Friday Finds - Reading and Watching Edition

I mentioned that Hurricane Isaias took out our power for a few days.  Besides cutting circles for Dot Dot Dot, I spent a lot of time reading so have a few recommendations for the readers among you, as well a Netflix show to watch.

Her Last Flight, by Beatriz Williams

This was a five-star read for me.  I've liked everything I've read by Beatriz Williams and think this is her best to date.  It is the moving story of Irene Foster, aviator, who disappeared in 1937, and photographer Janey Everett who is convinced Foster is still alive and is looking for her in 1947.  While the story was inspired by Amelia Earhart and her disappearance, it is not a biographical novel and the characters are fictional.

The Unquiet Dead, by Ausma Zehanat Khan

This is a debut mystery, set in Toronto, but concerned with the genocide in Bosnia in the 1990s.  Detectives looking into the death of Christopher Drayton (accident, suicide, murder?) begin to suspect he is a war criminal, living under an assumed identity.  Very moving, with lots of background woven in on the civil war in the former Yugoslavia.  

The Guest List, by Lucy Foley

A big wedding on an island in Ireland, with all the action taking place in about a 36 hour time period (plus flashbacks).  From early on, you know someone is dead...but who and why?  It's a modern take on classic Agatha Christie tales.  

Once our power was back on, I had to finish a drama I'd been watching, The English Game, available on Netflix.  It takes place in England in the late 1870's.  "Football is in its infancy, an amateur game dominated by the upper class teams who invented its rules."  But the working class has taken up the sport and put together teams of players from factories and mill towns.  There is a quite a culture clash and it impacts the rules of the game.  It is a great drama, with very good actors, and is about football in the same way that Chariots of Fire is about running, so you don't need to know anything about the game.  (The football in question is the game Americans call soccer.)  The scripts are by Julian Fellowes, who wrote the Downton Abbey series.  If you like costume dramas, I think you will like this 6-episode show.

Friday Finds - Book Edition

I'm a bookworm, with a preference for historical fiction and mysteries.  But not just any mysteries, I'm not keen on the first-person, psycho narrator type that have been popular for the past few years.   I like to have a detective (preferably connected to the police), interesting characters, and nothing too gory.

I recently found the works of Peter Grainger and love them.  The first in the series is called An Accidental Death.  We are introduced to Detective Sergeant David Smith (aka "DC"), a veteran detective nearing retirement age, based in Norfolk, England.  He is often given a case that the boss thinks could be wound up in a day or two, but DC finds evidence of a more complicated situation.

The characters are well-written, there is a little humor and wit, and interesting plots that aren't predictable.  As of now, they appear to be available only in Kindle and audio formats and the Kindle price is very reasonable.  I strongly recommend the series to my fellow mystery readers!

Summer Reading

I've been reading a lot lately, both to inspire my quilting projects (Love Patchwork & Quilting magazines from Fat Quarter Shop and American Quilter from the newstand at my local Barnes & Noble store)...

...and just because I enjoy reading. 

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood was one of Reese Witherspoon's monthly selections and I found it very enjoyable.  Susan, 45 years old and a bit of a loner with a prickly personality, has to suddenly deal with an unplanned pregnancy, the death of her mother, and a feud with her brother.  The story is how she navigates all this and comes out happier at the end of it. 

Mysteries are my genre of choice but my favorite authors aren't writing fast enough to keep me supplied so over the past year I've tried some newer authors in the hopes of finding some good material.  I have three to recommend!

Dervla McTiernan, author of The Ruin and The Scholar , books set in Galway, Ireland.  Irish police detective Cormac Reilly had just moved from Dublin to Galway, where of course he encounters murder and mayhem (and maybe police corruption?).  These are new favorites for me and I'm eagerly awaiting The Good Turn, to be published in March, 2020.

Cara Hunter writes the DI Adam Fawley series (three books so far); they take place in Oxford, England.  I like the way the author incorporates social media posts and comments into the traditional narrative.  I'm really enjoying this series. Number 4 is due out in December.

