Quilt Chicks Challenge 2015 #6 Graduation Quilt

Yesterday the die was thrown again at my quilting group. My #6 UFO project is a graduation quilt for my DIL. She will graduate from ASU- Arizona State University in Tempe AZ.

For the last several years I have been collection fabric with words on it, it anticipation of making her a quilt. She will have a degree in Creative Writing, I think. Anyway she does lots of writing and reading.

I finally decided on a pattern that I think will showcase the word fabric. It is called BQ from Maple Island Quilts

Here are some of the fabrics and the front of the pattern. I will make a 12 block quilt, with 12.5 inch feature block.

Some of the fabric is a newspaper print, one is an old postcard print, one is sewing labels. Just lot of words.  I think I am going to call it Words Squared.  I will continue to update this post as I progress.  Wish me luck!

3/6/15

I have half the blocks assembled. I am having a bit of trouble. The patter assumes the fabric used in the large 12.5 " center blocks is non-directional, so I had to really think about how to add the side and bottom/top rectangle in order for the directional print of the fabric to remain readable. So it was not so important and it would have been easy to just use those prints as the odd ones, but the color balance was off if I did that. So here are pics of the first 6 blocks.

I hope to have all the blocks assembled before we leave for Arizona. Maybe even have some of the rows sewn together. 

On another sad note, our local quilt store has announced that it is going out of business. I am sad but not surprised. It has been nearly 2 years since the owner suddenly collapsed and died and keeping the store going has been a struggle for her husband and daughter. Jenn has two small children and running a small retail store takes a lot of time away from family. My hope is that someone, somehow, will decide to open another store.

I finished the quilt for our DIL and put it in the mail. I always keep my fingers crossed when I mail something as valuable as a quilt. I had it quilted by a longarm quilter in Sheridan.  Then it was bound and label made and off it went. She liked it. 

 Here is the quilt before it was quilted and bound.

 A close-up of the quilting. I sent some "words" that reminded me of my DIL to the quilter and she incorporated the words in the quilting. You can see the word, "books" here. Also included were, wife, mom, grandma, wine, daughter, love, and roses.

My attempt to get the whole quilt in a photo. Not very successful. 

Wondrous Words Wednesday #615

Join us at Kathy's blog, BermudaOnion's Weblog to share new words you discovered while reading, or new words you encounterd somewhere else.

I did not find any new words in my reading this week. But M-W(Merriam Webster) has a word of the day on their site and I now get it delivered to my email. Today's word is one I suppose I knew but do not use, instead I use the more popular "foodie".  Can you guess today's word?

gourmand:  n.  1.  one who is excessively fond of eating and drinking
                         2. one who is heartily fond of good food and drink.



Although the first definition seems to me to be about gluttony, the second is more like the one I would use.

My sister is an fantastic cook. She keeps journals of menus and recipes,  writes (gasp!) in her cookbooks and plans even an everyday meal to include placemats, cloth napkins, candles and good wine.   I would say she is a gourmand, wouldn't you?

That's my wondrous word this week. I am going to try to use it in my everyday speech.




Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Dewey!

 Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea hosts this every Tuesday meme, to give us a place to share the first paragraph of the book we are reading or plan to read soon. It is also a great place to peek in to see  what others are reading.

Dewey's Nine Lives - The Legacy of the Small-Town Cat Who Inspired Millions.
Vicky Myron with Bret Witter
2010 in arrangement with Dutton, a member of Penguin Group

Prologue:

"Thank you, Vicki, and thank you Dewey....I don't believe in angels, but Dewey comes close."
                                                                                             -Christine B. Tampa, FL

I disagree with the person who wrote that letter, because I do believe there are angels walking among us, helping us grow. I believe in "teachable moments," when we can learn something valuable about life if our eyes and hearts are open to the world around us. These angels of opportunity, as I like to think of them, come in all forms. They appear thanks to the important people in our lives, but also through chance meetings and strangers.  I believe Dewey Readmore Books, the famous library cat of Spencer, IA, was one of those angels. He taught so many lessons, and touched so many lives, that I can't dismiss it as chance. And I don't believe in coincidence.


I am looking forward to starting this book. Have you read this one or the first one written by Vicki Myron, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World ?  Would you read these?


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #715

Join us at Book Journey and share what you are reading this week. I missed you all last week. We were traveling back from a funeral in Iowa and made it as far as my sister's house on Sunday. She prepared a marvelous dinner ( as always) and we talked and had a wonderful visit. The next morning, Monday, we started home. It is only 2.5 hours but we drove in cloudy dreary, sunshine, sleet showers, snow so thick you could not see over 3 car lengths ahead. YUCK!

Anyway, I did not have a Monday, What Are You Reading post. I finished 52 Cups of Coffee, you can check out my quick review on Goodreads, here.  Mr. Busy and I also listened to The Forgotten by David Baldacci while in the car for 20+ hours.

I also finished Beloved by Toni Morrison, but I have yet to do a review. It was a very difficult read for me. And I  finished Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman which I loved, by the way.

