Quilt Show, Fall Splendor of Quilts

I am in a new (to me) quilt guild. This guild has a show every two years; it is always called "Fall Splendor of Quilts." This was the year. It was a great show - so many talented quilters in this group! Here are some examples of the loveliness:

Milky Way by Catherine Stiele

Empire Place by Wendy Anderson

Blooming Nine Patch by Karen Tischer

Amish With a Twist II by Jill Scholtz

Colorwash by Mary Alsop -- our speaker this year was Victoria Findlay Wolfe. She chose this one as her favorite of show.

Luminary by Jane Benik

Words to Live By by Carol Egan (that's me!)

Heart Burst by Lisa Swirtz

Juicy Cactus by Tammy Kaplan

Spring Flowers by Beth Holland

Modern Harlequin by Randi Grover

Canoe Trip by Suzanne Thiesfeld

Optical Illusions by Diane Alsleben

Kira by Beth Holland

I forgot to record who made this one.

by Kathy Dibble

Leaves by Vicki Peterson

New Beginnings by Chris Peterson

Frightful/Delightful by Carol Egan (the weather.. it depicts the high temperature in my city every day in 2016)

Paradox Point by Mary Alsop - I voted for this one for Viewers' Choice, although there were so many that I could easily have voted for.. it was the outstanding quilting that persuaded me to go with this one.

I forgot to record the maker of this quilt.

Rainbow Flight by Connie Dummer

Welcome Home! by Carol Egan

This is the beautiful raffle quilt made by the guild. This is moments before the drawing of the winner's name. The name is about to be drawn out of that big bag full of blue ticket stubs. It was won by someone whose name I did not recognize and who lives in a small town north of the Twin Cities... she is not one of my friends who bought tickets. Sorry, friends. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of Victoria Findlay Wolfe's quilts shown during her lecture, and maybe a couple pics from the class I will be taking from her as well.

Bye-Bye, Quilt Tops!

I have had fun boxing up quilt tops to send to QBB, Quilts Beyond Borders. They have arrangements with long-arm quilters who volunteer to quilt, so those of us who are better toppers than quilters have a nice way to get our quilts done and donated. I love it!

Today I boxed up these eight tops:

This is a shop sample that I purchased. The blue fabric is cute helicopters.

I made this one, and I must admit, it is one of my faves in this bunch.

These two are Omaha tops, made from leftovers from a retreat in Omaha and from newer editions of the block made to extend the leftovers.

This one is made by me, made from the same Omaha block pattern that is in the above two quilts. The close up shows you the truck fabric I used (and ran out of).

made by me; not one of my faves but I guess it works

I purchased this, I think at a guild fund raiser. I didn't realize at the time that it is all hand-pieced! Something I would never do.

I made this from someone's leftovers which I purchased at the same guild fundraiser mentioned above.

I sent the following completed quilts to QBB:

and the following completed quilts went to Wrap a Smile (WAS):

Yes, I do sometimes complete quilts on my own. Plus, my local friend, Nanette, has helped with some quilting so I just have to bind them and send them off. It takes a village, you know!

Book Review: Pachinko

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

This story begins in Korea in 1910. Japan invades Korea. The main characters' lives become even more difficult than their peasant lives had been. Some of them decide to go to Japan to join a brother there.. with the hopes of some day soon returning to Korea. They stay through economic struggles, WWII, war in Korea and the division of the Korean peninsula.

This historical fiction was written over a 20 year time span. The author had this story as a spark in her mind. At one point she had it completely written, until she moved to Japan and interviewed many people who had lived the story. She then started anew and wrote it again. This book was a National Book Award finalist.

The story follows this family through several generations. Japan is suspicious of Koreans and does not welcome them warmly to Japan. I was surprised to see how long this attitude continued right up to modern times. Even the story of Korean-Japanese immigrants is not told and is not well known to this day. Hence this book is an important part of the story-telling that is necessary.

