Our Son Returned

Our son, who has been working in South Korea for four years, has returned home to stay! We are so happy! During those four years, I kept thinking we should go to Korea and visit, but we never managed to do so. We did send our daughter there for Christmas a year ago. I guess that's the best we could manage.

He flew home on Friday, March 1. Here he is at the airport.

He was shocked (and disgusted) at how much snow we have here. Where he came from in Korea the weather was just turning nicer and had gotten up to about 50 degrees F. Here it is still the depths of winter. We have soooo much snow. It is kind of unbelievable. The snow piles are so high, it is hard to shovel and get the snow up over the piles; it's that high. And this week has been cold... below zero at night and single digit day time highs (F). Well, it will warm up a bit next week, and spring will eventually come. It always does.

Here he is showing the amazing amount of snow. The piles in our front yard are huge (he is 6'2" tall)!

Book Review: Girl at War

Beautifully written, compelling story about a young girl who is about 10 years old when the wars break out in the former Yugoslavia. Ana continues her life; being innocent and somewhat sheltered from the details of the war, she continues going to school and doesn't realize the magnitude of what is happening until it hits very close to home.

Later, as a young adult, she needs to process her memories and trauma to get on with adulthood. This whole process is quite touching and dramatic. The story is excellently told by an author who has Croatian ancestry and did plenty of research to get her facts straight. While it is not autobiographical, it is a piece of fiction that accurately describes the events that took place during those difficult years. I highly recommend this fine, thought-provoking book.

Everyone's reading! Are you?

A Win at the Library!

This year I joined an adult Winter Reads program at my local county library. It only runs for two months (January and February), and it even ends before the month of Feb. ends, so I am not able to enter my final February book review (see previous post). I guess that's OK. It was a bad review, and I feel bad posting a negative one, although I do like to be honest. I only posted three reviews, because the book I read in January was over 700 pages long and took me the whole month to read. Well, I will join again next year and will maybe read a lot of short books in January and February.

As a member of the Winter Reads program I was eligible to win a prize, and I won! I thought I'd get something like a mug. I was right! I won a mug! However, it was full of pens, pencils, a Caribou Coffee gift card, and an ice scraper. AND.. drum roll.. I got to pick five books off a packed book cart - FREE! Oh, I was so excited! I got some great ones. Here is a picture of my wonderful prize.

Enough talking! I'm going to go read!

Book Review: Emily, Alone

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan

This is #2 in a series. I did not read any of the others. Based on this one, I would not go out of my way to read the others. This one was boring.

It's the story of a widow, Emily, and her life alone, missing her husband, and going about her daily routines. She is getting on in years and mostly thinks a lot about her life, her late husband, her children, her future which will probably be short. Some of it, as a senior citizen, I could relate to. I do contemplate some of the same things Emily does. However, the chapters felt like lists to me.. old people think about these things. Old people do these things. Old people spend a lot of time alone. Old people wonder about x, y and z. Ho Hum.

I didn't mind that basically nothing happens. I don't demand fast action plots. I have read quiet books which I have loved. In this book I would have enjoyed more depth. Spend your time wisely by reading something else.

Blocks!

I made these blocks for the March Lotto at Sunshine:

And I put this top together from blocks made by the members of my small group, Loose Threads. We had a challenge and exchanged blocks. I also used a printed/paint block (that middle planet-looking one) made by another friend; I bought it quite a while ago.. I'm not sure how to describe the method she used. Putting this together was a fun challenge.

[Later: found out it's called a gelatin print]

Quilts!

Our niece is going to have a baby in April. I made this quilt at the very last minute to give to her (them) at the baby shower. I had to bring it back home to finish a bit more of the quilting and to get the binding on. I did get it done, so its next job will be to cuddle the future Little One.

Now it's really done.

Here are some quilts and tops I finished for Sunshine recently. Four are for Quilts Beyond Borders and one is for Wrap a Smile. Those are the two programs that Sunshine officially supports. If you want to know more, ask, and I'll tell you about these fine programs.

