Still Goin'

It's been sort of a lazy sewing week as I made my FPP Tulip block in Amy's @duringquiettime Satisfaction QAL, and started to big stitch quilt 30 Days of Improv Quilt.

Here's the 18" Tulip block. I used Michael Miller "Dumb Dots" for the orange background, and all of a piece of "something" that came from my Mother's fabric stash, so is at least 30 years old. I'm pleased that the block came together much easier than last week's, as I am finding a rhythm to following Amy's FPP technique that uses a light box, and saves on fabric. Six blocks are done now; six more to go. 

Using Coron brand of Sashiko thread (for the first time) to quilt 30 Days of Improv, I'm learning that the thread is a little more difficult to tug through fabric and batting (my quilt batt is 100% cotton Quilter's Dream Select), and can sometimes tangle. Admittedly, pearl cotton glides through a quilt sandwich easier, but I like appearance of the slightly puffy Sashiko thread laying on the quilting cotton, and on linen pieces. 

I'm playing with a variety of stitches, adding fly stitches (center left), X's (center), and seed stitches (center right) alongside straight quilting. 

If you subscribe to the Australian digital quilting publication, Make Modern, in the current issue (November) you'll see my Log Jam quilt in the "Modern Log Cabins" gallery, on page 99. 

I'm honored to have my quilt shown alongside Log Cabin quilts made by:

Maria Shell

Debbie Krajowski

Hillary Goodwin

Brigitte Heitland

and Tara Faughan, among others.  

Log Jam, 68" X 70", sold at QuiltCon 2023 in Atlanta.

Some buyers, after purchasing a QuiltCon quilt get in touch with the maker, but my buyer did not. 😞 

Book Recommendations

Walking Shoes by Lynne Gentry takes place in Mount Hope, Texas, where DJ and his wife, Leona, have pastored a small church for 18 years. It's where they've raised their two children, David and Maddie, who now live elsewhere, pursuing education toward careers as a lawyer and doctor, respectively. 

They're called home when the unexpected happens, and Leona is faced with huge life changes. Just as she's hoping to restore closeness with her children, her cantankerous mother, Bertie, arrives testing everyone's patience. When Bertie falls and breaks a hip, that calamity on top of others challenges the faith of even the most faithful. This story is written with lighthearted humor, yet reaches into the depths of a person's heart. 

In Lynne Gentry's author notes, I learned that she's a pastor's wife, so has experience some of what she's written about. This book is #1 in the "Mt. Hope Southern Adventure" series, and reminds me somewhat of the Mitford series, by Jan Karon which I read in the mid-1990s, and adored. The first in that series is At Home in Mitford, which I recommend if you haven't read!

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0 

After a recommendation from Cindy @liveacolorfullife, I read Hello Stranger by Katherine Center. I'm glad I did.

Hello Stranger is an intriguing story about Sadie who has an unexpected seizure, needs surgery to remove a nodule on her brain, and suffers the consequences of acquired prosopagnosia - an inability to see faces. 

The timing for such a condition couldn't be worse because Sadie is a finalist in a prestigious portrait-painting competition, one her own mother entered but wasn't able to fulfill. Sadie deals with her condition, while seeing a therapist she adores. When her elderly dog, Peanut, needs care, Sadie meets the veterinarian she may just be in love with. Then she deals with a deceitful step-sister who has reentered her world. But painting a portrait when Sadie can't see faces?! How impossible is her life? 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

These are the lovely creatures I saw during my four-mile power walk today. Sandhill cranes seem almost tame, pausing in their graceful movements, while I stopped walking to take their picture. They're wary, but seem to instinctively know we won't hurt them. They're a protected species here in Florida.

Linda