My Quilts Ready to Serve

I donate quilts to a number of places, and sometimes I send in tops-only, and the receiving program is nice enough to finish quilting the tops for me. Recently I had fun looking at some pictures from the beginning of 2018, at the Quilts Beyond Borders site, and noticing my quilts that were done and ready to go off and serve some people around the world. Here is how they look when being processed and ready to go:

The little white board tells where they are headed. Some went to Navajo people in Arizona, I believe it is. And some say Syrian Refugees and others SCM -- those both mean to Syrian refugees via a couple different routes. And one grouping says Mary's Place which is.. I don't know. I can't remember their description, but I'm sure it was a worthy recipient. I'm happy to know my quilts are going to a wide variety of places and people, and keeping them all warm and snuggly. (In that last photo you may notice that the quilt is attributed to Catherine E., but that's a mistake. It is a quilt I made from blocks that were some of the very first blocks I ever created back in late 1999 or early 2000. After 17 years, I finally put them to good use.)

Here is a quilt I donated to Covered in Love. Well, I donated the blocks and someone made the quilt and quilted it. How nice of them!

Book Review: A.J. Fikry

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. I carried this book around for a long time, in my car, waiting for an opportune moment to put it at the top of my queue. The time finally came, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This is a very well-done and FUN book. It's about a man who owns a bookstore, and his life and times over a number of years. When the book opens, he is a recent widower and having a hard time finding happiness again. More events take place, and lives of the people around and of A.J. Fikry himself go through metamorphoses.

The characters are living authentic lives, that is, they experience the joys and sorrows that life regularly brings. But through it all there is an atmosphere of optimism, and the book just made me happy. Of course, there are numerous references to other books, titles that are meaningful to various people in the story, and how the bookstore itself fares is part of the story as well.

I think anyone would enjoy this nice, pleasant book, especially if one is a lover of books and words and life's stories.

Don't leave this book sitting in your car for too long. Pick it up and read it!

oops.. I should have combed my hair before posing

My Solo Vacation

My family owned a lake lot and then a shack and then a "cabin" which is really a house. Now my sister owns it. Her family is large and still growing, so it's hard for me to find time to squeeze in and visit the place. Last week I had the place all to myself for eight glorious days! What a treat! Husband was supposed to join me mid-week, but he decided he had too much work to do and the quiet at home was beneficial for him. The quiet for me at the cabin was heavenly.

I did a lot of sewing, reading, relaxing, swimming, and eating when I wanted to. My cousin came over and sewed with me which was nice; I didn't get lonely. And when she returned to her own cabin, I had the lovely solitude to enjoy again.

I put together these four quilt tops:

I made this bag:

I made over a dozen 12.5-inch blocks and 62 crumb blocks (scraps sewn together into 6.5-inch blocks). I read three books which have been reviewed in posts just before this one. Finished the 4th book upon my return home.

The lake shared with me its many moods; I rode on cousin's pontoon for a July 4th picnic.

That week was a perfect vacation and a highlight of my summer. I only missed having hubby with me, but alone time has its grand benefits as well. Ahhh..blood pressure was way down, I think.

Another Book Review! The Break

I have been on vacation and plowing through books. I finished this one today:

The Break by Katherena Vermette. A community of First Nations people, mixed heritage, and settler-descended people in Canada, present day, is the setting for this book. An extended family tells the story; chapters highlight one person's story at a time. I was grateful for the family tree in the front of the book. I referred to it many times as I kept forgetting who was whose mother or sibling or child.

As the story weaves between participants, you learn more about the family and their past, joys and traumas that have affected the family, relationships as they ebb and flow, and most importantly, a current trauma which takes place and around which the family rallies. At times it is hard to read because of the trauma, but please persevere. The language is beautiful. Watch how love and/or the lack of love affects people. We all long for love and acceptance.

This book is powerful. Five of five stars.

summer reading on the deck

It's a Book Bonanza! Three Book Reviews

Book #1: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

An aristocrat in Moscow, the main character is sentenced to house arrest in a hotel when the Revolution takes place and his old lifestyle is no longer acceptable. He already lives in the hotel, but his fancy suite is taken from him, and he is moved to a small room in the attic. The book is the story of his life for the next 30-some years as he lives through many societal changes in Russia. The revolution has ended, but there is still a lot of turmoil as society figures itself out. And the world encroaches, as well, with a world war and other impactful events.