Book Review: The Missing One

The Missing One by Lucy Atkins

After being estranged from her mother for quite some time, a young woman is shocked when her mother dies. She goes on a search for answers to her lifelong questions about her mother's past. Their relationship had been rocky, and she wants to know why. As she goes on her quest, she begins to unravel some mysteries and secrets.. the book becomes a very gripping page-turner.

I really enjoyed reading such a captivating book. I could hardly put it down, especially the last half. It's not the type of book I usually read, but this one was well done and worth the time it took to read all 440 pages.

We are getting lots of snow -- great reading weather!

Another Find from MIL

When cleaning out my mother-in-law's home, this old apron was found. This is my daughter when she was about eight (that would be 30 years ago)! I had forgotten all about the apron. Isn't it cute?! Obviously, Grandma used the apron; it has splatters all over it. I'm not sure if I try to wash it what would happen to the computerized photo. After all, it was created 30 years ago, and who knows how wash-proof it may be!? Does anyone have any ideas before I experiment?

I wasn't intending to use the apron myself but to give it to my daughter. I will still do that, but today, since it is snowing and snowing and snowing (again), I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. And I wore the apron.

After I think about how to clean it, I will give it to my daughter.

Rainbow Scraps: Yellow

The second month of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is Yellow. I made only one block so far. I don't have many yellow scraps and am even low on yellow in my stash. I might make one more, but that will come later in the month, if at all.

Edit on 2/15/19.. I did find more yellow and made two more blocks

You can see other yellow blocks made for the month here.

Book Review: The One I Was

The One I Was by Eliza Graham

A woman returns to her childhood home to nurse an elderly, dying man who was the home's next owner. They each have pasts which haunt them, secrets they had tried to keep hidden. There is also some mental illness, some war trauma, and some regular old tough/happy life in this story. Well told, with interesting twists and turns (some I guessed, others I didn't).

It's a book that explores the effect secrets can have on one's personality and life choices. I found it very interesting; read it in a day and a half. Four stars instead of five because of a couple minor things that might be a bit far-fetched, but overall it's well written and compelling.

Book Review: The Gilded Hour

Finally, a book review! This long book took me the whole month to read! The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati


New York City, 1883. Two women are doctors, one of them is a surgeon! They also are free-thinking, strong, independent women - way ahead of their time. It was refreshing to read about women not bowing to the mores of the time: be submissive and fashionable and aspire only to marriage and motherhood. These women dress comfortably, eschewing corsets, and believe in the power of women. They practice among the poor of the city. The reader will get a good look at a New York much different from today's. It's teeming with tenements, poor and homeless people, orphans, news boys, garbage strewn along the streets, street cars and horse-drawn carriages. The only thing that is similar to today is chaotic traffic.

There is illness, death, romance, intrigue, and lots of social issues one could discuss from now 'til the cows come home. This historical fiction was well-researched. Some of the story line is an imagined life of the author's own ancestors whose real story no one knows.

This book is long - 750 pages! (I feel like I should get credit for having read at least three books.) It took me a whole month to read it! The best of it came in the last 200 pages; that is when I was captivated and couldn't put it down. A sequel is being written.

Welcome Back, Old Quilts

The family has started sorting through MIL's possessions, and I got back the three quilts I had made for her.

I think this is only the 2nd quilt I ever made, back in 2000. I hand quilted it. This was the quilt that taught me the importance of squaring up the pieces. I really struggled to get the parts sewn together and was so puzzled by that! (I finally learned about squaring up after this quilt was finished.) So I remember it being a frustrating process. Now looking at it, it seems not so bad, for all the struggles I remember having.

My in-laws lived in Florida at the time, and they liked using that first quilt on their laps when knees got cold while watching TV in the air conditioning. I was told they "fight over it" for knee-warming. Music to a quilter's ears, right?? So I made them another one in 2001. This is also hand-quilted. They now had a quilt for each set of knees.

Ten years later, 2011, my in-laws had moved back to Minnesota; I noticed their sofa was a burgundy color. I had these fabrics on hand and decided they would go well with their couch. So it got made in time for their 61st wedding anniversary. By that time I had stopped hand quilting and had a machine quilter who was my go-to helper, Diane. Either Diane or a friend of hers developed this quilting pattern specifically for this quilt. I felt kinda proud about that. Photos of this quilt appeared in her book of patterns that she showed her customers. The quilt lived on my in-laws couch until now, when they have both passed away, and the quilts cam back to me.

