Aimlessly Playing

For the past week, I've been using my Bernina 440QE (QE stands for Quilter's Edition) because my Bernina 770QE computer screen finally came up with a "needs service" message.

My Bernina 440QE was award to me for "Best of Show" at the 2012 Machine Quilter's Showcase in Overland Park, Kansas

The last time the 770 was serviced was June 2022! Nineteen months in between servicing means that my weekly cleaning routine has paid off! Every Friday I brush out and vacuum the bobbin case area, and then drip Bernina oil on the bobbin case base and in the red spot next to the feed dogs. When it costs $139 plus tax to have the 770 serviced, I can be diligent about cleaning it myself!

Since finishing Prudence (last blog post), I have touched a couple more projects, neither of which are near to being finished.

I'm feeling good about having 122 Glitter quilt blocks completed pieced. Each unfinished block is 4" X 10".

The remaining 30 blocks are cut, machine-pieced, and ready for hand-sewing. I'm coming down the home stretch! I keep prepped blocks in this zipper(s) pouch (10 zippers, to be exact!) at the ready to grab and go. 

The most sewing fun I did this week was spent with Jo Avery's on-demand Organic Pieced Appliqué lessons. After QuiltCon, I purchased the workshop series from The Thread House UK using a discount code given to students in Jo's Improv Tiny Piecing QuiltCon  workshop. Jo is a natural as an instructor, so it was an easy decision to buy her online lessons and give this project a go. 

Jo first went through fabric color options and choices. Then she explained how to make each of four different improv blocks. When the background was pieced - mine will be a 20" X 20" pillow - I made bias tape, and improv-cut vetch leaves.

I wasn't familiar with vetch, which has several beneficial qualities - adds nitrogen to the soil; is good ground cover; reduces rain run-off; and such. In her video, Jo showed an actual vetch stem, so students would have an idea of the leaf shape to cut. 

Have you seen vetch? I'm pretty sure I first heard of "crown vetch" as a kid, when my Dad mentioned it. Before retirement, he worked in agricultural sales. As I recall, crown vetch was considered a nuisance in soybean and corn fields. 

Anyway...I'm looking forward to the next step which is hand appliqué. Yay! Typically, I prefer the back-basted appliqué method, but needleturn appliqué is good too. At QuiltCon 2023 in Atlanta, I purchased a small collection of 80-weight Aurifil thread and I'm glad I did! Eighty-weight thread is perfect for hand appliqué. I'm using color 1231 on a cute wooden spool.

Book Recommendations I've come across a rash of good books lately! I recommend adding all three of these titles to your reading list. 

Kookaburra Cottage by Maya Linnell takes place along the Southwest coast of Australia, in Limestone Coast Wine Country where April lives in a small house on the grounds of her family's Lacewing Estate winery. Her dad wants her to take over the business, but she's determined to forge her own path, helping where she can, raising vegetables, and opening a bed and breakfast.

Connor, a winemaker from the UK, arrives as part of a two-year program that sends winemakers from other countries to share and learn. April and Conner meet. She's fresh off a break-up with a cheating boyfriend. Conner has left bad memories of his former life back in the UK. Their commonalities, including an inability to cook, have them spending work and social time together 

With a title that includes a kookaburra, and the delightful voice of the Aussie narrator, how can you go wrong? The book is a charming "Hallmark" type of story - people who misunderstand one another, a very cool neighbor boy, a wonderful dog, and a sense of life lived in Australia wine country. 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

The Fury by Alex Michaelides is interesting because of the way the story is told. It's presented as an objective, first-person account of what happened to a famous American movie star (Lana), her second husband, and the star's best girlfriend (Kate) a British actress.

From her first husband, Lana inherited an entire Greek island with a beautifully restored house, guest house, and pool where Lana likes to escape from London. She invites two friends to join her, her husband, and her son over Easter weekend. 

High winds - locally known as "the fury" - keep them on the island. Too much alcohol makes for loose tongues that reveal grudges and harbored ill-feelings. Illicit love, revenge, and a playwright's script are laid bare in one long night of unexpected revelations for each person on the island.

I liked this book because the plot was presented in a unique way, narrated by Elliot who is Lana's friend.

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry is yet another WWII story... but don't turn away! While I'm nearly overfull of WWII fiction, this one is different

Sisters Hazel and Flora are part of British "Operation Pied Piper" - the evacuation of children from London due to fears of German bombings and invasion. As difficult as it is for the sisters to leave their mother, they enjoy life in a rural village, living in a charming cottage with Bridie and Henry. When they miss their mother, Hazel makes up stories about a special place for her and Flora: "Whisperwood" and  "The River of Stars."

Years later, while working for a bookseller, Hazel comes across a book about a place called Whisperwood. She's taken aback. Only Flora knew about that place, and since Flora's disappearance at the age of six, it's been more than two decades since Hazel has thought about Whisperwood. In spite of resistance from her fiancé, Hazel is determined to discover how the author knows about their special place, and whether Flora herself might still be alive. 

When an author uses real places in a story - places I can look up and view pictures of on Google Maps - I'm always more appreciative of the story. Such is the case with this good work of fiction, based on the real Operation Pied Piper.  

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

Taking a cue from my quilter-blogger-reader-friend Cindy at Live A Colorful Life, I'm keeping track of 2024 favorite reads with a "Book Bracket." A bracket template is easy to find with a Google search, and catching up to March is easy too. My Jan/Feb favorite book was Scrublands by Chris Hammer.

I hope you are being blessed by this Holy Week. Linda