The book is very pleasant, despite the outside turmoil. The main character adapts well to his new life and sweetly observes the hotel life around him. The language is beautiful and is told as the Count himself, an educated man and man of etiquette, would write it.

The ending surprised me!
4 of 5 stars

Book #2: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

This is a story about children awaiting adoption in an orphanage in Tennessee in the late 30s, early 40s. There is much more than just waiting in the story of the children and how they ended up in the orphanage. How they got there was appalling and traumatic. The story is fiction, based on the history of the Tennessee Children's Home Society which really existed and really perpetrated atrocities on families.

This could have been a great book, but I felt that the families as portrayed fit too much into certain boxes; personalities too pat and too predictable. Otherwise it is interesting due to being based on a real place and true events.
3 of 5 stars

Book #3: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

This book is phenomenal. The writing is exquisite.. the author says so much in as few words as possible. It often just floored me, and I would stop reading and stare into space, being profoundly awed.

It's the story of two young people who live in a city which eventually is overtaken by war, and they decide they must escape. It's a very timely story. War gradually yet catastrophically destroys their city and their homes until it becomes obvious they must leave. Then they arrive in new places and face many insurmountable hurdles there as well. In addition to surviving, they are building a relationship. They are safe (to a degree), yet.. fleeing is an imperfect solution.

Fabulous book which you can read in a day. I highly recommend it.
5 of 5 stars

Book Review: The Tin Ticket

The Tin Ticket by Deborah J. Swiss

This is a non-fiction book about women convicts from Great Britain being transported to Australia (Tasmania) in the 1800s. The times in Britain were very difficult, and being a convict often meant simply that the person was too poor to survive without resorting to theft. Once transported, they had to serve their prison term in Tasmania in equally difficult circumstances.

Throughout their lives these girls and women had to use their street smarts and cunning to just survive. They were brave and strong and brought those qualities to their new home, passing the qualities on to their families. They became strong pillars for the foundation of a strong, new country (and I realize the original inhabitants were pushed aside.. that part of the story was only very briefly touched on).

The book was very well researched and told in an engaging manner. I had known very little about convicts' lives when arriving in Australia, and especially knew nothing about the women. I am inspired by their strength, courage, and their fierce devotion to their families once they were allowed to be free citizens. Amazing stories.

Interesting note: reviews at goodreads(dot)com are all over the map, from two stars to five. I quite enjoyed the book and gave it four stars.

Treasure From Great-Grandma

My cousin recently contacted me and asked if I would like to have an old quilt made by our great-grandma. No one in her immediate family wanted it. Of course I said YES! She mailed it to me from Washington, and here it is:

My great-grandmother, Emma Pratt Shaw, made this in the late 1930s and gave it as a top only to my Uncle Roger H. Roger was too young to appreciate it. Later, in the 40s, he had his sister, my Aunt Hope, finish it. She repaired some of the squares and sandwiched and hand quilted it. Then it was kept in a closet and basically unused until now. So it is in GREAT shape.

This quilt is very similar to a quilt that was given to my dad.. same story. Made in the 30s, finished in the 40s, and it was in our family and used often as I was growing up. My sister now owns that quilt; it is much loved, very soft and tattered. I am thrilled to have its pristine sister that even has some of the same fabrics in it.

What a treasure!

Random Stuff and a Book Review

Hi, blog world. I think of you way more often than I write to you. If you're looking for the book review, scroll down to just above the last picture.

What have I been up to? I have mostly been reading and enjoying a happy-go-lucky summer. I have done a bit more knitting than usual. I have watched a few TV things on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Next week I get to go to my cousin's cabin, and later in the summer to my sister's cabin. Yay! I will get some sewing done then. And more reading. I love reading on the deck with the beautiful lake in my view. We have no big travel plans for the rest of this year... just a random road trip here and there.