This quilt looks nice with one of our living room chairs. Last night my hubby took a nap under it. I was pleased about that, as he hasn't been much of a quilt-user over the years. Of course, when it's -30 degrees F. outside, anyone can appreciate snuggling under a quilt, I suppose.

Farewell, MIL

Yesterday my mother-in-law died. She had a stroke and hung on for about a week. She was 89, leaving behind her five adult children, 8 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren (another one due in April). She had been so resilient over many years, surviving serious conditions that we had expected to do her in long before this. What a tough lady!

It was a blessing that many of her family members could be with her in her final days. My children now have lost all four of their grandparents. It's sad, but they were lucky to have known all four of them into adulthood.

My husband has been so sweet to his mother. He has had his weepy moments but is overall doing OK.

Try not to take your loved ones for granted! (This advice is mostly for me.)

my MIL on left, age 2, with her sister, age 5. Sister preceded her in death.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

I am finally actually doing the RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) which I have loosely followed for years but never joined in until now. These are my January blocks. January's color was RED. I didn't know there was a Saturday link-up, so I'm late. I'll get the hang of it pretty soon. Check out the other RED blocks and projects here: RSC Scrap Happy Saturday.

Not a Lot So Far

I am reading... but my book is 750 pages long! So I don't have a book review ready yet this month. And I am sewing... but I don't have many finishes to show. I can show you a few works in progress, though.

from top: January Lotto blocks for Sunshine, crumb blocks I made on a new $5 machine that my husband repaired.. I was testing it, and it works great now.

from top: my husband knit these gray mittens for Bonus (our Bonus grandson). They're so cute! Then it's a pile of finished quilts, made by huge collaboration of many piecers, assemblers, quilters, and binders. They're ready to send off to Quilts Beyond Borders and Wrap a Smile. Last, I think this is my first finished quilt in 2019. You'll be seeing a lot of pink for a while. I'm trying to use up my pink stash as it's not my favorite color.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

This year I am going to participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I have been meaning to do this for years.. just never got my act together. Plus, I thought it was more complicated than it is. Just make blocks of your own choosing, using the color she announces for each month. The idea is to "use up" your scraps. We all know how impossible that is, but it's a good goal anyway.

I put a button in my sidebar. When you get to her blog, click on the RSC19 tab for the explanation.

January's color is RED! Let's get busy using up our scraps (or at least attempting to make a dent in them).

Here's a picture of her Sampler made in 2018 from her monthly scrap blocks.

One year she did a rainbow Dear Jane! I'm not going to get this complicated. I don't know my plan yet, but it will be simple.

Quilts in 2018

I like to keep track of how many quilts I make per year. It's not a precise science, because sometimes I make a top in one year, and then I finish it in another year, so that one gets counted twice. But that's OK for my not-accountable-to-anyone-but-me list. Here goes:

quilts for me: 8
quilts for guild projects or other quilt drives (such as H2H): 15
quilts for friends: 4
quilted bags: 3
to Quilts Beyond Borders: 40
to Wrap a Smile: 21

Total: 91 !!?? That surprises me. I didn't know it was so high! I do find it easy to churn out a lot of tops for QBB and WAS. Another easy project is baby quilts for a Baby Box project through my guild. And churning them out is so much fun! In 2019 I am going to try to even out my donations to QBB and to WAS.

Blocks:
blocks for Sunshine Lotto: 103
blocks for Covered in Love: 10
heart blocks for friends: 7
other: 24
Total: 144 (gross)

Pictured: a sample of some of my 2018 finishes. (The first one and is a group effort..not all done just by me.)

May you have a happy and productive 2019!

Our Little Tree

Over the years we have had a wide variety of Christmas tree types in our home. For years we used only real trees. In the last ten years or so we have switched to artificial. In "old age" these are so much easier to deal with! Also I like them small so they don't take up so much space, which is at a premium in our living room.

