Crossroads Quilt

This 43" X 55" baby quilt, for the great-nephew/niece who's due in June, is done. It's my adaptation of a Crossroads Quilts I saw on Instagram. I used as many novelty and "I Spy" type prints in this as my dwindling kid-print stash allowed.

Crossroads Quilt, 43" X 55"

 

There are lotsa "things" to find in this quilt, so I expect it might be stimulating into toddlerhood. 

The quilt back is pieced with the largest novelty print "chunks" I could come up with. 

Because Crossroads is a pattern, and I haven't made a quilt from a pattern for a very long time, it seemed easy and relatively quick make. With an all-over snail trail quilting design that didn't need many stops and starts, and therefore thread-burying, I merrily free motion quilted on my Bernina 770QE.

Now I'll tuck the quilt away until I have baby details to record on a quilt label. 

Book Recommendations

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen was a difficult book to read. While I don't want to give it all away by telling you why, I have to say that the story is about losing, by murder, one's closest family members. 

The story begins typically enough with a mom, dad, and three kids - two of whom are twin brothers with personalities as different as night and day. When first listening, I felt like I was in a world that sounded very familiar - about kids interacting with friends, doing schoolwork, bickering among siblings, parents being taxi-drivers and disciplinarians. That was very relatable, reminding me of when my husband and I both worked and raised two teenaged children.

The story's beginning was almost boring, setting the scene for - missing that the intense behavioral response of one teen's friend led to an event that changed the mom's life. While I don't doubt that this is reality for some people, I found it depressing to read about.

Linda's score: 3.4/5.0 

Oh how I love a well-written book by a favorite author! I picked up The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths because Ms. Griffiths authored a favorite series I completed last year - "Ruth Galloway series," If you like a good who-done-it that takes place in Brighton, UK, then this is the book for you.

Claire is an English teacher in the English department of a moderately-sized school. She's divorced, and her 15 year-old daughter Georgie lives with her. Claire's friend, also an English teacher at the same school, is found stabbed to death, with a note quoting a line from a short story: "The Stranger" by R.M. Holland. What's happening in real life, and the story in the book are too similar, and scary. Claire happens to be writing a book about Holland, and therefore becomes more embroiled in the investigation than she wants.

I enjoy that Griffiths first relates what's happening from Claire's perspective, and later relates the same happenings from the perspective of the detective assigned to the case... and then Georgie's teenaged perspective is woven into the story. Add a little bit of "I bet he did it" and "I bet she did it" and you have an engaging tale that will keep you guessing until the end. 

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

Most recently I've been listening to Lutheran Church of Hope podcasts from the every-Wednesday "Pastor Mike Drop" program. Hope is doing "The Whole Holy Bible in a Year," and the Wednesday reviews of the weekly readings by different Hope pastors are great! Go here if you'd like to check them out. 

At the moment, I'm deep into QuiltCon prep. Of course, I decided I needed to make a new shoulder bag to efficiently carry around everything I need! Now I'm trying to pull stuff together, leaving clothes-packing until the day before departure. Sounds about right, doesn't it? Linda

January Tracking

Why did I feel compelled to - starting in 2023 - participate in fabric tracking? I guess I thought I'd be the quilter who decisively uses-up more of her fabric stash than what she takes in.

Fabrics from Sew Modern Chicky (Jacksonville, FL)

January is already proving me wrong. 

• Why did I wait nearly two years to spend a $50 gift certificate to Feel Good Fibers? I placed my order in December; fabrics arrived in January. 

• I received a thank-you-for-participating-in-our-challenge fabric bundle from Central Florida MQG.

• Then, Showcase (quilt show) was last weekend, and there was a vendor... Sew Modern Chicky

So with 12 incoming yards in January, my measly efforts, making several small items, didn't do much to offset gains that total 9.77 yards. 

To clarify, this is not a fabric tracker of one's TOTAL stash. I did not spend days measuring and calculating the yardage I already have. Rather, this fabric tracking effort is meant to monitor one year's worth of incoming and outgoing fabric. 

