1. Complete baby quilt for Elin
2. Complete quilting on Halloween wall quilt
3. complete sleeves and labels for 2 quilts for March quilt show
4. Dr. Who mini quilt to donate to Dallas Quilt Show auction
5.. complete quilt as you go Westalee quilt
6. Bonnie Hunter Frolic mystery quilt
7. create design for Tropical rain forest blocks; assemble & piece quilt; arrange for quilting
8. create design for Hat Shop blocks; assemble & piece quilt; arrange for quilting
9. yellow green orange UFO star sampler quilt - complete remaining 8 blocks, etc.
10. black & white thicket quilt
11. vintage applique children's quilt - decide on layout & fabrics; piece, etc.
12. various non-quilting sewing projects for new granddaughters
13. make a fabric purse
14. turtle mosaic mini quilt
15. Lori Holt vintage Christma quilt
16. fall fabric quilt (use some brown!)
17. downsize my quilt book collection by 10%
18. donate some stash at next quilt retreat to the 'share' table
19. design a quilt for remaining "terms of endearment" blocks
20. French general quilt
Monday, December 30, 2019
My 2019 best reads
President Obama published his 2019 list of books yesterday, and I have read a few on his list, but his selections will go on my wish list for 2020.
I have organized my 2019 top 10 reads in 4 categories: literary fiction, nonfiction, mystery, and classics I have should have read long ago!
A. Literary fiction
1. The Overstory, Richard Powers
2. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
3. There, There, Tommy Orange
4. Eleanor Oliphant is Fine
5. An American Marriage
6. Sacre Blue, Christopher Moore
7. In Sunlight and in Shadow, M. Halprin (post WW2 love story set in NYC).
8. The Song of Achilles
9. Washington Black
10. Before We Were Yours
11. Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, Bird
12. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, Fannie Flagg
B. Nonfiction
1. Becoming, Michelle Obama (her childhood memories and her legal career balancing with a marriage and children coincided with the time periods of my childhood and legal practice, so I found it fascinating over and above the Presidential history aspects)
2. An Odyssey: A Father, a Son and an Empire
3. On Power, Robert Caro (an audible original interview with Mr. Caro; highlights from his research on Robert Moses and LBJ)
4. At Home, Bill Bryson (Bryson is always fascinating; here he explores each aspect of his 19th century English home and uses each room as a hook to explore the history of the home "technology"). . History of the toilet, for example
5. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara (Golden State serial killer)
6. Shortest Way Home, Pete Buttegieg (interesting memoir regardless of politics)
7. When Breath Becomes Air
8. The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog (interesting case histories of childhood trauma and effective therapies)
9. the Rise and Fall of British Empire, part 1 (Great Courses audiobook)
10. The British are Coming, R. Atkinson (only partly way through)
C. Mysteries
1. Big Sky, Kate Atkinson (a new Jackson Brodie adventure)
2. the Silent Patient
3. McBeth, Jo Nesbo
4. the Sentry, Robert Crais
5. Where the Crawdads Sing
6. The Girl in the Spider's Web
7. Neon prey, J. Sandford
8. The Dispatcher, J. Salzi (Audible Original)
9. Dead Low Tide, John MacDonald
10. In the Woods, Tana French
11. Bloody Genius, Sandford
D. Classics I Should Have Read before now, or that I re-read this year, no particular order
1. Neil Gaiman young adult fiction: The Sleeper and the Spindle, Odd and the Frost Giants, Hearts, Keys and Puppetry, The Graveyard Book
2. Pudd'nhead Wilson, Mark Twain
3. The Canterbury Tales
4. Foundation, I. Asimov
5. Mythology, bullfinch
6. Antony & Cleopatra
7. Around the World in 80 Days
8. All My Sons, Arthur Miller
I have organized my 2019 top 10 reads in 4 categories: literary fiction, nonfiction, mystery, and classics I have should have read long ago!