This tree is only a couple of years old. Even artificial ones start to look bedraggled and need to be replaced. The white lights are already attached, then I added the colored lights. I prefer a tree with multitudes of colors. Which sort of person are you: white lights only, one-color only, multiple-colored lights only, or as one news anchor recently announced: colored lights are for outside and white-only lights are for inside?

The decorations we hang on the tree are the most fun part, because there are so many memories associated with them. Way back when we were first married, we had a potted tree (I can't think of its type). It was tiny and weak so could only hold very light-weight ornaments. Some of those we still use are from that shopping trip where I bought the lightest weight ornaments I could find. A few ornaments are from different trips I took to Indian reservations and once to an Alaskan Federation of Natives conference. So I have some "Eskimo boots made by a Tlingit woman" as they were described to me. Tlingit is the tribe from which my husband is descended. The woman who made these married an Eskimo man, so she is familiar with the boots/moccasins of both traditions. I also have a baby wrapped up in a cradle (bought from a Minnesota Ojibwe woman) that could hang in a tree branch.. again, I can't remember the real name for this thing. I must be getting old.

Some are made in Russia. Some are made in Laos. I have some from Czech Republic, but they aren't on my tree this year. I love having ornaments from around the world. Last March when daughter and I visited the UK, I bought an ornament that says "Mind the Gap" but now I can't find it! Frustrating. But I do have a little plaid reindeer that I bought in Scotland.

I have a few ornaments that are sewing and quilting related - some were gifts from my daughter. One is a knitted hat and mittens that our neighbor from way back (about 35 years ago) made. Daughter and I went to visit, and she let us pick any ornament we wanted off her tree. Wasn't that nice of her? We picked the hat and mittens.

Anyway, the memories are fun, and I'm getting old enough now that I feel nostalgic about these old things. I now have a few decorations that I inherited from my mother, so those have even older memories associated with them. At Christmas time I miss my mom.

I hope, if you celebrate Christmas, you will have fun remembering old times and cherishing the new memories you will make this week.

Little Hummel pieces that I inherited from my mom. These are probably older than I am.

Book Review: The Foundling

The Foundling by Paul Joseph Fronczak -- a memoir

In April 1964, in a hospital in Chicago, a "nurse" takes a newborn baby from his mother's arms, and he is never seen again. The nurse wasn't really a nurse, of course. She left the hospital with the baby, a kidnapping that is still unsolved to this day. Two years later a young boy is found abandoned, and it is determined that he might be the kidnapped child. He is returned to the grieving parents who adopt him and raise him as their own. The boy is raised with the kidnapped child's name and birthdate. These were the days before DNA testing was a known thing.

Many years later Paul Fronczak, realizing he is really not the kidnapped child, begins a long search for the truth about his identity. Most of this book is his search, the long process of finding relatives, learning family secrets, collecting DNA, waiting for test results, trying to eke stories from people he meets along the way in order to get the answers he seeks.

This was an interesting book that I read quickly, wanting to know what happens next. You can Google the author and learn more of his story. It is quite strange and fascinating. Families can have some deep, dark secrets, and very odd things can happen to the children trapped in these mysteries.

An interesting side issue.. I kept wondering how his mostly unknown first two years of life affected his personality as an adult. He does discuss this somewhat and theorizes about why he exhibits certain personality traits. I would like to know more about the phenomenon of adoption, abandonment, trauma, and how those things shape a person, even if the person cannot remember any of it. This fascinates me.

Book Review: The Choice

The Choice by Edith Eger

This memoir is the story of Eger's childhood in Hungary, her survival in Auschwitz, and her life afterwards, working hard on healing and forgiving. She moves to America and becomes a psychologist. She is helped along the way by various friends, teachers, authors, and her own patients.

If you have read a few Holocaust survivor books, this one contains not much new, except that she is very explicit about the steps one should take in the healing process and how to forgive oneself for surviving, as well as to forgive those who hurt you.

It was an interesting book, yet I feel it could have been a bit shorter, with a little less hammering away at how to heal. I feel bad saying it, but I got a little bored by the end.

Merry Christmas!