Sarah Ward's series is set in a small town in Derbyshire, England, with police detectives Francis Sadler and Connie Childs.  Again, only a few books so far.  The plots often involve an event from the past that has influenced the present with deadly consequences. 

I've been able to get most of these books from my public library, augmented with a few Kindle purchases.

Another new-to-me author is Donna Leon.  Clearly, I've been under a rock or something because she's been writing for ages and has a backlist of 28 books!  This like hitting the reading jackpot!  The stories are set in Venice, Italy, which we are planning to visit next spring, making the find even better. 

Back soon with more quilting.

A Few Good Books

The 4th of July was a four day weekend for me.  It would be hard for me to say which I prefer, quilting or reading, and I did both over the holiday.  I know some of you are bookworms too so today I'm sharing a few books that I've enjoyed recently.

The Heirs, by Susan Rieger
Story of a wealthy family living in Manhattan and the upheaval in the lives of the wife/mom and five adult sons after the death of the husband/dad.  It would make a good choice for a book club.

The Wicked City, by Beatriz Williams
Beatriz Williams is one of my favorite authors but this is not her best book.  Intertwined stories, one set in the present, the other in the 1920's, but the historical part is vastly superior to the contemporary as the modern story lacks the excitement, drama, and danger of the Prohibition setting of the other story.  If you haven't read any Beatriz Williams, I recommend giving her a try but maybe start with A Certain Age.  Her newest, Cocoa Beach, is next up for me.

The Deepest Grave, by Harry Bingham
 This is #6 in the Fiona Griffiths mystery series.  I discovered the first about a year ago and quickly read through all four books available at the time, then reading #5 and #6 as soon as they came out.  Fiona is a detective with the police in Cardiff, Wales.  She is a complex and unusual character and events in her personal life unfold side-by-side with the murder mystery.  If you like mysteries of the procedural, not cozy, variety, I suggest you start with the first book, Talking To The Dead.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, by Jennifer Ryan
It is hard to believe this is the author's first book, it is so good.  It is about a group of women living in the same small village in England in the summer of 1940, some months into WWII.  With the men away, the church choir morphs into an all-women's group and becomes the bond between this otherwise eclectic group.  It is the best book I've read in a long time.

I'll be back soon with a quilting update.

Topper or Quilter?

To be truthful, I am more a topper than a quilter.  Though I hand quilt the occasional small project (and I have about 35% of the quilting done on my butterfly quilt now), I outsource anything sizeable to a professional longarm quilter (and highly recommend Karen Thompson of Greenbrier Designs).  I've taken two free motion quilting classes but concluded it would take a major investment of time in practicing before I would ever be satisfied with the outcome.

I've used my walking foot to quilt straight lines on a few baby quilts but always thought that approach was rather limiting.  Well, I clearly don't have the imagination of Jacquie Gering, whose new book Walk, takes straight line quilting to a new dimension.

I became inspired just browsing through the book and even more enthused after I sat down to read it cover-to-cover.  Jacquie provides lots of instruction in how to use your walking foot,  how to mark your top (or not mark it for some designs), along with designs even a beginner can manage.  I particularly like shattered quilting, curved crosshatch, and some of the radiating line designs.  Though I probably won't attempt a bed size quilt on my machine, there are lots of designs in the book I can see using on a wall hanging or small throw.  

And the designs are not all straight lines as this sampling (the back cover of the book) shows.  I think you will find Walk to be a good addition to your quilting library.  And if you think Jacquie's name is familiar, you are probably right. She blogs at Tallgrass Prairie Studio and is Chairman of the Board of the international Modern Quilt Guild.

A big thank you to all of you who left comments on my last post, sharing how you got your start quilting.  I enjoyed reading all of the stories.

