Off and Running

It's amazing to realize we're already into the second week of January! The old adage is certainly true: "The older I get, the faster time flies." 

Since I've been in sort of a sewing funk, I'm not making much progress on quilt projects. 

Rather, I've started the Dropcloth Sampler I bought late last year, when Snuggly Monkey had a 25 percent off sale. (The frugal German in me is always at work!) I've seen so many Dropcloth Samplers that Debbie @aquiltedtable has stitched (see hers here), that I was intrigued to stitch one myself. 

This is "Milky Way." Surprisingly, it's only a six inch piece, though it packs a punch! The fabric comes already colorized, and has many tracings to stitch. I'm using size 8 perle cotton, so stitches will be dense by the time it's complete. 

A few more clamshell rows have been hand-appliquéd to this piece. The further I go, the more out-of-whack each clamshell seems to be, but I'm fudging them into place. This piece will be about 21" square when it's done. Then I'll have to decide what to do with it!

Saturday afternoon I attended most of Sherry Lynn Wood's free virtual Modern Improv Curves workshop. Inspiration didn't strike, probably because last year I did my fair share of curved improv cutting and piecing when making Log Jam. It's one of my most favorite quilt makes ever. If you're attending QuiltCon in Atlanta, in February, you'll see it hanging there.

However, I've found inspiration! When on Instagram I saw a piece @katacostimo made. Now, I've signed up for the Dreamlines 2023 Project series with Brenda Gael Smith of Australia.

January's objective is Fine Line Dashes. I made both sizes offered, and used Painter's Palette Maize (yellow) and Raspberry. 

On the first day of each month, through October, Brenda will offer a different objective and provide an instructional PDF to make a linear shape. Rather than using her precision cutting instructions, I'm improv-cutting mine (no ruler). In any case, this motivated me to be back at the sewing machine!

Something new I'm going to try in 2023 is to track incoming and outgoing fabrics. Once again, I've been influenced by my friend Debbie @aquilterstable. Rather than take the time to inventory how much yardage I have, this year, on a monthly basis, I will monitor fabric that comes in, and fabric that goes out as something. (See Debbie's 2022 yardage use review here.)

Not sure I'm starting out on the right foot though! In November 2021, when I was a member of South Florida MQG, my "Curve Around Challenge" quilt was chosen by Cassandra Beaver as her favorite. For that honor, I received a $50 gift certificate to Feel Good Fibers - an online shop for individuals to sell stashed fabrics, and for us to find something we're looking for. (Lots of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, if you're a fan.) I finally got around to spending my gift certificate, and here's what I got: 

• a 24" X 29" Sashiko panel
• three checked prints from Heather Black @quiltachusetts
• bundle of (mostly) aqua scraps

If you haven't visited Feel Good Fibers, I highly recommend it. Visit fairly regularly if you want to see the newest listings. I am really pleased with what I received, and the service. My pieces came from three different sellers, and each arrived quickly and within two days of each other. 

By the way, this Feel Good Fibers purchase counts as 6.48 incoming yards for 2023. Hubs and I created a Numbers (Excel) Tracker to monitor it. Now to work on outgoing yardage!

Book Recommendations

Continuing to listen to audiobooks in 2023, here are my reviews and scores of two good ones. 

 

Much of the story of The Lost Ticket by Freya Sampson take place on London's 88 bus, where people have chance encounters and sometimes forge relationships. Frank is a young man when he meets "the girl on the bus," an encounter that he never forgets, even decades later. He keeps riding the bus, always hopeful that he'll see her again. The bus is where he meets Libby, a young woman who has just been dumped from a relationship, is jobless, and has moved into her sister's home to take care of her young nephew. Meeting Frank, a man with worsening dementia, gives purpose to Libby's days, and introduces her to new friends - loyal friends who give Libby the support she needs for what lies ahead. 

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

Continuing my quest to read every Charles Martin book, Long Way Gone is my ninth Martin book. It didn't disappoint. 

Readers are taken on an emotional journey through the life of Cooper O'Connor - "Peg" to his friends - that includes his relationship with Daley Cross. (Don't ya love her name?)

Coop is a musician with a gift for playing the piano and guitar, and singing and song-writing. Raised by his Bible-loving, tent-revival-preaching dad, at the age of 18, Coop takes off to find his own way. After years of struggling in Nashville, he meets Daley, and together they rocket to stardom. Life at the top is fantastic until Coop suffers wounds that take away everything he's ever known. Though he has survived, he's only existing. Decades later, when he reconnects with Daley, memories and the truth must be faced.

Linda's score: 4.5/5.0  

Just a reminder... my list of 2022 books read, along with the scores I gave to 99 book titles is available to view and/or download and/or print. Just hit "All Books Read" in the tab at the top of my blog homepage. Happy reading while quiltmaking and stitching! Linda

2022 Books Read

These are my last two reviews of books read in 2022. 

