Books, Blocks, a Black Cloud

I have been reading Ahab's Wife. It is taking me forever! I'm enjoying it, but I have other books I want to read. This one is over 600 pages long. I'm finally nearing page 500, so I should finish it soon. What a long haul this has been! I mean... with so many other books waiting in line, it is frustrating to devote this much time to one book! Good thing I'm enjoying it, though I'm not putting it on my list of favorites.

Yesterday I finished Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. I love this book! I love Anne Lamott! She is preciously flawed and open, honest, and always struggling, just like everyone else. Even though she found Christianity, it never gets super easy for her. She just keeps plugging along, holding onto her faith, and trying to make good decisions. Just like the rest of us. I love her books for that reason... she's so normal and isn't afraid to admit it.



I made a few quilt blocks, some were more successful than others. The process is fun, even if each block is not a masterpiece.

I've been struggling with my old bug-a-boo, depression, again. It's not bad, not serious. I just have this little black cloud hovering over me lately. I need a good high pressure front to come swooping in from Canada and blow that cloud away. It'll happen (eventually).... just like Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually)!

MN Quilt Show Photos, 2

Round 2 of 2011 MQ Show... enjoy!











made and beautifully quilted by a friend of BrendLou's (Madge?)





patterned after the photo in the bottom right corner





You have seen this quilt before! It was made by a woman in my guild, and it hung in our local guild show in February of this year. I am posting it again, because it was fun to see a lot of people gazing upon it.



































these last quilts are by the Quilter of the Year, Marcia Stevens







this one celebrates her trip to New Zealand

MN Quilt Show Photos, 1

Here you go -- some of the very gorgeous and amazing quilts posted at the 2011 Minnesota Quilt Show in Saint Paul, Minnesota -- this year I was particularly amazed at the beautiful, fine piecing, and the tiny and intricate quilting. There was also a lot of 3-D and textural stuff. Very interesting and beautiful!

I'll post more in the next day or two. Sorry I don't have names to go with the quilts. One of these years I'll get organized and record what I'm looking at.

























This one is called something like "Mosquito's Eye View of the City"













This small quilt includes some 3-D and some tiny quilting



This small quilt is a reproduction of a bed-size quilt. It's really small! Can you see the size of the safety pin? That gives you an idea of how small this quilt is.







This is a 3-D portion; I could have put my fingers inside the circular part of the flower, but, of course, touching it is not allowed.