End of March

End of March... on April Fool's Day? That seems about right for how things have been going around here. 😀

I don't have much good to report about fabric use in March. I experienced a necessary influx of yardage to work on my paint chip challenge. 

All 10½ yards that came in was Painter's Palette purchased from Keepsake Quilting.

This is the 60" X 72" paint chip challenge quilt top thus far which account for 3⅓ of the yards used. I've been adding black and white striped bias tape, in three different widths. I know the top looks like nothing, but I have another step planned. I intend to slash the quilt top in several places, then reposition and resew. Yikes! I'm uncertain about what that will look like, but I know it can't remain as-is. I plan to print the photo and cut up the paper version before actually cutting the quilt top. 

I also counted as Out Yardage the Cielo top I made (see last post) using the ice cream cone print. Here's how I figured it... I bought that 1½ yards in February and counted it in February as In Yardage. Then, in March, I made the top, but calcuated it as 1⅓ yards of Out Yardage. That's because some of the odd-shaped leftover bits are now among my print scraps. Seems right, don't you think? 

The remaining small amount of fabric used was as lining and pockets for a Sunshine Crossbody Pouch. (I don't count selvedges as yardage used.) This bag - my second time making the pattern - turned out so much better than the first. I'm sure it's because I relocated D-rings to the top of the bag (rather than in the side seams), and along with SF 101 I used a foam stabilizier in each side. 

The orange pocket at the top, with a vinyl window, is for my rec center ID card. 

I also added a slip pocket to the interior. My FlourishingPalms label is on the left.

This is the best-sized purse for me to carry. 

To restore my fabric stash to its February level, I need to do a lot of sewing to use-up the almost extra 5½ yards I bought.  (Sigh.)

Book Recommendations

Due to end-of-February busy-ness with QuiltCon and teaching in Boca Raton, I never shared six February audiobooks. Scores are out of a possible 5.0.

Just a few reviews...

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz is wonderful book if you're in the mood to relive September 11, 2001. It's a rough listen, but very well-done. From the perspective of a 9 year-old boy who's in the World Trade Center with his dad, a restaurant chef, it's an excellent portrayal of what happened that day. Alongside the boy's experience is the story of an 11 year-old girl in present day terrorist-filled, war-torn Afghanistan. The book gives a thought-provoking look into cirsumstances strikingly similar for each of these young people. 

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon is a must-read for anyone who thinks they're not creative. This short 37-page book (I read as an ebook) is packed with encouraging truths for all of us who have ever thought "I don't have an original idea in my body." Wrong! This is a book to read for a creative lift, and again and again when you're feeling at all discouraged about your creativity.

I'm happy to say that when I recommended the book to quiltmaking friends, it was add to our Central Florida MQG library.  

Here are seven March listens. 

If it Rains by Jennifer L. Wright takes place in Oklahoma during the 1935 dust bowl. A smart-mouthed teen, Kathryn (living with a club foot) comes of age in poverty and desperation. Her older sister, Melissa marries; her dad and stepmother decide to sell the family farm and move. The last thing Kathryn wants to do is leave. Using a dual narrative method (alternating between two characters) the author guides readers through Kathryn's story and Melissa's experiences as a new wife with money and an abusive husband. It's a well-told story of how it must have felt to live during such a difficult time. 

The Knapdale Murders by Daniel Sellers is a who-done-it story that takes place on the western edge of Scotland, along the seashore. There's a small village, lots of locals who know one another, and a female detective investigator recently arrived from Glasgow, trying to prove herself. The town's busybody - an annoying troublemaker - has been found dead, run over by a tractor. It's up to DI Anna Vaughn and the local detective constable to find the killer.

I thought this was a very entertaining book. The narrator has a wonderful, thick Scottish accent. I'll caution you too. If you need TV subtitles to watch British TV, you might wish for audiobook "subtitles" to listen to this one!  

I hope this book is the start of a series. 

Fredrik Backman has done it again - in a good way - with My Friends, a story about an 18 year-old teen who's recently left a group home and is trying to find her way with nothing and no one. In an alternating timeline - 25 years earlier - are four adolescents growing up in difficult circumstances. What ties the teen and adolescents is a famous painting, the story behind how it came to be, and its current value to the world and one individual to whom it was gifted. 

The Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick is a fantasy story about Greta Perks (love the play with the name) who, with her husband and young daughter, once featured in Maple Gold Coffee TV commercials. With her celebrity fading, Greta is now separated from her husband and struggling to understand her teenaged daughter. Feeling lost, Greta finds an obscure coffee shop, where the proprietress creates a special brew for Greta who gets her wish to visit and live in the Maple Gold town. Ultimately, she must decide whether to remain there, or return to face the present.

I thoroughly enjoyed this imaginary coffee experience, and the whole book had me craving a good cuppa!

A Force of Nature by Jane Harper, is another great book by this Australia author. If you haven't yet read a Jane Harper book, you must! But then, I do love to hear an Aussie accent.

This story takes place in the fictional Giralang Ranges when two corporate groups - five men and five women - are sent out on a team-building bush trek. The men return within the designated time frame. Six hours later only four women return. Where's Alice? Federal Police Investigator Aaron Falk and his partner are sent from Melbourne to the Giralang to interview the returned, injured and bedraggled women and men, and help searchers find out what has become of Alice. 

I hope I've given you info about a few titles that might interest you.

Until my next post, I'll be here, trying to use-up more fabric and listening to more audiobooks. Linda