What I'm Reading

I haven't posted a book review for a while. Currently I am in the middle of reading The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann. I am reading it on my Kindle. I haven't been glued to it so far, so it's taking me a while. I am finding it interesting, just not spell-binding. I'll tell you more when I finish the book.

Meanwhile my mother-in-law has been in poor health. She was in the hospital a couple of times. They thought she might have had a small stroke, or maybe her stent (put in after a previous large stroke) is leaking.. or something like that. I don't quite understand it, but they said there was nothing they could do. She's not a surgery candidate. She has many issues such as heart and severe kidney disease. Currently she is in transitional care, with the goal of having physical therapy and occupational therapy, but she is so weak that she can't even do the therapy routines. She really can't move much of her own body. It's sad to see her in such bad shape. There will be a meeting on Monday to discuss further options.

In my quilting world, I have made several blocks to send to Sunshine for the December Lotto - 16 blocks! And now I am working on a baby quilt for our nephew's baby who is due in late December - a boy! I hope the quilt will be as cute as I am picturing it in my mind. We'll see. I'm making up my own pattern.

Happy December, everyone. Can you believe it's nearly December already???

Houston #3

Back to some quilts from the show at Houston. This will be my last Houston post because.. it's time to move on and talk about the present, not the past. (Real meaning = I'm feeling too lazy to keep posting a bunch of quilt photos.)

I really liked the Lion King exhibit -- a Cherrywood Fabrics challenge. Quilts were beautiful.

the Quilts Beyond Borders booth.. quilts for sale include this one by fellow Sunshine member Charlotte K. (I believe I saw two of hers for sale, but only photographed one), and one by me. The person sitting and smiling is Carla T., one of the regional reps. And Cousin Beth is there turning in some finished quilts for donating to kids.

Best of Show: Reflections of Cape Town by Cynthia England

Gammill Master Award for Contemporary Artistry: Unknown Man by Marina Landy and Maria Lucia Azara

If you ever get a chance to go to Houston, take time to go visit the Johnson Space Center. It's very interesting!

My VFW Quilt

I'm taking a little break in the Houston action to show you a quilt I finished for me, myself, and I. This quilt is made entirely of one line of fabric, something I have never done before. The fabric is Mostly Manor designed by Victoria Findlay Wolfe (VFW). Even the back and the binding are from this line.

While working with these fabrics, I fell in love with them. The colors are so vibrant and beautiful together. I am super happy with this quilt except for one tiny flaw: I wish I had made it one row longer. Other than that, it is perfect. It even has wool batting, which I love. It was machine quilted by Diane Schotl.

I kept taking pictures, because I love the colors so much. Thanks for a great line of fabric, VFW!

Houston, #2

Here are more quilts we enjoyed, and other things we did while in the Houston area:

Etoile by Serena Vrnak, quilted by Patricia Harrison - of Texas. The woman above, on the left, is the maker of the quilt, describing her work on it to the woman on the right.

a general look at the venue, a very small slice of the huge place that was full of quilts and people

City at the Bottom of the Sky by Virgnia Anda of California

Inside the Capitol Dome by Cheryl FitzGerald of New Mexico
You may have seen this one in a magazine. It was part of the "Textile Architecture" exhibit, as was the one above (City at the Bottom of the Sky). That exhibit was a nice one with many very creative quilts.

Pseudo Lunar Topography by Meggan Czapiga of Maryland
This was another cool exhibit - of moon quilts.

Last Quarter Moon by Ricki Selva of Virginia

Thread Challenge: In the Season of Flowers by Misik Kim of South Korea

Neon Challenge: Weekend by Martha Wolfe of California

Final Gifts by Steffanie Schwam of Massachusetts

a display of miniatures.. the finger is there to show scale

One of our friends had done research into the top twenty restaurants in Houston. She had a list, and each time we were on the hunt for eats, we checked her list and tried to find one that was relatively close to us. One night we tried hard to find a particular one, but couldn't get it show up on GPS. Finally we were attempting to find another one and seemed a little lost, when all of a sudden we looked to the left, and there was the first restaurant that we had not found in GPS! Turns out it had been spelled wrong in the GPS attempt. It looks quite humble but is in fact very delicious. Luckily for us, their largest crowds appear at lunch time, and we were there for dinner. We had the place almost to ourselves, so the staff gave us a tour of the barbecue pit. This is the oldest pit in Houston, built in 1935. They've got it down to a science now, cooking their meat on a wood fire, starting first near the fire and then moving it further away as it cooks. Food was delicious, and the special treatment we received made it even more fun. Pecan pie for dessert - my favorite!

You can see that it's old the way the bricks are bulging out.

Seriously, this was the best pecan pie I've ever eaten in a commercial establishment. My mom was known for her fabulous (perfect) pies; pecan was her specialty. So for me to say this was good is high praise indeed.

People dressed up in special outfits for the quilt show.