no charge. 

For the first time, I printed block designs onto E.E. Schenck 8½" X 11" freezer paper rather than Carol Doak's lightweight, grayish-color paper that must be removed after stitching. I used my Bernina 10D edge stitch foot to sew alongside the edge of the folded freezer paper. It worked a treat!

So now as I go through fabrics, I'll cut up bits for more blocks, and keep a stack ready to go (see upper right) for occasions when I'm going to sewing times with friends. With blocks finishing at 3", I'll be doing this for while!

Picking up embroidery, I've begun adding filler stitches inside the backstitch outlines. So fun to add a variety of stitches - Xs, Colonial knots, French knots, lattice, and chain stitching so far. 

Since I finished my maximalist quilt - pictures to come - it's been nice to not domestic machine quilt. Though I have three more quilt tops awaiting quilting! 

I continue to piece 30 Days of Improv. I'm at one of the most difficult stages which is filling in the corners and sides, to make it rectangle-shaped. 

In between piecing bits of improv, I feed under the presser foot a pair of 1½" leader-ender scraps. Here are the blocks I've made! Each will finish at 6" X 6". 

Book Recommendations

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn is the first book in the series "Veronica Speedwell." 

In this story we meet Veronica, an independent-minded, purposeful woman who has just attended the funeral of her guardian. As Veronica returns home to get her bag and leave the UK to pursue more adventures with her butterfly net (she's a lepidopterist), she finds an intruder. An elderly gentleman, a baron, comes to her aid, and convinces her that she needs protection. So she accompanies him to London where she's put into safekeeping with the baron's trusted friend, Stoker.

When the baron is murdered, and the police want to pin it on Stoker, he and Veronica flee - first to a traveling oddities show, and then to a sanctuary on the grounds of an estate belonging to Stoker's wealthy friends. From there, Stoker and Veronica play detective, searching-out information that will lead them to reveal who murdered the baron, and the truth of Veronica's birth. 

A Perilous Undertaking is book #2 in the Veronica Speedwell series. 

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune is about Fern Brookbank, and time she spends in Toronto, away from her family's lakeside lodge-resort called Brookbank. The sudden death of Fern's mother, who ran Brookbank, forces Fern to return to a place and position she never wanted. 

While at the Brookbank registration desk, she recognizes a man she met ten years ago - Will Baxter. Fern awkwardly reconnects with Will, but it full of anger, and questions, as she remembers the one long day they spent together in Toronto, a decade ago. 

As Fern and Will reestablish their friendship, Fern comes to realize how important Brookbank is to her, and that in spite of dwindling monies for its upkeep and staffing, she wants to bring it back to life, with or without Will. 

The outcome of this story was predictable. Only the author's note at the end gave me understanding of Will's emotional issues - though such a condition in a man was unfamiliar to me.  

Linda's score: 3.7/5.0

Rocket launches at Cape Canaveral have become so commonplace that we seldom step outside to look for them. However, Sunday morning was the launch of the more powerful Atlas V, just before 9 am. Looking into the sun, the contrails were about all we could clearly see.  

I'm giving a presentation and trunk show to a nearby traditional quilt guild, the  Lake County Quilters' Guild. The topic is: What is Modern Quilting?

While I've given this program many times, each occasion means prep time - updating the presentation to reflect changes in the definition of modern, and add more current quilt examples. It's enjoyable to review the changes in modern since the 2009 founding of the MQG, and the first QuiltCon in 2017. I have a dozen large quilts of my own to share, as well as a half-dozen small wall-hangings.

Giving such a presentation to traditional quilt makers always gives me hold-your-breath moments - will anyone like the quilts I'm showing? - and usually ends with a dozen or so quilters avidly interest in modern. I'm hoping this group is typical. Linda