Book Recommendations

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin is a story that takes place during WWII in two locations - occupied Paris, France, and neutral Lisbon, Portugal. Each location follows a woman who's integral to war efforts - Elaine, a printer in the Resistance, and Ava, an American who's sent to Lisbon to take microfiche pictures of Resistance newspapers and flyers. While Elaine's involvement is high risk, and with food in short supply, she's facing the most difficult challenges, Ava too must be subversive when a spy can be anywhere. When Ava detects a coded message, she becomes involved in assisting Elaine and the Resistance to help two evacuees. 

Though I've read enough WWII stories to believe I understand hardships and persecution, knowing this doesn't making reading such stories any easier. This one is well-done though, and by a Tampa, Florida author too.

A word about the narrator, Saskia Maarleveld. She's top-notch! Her acting skills are spot-on in this book, and others she's narrated, includig The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. I highly recommend these titles too.

 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers is a bit of a far-fetched story, with a few hard-to-believe moments, but overall was very entertaining.

Margo was six when January Jacobs, her best friend across the street, was missed from her home and later found in a ditch, dead. Working as a news reporter, Margo has escaped the small town of Wakarusa, Indiana. When her dear Uncle Luke shows signs of dementia at the age of 50, Margo returns to take care of him. However, just as she's arrived, another young girl has gone missing. Even though it's been decades since January's unsolved death happened, new messages arouse new suspicions, and Margo's determined to get to the bottom of what happened. Everyone believes the case died when January's mother committed suicide, but as Margo investigates, she comes to understand that no one has ever gotten to the truth. And there's more danger to Margo's life than she realizes. 

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

These last two 2022 book reviews bring my total reads to 99 for the year. While most of them were audiobooks, a few were print books. 

Here are all the books in order of my rankings, from the highest to lowest. You can find this list and those from 2020 and 2021 on the ALL BOOKS READ tab at the top of my blog home page. 

Hopefully, you can choose books to read and enjoy as much as I did.