The family goes through experiences one can expect: births, deaths, relationship difficulties, marriages, inter-cultural tensions. I wanted a way to explain what was meaningful to me, but the words of the author herself say it best:

"...many ordinary people resist the indignities of life and history with grace and conviction by taking care of their families, friends, neighbors, and communities while striving for their individual goals. We cannot help but be interested in the stories of people that history pushes aside so thoughtlessly."

An excellent book to which I give 4 or perhaps 4.5 stars. Apparently it is a long book, 500 pages, but some people read it in one sitting. I read it on my Kindle in just a couple of days, and was not aware of how long it is.

My Messy Stash

I have seen some quilters' stash photos and am puzzled at how they keep it so neat. (Diva? Can you explain?) Maybe they only take pictures after a huge cleaning episode.

Well, here is my stash on a normal day. This is most of it; I also have some big pieces and WIPs in bins and some piled disrespectfully on my cutting board.

In fact, I will bare it all here and show you the current state of my cutting mat, too.

This is the look of creativity!

Book Review: Reckoning

Reckoning by Magda Szubanski

I stumbled upon this book in an odd way, by watching something on Netflix in which this author had a bit part, and somehow I ended up reading about her and her life and work and thereby discovered this book.

She is a well-known comedian and actor in Australia. She describes her growing up years, struggling to understand her family and her life. Her father is from Poland and lived quite a violent life through the ghetto wars in Warsaw during WWII. That legacy leaves Magda with questions that she works through over many years.

Honestly, I found the first part of this book a little boring, but it vastly improved in the last third or so and became quite moving.

Quilts to Syrian Refugees

More of my quilts that went to refugees in need:

I made this top in memory of my mom after she died in 2016. Kathleen R. quilted it for me, and it has recently been delivered to a refugee from Syria. Mom would like that. (Log cabin was my mom's favorite block pattern.)

Moira sent me fabric, and I made as many blocks as I could; returned them to her, and she made this quilt which was then quilted by Kathleen R. It takes a village!

Book Review: Norwegian by Night

Norwegian by Night by Derek Miller

An American octogenarian and recent widower moves to Norway to live with his grand-daughter and her Norwegian husband. They think he has dementia, and it does appear that he's a little odd, but the reader will never know for sure if it's dementia or just lack of understanding between generations. He has a lot of clear (and muddled) thoughts which didn't seem consistent with dementia, but... I admit an ignorance about what inner life is like for a person with dementia.

There's a murder, an escape, a police chase all of which are quite interesting and not too thriller-ish, for which I was thankful. I don't usually enjoy mysteries and murders, but I loved this book. The old gentleman is pondering his years, especially the time he spent fighting in the Korean war. And he mourns his son who died in Vietnam. There are so many family and life issues in this book, adjustment to a new home, relationships and unknowns, plus it is quite captivating just to follow all that happens. I can give this book a strong recommendation.

This quilt of mine has recently arrived in Guatemala and was donated to a child there.

Book Review: Captured

The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier by Scott Zesch

This book, "The Captured" by Scott Zesch, was listed in the bibliography of "News of the World" by Paulette Jiles. Jiles cites it as a well-researched book which greatly influenced her own writing of "News of the World." I was intrigued, so I decided to read "The Captured" as well. The author himself is a descendant of a "weird great-uncle" in the family who was abducted and held for almost three years. The great-uncle was never able to readjust to white culture and remained aloof and unhappy for the rest of his life. Wanting to learn more about a little-known family story, Zesch is inspired to write the book.

Zesch follows the lives of nine children in Texas (including his great-uncle) who were abducted by Comanche and Apache Indians in the 1800s. The children stayed with the tribes for varying lengths of time, from six months to 12 years, before being reunited with their families of origin.

Zesch does an excellent job of telling the story from as many perspectives as he can reliably research and document. Almost to a person, the former captives (called white Indians) cherished their times with the Indians and kept some of the culture with them until their death. This was true even of children who were held captive for less than one year. Their re-insertion back into white culture was difficult; for some it was impossible.