A. Literary fiction
1. The Overstory, Richard Powers
2. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
3. There, There, Tommy Orange
4. Eleanor Oliphant is Fine
5. An American Marriage
6. Sacre Blue, Christopher Moore
7. In Sunlight and in Shadow, M. Halprin (post WW2 love story set in NYC).
8. The Song of Achilles
9. Washington Black
10. Before We Were Yours
11. Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, Bird
12. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, Fannie Flagg
B. Nonfiction
1. Becoming, Michelle Obama (her childhood memories and her legal career balancing with a marriage and children coincided with the time periods of my childhood and legal practice, so I found it fascinating over and above the Presidential history aspects)
2. An Odyssey: A Father, a Son and an Empire
3. On Power, Robert Caro (an audible original interview with Mr. Caro; highlights from his research on Robert Moses and LBJ)
4. At Home, Bill Bryson (Bryson is always fascinating; here he explores each aspect of his 19th century English home and uses each room as a hook to explore the history of the home "technology"). . History of the toilet, for example
5. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara (Golden State serial killer)
6. Shortest Way Home, Pete Buttegieg (interesting memoir regardless of politics)
7. When Breath Becomes Air
8. The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog (interesting case histories of childhood trauma and effective therapies)
9. the Rise and Fall of British Empire, part 1 (Great Courses audiobook)
10. The British are Coming, R. Atkinson (only partly way through)
C. Mysteries
1. Big Sky, Kate Atkinson (a new Jackson Brodie adventure)
2. the Silent Patient
3. McBeth, Jo Nesbo
4. the Sentry, Robert Crais
5. Where the Crawdads Sing
6. The Girl in the Spider's Web
7. Neon prey, J. Sandford
8. The Dispatcher, J. Salzi (Audible Original)
9. Dead Low Tide, John MacDonald
10. In the Woods, Tana French
11. Bloody Genius, Sandford
D. Classics I Should Have Read before now, or that I re-read this year, no particular order
1. Neil Gaiman young adult fiction: The Sleeper and the Spindle, Odd and the Frost Giants, Hearts, Keys and Puppetry, The Graveyard Book
2. Pudd'nhead Wilson, Mark Twain
3. The Canterbury Tales
4. Foundation, I. Asimov
5. Mythology, bullfinch
6. Antony & Cleopatra
7. Around the World in 80 Days
8. All My Sons, Arthur Miller
9. The Human Comedy, Saroyan
10. Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut
11. Treasure Island, Stevenson
12. Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald
13. True West, Sam Shepherd (Audible original)
Disappointing, not worth the hype:
In a Dark Wood;
Lethal White (Galbreath) - way overwritten
Beggars in Spain, Kress (too many dystopian concepts together)
Past Tense, Lee Child (revisiting Reacher's home town was interesting but the "danger" premise was unbelievable and ugly)
39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss, Tom Davis (writer for early SNL; his drug use and screw ups were interesting but very sad)
The Silk Roads - it was more about European history and not enough about the stuff I didn't know -- middle eastern history and Asian history
The Art of Deception, Ridley Pearson (early work, predictable)
The Mystery of Alice (audible original - YA fiction - awful)
2019 Blog Challenge - Day 30 - My First 2020 Project
My first 2020 project is a baby quilt for my granddaughter Elin. My son and his darling wife like modern quilt style and asked for a quilt without a baby theme. They gave me several references on Pinterest, and I picked this Tiny Tiles version.
There are 120 5.5 inch blocks with little triangles at each corner. the pattern is supposed to be totally random, but I set an arbitrary rule of not repeating a color in any block, and I mostly did not repeat colors at a corner. I have completed all the blocks and have sewed together 8 of the twelve rows. Then I will sew the rows together. The pattern has simple diamond quilting pattern echoing the little diamond corners, so I think I will quilt this myself.
Here is my layout before sewing, laid out on a bed. the final layout will be slightly different, because my cat decided to burrow under the covers before I had a chance to gather the blocks in an organized fashion.
There are 120 5.5 inch blocks with little triangles at each corner. the pattern is supposed to be totally random, but I set an arbitrary rule of not repeating a color in any block, and I mostly did not repeat colors at a corner. I have completed all the blocks and have sewed together 8 of the twelve rows. Then I will sew the rows together. The pattern has simple diamond quilting pattern echoing the little diamond corners, so I think I will quilt this myself.
Here is my layout before sewing, laid out on a bed. the final layout will be slightly different, because my cat decided to burrow under the covers before I had a chance to gather the blocks in an organized fashion.
The back will be mostly white, but I found this wonderful Sarah Jane fabric when I was buying the solids for this project, and it will be the bottom border of the quilt on the back. I'm toying with a large applique of a balloon at the top of the back with Elin's name embroidered on it, with the string trailing down to the print.
This is the free online pattern I am using: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/06/08/tiny-tile-quilt/
Sunday, December 29, 2019
2019 Blog Challenge - Day 29 - Latest Project
My latest project is a baby quilt for my new granddaughter Oriana, based on blocks from four of Elizabeth Hartman's patterns. I used Forest Friends, the Bear, Desert critters, and the turtle from the Ocean pattern. The individual blocks had their own challenges, but the challenge was figuring out the layout and sashing to pull it all together. I tried using a graph design to figure it out, but it ended up being more of a trial, error, rip out, re-cut, and resew effort. Patience was key! The name of the quilt is Oriana's Animals. Maria Hall did the quilting.
2019 Blog Challenge - Day 28 - Skill I want to improve
I would like to learn and improve free motion quilting. I think I've figured out the critical settings for my machine. I also now have a sew steady table and the smooth mat, so all those things should help. Now I need to practice! The online videos are very helpful.
2019 Blog Challenge - Day 27 - Techniques to try
1. Quilt as You go (I have finished 9 quilt as you go large squares as a part of a Westalee rulers class, so my next step is the sashing and assembly.
2. needle turn applique
3. fabric painting
4. thread painting
5. make a bed runner
6. free motion quilting
7. machine embroidery on baby clothes, importing and editing graphics with Embrilliance
8. improving my hand quilting
9. sashiko embroidery
2. needle turn applique
3. fabric painting
4. thread painting
5. make a bed runner
6. free motion quilting
7. machine embroidery on baby clothes, importing and editing graphics with Embrilliance
8. improving my hand quilting
9. sashiko embroidery
2019 Blog Challenge - Day 26 - what is your favorite sewing foot.
My right foot; I'm very right oriented.
LOL!
No, seriously I mostly use my Pfaff quarter inch foot, and the clear applique foot when I applique.
LOL!
No, seriously I mostly use my Pfaff quarter inch foot, and the clear applique foot when I applique.
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