End of April: Yardage Tracking and Books Read

Wow. Did this month's end sneak up on you too?

At the end of each month, I look forward to reviewing my Yardage Tracking spreadsheet to tally the month's fabric use. This one makes me very pleased. Nearly 12 yards used in April!

More than 6 yards of fabric was used in the piecing of a black and white version of the Diagonal Scrap Quilt; it's 71½" X 79". (Pattern by Maryline of @Mary_and_Patch). The top is still on the design wall, waiting for me to decide whether to succumb to the purchase of a wideback, for backing, or spend hours piecing a backing from my ever-dwindling - and challenging-to-make-a-backing stash of prints. 

Another 4½ yards of fabric was in a 7.2 pound bag of snippets and scraps donated for pet beds. 

Other sewing has been making a:

• Bible cover
• Confetti Pouch (on the right), and 
• 16 more Inner City blocks. 

About that Confetti Pouch... I'm preparing to help my local quilt chapter learn how to make confetti "fabric," and want to show different pouch styles that can be made with the created fabric. I love how a touch of black confetti adds contrast, and was the perfect reason to use a black and white striped zipper.

This pouch pattern is The Patchwork Pouch by Crinkle Dreams/Teresa Coates. 

I used green linen for the base of the pouch, and decorated it with Bernina stitch #302.

As you can see, this month I focused mostly on greens... piecing these Inner City blocks. I've now made 156 of the 218 blocks needed for a big quilt. 

I've begun cutting and piecing scraps to make another Diagonal Scrap Quilt. This is a different version and uses even more scrap strips. For now, I'm leaving blocks like this so I can work on them during retreat, coming up in May. They'll go into the May Yardage Tracking total.

Having two cataract eye surgeries in April meant that I spent more time at home than usual. So, 12 books were read.

It's apparent that two book series have my attention. Both are about crime. The Will Trent series of books by Karin Slaughter spawned the TV police/detective drama. The Quinn and Costa series by Allison Brennan is about FBI agents who are part of a mobile action group. 

Though I am enjoying both these series, it's occasionally refreshing to listen to stories about something other than murder, drugs, or abductions! A Nicholas Sparks romance nicely fills that gap. 

In my personal ranking order, on a scale of 1 to 5 they are:

1. 4.3 - The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters
2. 4.3 - Triptych, Will Trent #1, Karin Slaughter
3. 4.3 - Fractured, Will Trent #2, Karin Slaughter
4. 4.3 - Undone, Will Trent #3, Karin Slaughter
5. 4.3 - Broken, Will Trent #4, Karin Slaughter
6. 4.2 - The Wrong Victim, Quinn and Costa #3, Allison Brennan
7. 4.2 - Seven Girls Gone, Quinn and Costa #4, Allison Brennan
8. 4.2 - The Choice, Nicholas Sparks
9. 4.1 - Ward D, Frieda McFadden
10. 4.0 - The Thursday Murder Club book #1, Richard Osman
11. 3.7 - The Dead Husband, Carter Wilson
12. 3.4 - Draw Down the Moon, Kristin and P.C. Cast

Don't bother with book #12.

Here's a collage of book covers, so you can take a screen shot to refer to later.

About The Thursday Murder Club... it's a series too, and eventually I'll read them all. This series premise is that a group of senior citizens, who live in a lovely rural senior community in Kent, England, have a weekly club that meets to solve old police cases. That's because before retiring from the police department, one of the women in the group made copies of the files! I enjoyed that the author writes with subtle situational humor to which us older folks can relate. (Thanks for the recommendation, Elizabeth! OccasionalPiece Quilt)

What I had a difficult time with was tracking all the characters. It's the same challenge I have with Quinn and Costa (FBI) books too. In both cases, between keeping track of the main characters (seniors in the book club, or FBI agents on a case) AND the people involved in criminal activity - most often murder - it's tough to recall names and character backgrounds. 

Or maybe it's just me. 

Until recently, our county library has offered two apps for e-book reading and audiobook listening - Hoopla (five check-outs permitted each month), and Boundless (unlimited check-outs). Now our library is offering a new app - Cloudlibrary. It seems to have more options and availability. Eventually Boundless will be phased out. Anyway, I placed three Cloudlibrary books on hold and suddenly find myself with all three books available at once. Yikes! Must keep listening! 

Just Arrived

Whoo-hoo! Happy e-mail! I entered, and had accepted, my Feelin' Groovy quilt for a special exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, in October! 

My other entry, Alternate Route, wasn't accepted. But I'm okay with that. It's still a happy day! Linda