Friday Find - the KonMari Method

I've been doing some business travel recently (the reason for my extended absence from the blog; lots of work, not much quilting) and on a flight last week, I read this book:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. It is subtitled, the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing, but really focuses on decluttering.  If you are looking for organizing tricks and clever items that will allow you to cram more into your closets and cupboards, this is not your book. Instead, Marie Kondo's philosophy is to get rid of the stuff that does not give you joy.  

I found it a fast, easy read and at the end, I immediately wanted to tackle my clutter.  Unfortunately, I was in an aluminum tube somewhere in the air over the mid-West so the sorting had to wait until the weekend.  But I started last Saturday and sorted my current wardrobe (fall/winter clothing), with the aim of tackling my spring/summer clothing this weekend or next, depending on whether the forecast indicates it is safe to put my sweaters away for the season.  I have bags of stuff to take to the thrift shop and much more attractive looking and functional closets.  

The author's advice is to tackle decluttering by category, starting with clothing and ending with hobby items.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of quilting stuff to cull, but will cover office paper, books, and kitchen stuff first, so it will be awhile before I get to my sewing space.  

In the meantime, if your stuff has taken over, I recommend you sit down with The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and adopt the KonMari method for yourself.

Need A Gift For Someone Quilty?

To celebrate my birthday last week, my husband gave me the books on my Amazon.com wishlist, including 500 Traditional Quilts, from Karey Patterson Bresenhan (director of the Quilt Market trade shows).

Wow, what inspiration.  Photo after photo of stunning quilts!  There is a lot of variety represented, including applique and both simple and complex pieceing.  Each is a marvelous example of the art of quilt making.  There are plenty of quilts included that I wish I could make, and plenty more that give me real ideas for something I could actually complete.

This book does not include any instructions; it is inspiration only.  But I think it is something every quiltmaker would enjoy looking at and like having in her library.  If you need a gift for a quilting friend, or even for yourself, 500 Traditional Quilts could be just the thing.

DWR Quilt Update - Sewing Blocks Into Rows

I continue to work on my Double Wedding Ring quilt project, though progress is S-L-O-W!  This past weekend, I figured I had enough "clamshells" (name for the blocks) finished to try sewing them into rows, just to see how it works.  Fortunately, it worked out just fine.  Although I am following "orders" and not pressing, which is killing me, and explains why the quilt looks like such a mess in the photos.

 

 

I am reconsiderning the finished size.  My original idea was to make a quilt for our queen size bed, thinking it would be 36 blocks (6 x 6).  But after getting some blocks sewn together, I can see it will require 49 blocks (7 x 7), yielding a quilt about 90" square.  Now I'm thinking about a throw instead, 25 blocks (5 x 5) or about 65" square.  It will ultimately depend on how much I'm loving the process after I have 25 blocks made. 

 

Blogging will probably continue to be less frequent than normal for me through the summer because I'm doing a bit of business travel.  If I had anticipated this, I would have prepped a smal hand project to take along but there is always reading.  I'll let you know if I read anything particularly good.  My top recommedation for now is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, a wonderful Dickensian tale.

 



Quilt Sampler Spring 2014

The spring edition of Quilt Sampler is out.  That means it is time for my semi-annual virtual shop hop. 

I especially like this edition and spent some enjoyable time with it over several evenings last week.  Mini quilts are currently in vogue, with several designers "downsizing" their regular patterns into smaller sizes.  Look at these cool minis at this shop in Canada (the store, Quilt Junction, is housed in a former train station).

 

I want to make some minis now; must add a few to my list.

 

Each store featured in Quilt Sample provides a quilt project and there are several that I like in this issue.  The first is Defining Lines, from Valli & Kim in Texas. 

 

The construction is similar to the Spider Web block, except made with large pieces of fabric rather than strings. 

 

I also like this project called Sunrise, which I think might have been made from a Kona Sunrise jelly roll.  If only I did not have so many projects in the queue already!

 

 

And there is Ebb & Flow from All In Stitches in Minnesota.   I like the colors and the use of different blocks in one design.

