End of October

The end of October came on like a speeding passenger train! Where did the month go? 

My fabric output this month was pretty good, as I worked on several items: 

• completely started and finished a 50" X 70 quilt - Benched, for the Central Florida MQG "Inspiration Challenge" and entered into QuiltCon
• BOM blocks for Like Totally quilt
• two more Dayna packs, to be gifted
• made yards of fabric twine, and 
• used yardage for backing on my Glitter quilt (I'm currently quilting it.)

Almost 14¼ yards of fabric left my stash.

On the other hand, 1½ yards came into my stash, for a net loss of almost 12¾ yards. Pretty good.

Why that fabric came in.... 

Tuesday, Big Cypress Quilters went on their first bus trip together. Thirty-nine of us left at 8:15 am and returned at 5:45 pm, making four stops through the day. Two were at quilt shops - The Busy Bobbin in Chiefland; and Beyond the Stitches in Crystal River. Wanting to be intentional about supporting these shops in a small town, in spite of great fabric temptations, I limited myself to one fabric purchase of a pretty solid called Caribbean, made by QT (Quilted Treasures).

I also picked up a few notions: sewing machine needles; "Cool" pins; a fine line chalk marking pen; and a couple rolls of adhesive tape, used for yarn wrapping. I was "being good," wasn't I?

Besides our lunch stop, we visited the Levy County Quilt Museum.

It's a privately-owned and funded facility in rural Florida where old, award-winning quilts are displayed, and makers donate their no-longer-used sewing machines, rulers, books, fabrics, buttons, elastic, patterns, pins, needles, zippers, and floss.

Shopping there was like being at a garage sale. Sales of these items are the sole means of income for the museum. (No admission fee.)

A big outdoor porch was a great place to set a spell. 

What I bought at the museum was five skeins of DMC embroidery floss for 25 cents a skein! I plan to use it in this yarn-wrapping project that I worked on while on the bus. 

We also had the chance to see a couple: "I've never seen that before!" plants.

The first was an Angel's Trumpet - Brugmansia. The huge bloom was about eight inches across. Several big bushes of these were quite striking.

The other was this Confederate Rose - Hibisbus mutabilis -  that first blooms white, and then turns completely pink! 

It was a really nice day, spent in good conversation and laughs with both familiar, and let's-get-to-know-each-other-better, friends. 

Book Recommendations

Even though I'd sworn I wouldn't let it happen again, I read a book that's deep into a series called "Paw Enforcement." It was book #5, in fact!

Above the Paw by Diane Kelly is about Officer Megan Luz and her K-9 partner, Brigit, trained to sniff drugs. Brigit and Megan are on duty at a Fort Worth (TX) Fourth of July festival, where they give chase and bring down a fella carrying drugs. But this guy isn't the main dealer. Megan offers to go under cover (for the first time) to catch whoever's distributing drugs to students at TCU. 

The story follows 25 year-old Megan as she returns to the role of a college student - one with epileptic seizures, to explain why she has a dog with her - studying political science. She moves into the dorm room previously inhabited by a college girl who'd taken "Mollie" and suffered a bad reaction. Now it's up to Megan and Sargent Brigit to find out where the drugs are coming from. 

I really enjoyed Brigit's role in the story, and will enjoy starting at the beginning and reading them all. If you want a go at this series from the start, begin with Paw Enforcement.

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

All the Lies by Nicola Sanders is a psychological thriller. Amy was a promising ballerina until she was injured by a hit-and-run driver. Though the driver was never found, she receives insurance money that she decides to invest. Coincidentally, the investment broker is a distinguished, attentive man who becomes Amy's husband.

However, their married life becomes one of forced pretense, as Amy realizes how controlling Jason is. Then he begins to hit her. Without resources, she determines to flee. A cruise ship is her escape. Then there's a ferry accident. One lie leads to another, and Amy is embroiled in lies from which she's unable to escape, even when she's telling the truth. 

This is one of those stories that made me feel frustrated. Amy begins by telling the truth, and no one believes her. Then she's forced to lie. Though the storyline couldn't possibly ever happen, it's engaging. 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

Of nine books read in October, I gave these seven titles a score of 4.0 or better.