This week I am in the middle of :

"In this luminous prequel to her beloved Cobbled Court Quilts series, New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick takes readers into the heart of a small Texas town and the soul of a woman who discovers her destiny there. . .
Welcome to Too Much--where the women are strong-willed and the men are handsome yet shiftless. Ever since Mary Dell Templeton and her twin sister Lydia Dale were children, their Aunt Velvet has warned them away from local boys. But it's well known that the females in Mary Dell's family have two traits in common--superior sewing skills and a fatal weakness for men.
While Lydia Dale grows up petite and pretty, Mary Dell just keeps growing. Tall, smart, and sassy, she is determined to one day turn her love of sewing into a business. Meanwhile, she'll settle for raising babies with her new husband, Donny. But that dream proves elusive too, until finally, Mary Dell gets the son she always wanted--a child as different as he is wonderful. And as Mary Dell is forced to reconsider what truly matters in her family and her marriage, she begins to piece together a life that, like the colorful quilts she creates, will prove vibrant, rich, and absolutely unforgettable. . "

and I will start reading ,

This book will be one of the selections for Mega Mix II Challenge on Goodreads and I may use it for the Animal selection for What's In A Name 2015 Challenge, hosted by Charlie at The Worm Hole. If interested you can read about it here.

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt, Beloved, Between Heaven and Texas, Dewey's Nine Lives, and the audio edition of The Forgotten by David Baldacci all will be listed on the Library Challenge section of the

 2015 Challenges tab at the top of my page.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Late Valentine Week Post - Saturday Snapshot

I'm linking up with Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads.  Last week, Valentine week, we were on the road. We put a lot of miles on my car, saw some interesting sites along the way. But we were on a mission, so did not stop for pictures. We were attending a funeral for my DH aunt. She lived to be 95 and she was a favorite aunt, so we felt compelled to attend. We traveled to Madison County, Iowa and I want very much to return to take time to see the Bridges of Madison County.

When we returned a cousin had posted some pictures that he found in my aunts things. They are old pictures, mostly taken by my father. He was an amateur photographer and even developed his own photos in a basement darkroom.

This one was not taken by him obviously, but it is my mom and dad in 1945. My mom always said my dad was the love of her life and this surely shows that sentiment.

This is my dad, my two brothers and me building a snowman. Did you notice Dad took his hat off to add to the snowman for the picture. This is probably 1958 or so. My youngest brother was born in 1955 and I think he looks about 3 here. Notice too, that I have on a skirt!!!!

This is a photo of the four jays, my dad used to call us. All our names start with J. This photo was on a Christmas card that year. I am in the middle holding the youngest, Jeff. We are left to right, Jane, Jeff, Judy and  Judd.

These photos bring back warm loving memories of my parents and my childhood.

Do you have old photos that bring back memories?



Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

The Forgotten by David Baldacci Library Challenge #3

The Forgotten by David Baldacci
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Again, David Baldacci has hit a home run. This is John Puller #2 and though it references what happened it book number 1 in West Virginia, you don't have to know in order to make this book make sense.

John Puller is ready for some R&R from his regular job of CID Army Special Agent. His dad is a retired 3 Star General and in the VA with dementia. His brother Robert is in prison, Army prison. His favorite aunt in Florida, his dad's older sister has sent a letter telling of strange happenings at night in Paradise Florida and of people not being who they seem.

John goes to investigate at his father's "orders" and the ensuing story is heart-stopping, heart-warming and heart-rending. When he gets to Florida to check in on Aunt Betsy Puller Simon, he finds that she is dead. The local police have it tagged as an accident, John is not convinced and uses the connections he has at the DOD and other agencies to investigate on his own. He finds a huge "strange happening" and finds that many people in the small city of Paradise are not who they seem to be.

David Baldacci tells a story that will keep you on the edge of your chair. We listened to this book as an audio recording and the narrators, Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy do an amazing job of giving voice to all the different characters in this story. I recommend this novel to any one who likes a great mystery with a little espionage and a little love thrown in.


View all my reviews

Library challenge book #3

Until next time. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt  

Beth Hoffman

Penguin Press 2010

Cecelia Rose Honeycutt is twelve, way to young to be the caretaker for her mother, Camille. Cee Cee's mother has dropped over the edge of sanity in her attempt to find her place in life. She resorts to visions of beauty pageants, shopping sprees at Goodwill, heavy make-up, and fancy dresses. All this embarrasses Cee Cee. Her school mate laugh at her, the whole town whispers behind her back. Worst of all her father is gone, working, or philandering but just gone. He too is unable and unwilling to deal with a psychotic wife. When tragedy strikes, he has to do something.

Tallulah Caldwell, her previously unknown great-aunt agrees to take her to Savannah. Cee Cee is unsure, but intrigued with the vintage Packard convertible and the heady perfume of prosperity that she sees. Back in Savannah, Cee Cee finds a family of women who love her,  Tootie Caldwell is a well-respected member of Savannah's Garden Club society and with her housekeeper, Oletta, take Cee Cee under their respective wings. There is the exotic neighbor Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who skinny dips in her outdoor bathtub and Violene Hobbs who entertains a police officer in her canary yellow negligee,  Oletta's friends Chessie and Nadine who take her on a road trip to dip her toes in the ocean, they all keep her entertained and protected that summer.

Beth Hoffman writes a wonderful story of  a little girl's transformation to young woman full of promise and life. This is a story with a cast of wise, generous and uniquely eccentric women who love and support each other. I give it 5 stars.

This is book #4  on my Readers' to the Rescue Library Challenge with a goal of +28.

 Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy