Book Review : Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb

Immortal in Death

J.D. Robb

1996 Berkley Publishing

Pandora, a top model and a woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. In this 3rd installment of the "In Death" series by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb, we learn more about Lt Eve Dallas and her life before becoming one of the top detectives in New York City in the year 2058. Eve is planning a wedding to Roarke, one of the richest, if not the richest, man in their world. And she doesn't like all the "pomp and circumstance" that is expected, like who cares about flowers and seating arrangements.  That added to the fact that there has been another murder and she is the primary on the case. Now factor in that the victim is a top model and the suspect is Eve's best friend, Mavis.

Robb takes us on twist and turns and this suspense/murder mystery/ romance unfolds. I have enjoyed all 3 in the series so far and am looking forward to the next one, Rapture in Death.

Because there are 45 books in the series, I had better get busy. I was reluctant to start this series months ago. They are addictive.

Another travel pillow finished + not quite finished but only step away!

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts. 

Last Friday I showed the little pink pillow I made for our great granddaughter. I couldn't give it to her and leave her big brother out, so I quickly sewed up this travel pillow from some scraps. Jojo loves airplanes and this was leftover fabric from a quilt I made for his "Pa", my DH.  This one has a bigger, deeper pocket and a velcro tab closure. It will hold his iPad and keep it from harm, I hope!. My plan was to finally cut up the rest of the scraps into 2.5 " strips, but cutting up those airplanes was hard. Maybe I can find another project for them. 

I also finished this quilt top. It was a kit I purchased some years ago. It was languishing in the UFO bin.  It still needs to go to the longarm quilter, but the binding is ready for when it returns.  As soon as the label is attached, all these scraps will be cut and put in the proper colored basket.

This month I hope to finish a couple of aprons for my granddaughter and an activity quilt for the little one. So many projects and now I learn there is to be another great granddaughter before the summer is over, so there is yet another quilt to be made.  Looking forward to that one too. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

February Finishes - Book and Sewing Projects.

I only finished reading The Guilty by David Baldacci.

You can check out my review  here.

 I am still wading through the Karen Kingsbury collection on my Kindle.

That may be why it is taking me so long. That and the fact that I have been  nursing a sick Mr. Busy and I have been in my sewing room a great deal.

I have completed these, this month.

This was still in kit stage on Feb 1st. It still has to be quilted. I send mine to a longarmer. That requires a bit of saving, so it will wait for a complete finish for a bit. This was my February challenge for American Patchwork and Quilting's 2017 UFO Challenge.

And I did these little pillows for my 2 great grandchildren.

 This little pillow matches the quilt I made for Bella before she was born. I finally got around to making a label with her birth statistics and a little pillow I hope her mama will use when she is nursing. It has a handle for ease of caring to a rocking chair and a shallow pocket for breast shields or maybe mama's cell phone.

I couldn't let her big brother be forgotten, so I gathered some scraps from Mr Busy's airplane quilt and made Jojo a pillow too. His has a deeper pocket to hold a book, or more likely his iPad. A velcro strap will secure the tablet in the pocket when he carries it to and from "Gwamma and Pa's" house. He is a big fan of the movie "Planes" and know that Pa has a model of the Corsair F4U that is  on this bag...:Skipper" in the movie. 

I sent this one to our oldest great grandson for Valentine's Day. He lives in Arizona, he will be 7 in July. His grandpa, our son, is a Bronco fan. I got a "thumbs up" thank you from his mom. 

And one last finish: 

It's a Mondo Bag. Over 200,  2 1/2 inch squares sewed to an interfacing. It has batting too and is large and quite heavy. I hope I remember not to load it too heavy or I won't be able to lift it.  I love the colors though. 

That is it for February. Now on to March and it's challenges. I will be reading two books written in verse. 

 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

and Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.  I am looking forward to this "new to me" format. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Finish It Up Friday! And February

Yesterday was my birthday. I spent it mostly stitching with a wonderful group of friends. But I did get some time in my sewing room.

One of my challenges this year is with a group from a LQS in Rapid City SD. It's my hometown and though we have been gone from there for 40 years, it still feels like home. Some family is still there and it's where my kids were born. I digress!

The February challenge was to finish "something for someone you love". That's easy, right?  Lots of things are done for people I love, but I chose to finally make the label for my youngest great granddaughter's quilt. I presented the quilt to my granddaughter at the baby shower before Isabella was born. I did not have the "facts" then and had every intention of doing a label right away. Well, Bella will be 8 months old on the 7th of March, so I am really late. In penance, I decided a pillow was a great accompaniment. I purchased the quilt kit from Shabby Fabrics and there was lots of fabric left over. And because it had fussy cut roses and stripes there was extra. So I made a pillow with a shallow pocket and a handle. I hope her momma will use it when she nurses her, a place to tuck a breast shield or maybe her cell phone. The handle will make it easy to carry from rocker to rocker, room to room.

Here is the quilt:

and here is the pillow and label.

I'll attach the label this weekend. 

On to a few more finishes.  I am linking this up to "finish it up Friday" at Crazy Mom Quilts and the Sewing Center UFO Challenge Face Book page. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Finish or Three

      I've been busy in my sewing room lately. I haven't finished cutting the fabric to make the extra block for En Provence. If you remember, I only made half the suggested number of pieces and that was enough to make 8 blocks. But after looking at the layout, I knew I wanted a 3X3 setting or nine blocks. So I sort of stalled out. I'll get back to it.

I did finish the January challenge for the American Patchwork & Quilting  2017 UFO Challenge. I had hoped to make enough crumb blocks to make a top with sashing and cornerstones. I made that happen. And the backing is done too. As soon as my LA quilter returns from her vacation, I get it to her to be quilted/

This was so fun, I want to do another one. But now I have been inspired by Amanda Jean's Crazy Rails Quilt. I may have to do that one instead.  I am linking this post to Finish It Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.


I also finished the challenge project for my Local Quilt Group. It was to finish a Mondo bag. A kit I received in a gift exchange at a retreat in May 2016 and it is DONE!  It went pretty well, but if I do it again, I will not use the same kind of fusible fleece in the lining. It is heavy even empty and if I fill it like I usually do, it will be very heavy.

So now I am on to work on the February project for APQ UFO challenge, #8 on my list. It was a kit for a Magnolia Quilt by Blank Quilting.

I have the main pieces cut and will start construction hopefully tomorrow. 

I also finished reading The Guilty by David Baldacci 

and liked it a lot. It is number 4 in the Will Robie series and it did not disappoint me. I have come to expect a great story with suspense and a twist at the end from Baldacci and he delivered yet again.

Until next time,

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Challenges and More Challenges

Thought I should keep you posted on my En Provence progress. And the progress on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge and my local Quilt Chicks 2017 60 day Challenge. Whew, what is the deal with challenging myself.

To start with, I have not made much progress with my En Provence. I have about 20 more hourglass units in green, yellow and neutral to cut and sew. Then I can start to arrange on my design wall. I did have enough to lay out a preliminary block to see how it went together. I wasn't terribly excited, but really need to get it up on the wall so I can see several together. I love all the ones I am seeing on the Link Up page on Bonnie's blog.

My design wall is occupied at the moment with the January selection for  APQ 2017 UFO Challenge. Number 6 was chosen and that was a Crumb Quilt I had only had 36 blocks for. I posted about that here and here. Now I am sewing the rows together with 4 more to go. I may not get the top completed, I am debating about outside borders, but I will have made progress when January ends.

Quilt Chicks does a 60 day challenge. We turn in a list of 6 projects we hope to make progress on in the next year. 

A closer view of my list.