Read Order	Month Read	Title	Author, Last	Author, First	Score of 5.0
1	01	Go Tell the Bees That I’m Gone	Gabaldon	Diana	5.0
84	11	The Water Keeper	Martin	Charles	4.7
88	11	The Mountain Between Us	Martin	Charles	4.7
75	10	When Crickets Cry	Martin	Charles	4.6
4	01	Apples Never Fall	Moriarty	Leanne	4.6
9	02	Once Upon a Wardrobe	Callaghan	Patti	4.6
22	05	The Girl in the Mirror	Carlyle	Rose	4.5
49	07	The Diamond Eye	Quinn	Kate	4.5
86	11	The Letter Keeper	Martin	Charles	4.5
92	12	The Record Keeper	Martin	Charles	4.5
5	01	Mr. Nobody	Steadman	Catherine	4.4
54	08	Remarkably Bright Creatures	Van Pelt	Shelby	4.4
57	08	Dirt Creek	Scrivenor	Hayley	4.4
32	06	Not a Sound	Gudenkauf	Heather	4.3
50	07	Take Your Breath Away	Barclay	Linwood	4.3
63	08	The Reading List	Nisha Adams	Sara	4.3
74	10	The Many Daughters of Afong Moy	Ford	Jamie	4.3
94	12	Send Down the Rain	Martin	Charles	4.3
97	12	The Locked Room	Griffiths	Elly	4.3
8	02	Firekeeper’s Daughter	Boulley	Angeline	4.2
11	03	The Fixer Upper	Andrews	Mary Kay	4.2
16	03	Keeping Lucy	Greenwood	T.	4.2
29	05	The Young Wife	Hepworth	Sally	4.2
37	06	The Good Sister	Hepworth	Sally	4.2
71	09	The Dark Angel	Griffiths	Elly	4.2
73	10	Daisy Darker	Feeney	Alice	4.2
77	10	The Stolen Marriage	Chamberlain	Diane	4.2
91	12	The Nighthawks	Griffiths	Elly	4.2
25	05	The Maid	Prose	Nita	4.1
31	06	Rock Paper Scissors	Feeney	Alice	4.1
72	10	All the Lonely People	Gayle	Mike	4.1
79	10	The Dead Don’t Dance	Martin	Charles	4.1
81	10	The Tobacco Wives	Myers	Adele	4.1
6	01	Silent Voices	Cleeves	Ann	4.0
7	02	The Thirteenth Tale	Setterfield	Diane	4.0
10	03	A Different Blue	Harmon	Amy	4.0
15	03	The Newcomer	Andrews	Mary Kay	4.0
21	04	The Overnight Guest	Gudenkauf	Heather	4.0
24	05	When We Meet Again	Harmel	Kristin	4.0
26	05	The Marriage Lie	Belle	Kimberly	4.0
27	05	The Is How I Lied	Gudenkauf	Heather	4.0
33	06	The Crossing Places #1	Grifiths	Elly	4.0
34	06	The Janus Stone #2	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
38	06	The Fence	Jaffe	Meredith	4.0
39	06	Goodnight Beautiful	Molloy	Aimee	4.0
43	07	Between Two Kingdoms	Jaouad	Suleika	4.0
48	07	The Room Full of Bones	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
51	07	The Perfect Mother	Molloy	Aimee	4.0
53	08	The Edge of Summer	Shipman	Viola	4.0
56	08	The Dying Fall	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
61	08	The Golden Couple	Hendricks Pekkanen	Greer Sarah	4.0
62	08	The Other Woman	Jones	Sandi	4.0
65	09	The Ghost Fields	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
66	09	The Woman in Blue	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
69	09	The Chalk Pit	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
76	10	Catherine de Medici	Frieda	Leonie	4.0
78	10	The Stone Circle	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
80	10	Maggie	Martin	Charles	4.0
85	11	The Lantern Man	Griffiths	Elly	4.0
93	12	The Marriage Portrait	O’Farrell	Maggie	4.0
98	12	Librarian Spy	Martin	Madeline	4.0
99	12	All Good People Here	Flowers	Ashley	4.0
14	03	Hello Sunshine	Dave	Laura	3.9
36	06	Rabbit Cake	Hartnett	Annie	3.9
42	07	The Return	Sparks	Nicholas	3.9
45	07	The New Neighbor	Wilson	Carter	3.9
59	08	The Outcast Dead	Griffiths	Elly	3.9
60	08	Before She Was Found	Gudenkauf	Heather	3.9
68	09	Keeper of the Light	Chamberlain	Diane	3.9
87	11	The Cloisters	Hays	Katy	3.9
95	12	Covenant Child	Blackstock	Terri	3.9
2	01	Learning to Speak Southern	Rogers Cook	Lindsay	3.8
12	03	The Yellow Wife	Johnson	Sadeqa	3.8
18	03	The Stories We Tell	Callaghan	Patti	3.8
20	04	Irish Eyes	Andrews	Mary Kay	3.8
41	07	Jane of Austin	Manton Lodge	Hillary	3.8
44	07	The House at Sea’s End	Griffiths	Elly	3.8
46	07	Best Friends Forever	Hunt	Margot	3.8
58	08	Violetta	Allende	Isabel	3.8
64	09	The Blame Game	Jones	Sandi	3.8
70	09	Buried in a Good Book	Eby	Tamara	3.8
83	11	Mistress of Rome	Quinn	Kate	3.8
90	12	Trespasses	Kennedy	Louise	3.8
13	03	Spring Fever	Andrews	Mary Kay	3.7
28	05	The End of Her	Lapena	Shari	3.7
35	06	Dead Ringer	Scottoline	Lisa	3.7
40	07	The Unsinkable Greta James	Smith	Jennifer E.	3.7
3	01	Early Morning Riser	Heiny	Katherine	3.6
23	05	The Talented Miss Farwell	Tedrowe	Emily Gray	3.6
30	06	Come Back to Me	Foster	Sara	3.6
52	07	Tiny Little Thing	Williams	Beatriz	3.5
55	08	Ruth’s First Christmas Tree	Griffiths	Elly	3.5
82	10	28 Summers	Hilderbrand	Elin	3.5
96	12	The Girl in the Garden	Wallace	Melanie	3.5
17	03	The Sentence	Erdrich	Louise	3.4
89	11	Fellowship Point	Elliott Dark	Alice	3.4
19	04	Cloud Cuckoo Land	Doerr	Anthony	3.2
47	07	Since We Fell	LeHayne	Dennis	3.2
67	09	A Sparkle of Silver	Johnson	Liz	2.8

Our weekly Saturday morning Farmer's Market didn't happen December 24, so we were glad to have it open again on December 31. This is one week's worth of produce for the two of us. Our cost was $29.50 which I don't think is a bad investment in good health. 

What you see here:

• 4 bunches of kale
• 3 bunches of spinach
• 4 cucumber
• 4 Ruskin tomatoes
• 4 peppers
• 4 lemons
• 1 red leaf lettuce
• 1 crookneck squash
• 1 avocado

In spite of eating vegetables, I have a terrible sweet tooth! In the last couple months I looked for spice drops at Publix, Walgreen, and Dollar Tree. No one had them so I ended up bringing home four small bags from Hy-Vee in Kansas City. Once those were gone, I ordered a 2.5 pound bag from Amazon (I rarely order anything from Amazon). They are yet to arrive - due January 14.

In the meantime, I shared my spice drop woes with a friend in South Florida MQG, Sherry. Look what arrived out of the blue!

Seven bags of spice drops! A note inside the parcel said, "Pace yourself, Linda!" Ha! Sherry explained that she took a prepaid letter envelope to Dollar Tree and stuffed it with as many bags as would fit. What a friend she is, right? In the meantime, it seems Publix's candy supply problem has been fixed, as spice drops are once again available.

Whew.  😅 

So we're off to a good start in 2023, right? Activities resume in full this week. It's the annual winter rush of let's-do-everything-while-seasonal-residents-are here! For me that means I'll need to leave a little earlier for ukulele club, quilting groups, line dance classes, and Bible study. Add two Zoom events this week, and this week's schedule is full. I'm on the run! Linda