• 4.8 - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,  Barbara Robinson 
• 4.4 - Daughter of Mine, Megan Miranda
• 4.3 - The Third to Die, Allison Brennan
• 4.2 - Breathe and Count Back from Ten, Natalia Sylvester
• 4.2 - One Small Mistake, Dandy Smith
• 4.2 - Above the Paw, Diane Kelly
• 4.0 - All the Lies, Nicola Sanders
• 3.9 - The Deep Dark Descending, Allen Eskers
• 3.6 - Brooklyn, Colm Tóibin 

Linda

Movin' Right Along

Moving along on several projects...

I finished yarn-wrapping this 4" X 6" board, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Lark and Bower instructor Sarah said you can't go wrong with any color combination, and I have to agree. No surprise, I've begun another one. 

It took only a short evening to make these five 8½" square Flying Goose blocks. They're the October BOM for the Like Totally quilt I'm making along with the Seattle MQG. It's a free BOM, in case you're interested. 

I've been making progress on warping my peg loom for the next selvedge rug I plan to weave. 

You might remember that I had planned to use cotton warping cord for each of the 24 pegs, but I ran out! Rather than order another large spool of it, I decided to make my own fabric twine for warp. 

Since I'm using 120" (folded in half) as warp on each of 11 pegs (the other 13 pegs are warped with cord) I'll need almost 36 yards of twine! I'm about halfway there... and have an achey wrist for my twining efforts! The nice part is that for twine I'm getting to use leftover strips of metallic prints and batiks that I wouldn't otherwise use in a quilt. 

Since yarn-wrapping and twining are handwork projects, I needed to have an at-the-sewing-machine project going too. I started quilting Glitter. Thus far I'm ruler quilting, using a non-rulerwork ruler to quilt a continuous line of ovals along the length of the quilt.

Oh! And on Tuesday evening I quilted a section of our Central Florida MQG QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge. I had previously pieced a section of blocks, sewed together part of the quilt top, and then  after my friend Donna had sandwiched it, I offered to begin quilting.

This 44" diameter spiral is positioned on the quilt slightly off-center. I have now passed the quilt back to our project coordinator so she can identify someone else to add more quilting. 

Book Recommendations

In 1972, Barbara Robinson wrote The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I bought a softcover copy of it when my children were young, and for several consecutive years read it aloud to them the week before Christmas. I could never get through the narration without crying. 

So, when I heard that Dallas Jenkins, producer of The Chosen, made the movie version of the story, I decided to listen to the book again. 

A small community is planning its annual church Christmas pageant - the complete nativity story with Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus, to angels. The woman who usually leads the production can't, so another mother takes over, and she doesn't do it the way it's been done in the past. Suddenly the horrible Herdmann kids are in the leading roles. They're not only unkempt, raucous, and inclined to steal cookies and the little kids' Sunday School birthday money, but they've never heard the Christmas story. When it's read to them, they want to spin it their way.

This is a fairly short in-print read, and only an 1 hour 52 minute listen. I highly recommend the story for both children and adults.

Linda's score: 4.8/5.0

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever movie is in theaters beginning November 9.  I'm going! 

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibin is about a young Irish girl, Eilis, who believes she'll live a typical life in her small town - find a fella, get married, and have kids. But when Father Flood visits from Brooklyn, an opportunity arises for her to go there and begin a new life. With his assistance, she moves into a boarding house, begins working as a floor clerk at a department store, and takes bookkeeping classes. She meets Tony at a dance, and they begin a relationship. When Eilis must return to Ireland, thinking she'll visit for a month and then return to Brooklyn, circumstances change and she finds herself torn about going back. 

I was on a waitlist for this title and after reading it I'm wondering why. I kept anticipating something would happen based on the author focusing on particular scenes. But when such a moment came again, it's like the first scene didn't happen. (That makes no sense as I re-read what I just said, but someone who's read the book would understand.) When the end came, I was surprised to know the book was finished. I expected more. 

Linda's score: 3.6/5.0 

This newspaper article appeared in the local paper on October 23. I'm grateful for friends who saved a copy for me because we don't get the paper. 