The book is a fascinating read and a well-told true story of a unique chapter in American history.

More of My Quilts Sent Out to Serve

Wheeee! It's so exciting to see my quilts actually being sent away to help people. This latest batch was sent from QBB (Quilts Beyond Borders) to a place in Texas called The Door. It's for women and children who are recovering from abusive situations. I am happy to have my quilts help in these sad yet hopeful situations.

Here's one of mine that was sent. It took about a year from when I made this quilt to now, seeing it in the "these were sent to TX" display.

Here is a full picture of it:

Here are two more made and quilted by me. The blocks in these two were made by several members of Sunshine, and I assembled and quilted.

Here are full pictures of these two quilts:

Go, quilts, go! I hope whoever received each quilt loves cuddling up and feeling a little more secure.

Book Review: The 5 Love Languages

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman

Next week Hubby and I will celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary. So it is not a surprise that at first, while reading this book, I felt it was rather basic and that I wasn't learning anything new. We have made our marriage work and are very happy. I guess we figured out the Love Languages thing over the years. In fact, the years keep getting better. We are doing something right.

When I neared the end of the book, I realized I was learning some new ideas and ways we could improve our marriage. Even a good marriage can be improved. So I read all the way to the end, and I took the little quiz for wives that indicated which love languages are my primary and secondary. I had already correctly guessed them. I am currently waiting for my husband to take the husband quiz and to see what his languages are. We both think we know how his answers will be revealed as well. It will be fun to see if we are correct.

While this book was not a big eye-opener for us, I think it is quite a helpful approach to all kinds of relationships and has the potential of being very eye-opening for those who need the help. One can learn something new about how to get along with one's spouse, children, friends, and neighbors. It's a common sense and very helpful approach to every day but potentially traumatic relationships. (Since writing this book Chapman also wrote The Five Love Languages for Children, Love Languages for Singles, and there is a special "for men" edition as well as a military edition.)

Book Review:

Book: I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck

Nina's husband suddenly dies. The rest of her book is her memories of their courtship, marriage, birth and rearing of their daughter. The language is beautiful. It moves at a slow pace which sometimes had me wishing something more would happen, but it is thoughtful and honest about a marriage relationship. Nina seems to have struggled with self-esteem throughout the marriage, for example, and keeps looking for signs of infidelity on his part. In fact, one of them does briefly have an affair. I don't think Nina ever accepted his undying love for her; she couldn't quite believe it, I think, until he had died. The ending lines are just beautiful.

Minnesota Politics - the Primary

I voted in the primary election, and attended an election party. I'm so proud of Minnesota - we had huge turnout for the primary, and blew all the other states out of the water with our attendance.

The person I voted for for the governor candidate position did not win, but I'm still so proud of her. One of these days we will have a woman governor. And I will be happy to vote for the person (a guy) who did win the candidate position. Crossing my fingers for "my" guy to win, because the other one is a Trump puppet. We do NOT need that in Minnesota!

Minnesota leads the nation again in that we have a Somali-American woman running for Congress (first in the nation), and she is in a district that nearly always votes her party, so she's likely to win. We also, in the past, elected the first Muslim member of Congress (he is currently running for Minnesota Attorney General), and in Minnesota legislature in past years, we elected the nation's first Hmong-American member of the House (a woman). I love our record of leading the nation in these ways.

The election party was fun, even though disappointing that our first choice did not win. I got my tiny brush with fame. Here is my photo gallery:

great-niece came from 150 miles away - she voted for the first time ever

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III - watch for him; he is surely a rising star -- very impressive

Keith Ellison, current member of Congress, running for MN Attorney General - I shook his hand

Erin Murphy - she is so impressive! I'm sad she did not win.

I think I was out too late and had too much excitement for someone my age. I was so tired today, I took two naps!