Lucky me!

I don't consider myself lucky, but in 2023, I've had my share of wins. In February at QuiltCon, my win was an 18-piece fat quarter bundle of Anna Maria Horner prints; in March it was the win of an Oliso iron (my best win, ever!) and some pressing spray; and last week it was a 6-piece fat quarter bundle of Painter's Palette solids from Erin who's @intuitive.maker

And do I have a story there!

When you win an Instagram giveaway, the giver contacts you by DM (direct message)/PM (personal message), whichever you prefer to call it. The giver always asks for your mailing address. When I provided mine to Erin, you can imagine my surprise when I learned she lives in a town less than 20 miles away! When I kiddingly suggested she could deliver the bundle to me at our next Central Florida MQG (CFMQG) meeting, she was interested to learn more about our MQG chapter. I invited her to our meeting on Saturday. She attended! We met IRL (in real life). Turns out she's already an individual member of the MQG, and now she's a member of CFMQG! Is that cool, or what?! I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.

This is the scramble block, block number two in Amy Friend's @duringquiettime 12-block Satisfaction QAL. I pieced the first two blocks using the FPP freezer paper method. I have decided to go back to using foundation paper. 

18" scramble block

The reason is that after pressing the first two blocks, there's been more "wonk" than I'd like. Lotsa pieces on the bias. Amy told me that the reason she uses a paper foundation is to alleviate stretching. So for the third block I'll go to paper again, though I don't enjoy removing the paper afterward. 

This week I also spent time ruler quilting and FMQing my Finger Paint quilt. Good grief. The top was finished in October 2021! I keep putting quilting on the back burner, but I'm determine to finish it by year end.

Also, this 30DaysofImprov quilt top has been on and off my design wall since August. This week I decided to finish the top. It's almost there. I put masking tape on the design wall to delineate the edges, and give me something to aim for. Rather than doing a lot more piecing, I'm giving myself more negative space in which to do big stitch hand quilting. I've been re-motivated, imagining the triangles, stripes, and curves I'll be able to hand-quilt into it. 

Do you have those sewing room moments when you feel that "none of the above" projects are what you want to work on? That happens to me occasionally. Some quilters call them "squirrel" moments - when you (if you're a dog) see something that catches your attention (a squirrel) and impulsively take off after it. I did that this week. 

In my closet, I was moving stuff around to get to something else, and pulled out a zipper bag overflowing with selvages. Not the selvages with words and color windows (those are in a separate bag), but the opposite side - the boring selvage side of yardage. I always cut off ¾". 

I joined all those selvages end to end by slightly overlapping one with another and machine stitching - with a much-shortened stitch length. 

Then I rolled them into a ball. Now the selvage bag is empty and I have this 7" diameter ball all set for peg loom weaving. I don't really need another rug or chair pad, but I feel the need to weave. But, if I don't get to it anytime soon, at least I'm all set to go! That was a nice done-and-dusted/taking care of business moment.

 

Book Recommendations

After We Were Stolen by Brook Beyfuss is the story of a teen girl, Avery, and her brother, Cole, who are two of 12 children. Their parents are doomsday, survivalists who teach their children self-sufficiency because they are "chosen." Too late, Avery realizes that her parents have selected her to continue to increase the number of people in their family. 

One night, a fire breaks out on their compound. Avery and Cole have a chance to get away. Though they survive in the woods, they're unprepared for the real world, where their lack of education aren't sufficient in a world of too many people. When Avery and Cole learn who they really are, their lives and what they understand about life are turned upside down. They each have to find a new way to survive. 

Though this was an interesting look into a cult lifestyle, it was sad and somewhat depressing because of the challenges faced by abducted children who are returned to their real parents. 

 

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

This classic, My Antonia (pronounced Ann-tone-E-ah) by Willa Cather was written in 1918. It's the story of young Jim, who, after the death of his parents, moves from Virginia to the plains of Nebraska to be raised by his grandparents. Jim arrives at his grandparents farm in the vast prairie at the same time a Bohemian family has moved into a sod home closest to Jim's grandparents. Antonia is the Bohemian family's oldest daughter who is four years older than Jim. He teaches Antonia how to speak English. They grow up together. In adulthood their lives take different paths, but their friendship remains. 

The book gives an excellent perspective on the lives of settlers and immigrants in the Midwest. Since my own grandparents were farmers, I could picture the hard lives they experienced, particularly the cold and snow - tunneling through snow to get to livestock in the barn - of a prairie winter.

I never reading Willa Cather books in school, so when my favorite Iowa author - Heather Gudenkauf - shared on Instagram that My Antonia is her all-time favorite book that she re-reads every year, I thought I should read it too. I'm glad I did. 

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

The First Husband by Laura Dave is about Annie Adams who has lived with Nick for five years - she is a travel writer; he is an up-and-coming movie director. 

Every time Annie watches her favorite movie, Roman Holiday, something unexpected happens. This time, Nick tells her he's found someone else. Deciding to forge ahead with her life, Annie finds herself in the bed of a bar tender/chef, Griffin, she met the night before. A few months later, after a Las Vegas wedding to Griffin, she's shocked to find herself in small-town Massachusetts as Griffin's wife. There she meets her brother-in-law and his twin boys, and also the woman Griffin lived with for 13 years. Now Annie's not sure she still wants Griffin. Maybe she really wants Nick back.

Ugh. Too much sleeping around, deciding on a whim that this man or that man is better/worse than another. I didn't see the point. I soldiered through, and I'm glad it's done. 

Linda's score: 3.3/5.0

Ending this post on a more upbeat note... an Iowa friend shared this on Instagram this week.

Ya know, I'm okay and sorta proud of coming from a least remembered state (Iowa). How 'bout you? Linda