I babysat Bonus again last week. He is turning into a little boy.. no more baby fat. He is still such a sweet and agreeable boy. That's his built-in personality. Isn't that nice?? He loves playing with cars, and he runs and jumps and dances and sings. It makes me happy just to be with him.

I am working very few hours this summer. It is lovely. Last week I did a two-hour shift, and it went so fast. I think I might not work at all in the month of July. I have a dream job at which I get to set my own hours. It is PERFECT.

Here is a little bit of sewing I have done lately:

It was quilted a while ago; I finally got the binding on and will be sending it to Quilts Beyond Borders.

July blocks for the Lotto at Sunshine


I finished a book, so here is a book review for you: News of the World by Paulette Jiles. I really loved this book! The writing is beautiful. You will get a sense of being in the natural environment in which the characters travel. Not only is that beautiful, also beautiful is the relationship that develops between the two characters: a man in his 70s and a 10-year-old girl. Watch how the man responds to the differences between their two cultures. It's lovely. I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

This is a book about families, relationships, friendships, life styles, and choices. Most of the characters are teenagers, and the other main characters are moms in two separate families.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I wanted to love the characters more than I did. I only liked one or two of them. The sheltered and privileged lives lived by most of the characters led to close-mindedness. Yet they thought they were wonderfully settled and clear thinkers. That was probably one of the points of the story. New residents of the town help the long term residents' minds crack open, but not very wide. These transformations require much time, I guess. But do they have to? Is my mind as open as I think it is?

This was a book club read; I'm eager to hear my club members' thoughts. If you read the book, tell me yours as well.

This is my son's friend, all grown up and a good daddy.

Baby Quilts

I have such a pile of tops that are waiting to be completed! I finally decided I need to do some machine quilting and get some of them done. One day I quilted five tops.. all in one day! That is pretty rare for me. I usually don't do more than two in a day. Well, these were small so pretty easy to do while I was on a roll.

Then I got 4 of them bound pretty quickly. Then... screeching halt! I needed to take a break from that and do some creating. I made a house block just for fun:

and the top is made from Lotto blocks I won at Sunshine.

Would you like to join us at Sunshine? We make quilts for kids and send the quilts to two different programs: Wrap a Smile (quilts for kids going through cleft lip/palate surgery around the world) and Quilts Beyond Borders (quilts to underserved children around the world). We do a block Lotto and sometimes have challenges with each other, and we have an all around good time being quilt pals at our list. We recently moved from Yahoo to MeWe. MeWe is similar to Facebook but with NO ads and they never use or sell our information. Here's a link to the MeWe site where you can join us: Sunshine.

Book Review: The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty

The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida
I bought this book at a library sale, just to put into my Little Free Library, but when I got home I started reading it and really enjoyed it. It is written in second person which is unusual, some may find it off-putting. I enjoyed that aspect of it; it adds to the feelings of being involved and "lost" as the main character is.

She takes a vacation to Morocco and right away her backpack is stolen. In the backpack are all her valuables: passport, ID, wallet, cash, and credit cards. She is at a loss as to what to do, and adventures unfold. Since it's told in second person, the reader feels the loss along with her. Clever technique.

Its themes, I guess, are identity - what is it? Who determines it? - and sense of self, belonging, and interacting with others. Interesting book. I'm glad I read it. (The odd title refers to a poem that comes up in the story.)

H2H Challenge Quilts 2018

The Hands to Help challenge has come to an end, and I can't believe it. Time went so fast, I didn't even get myself organized enough to make more than just one for this year, and the one I made was just accidentally made at the right size. I didn't manage to really plan-fully make ANY for this year's challenge. Bummer. But... I am turning in two quilts. How, you make ask?

Well, I did finish the one top just as the challenge was announced, and it was the perfect size. And I got to mail it without quilting it. Yay! Even then it took me at least a month to get organized enough to mail it off. This one went to Victoria's Quilts in Canada, for someone who has cancer.

Then I was wishing I could quickly churn out another one at the very end of the challenge, but that's impossible.. so I am donating this one which a friend made. She made it and gave it to me to donate where I wish. I plan to send this one to Little Lambs for a foster child. (Thanks, Karen.) I will get it in Monday's mail!

