my beatles quilt top is finally done

I've been working on this quilt top off and on since 2009, when I was still a new quilter.  I had struggled with a couple of quilts that had 1/2 square triangles and biases, etc.  so I chose this pattern so I would only be working with squares and rectangles. The block pattern (from the July 09 Fons & Porter mag) also reminded me of a light box work of art that a classmate had made when I was a freshman at TCU in the late 60s (Charley Varner).   the inspiration was a selection of Beatles fabrics that Cranston offered.  I selected primary colored tie-dyed batiks to go along with the Beatles fabrics. 
Then I got side tracked with family things, and somewhere along the way I got the crazy idea to have some of the squares in the block represent Beatles song titles.  Then began a quest for novelty fabrics to represent song titles, and some of them I made word puzzles (or a "rebus").  There are now about 50 song or album titles represented in the quilt , which the Beatles or a Beatle either composed and/or sang. 
The quilt is at the long arm quilter now, and it will be entered in the Quilt Guild of Dallas quilt show in March. 

best books of 2012

I have 11 best books I read this year (out of 53). No particular order.
1. The Art of Fielding
2. Lamentations of the Father, short stories by Ian Frazier, particularly the title story
3. Game of Thrones
4. The Keeper of Lost Causes (Danish noir mystery)
5. When Will It Get Better, Kate Atkinson.  British mystery
6. Unbroken. biography of WWII survivor . by L. Hillenbrand
7. The City & the City.  dystopic sci fi, China Mieville
8. Bring Up the Bodies. part 2 of the Hilary Mantel Cromwell novels
9. When I Stop Talking You'll KNow I'm Dead.  Jerry Wintraub.  Show business agent autobiography
10. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
11. Emperor of All Maladies.  History & survey of cancers & their treatment.

I also listened on audio CD to William Shatner's "Shatner Rules"  A fun list.  First rule: say yes. 

Patriot star quilt top

The second photo below is the assembled quilt top of patriotic stars that were the result of a Block of the Month program at the Dallas quilt shop, Quilters Connection.  I used different background than the designer recommended, and I changed some of the fabrics and designs.  The twelve star blocks were interesting each month, but the challenge was all the red diamonds and sashing blocks--there are 48!  I have purchased dark blue fabric for the backing, but it is currently hiding among all my other stash in my sewing room.  I think my husband wants this quilt.  It's almost a queen size.

update on grandmother's flower garden

I took the process pledge last year, so I think I need to upload some recent progress on my 45+ grandmother's flower garden hexagons. I have spent the past year hand piecing the outer green borders on these, and I am down to the last four flowers. I may have to add some half flowers at the top and bottom of the quilt, but this baby has been in process almost 3 years, so it may be as big as it's going to get. (I was hoping it would be a queen, but I think it is probably more of a double size. These flowers are currently just thrown down randomly, so I haven't figured out a color arrangement or the exact final shape of the quilt (whether it will be a little wider than long?)

I-Spy qult for my great nephew

Thes are shots of my latest I-spy quilt for my great-nephew who lives in New York City but whose lucky parents also have a home in Long Island. So the back has pictures of ships and semaphore flags and boat-y things. This is my second I-spy (pictures of the first "disappearing 9 patch" are also deep in this blog), and I expermented with picture-frame sashing and some little color groupings. I've been trying to do a backing with interest of its own so that when the child is older the reverse of the quilt won't be too babyish.
Nice quilting by Maria Davis.
This quilt had another new technique for me: I did mitered borders.

Best books of 2011

I read (or listened to the audiobook version) 57 books in 2011. Here's my list of the top 10, particularly of literary fiction (I'll get to my junk reading later):
1. Room by Emma Donoghue
2. State of Wonder by Anne Patchett
3. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
4. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
5. Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantell
6. The Imperfectionists by Rachmann
7. Great House by Allison Krauss
8. How to Life Safely in a Science Fiction World by Wu
9. Parrott & Olivier in America by Carey
10. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

I also read the following classics, and they don't fit into a top 10 list
Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (the generation gap in 1860's Russia).
The Brothers Dostoevsky by Fyodor Dostoevsky
(I had read this in high school but evidently forgotten all of it; it is still a fiction masterpiece but really sprawls in its "form". Wild mixture of psychological analysis of character, soap opera love triangles, religious and philosophical arguments and debates, and a law and order type murder investigation and trial. )

I read but was not a fan of or disappointed in Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, Foreign Bodies by C. Ozzick, Remember Ben Clayton, and Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

I don't read as much non-fiction but did enjoy the following:
1. The Big Short by Michael Lewis
2. The Checklist Manifesto by Gawade
4. The Pacific (audio book version of HBO miniseries)
5. The Talent Code
6. Manhunt (about Lincoln's assassination)
7. Bossypants by Tina Fey
8. When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
9. Naked by David Sedaris
Now, my junk authors:

I still love my John Sandford, both for Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers ("that f.... Flowers"), and enjoyed the following this year:
Rough Country, Buried Prey, Bad Blood
I've started reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels (the ultimate "have gun will travel" tough guy):
Worth Dying For, One Shot, 61 Hours
I also like the Ridley Pearson mysteries set in Sun Valley, Idaho, including Killer Summer
Connelly's The Closers and
Echo Park (LA cop)

I also read several of H.C. Beaton's Seamus McBeth Scottish mysteries, Death of a Bore, Death of Glutton, Death of a Gentle Lady, but they begin to get formulaic.
Also Nevada Barr's Burn was not up to her usual standard.
(Too many books with child abuse themes this year).

The book I most hated was Robin Cook's Intervention, which made all of the following professions look bad, and was probably incorrect on the technical aspects of each field: archaeology, Catholic priests, Gnostic gospels, the Apostle Peter, medical examiners, monks, chiropracters, alternative medicine,etc.
Awful....

3quilts to long armer

Last week I took 3 quilt tops to Maria, my long-armer, so I'm hopeful to have completed projects before Christmas! 1 for me, one as a gift for a family member, and one a gift for a pay-it-forward pledge!