 

 

 

Quilt Sampler had some reading competition from The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.  I thought it was fantastic, like Charles Dickens came back to life in the 21st century and wrote a new book.  If you are looking for a book to read, and don't mind a long one (774 pages), I highly recommend it.  

  

Modern Bee by Lindsay Conner

My other leisure time activity is reading.  When I don't post here for a while, it is sometimes because a book has hijacked me from the sewing room.  I was at our local public library on Saturday and saw this book, Modern Bee, on a display so I checked it out. 

 

The quilt patterns in the book were designed by members of the Mod Stitches bee, a group originally formed to swap patchwork blocks.  This was an online group that met through their blogs and Flickr.  The designs in the book can be made as part of a bee or individually.  There's a chapter on starting and running an online bee; the tips would work for an in-person exchange as well.  Then the quilt designs are arranged in order by skill level; 13 projects in total.

 

My favorite design in the book is Trellis Crossroads, by Jessica Kelly.  It is made using 20 fat quarters and three yards of background (white) fabric.  This one is going on my to-do list as soon as I decide what fabric to use.

 

 

 

 

I also like this design, Baseball Curves, by Lindsay Conner.  The tricky thing about this design is that is uses templates, which are not one of my favorite things.  

I would probably not have paid attention to this book in a quilt shop because the cover is kind of boring (yes, I judge my quilting books by their covers; they have to get my attention) but I'm glad I picked it up because it has given me a few ideas.  And while a bee is probably not in my near future, I think I'd enjoy that kind of swap too, some day. 

Oh, and if you're looking for a novel to read, I recommend Bridget Jones Mad About The Boy, by Helen Fielding, a worthy sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary.  But don't be surprised if it cuts into your quilting time.

Twice A Year

My favorite quilt magazine comes out two times a year.  It's Quilt Sampler.

If you are still in the dark about this publication, let me fill you in.  Each issue covers 10 quilt shops from around the US and Canada.  There is a profile of each shop, along with lots of photos, and directions for a quilt project provided by each profiled shop.  The pictures from the various shops provide plenty of inspiration.  Inevitably, I see a quilt displayed in one of the shop photos and have some sleuthing to do to track down the pattern.

 

Speaking of sleuthing, Quilt Sampler had some competition for my spare time this weekend from W Is For Wasted by Sue Grafton.  If you like mysteries and have not yet discovered Sue Grafton's work, you need to get busy!  Start with A Is For Alibi.  

Binding Quilts

My post about my Spools quilt, Keep Calm and Sew On, elicited some comments about the different types of binding. 

I nearly always use double-fold bias binding on my quilts.  The fabric is cut at a 45 degree angle to the selvages.  The strips are sewn together, then folded in half length-wise to create two layers of fabric before sewing along the quilt edge.  Bias binding stretches a little so it is a must on any curved edge.   The downside is that some quilters find bias binding tends to pull out of shape on straight edges and may even stretch the edge of quilt, creating ripples.   In theory, double-fold bias binding is the most durable type of binding because the fibers in the binding are not aligned with the edge of the quilt.  A straight binding cut exactly on grain will have one thread running right along the edge of the quilt and this thread will get a lot of wear and stress, so the binding could eventually split right along this thread.  However, the reality is that straight grain binding is rarely exactly on grain and will be even more "off" after sewing, so it is not likely that one single fiber will run along the edge. 

So double-fold, straight grain binding works well on straight edges.  It was the perfect choice for Keep Calm and Sew On, where I wanted the stripes to be straight, not bias, plus wear along the edge is not a big issue for a wall hanging. 

I have a few books I frequently refer to for bindings and other edge treatments. A Fine Finish, by Cody Mazuran, is an excellent resource for how to do anything above and beyond the most basic binding.  This book is out-of-print but used copies are available on Amazon.com.  It covers putting binding on a curved edge (like a double wedding ring quilt), using piping along the edge with and without binding, and other decorative treatments.  It is a worthwhile addition to your quilting library.

