Still Sewing; Slow at Blogging

Lately I have found it much easier to sit down and write a quick book review than it is to post pictures and chat about my quilting. So the quilting portion of this blog has definitely been AWOL for a while. Here are some projects to catch you up to what I have been doing.

October Lotto blocks for Sunshine - theme was "Sunshine"
November Lotto blocks for Sunshine - theme was "fall colors"

December Lotto blocks for Sunshine - theme is "pot luck" which means we can use any pattern and fabrics we desire. During the year I save extras that are not currently useable and I send them in for December, and I also have fun creating a few special blocks just for December. This year I made that fun purple/red block while on a retreat. That block would be cute set on point with a bunch of others of the same pattern. Maybe some day I'll do that.

a small quilt for a house project - going to people who are transitioning out of homelessness into a permanent home. I had this block already made, enlarged it to the specified size, quilted it and mailed it off. The deadline is soon, so I had to hurry.

a Round Robin quilt made with members of Sunshine. I recently got this done and quilted; it will soon be on its way to Quilts Beyond Borders (QBB).

I went on a retreat. There were only 7 of us altogether. It was a nice, small group making it easy to converse together and share laughs. Of the seven, these 4 are members of Sunshine, so we had our photo taken to post at Sunshine.

Two projects I worked on while at the retreat. The blue quilt is for me to keep, and the other (now all sewn together, but pictured here in pieces) will be for Wrap a Smile (WAS).

two tops I made randomly - a friend made the batik blocks and gave them to me, and I added the arrow. This one will probably go to QBB. The smaller one I made from scraps. This will probably go to WAS.

Sewing is still happening! Maybe I'll post more frequently again (maybe??)

Two Book Reviews

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

I loved the beginning of this book. It started off strong, but from there it gradually slipped downhill. It had such an interesting premise and could have been quite thoughtful. Sadly, it didn't meet its potential. The characters were not likeable; they all did things I didn't understand and/or appreciate. By the end, I was glad it finally ended. Too bad a great start to an interesting story just fell flat. Big disappointment.


Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester

The setting is Peru where an unstable, corrupt government makes upheaval very common. Andres and his wife Marabela are not sure if they will stay married. They are both, rather independently, working this out in their minds when she is suddenly kidnapped. The story unfolds from there as he fearfully waits for ransom messages and works out how to respond. Ultimately this book is not just a story of the kidnapping, but is a story of their marriage. As I stated above, they work things out independently, not a characteristic of a strong marriage. In their separate quests for happiness, are they simply "chasing the sun?"

This book is beautifully written. Even if one feels no particular empathy for either of the characters, the beautiful writing makes it an easy-to-stick-with book and very interesting.