Long Pause

I've let more than a week pass since my last blog post, so if for no other reason, I need to write this post to catch up on book reviews! But first... 

In my sewing room I've had my head down (listening to audiobooks) and pedal to the metal, quilting away on the Bibliography quilt. I finished quilting Sunday evening, and left this pile beside the sewing machine before heading to bed.

For quilting, I used a white iron-off marker to draw scaling sizes of circles - round acrylic ruler and Applipops - that I free motion quilted with blue rayon thread on top, and 50-weight Aurifil in the bobbin.

Then, using the same bobbin thread, I switched to a pale blue 50-weight top thread and a walking foot to quilt parallel lines through 30 diamond-shaped selvedge blocks. It has very nice texture!

Quilting, from the back. 

Last week at Big Cypress Quilters, one of our members led us in making Dayna Packs. I'd already made one before the workshop, so I assisted others as they made theirs. The Dayna Pack has one zipper in the front, but during the workshop I learned about a YouTube hack for adding a top zipper too, which I did on this one. I plan to gift this Dayna Pack to the leader of Peace, Love, and Ukulele Club (PLUC). That fun fabric is from Spoonflower.

As much as I like the Dayna Pack design, I'll be honest. Pattern instructions are poorly written. Pieces identified for making the pack aren't consistently called by the same name. Diagrams are few, and photos are difficult to see because examples use black fabric for the outside and purple fabric for in the inside, so they're difficult to differentiate.

As well, information isn't presented in order. For example: instructions say to cut a 4" X 6" rectangle for D-ring tabs. Then, it's mentioned that if you're using faux leather or vinyl, to be sure to cut with stretch across the 4" width. Of course, I read this AFTER I'd cut rectangle incorrectly.

If it wasn't for the video that comes with the pattern - a QR code to scan that takes you to the video - I would have been lost. Oh! And written instructions for adding D-ring tabs is different than what's demonstrated on the video. I'm glad I have bag-making experience because I think this pattern would be difficult for a first-time bag-maker to follow.

Thanks to a dear friend who loaned me use of her Curvelets templates and instructions, these are the new little things I've been playing with. It's been easy - and I feel frugal - to simply dig into a  bin of scrap solids and cut these small shapes. Each one is 1½" X 1½" unfinished. My first attempt looks like these. 

The process for making Curvelets is more laborious that I would have guessed. 1) trace and cut out a concave and convex shape (or use templates to cut with an 18 mm rotary cutter; I recently bought one); 2) draw the seam allowance onto the concave shape; 3) snip the concave seam allowance; 4) use a glue stick to adhere the concave piece on the convex piece; 5) hand piece with a size 10 straw needle and Aurifil 80-weight thread; 6) trim seam allowance; 7) trim block to 1½" X 1½". Whew!

It took me a while to catch on to seam accuracy, and getting a smooth pieced curve. I've begun to improve. Blocks at the top are finished; blocks at the bottom need to be squared/trimmed. 

The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine is about the first Mrs. Parrish who has divorced Mr. Parrish and moved across the country with her two daughters. She's escaped from his clutches, though their older daughter doesn't understand. She want to be with him again... after he's released from jail. 

The current Mrs. Parrish is as conniving as her husband. They're not in love, but are so alike that they'll both lie and bargain to get what they want. 

When the first Mrs. Parrish is encouraged by her therapist to take her children back to their father for the summer, and he's determined to get her back in spite of him being married to the second Mrs. Parrish, plots and wicked schemes abound to accomplish that. Meanwhile the second Mrs. Parrish schemes to collect millions for the new life she has planned for herself. 

The author wove a very intricate plot that that me feeling both frustrated on behalf of the first Mrs. Parrish, and hoping the second Mrs. Parrish would blunder and receive her due.   

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

Again, I unintentionally picked up a book that was part of a series. Though I vaguely wondered about that when the protagonists referred to an earlier shooting incident, I thought Closer Than You Think (#4 in the Mags Monroe series) by Jean Grainger was quite entertaining. 

Ballycarick is a small community in Ireland where everyone knows everyone. As chief of the Garda, Mags Monroe hears and knows more than she sometimes likes. Several locals are concerned about the white witch and warlock who have moved into the area and are offering readings. They're inciting negative actions among some people, and are considered harmless fun by others. While Mags fields complaints about them, she's also mending a rift between one of her officers and her traveler/AKA gypsy parents, and dealing with the return to Ballycarick of her husband's former love interest. Mags takes her job seriously, but she's also a doting mother to her two girls, a good wife, and a great friend to many.

I really enjoyed the author's way of talking and telling a story. Mag's husband is a roofer, so when this sentence popped up, I giggled aloud... then jumped back to listen again and jot it down. Funny. 

"A roofer afraid of rain is like an ashtray on a motorbike." 

I liked Mags. Her personality is forthright, and she's a person I would like to know better.

Also, somewhat surprisingly, this book was narrated by the author who does a wonderful job with voices. A caution though, if you have any problems hearing, Ms. Grainger speaks with a thick Irish accent which is even more pronounced when she's speaking as a traveler (gypsy). I had to replay a couple parts because I wasn't "in tune" to the accent! 

Now I plan to listen to the first book in the series: The Existential Worries of Mags Munroe.

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

The Lost Hours by Karen White takes place in Savannah, Georgia. Since her parents died, Piper has lived with her grandparents in a mansion on one of the city's iconic squares. With her grandfather recently deceased, and her grandmother in a nursing home because she suffers from Alzheimer's, Piper finds herself alone and facing, with difficulty, the equestrian accident that stole her dreams six years ago. She's also finally going through her grandmothers things.

In an old trunk she discovers a hand-knitted baby jacket, and in the attic she discovers a hidden room. These things, along with an angel charm and papers given to her by the family lawyer, lead Piper on a path toward discovery about secrets that three women thought to take to their graves. 

The story was rich with Southern charm - an old rice plantation, stables, horses, well-tended gardens, and a family cemetery. 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

Last Saturday I spent the day with nine children between the ages of 9 and 12 who are in a local 4-H club.

Volunteers helped kids learn how to use a sewing machine and rotary cut fabric to ultimately make a quilt for "Showcase," Quilting Guild of The Villages's show January 24-25 2025. I haven't taught kids this age since the 1980s, and had forgotten how challenging it is. I was on my feet most of the day, but came home feeling good about launching a new generation of quiltmakers. I hope! Linda