Borders, Bindings, & Edges, by Sally Collins, is another good resource.  While this book covers binding techniques, it includes unusual border treatments, especially pieced borders. 

Darlene Zimmerman's book, The Quilter's Edge, is another good resource for borders, bindings, and finishing techniques.  If you've been wondering how to do prairie points on a quilt, you will find out how in this book. 

 

Well, I have lots of binding to attend to.  Better get cracking!

 

 

Friday Find - The American Heiress

Are you a fan of Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs?  Then I have a book for you!  It is The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin.

The book is a fictional account of a wealthy American girl (heiress to a flour fortune) who goes to England in the 1890's to snag an aristocratic husband.  She could almost be the mother in Downton Abbey; her name is even Cora.  Anyway, she gets her man (a duke), then more drama unfolds.  It has kept me entertained for several evenings. 

Finding Your Christmas Project

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas quilting project books. First, Deck The Halls by Cheryl Almgren Taylor.

The projects in this book lean towards applique, though some combine piecing and applique and there are few that are piecing alone.  I like this mistletoe design; it is on my list but I'm waiting until I have more applique experience because the pieces are quite a bit more complicated than anything I have done so far.

I also like this banner.  The red house in the middle is similar to our house; probably as similar as I will find in an applique block!  I would like to use it somewhere, sometime.

Another good resource is Comfort and Joy by Mary Hickey. 

This book has a lot of projects, mostly pieced.  Ever since I bought the book, the page with Midnight Star has been bookmarked.  This pattern would make a good table topper for our dining room (it finishes at 41" square), or I could make more blocks for a larger quilt. 

Lynn is teaching a class on Midnight Star.  If I lived in northern California, I'd take the class and get it done!

Make Room for Christmas Quilts is by the founder of That Patchwork Place, Nancy J. Martin.  It is less of a how-to project book (though there are directions for several quilts) and more of a creative guide as to how to display and use quilts in your Christmas season decorating.  It is chock-full of ideas, with lots of terrific photography.  The decor tends toward the country and traditional so if you are strictly modern, it might not be to your taste, though many of the quilt designs could be "modernized" via fabric choice.  This book would make a great gift for a quilting friend (or yourself!), and though out-of-print is available on Amazon.com at a good price.

With so much inspiration and so many ideas, I could keep making Christmas quilts until Christmas arrives!  But there are other things I want to make too.  As I like to say, "So many quilts, so little time!"

 

More Fat Quarter Quilts

Not much sewing going on here; too busy with other things.  That happens sometimes.  Last night, I took a few of my quilting books to bed with me, looking for more fat quarter ideas. 

Miss Rosie's Spice of Life Quilts, by Carrie Nelson, is full of designs that mostly use fat quarters.   

The book includes the pattern for Ginger Belle.  I made this pattern recently using fat quarters from the Rural Jardin line.  My version is due to be quilted in July.

This is Moose Tracks (red version) and 501 (pink and blue).  Definitely going on my list.  It does require three yards of focus fabric.

This might be my new favorite!  It is a variation on log cabin, called Raise the Roof.  I can see it in Fig Tree scraps, using the lights and the darker prints.

This is Elizabeth.  I saw it on several blogs last year, but can't remember where.  If I recall correctly, a couple of bloggers made it out of a combination of French General designs.  I think it might work for the Etchings line too.

I made Seaside Cottage in 2006, using a fat quarter bundle of the  3 Sisters Seaside Rose fabric line, plus some yardage for the sashing.  The block is square within a square within a square - I did not use a pattern, just figured it out myself, using a 5" charm square for the center.  Each block is about 10" square.

I was going for a blended look, which you can see in this block.  There is not a lot of contrast between the three fabrics in each block.  This is a throw size quilt that I keep in the bedroom for naps or as an extra cover when it is extra cold.   

I certainly don't need a quilt tonight; we're having another scorcher!