My friend Debbie at www.aquilterstable.blogspot.com regularly tracks her fabrics, which is where I learned about this intriguing idea. In an email conversation she opined:

Invariably fabric will come in! In fact sometimes it needs to for you to accomplish something in particular, or for a variety of reasons. Take it in stride and just keep sewing!

I love that bit... "Take it in stride and just keep sewing." That's my plan! 

And for what it's worth, I did give away seven quilts this month - three 36" X 48" baby quilts to Healthy Families Florida, and four to friends in Minnesota.

My latest efforts have been to cut fabrics for a 42" X 54" scrappy baby quilt.

The pattern is one I saw on Instagram called Crossroads quilt design by @treehousetextiles, I figured out my version of it using solids from my scrap bins, and lots of novelty prints. See those Angry Birds in the lower left block?

As I cut out pieces for 36 blocks, I listened to audiobooks.

Book Recommendations

Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock is about Nate, a firefighter in Colorado. He's one of those fearless men who jumps from a plane into the heart of a raging fire. When he sustains second degree burns while saving a family and their dog, he returns home to recuperate. He hasn't been home for more than a decade. Staying with his brother while healing, Nate reconnects with Brenna, a woman he hasn't forgotten since high school. She's going through a difficult time, adjusting to a divorce from a power-hungry man who wants full custody of their two children. While Nate is ready to give Brenna all the support she needs, he's adjusting to being around his father who has just been released from 14 years in prison for a murder - of Brenna's father! - that he claims he did not commit. Tensions are heightened because Nate too has been accused of something he didn't do - burn down a church. It's time for all of them to support, forgive, and love each other. 

I enjoy Terri Blackstock books because characters seem real. There's no profanity; no sleeping around; and protagonists have a wholesome spirituality. This story includes several lovely nuggets of profundity that I found very encouraging.

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger is a story about the interesting and possible negative outcomes of genetic testing. Tracking one's parents may provide information a child really doesn't want to know. 

Mako is a successful tech entrepreneur. He and his wife Liza are hosting a get-away weekend for Hannah, Mako's sister ,and her husband, along with a family friend and her new boyfriend. They head to a very remote location in Georgia as a tropical storm is coming in from the Atlantic. 

Hannah is uncertain about the weekend. Not only must she leave behind her baby girl, but something doesn't feel right - like they shouldn't go. So, on the first evening of their arrival, when the power goes out, the backup generator doesn't kick in, no one has cell phone service, and Liza is missing, everyone wants to leave. But they can't. The storm is too violent, the road is blocked, and truths must be revealed - ones that will prove costly to every person there. 

While this was entertaining, its use of profanity and promiscuity gave it the opposite feeling of Smoke Screen, 

Linda's score: 3.7/5.0 

Recapping January, these two books bring my total listened-to/reviewed/scored total to eight audiobooks. Two of them earned scores of 4.5/5.0 - Long Way Gone and Wrapped in Rain, both by Charles Martin.

In the continuing saga of the unavailability of spice drops... 

As I'm waiting for the promised February 14-16 Amazon delivery of spice drops ordered December 17, on Monday I stopped at a Dollar Tree store to check for them.

Coastal is the brand of candy that Dollar Tree typically carries. As you can see from the empty pegs, and after a brief chat with a Dollar Tree clerk, spice drops still are not available. Only peppermints are in stock.

I shared this picture and my disappointment with two South Florida friends: Sherry (who generously mailed me spice drops in December) and Maureen. 

Maureen said she too couldn't find them at Dollar Tree, nor the orange slice candies she favors, stating "empty shelves here too." 

Her sage observation:

As if the world hasn't gone crazy enough... now they are trying to take our candy away!

Linda

Going at a Trot

Time and activities seem to be speeding-up as QuiltCon approaches. One week to go.

Yesterday, QuiltCon emailed MQG members about the upcoming show. A quilter-friend point out that my 2019 Temperature Quilt is in the photo - lower right. I had missed that!

In the sewing room...

I made February's Dreamlines "dot" strips. These are the smaller-sized ones I made improv style, following instructions by Brenda Gael Smith. February strips are on the left - the yellow and grape-colored ones with bits of black and white striped fabric as "dots." Pink and yellow strips at the top and right are January's "dashes." Let me just say, making these can be addictive! 