Golf carting home from line dancing last week, I had to stop and take this picture while driving through the golf course. Beautiful! A double rainbow was only slightly visible (upper right). 

Linda

A Big "Ahh"

I'm feeling "light" now, since completing the last of three entries into QuiltCon. Good or bad, three quits are entered and I'm feeling relieved. Setting up for quilt photography is somewhat of a process for me.

Of course, I want the best light possible, with no shadows in the corners. 

• I clamp two shop can lamps (fitted with daylight bulbs) to two stands from my quilt stand
• I clamp a desk lamp with an arm to a tabletop
• I turn on two Daylight Slimline lamps
• I turn on the four overhead LED full spectrum daylight lamps in the ceiling
• I open the blinds on the four (bay) windows.

For picture-taking, I use my Canon camera mounted on a tripod, utilizing the three-second timer so there's no chance of me jiggling the camera when pushing the button. 

QuiltCon Entries

1) Pot Luck, 57" X 57" in the Group/Bee category - Sixteen quilt makers were involved in making this!

Though a photo of the quilt back isn't submitted to QuiltCon, I take backside pictures anyway. I like seeing how the this potholder method of quiltmaking looks from the back! Love it!

2) Infrastructure, 67" X 72" in the Modern Traditionalism category

The back of Infrastrure. In case you're wondering, that little circle (lower left) is appliquéd there to cover a spot where I accidentally clipped the fabric. 

3) Benched, 50" X 70", in the American Patchwork & Quilting Transparency Challenge category.

This is the design I came up with for the Central Florida MQG "Household Inspiration Challenge." I used the Adidas logo as my inspiration. You've seen lots of pictures of the quilting on this one. 

I'm especially fond of the back on this one. You will probably note that my faced finish is really obvious. I had NO matching fabric leftover from which to cut 2" strips and 5" squares for facing. I had to make do with other, not-quite-the-same colors. 

The Modern Quilt Guild anticipates the three-person jury will have made QuiltCon selections by early December. Every quilt entry will receive an acceptance and/or rejection email. Accepted quilts will be displayed next February at QuiltCon 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona.

I did my best. What's done is done. 

Though it has already been a busy week, I've turned my attention to a new activity. Since seeing Leanne @shecanquilt post pictures from a an online workshop with from Sarah @larkandbower, I have been closely following weaving classes taught by Sarah.

If you've been reading my blog posts for any length of time, you know how much I enjoy braiding rugs (learned from Ilka White @ilkawhite), and peg loom weaving (self-taught during the pandemic).

Yarn Wrapping is my new weaving interest. 

Sarah, who lives in the UK, offers online classes. When I discovered that her next virtual workshop isn't until May (I'm impatient to wait so long!) I contacted her to inquire about any other opportunity. She said that for the same fee she'd give me access to the video from the last workshop, and send a PDF of instructions.

After I found the wood board needed at the local Michael's, and a bodkin (needle) needed at a local shop: The Sewing Studio, I got started because I have the other supplies on-hand.

The most critical supply is embroidery floss which I have in abundance. Did you know, once upon a time, back in the early 1980s, when we lived in Iowa, I owned a stitchery shop? When I sold the business, I kept at least one of every DMC floss color. Since I haven't used embroidery floss for ages, it's time to put it to work! I like what I'm seeing! 

Another thing that saw me on-the-go this week was being interviewed for an article that is expected to appear in the local Daily Sun newspaper on Wednesday.

Maddie, the reporter is writing an article about the 31st anniversary of Quilting Guild of The Villages. She asked me and another quilter, Susan - an art quilter - to come to the Sun's photography studio for pictures of us with our quilts. Susan and I have very different styles, but that's what you'd expect in a guild of more than 1,200 members!

Interestingly, it turns out that Susan and I are "bosom buddies." We both had breast cancer. Have you scheduled your mammogram?

Book Recommendations

A friend suggested I read a book by Dandy Smith. One Small Mistake was the book I was able to check out, and it was good! 