We also contribute $10. $4 of that amount stays in the pot, the other $6 can be earned back it we meet our challenge. We must bring the project for "show and tell" or at the least have sent a picture of it to our "list keeper" by it's due date. So last Sunday, Belle rolled the die and it landed on 5. That means the #5 on my list must be done by the  third Sunday in March. It is a Mondo Bag from QuiltSmart.

I received the pattern, the interfacing, a jelly roll and lining fabric in a gift exchange in May of 2016. The only progress I had made on it, was to read the instructions and cut apart the interfacing. As of today, I have gotten this much done.

Two sections of four needed to make the bag. 

208 2.5" squares cut from the jelly roll and placed onto the interfacing. There are 4 of these. Two are now pressed securely to the interfacing. Two more to go. Then cut lining pieces and fusible fleece and begin construction.



Also last night my F2F Book Club met, so there is that "challenge" The club's selection was The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I had read it in January 2014. I had to go back and study up a bit. I did not have good character recall. I did remember that I like her writing. Most of my book club members did not like it and/or did not finish it. Our next read is The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens.  I have read this title too, but it was last August. So I remember it pretty well. Some have already started it and are enjoying it more than The Goldfinch.  At least I won't have that book calling my name in the next 4 weeks. I am reading on my own, Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline

and
The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson.

I should finish them both this month.

Until next time,
Stay busy and Stay Happy

Clues #6 and #7 En Provence and a change in plans.

Clue #6 was making hourglass blocks using 2 green, a light purple and a neutral.  It was going famously following Bonnie's laying out and cutting directions using her new Essential Triangle ruler. You get sets of four green, purple,green, neutral, sew the green and purple pair, then sew the green and neutral pair, then sew them to each other. What could be simpler? Right?  I really wanted scrappy and as few matching hourglass units as possible, so I started to mix up the pairs.

 OOPS.....cutting of two extra sets of green/neutral followed. Maybe you wondered how I did not get equal pairs. Well, some strips are shorter than others and so there were not always sets of four at all  times.

Then while waiting for Clue #7, I decided to work on my Crumb Quilt. I posted here, that I had planned on using black sashing and red cornerstones. Some strips were cut! But I really did not like it, it looked dark and uninteresting. So, I perused my stash and chose this lovely lime green, and I had enough yardage! Then what for cornerstones?  I am partial to green and purple. I have been cutting greens and purples for En Provence, so which purple?  I have a 1/4 yard of a dark purple that I bought for En Provence and then decided it wouldn't work.  So....

What do you think?   I like it!!

This is my design board and surrounding mess. I still need 3 more crumb blocks ( no problem, the scraps are multiplying in the "crumb bin". And I need to cut more cornerstones. But it is much brighter. You can see my tumbler rows hanging on the corner on the left. And my iPod for music and my "dammit doll" to the left of the tumblers. I post about the dammit doll some day soon.

Clue #7 and the layout reveal was published.  I had been making 1/2 the number of blocks that Bonnie said we needed. Her layout is 16 blocks. 8 doesn't work well, 2 blocks by 4 blocks is way to skinny, so I settled on 3X3 or 9 blocks. That means I will be going back to make enough 3.5 inch block to make the extra 15" block. That's OK. I have plenty of fabric and now lots more experience.

So I am cutting and sewing, green, yellow, green, neutral hourglass units this week. Nine sets of 3.5 inch yellow squares are complete and in the project box .

Many participants are DONE!  Oh, my!  I envy their progress and perseverance.  I am enjoying the journey and I will continue to work on En Provence. My goal is to use my scraps, have a great time and to get my other challenges done as well. I have a local quilt group challenge due every 60 days and I am participating in the AllPeopleQuilt UFO Challenge 201 that I wrote about here.

So every day I spend at least 10 minutes in my sewing room. Sometimes much longer. But slow and steady wins the race. My word for 2017 is "PATIENCE" and I intend to practice that. If you want to see all the progress everyone has made and view some amazing completions, check out this link. Or go to Bonnie's blog and link up there.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy