Incoming fabric totaling ¾ yard is for a modified version of a Clarissa Clutch that I'm pattern testing for a friend. The bright print will be the bag exterior; the tone-on-tone white print (it has Christian crosses on it) will be the interior. This picture is of my shop purchase including interfacing and machine needles.
More than 10 yards used - out of my cupboards! - is a satisfying total. I'm counting it as good!
Those 10 yards included making the 65" X 70" Filmstrip Quilt top. (See previous blog post.)
I also finished this charity quilt. Between the scrappy pieced quilt top, and the pieced backing, making this 49" X 61" quilt used 4.2 yards of fabric.
I quilted it with an all-over swirl hook design (see the design here, on Esther's I Patch and Quilt website), and used a diagonal black and white stripe for binding.
After making it with Big Cypress Quilter during an along, I learned the pattern is free on the Moda website. It's a jelly roll design called A Garden for Harper. My version looks much different because I didn't use a jelly roll, and I didn't arrange blocks as shown in the pattern.
I also pieced eight more Posh Penelope blocks, using 2½ more yards of fabric. Whew, but these are tedious to make! Lots of steps for each block, so I've learned that assembly, factory-style, is the best way to tackle them.
Book Recommendations
I listened to 10 audiobooks in September.
These are the scores I gave each, with 5.0 being the highest.
- 4.5 - All We Thought We Knew, Michelle Shocklee
- 4.3 - I See You've Called in Dead, John Kenney
- 4.3 - If I Were You, Lynn Austin
- 4.2 - She Didn't See It Coming, Shari Lapena
- 4.1 - Hidden Nature, Nora Roberts
- 4.0 - The Girl I Was, Jeneva Rose
- 4.0 - The Lawyer and the Laundress, Christine Hill Suntz
- 4.0 - The Inn at Hart's Haven, Patricia Davids
- 4.0 - You Belong Here, Megan Miranda
- 3.4 - Martin Misunderstood, Karin Slaughter
All We Thought We Knew is a story that jumps between the mother's history in 1942, during WWII in Tennessee, working at a military base/illegal aliens camp, and 1969 when her daughter, Maggie, has returned to the family horse farm because her mother is dying. It's a good story with US military actions running through it.
I See You’ve Called in Dead is a humorous read alongside nuggets of thoughtful truths about our attitudes toward death. The premise is that an obit writer composes his own outlandish obituary on his employer’s syndicated news site, and inadvertently publishes it. So begins his experience being dead in a company that can’t fire him until the company technology makes him “undead,” and his own introspection into death by attending the funerals of strangers.
Just as soon as I swear off books on the topic of WW II, I find another one I really like. If I Were You is about Audrey, born into England’s aristocracy, and Eve whose mother is Audrey’s mother’s personal maid - upper class versus working class. The girls are the same age, and each admires what the other has - money, and confident courage. They become unlikely friends, enlisting to become wartime ambulance drivers. Years later, Audrey learns Eve has gone to the US, and lied to Audrey’s in-laws, claiming she (Eve) is their daughter-in-law. Eve steals Audrey’s identity. I found myself sympathetic to both women. I also appreciated the author’s inclusion of several character’s conversations about faith and Jesus. Not one swear word in this book.! 👍🏼 Also, a minor character in the story is Linda. I think this is the first book I’ve ever listened to that uses my name.
She Didn’t See It Coming is a good mystery thriller. I had no clue who the killer was, and I fell for letting the author lead me to the wrong person. I can’t get my head around how an author can come up with all the misleading information, facts, and convoluted character storylines that make for a good murder mystery.
About a couple other titles…
I’ll just say that the Lawyer and the Laundress was a pleasant, but predictable story.
Same for The Inn at Hart’s Haven about a pregnant young woman who runs away and hides in an Amish community. Childhood memories of visiting her Amish grandparents makes her determined to stay and become one of them.
Karin Slaughter’s book is a short story, a little more than a two hour listen. All I can say is, disappointing, for an author of her stature. (She wrote all the “Will Trent” books.) I think this was supposed to be satire, but it didn’t work for me.
I hope a couple of these books will appeal to you. Linda
I love Lynn Austin and have tried to read everything she wrote! She has a few series—two I adored were “The Restoration Chronicles” and “Waves of Mercy.”
ReplyDeleteThanks Anonymous! I like Ms. Austin’s writing style, and will be sure to look for the titles you mentioned.
DeleteYay for the excellent fabric use stats!
ReplyDelete