Elodie has quit her marketing job to devote herself to her passion, writing. Though numerous publishing companies praise her writing skills, her storylines and plot suggestions are falling short. When Jack, her best friend since childhood, suggests she needs to experience something worth writing about, she agrees. So begins Elodie's "one small mistake." It escalates beyond her imagination into something she didn't even desire. 

Ada is Elodie's sister, who doesn't believe what others and the police believe. She must find out what happened to Elodie. Though the sisters have a strained relationship, love for one another overcomes their differences. 

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda drew me in from the beginning.

Hazel grew up in Mirror Lake, North Carolina, and is now living and working in Charlotte, running a home renovations business with two college friends. Hazel is drawn back to Mirror Lake because of the sudden death of her dad, a beloved police officer. When Hazel learns she's the sole inheritor of her dad's property - the lake house and furnishings, and his truck - she senses the resentment of her two brothers, Caden and Gage, who are both Mirror Lake law enforcement officers. 

There's a drought, and Mirror Lake's water level is diminishing to the point that items are being discovered that probably weren't meant to be found. Two of them are cars belonging to women who were thought to be dead or have left the area. 

When Hazel's friend/sister-in-law goes missing, leaving her young daughter and husband Caden behind, Hazel begins to worry. She also senses that someone has been in her house. Items that were thought to have been taken away are found. Then there's the money. Gradually, she learns more about what really happened when her mother supposedly left her behind 13 years ago. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was captivated all the way through. I knew who did it. Then I changed my mind. Nope, it was the other one. So engaging! I had to force myself to stop listening when other things needed to be done! 

Linda's score: 4.4/5.0

Linda

Nothing But Quilting

This week my hands have been on only my transparency quilt. It has been walking foot quilted, free motion quilted, and ruler quilted.

This is a Jacqui Gering walking foot quilting pattern called "Waving Diamonds" that I quilted in the top background of the quilt. It's meant to be entirely walking foot quilted, but I free motion quilted the curves. 

This ia an Angela Walters quilting pattern called "Jumbled Lines" that I ruler quilted as background in the bottom section using the "Garden Lines" ruler by White Arbor Quilting (won in a giveaway).  

Only three ovals in the top section remain to be quilted. I know exactly what I want quilt and am hoping to finish yet today.  

After blocking, I'll add facing. I anticipate finishing it Sunday. 

Not much sewing time on Saturday as I'll again be helping 9 to12 year-old 4-H kids with quilts they're making for "Showcase of Quilts" (Quilting Guild of The Villages) in January. 

Book Recommendation

The Third to Die is the first book in the Quinn and Costa series by Alison Brennan.

Kara Quinn is on leave from the Los Angeles Police Department where she's an undercover detective. She's gone to visit her grandmother M, in Liberty Lake, Washington, a small resort community outside Seattle. 

FBI Agent Matt Costa leads a new team of Mobile Response Team agents. They're in Liberty Lake because Kara was the person who found a body in the lake. Now it seems that this murder fits the pattern of a serial killer who has focuses on the number three, choosing the same dates, three years apart, to kill his victims. Working with an FBI criminal profiler, it's now up to the FBI with the help of local enforcement officials to race against the deadline of The Triple Killer's next date to find and prevent him from killing one of their own.

Though this story topic seemed a little raw, Ms. Brennan tells it in a captivating way. I found myself unable to stop listening (into the wee hours one morning!) to learn how it all played out. I'll definitely be reading book two: Tell No Lies.

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

I learned something new this week. Florida's state butterfly is the the zebra longwing, and this is what it looks like. I tried to capture a good iPhone photo as it flitted in our fire bush, but it's definitely a flighty little thing, and was difficult to catch being still. It's certainly uniquely colored and patterned!

Jacksonville Modern Quilt Guild had an outdoor show last weekend. Pictures were posted to Instagram, and when I saw this one I did a double-take. That's my "Florida Quilt" pattern behind the little girl!

Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a virtual improvisation workshop led by Krista Hennebury @poppyprint of Canada. We still have openings in the workshop - Speed Date With Improv - so if you or anyone you know is interested in joining us for the day, Saturday, November 2, we'd love to have you. I'll be there!

Go here to learn more. Linda

October Catch-up

October is already proving to be the busiest month I've had this year.