It's not too late to join this free project - Dreamlines. Register here, on Brenda's website. 

Also (I couldn't help myself), I've begun another Kawandi. Sigh. I know. I'm hopeless. But I kept seeing the pretty Kawandi that Anorina @sameliasmum is making, each with a color theme, and I just felt the urge. Again. 

As you can see, I'm going with all low volume scraps - white, cream, gray and bits of black - and will use different colors of Wonderfil #12 Spagetti thread to stitch. This is Kawandi #13, and it's 16" X 20". 

Jo Avery's Freehand Halo Appliqué project

Last weekend was a free "Taster Weekend" with Jo Avery, Karen Lewis and Lynne Goldsworthy who make up Thread House UK. They offered this weekend as a chance to check out what they have to teach so you'll register for their Thread House UK Academy.

I've always been a fan of Jo's work, and this Freehand Halo Appliqué interested me. I watched her video which was available for a limited time, and got busy.

Jo uses linens in her demo project. I managed to find seven different pieces of linen in my stash that I'm using as backgrounds. Quilting cotton prints/solids are the halos.

This may become my QuiltCon travel project... if I can keep my hands off it! 

I finished piecing 36 Crossroads blocks, and began free motion quilting snail-trail designs all over the surface of this 43" X 55" quilt. The design has been relaxing and easy to quilt - no stops and restarting. 

Book Recommendations

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager is a book I chose to read after my friend, Cindy @liveacolorfullife read it. As she cautioned me, the book is different.

It starts out all well. Everything makes sense - five cottages on a remote lake; everyone knows who lives where. Casey, a famous actress and recent widow, has been sent by her mother to the lake because Casey is drinking too much and needs to find herself.

When Casey sees a face-down body floating in the lake, she hurries to her boat to save the person. Though Casey is sure she's dead, the woman revives. That's how Casey meets her newest neighbor, Katherine, a rich and famous model. As they become fast friends, Casey realizes there's more going on in Katherine's marriage than anyone might suspect. When Katherine disappears, Casey is determined to find out what happened... and then things get really weird.

The book turns into a science fiction tale. While what happens is not believable, the story is still entertaining. 

Linda's score: 3.6/5.0

Exiles by Jane Harper is a book I couldn't pass by, based on previous Jane Harper titles that I've enjoyed. Whenever I can listen to a story that takes place in Australia - a country I was fortunate enough to visit on four occasions - and is read by an Australian narrator... well, count me in, mate!

Aaron Falk is visiting his friends who live on a family vineyard, because he's been asked to be godfather to their new son. Taking a week away from his demanding job as a federal investigator, Aaron joins his friends who also are participating in an annual wine festival. While with these friends, Aaron hears more about Kim, a woman who went missing at the previous year's festival. Kim hasn't been seen since she left her infant daughter behind, alone, in a pram. As Aaron engages with others - a police friend, and a local detective - he begins to work out what happened. Could another unsolved hit-and-run that happened six years ago, be related? And then there's the woman Aaron met in Melbourne, who is the event coordinator for the wine festival. 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

The Spice Drops Saga continues. I am still in disbelief as I share this...

Remember, I told you I ordered Spice Drops (flavored gumdrop candies with a sugar coating) from Amazon? Since I rarely order anything from Amazon, that alone is unusual. I placed the order December 19. Then, just before Christmas, my friend, Sherry, sent me seven small bags of spice drops. Let's just say, those didn't last long! But I had a 2.5 pound bag coming from Amazon.

In January, Amazon let me know the order was delayed. My December 19 order was due to arrive February 12. What else could I do but wait? Dollar Tree is still out of spice drops. 

I followed Amazon tracking... from California, to Kentucky, to one location in Florida, to another location in Florida. On Friday I read: "out for delivery." Then, back to the distribution center. Saturday: "out for delivery." Then back to the distribution center. Sunday: "out for delivery."

I watched and watched. We turned on the porch light when it got dark. Nothing arrived. 

Monday morning this email message arrived:

What can I say? 😢 Linda