Man, working at this rate, I better start organizing myself for next year. Starting now may mean I will get something done just barely in time for the end of next year's challenge! Anyway, it's fun. I always enjoy participating in the H2H challenge and plan to again next year. Will you join us? There are even prizes!

To see other beautiful quilts donated to H2H this year, click here.

Book Review: Radium Girls

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Wow! This non-fiction book was so interesting, and it was so awful. I mean, the injuries and illnesses and agonizing deaths these women endured made for hard reading. And yet, I was intrigued.

Starting in 1917 when radium was a new "miracle agent" they started using it in paint to make clock dials glow in the dark. It was applied by young girls and women in a factory by brush, which they put in their mouths to make the brush tip as thin as possible. The book looks at this history in two locations: Orange, New Jersey and Ottawa, Illinois.

After a while, the women started getting very sick. Horrendous damage was done to their bodies. Guess what the response of the employers was. Yeah, it was aggravating to read that, too. The practice of "tip pointing" by mouth continued for many years, even when the industry should have known better.

This is an important part of our history and led to better protection and safer working conditions for employees. The strength and courage of the women involved was completely amazing. Though the story took place in the USA, this book was written by a Brit. She purposely wrote it in novelized style, through the eyes of the girls and women involved. It's not a dry history at all but is an interesting story that will grab your attention. (And watch for a couple of British phrases that reveal it wasn't written in USA. Made me smile.)

I have been loving reading outdoors during our lovely spring weather.. however, so far I have always been safely in a chair on the ground.

Some Quilt Tops

As usual, I have been making quilt tops and not finishing many of them. I need a staff that will take care of the quilting step for me. Any volunteers? Pay is my thanks and praise.

and some Sunshine Lotto blocks:

Book Review: The Life We Bury

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, a Minnesota author. The story takes place in Minnesota; it's always fun to see familiar place names in a novel. A University of Minnesota student interviews a nursing home resident for his biography assignment in an English class. This book is a mystery, which I don't usually read and enjoy. When I started reading the book, I didn't realize it was a mystery. I enjoyed it quite a bit for the first two-thirds of the book. It was an interesting concept, well told, and I read pretty steadily to see what happens next.

The last third was crazy. The events became far too outlandish. Unbelievable. I was disappointed, and then the ending.. well, I didn't exactly dislike the ending, but I was not satisfied.

Even though it's not the best in the world, I'm glad I read the book. If nothing else, it was entertaining.

April Retreat

Two years in a row I attended a quilt retreat at this beautiful center in Wisconsin. This year's long, snowy winter was still showing its face during the last week of April. The ice was not out in the lake, and most vegetation was not yet green. I am going to show similar shots that I took last year in April, a week earlier than this year's retreat and you can see the difference between the two springs. Last year we were enjoying spring much earlier than this year. But... that's OK, because as of this writing spring has finally arrived, and it's beautiful. Ice is out on the big lakes in this area, days are warm, and tonight we had a thunderstorm... a sure sign of summer approaching.

The main lodge last year and this year:

2017

2018

View of the lake last year and this year:

2017

2018

Here's evidence of late-night fun. "K" was working hard on her tree blocks. We teased her that we were going to borrow some to put in our own quilts. As she went off to bed, she said she expected to see four tree blocks still up on the design wall the next morning. Well.. we knew we could manage that, along with a little embellishment. So we embellished to our heart's content. It kept growing and growing as we giggled. We even made a little "Grand Champion" ribbon for her new quilt. The next morning it was very much fun to see her face when she walked into the sewing room. She got a good laugh, too.

Here's K. pointing out her Grand Champion ribbon.

A couple other projects in the works -- Cousin B with her quilt top and one of mine that I started on the last day and didn't get time to finish. I'll finish it soon.

Book Review: Spilled Milk

Spilled Milk by Chloe Benjamin is a novel based on true events. It's a compelling book about growing up in an abusive household. The young girl who receives the brunt of the abuse tries to protect her siblings by saying nothing. Her strength and intelligence help her survive. A glass of spilled milk at a friend's house opens her eyes to what she has been experiencing.

I liked the ideas she provides to law enforcement and judicial system workers to help put victims at ease in a court setting and what kinds of information is helpful to the victim.