Hurricane Milton

He passed over us last night, between about 8 pm and 2:30 am with blowing rain and gusts up to 50 mph. Rain blew into the lanai and the tracks of our sliding glass doors where we'd stuffed towels, but no water got in the house. We never lost power either, so that's a big "whew." A few roof shingles flew off though, and some of them we picked up from our yard didn't belong on our house! My heart hurts for those along the Gulf coast who were ravaged by wind and tidal surges, and those hit by 19 tornadoes, spawned by Milton, that went through Florida. So much devastation.  

Otherwise, October has been about multiple medical appointments; commitments to fill-in, lead, share, and teach (twining, and domestic machine quilting); keeping up with regular activities, (exercise and three Bible study groups); and making just one more quilt for a QuiltCon entry. Overload has set in. In a weird way, it helps to "dump" by writing a blog post.

In January, Central Florida MQG announced the "Household Inspiration Challenge" where we we told to use one of several modern design characteristics to make a quilt inspired by: 1) gift wrap; 2) napkin; 3) product packaging; or 4) a logo. The finished quilt is due at our November 9 meeting. I put off making it because I couldn't find anything inspiring. 

I chose transparency for my modern characteristic because the 2025 QuiltCon American Patchwork and Quilting Challenge is transparency. I'd be making a double-purposed quilt, you see?

I attempted a design several weeks ago using screen shots of the Siri button that I thought could become a transparency design. Unusual, yes? After drawing the design on graph paper, I cut huge pieces of freezer paper into these shapes, added seam allowances, and sewed. Ugh.

I may have translated the design okay, but I struggled to see that I'd effectively created transparency. By the way, the piece I made is 60" wide.

I've shared this so you know how I struggle with trying to create original designs. That ability just isn't in my nature. And it's why I admire - and am often jealous - of those who do it well, and make it seem easy. 

Last week, determined to "get it right," I started anew. This time I used the Adidas logo, mostly for its utter simplicity.

Instead of drawing, this time I used Pages software in my MacBook to make the three angled rectangles (the angle is 60°), and began playing from there.

You might ask, why didn't you use EQ8 to design? Well, I've found that for custom-designs, and generally playing around, EQ8 software doesn't give me the easy shape options I'm looking for. 

On Saturday I completed the 53" X 74" quilt top. Here's a bit of it.

On Sunday I pieced a backing using-up nearly all the leftover from the front.

On Sunday, I also submitted two quilts into QuiltCon. 

On Monday I pin-basted.

On Tuesday, I taught twining to 15 quilters in Big Cypress Quilters. 

These are the different fabric twines everyone created. If you want a tutorial, start with this one on YouTube. I prefer to use the cut-a-slit method of joining fabric strips to one another. 

On Wednesday I began quilting the transparency quilt. Thus far I've ruler-quilted two sections. 

Book Recommendations

Of course! I started with book #4 of the Max Rupert detective series. Gosh, I wish libraries would do a better job of informing patrons about series books and numbers.

Anyway, The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskers is more of a guy-type book. I say that because Max Rupert is a cop who's out for revenge on the man who murdered his wife and unborn baby. The whole book follows two paths: 1) Max's investigations into his wife's murder as he circumvents his boss and partner to get information on the case; and 2) Max along the Minnesota/Canada border, catching up to the man who orchestrated his wife's death. Max determines how to make the man talk, and how he'll slowly kill him.

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester follows Verónica, an American-Peruvian teen living in Central Florida, not far from Mermaid Cove, a tourist place where young women don tails and perform underwater dances.

Verónica has been swimming for years, begun as therapy following numerous surgeries for hip dysplasia. Her domineering parents control her life, so when there's an unexpected opening for a mermaid, Verónica knows that though her parents will disapprove, she must try-out. She then follows a path of deception in her work, and a relationship with a boy, as she grows in greater self-awareness. 

Listening to the author's note at the end, I learned that this story is based on the author's personal experiences with hip dysplasia, and a real-life location: Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida, a state-owned park where mermaids regularly perform. 

 

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

A came across this little bit of "potato love" inside a bag of russets. We all need a sign of love, don't we? 

Linda