Category Archives: Book Sharing

2023 in Books

Between sewing and reading, how is there time for anything else?? So many projects to make and endless numbers of books to read but there are only 24 hours in the day – ah, one of life’s challenges.

This year I managed to read 52 books. For me, an average of one book each week is great. Of these, nine books were audio. For the most part I enjoy listening to a book while I am sewing or driving. Sometimes the narration is disappointing. For example, my notes on Home Front by Kristin Hannah say “meh- poor narration in this audio version. Didn’t like the sound of her voices.” This can make a big difference. Conversely, I listened to This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel and my notes mentioned “Narration really well done – voices of Poppy, Mom and Dad are perfect.”

Here is the list of books I read in 2023:

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Bursick

The Affair by Lee Child

The Pig and I by Rachel Toor (memoir)

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette N McCurdy (memoir)

Call Of the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Good For You by Camille Pagan (dumb and predictable)

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus- Very depressing book.

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

Home Front by Kristin Hannah – meh- audio – poor narration in audio version. Didn’t like the sound of her voices

Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen

The Patron Saint of Liars – Ann Patchett

Camino Island by John Grisham

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett – Audio – great book.

Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes

Hour of the Assassin by Matthew Quirk

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (so good and such a surprising ending)

Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

Other People’s Houses by Abbi Waxman

Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty Zeldis

Camino Winds by John Grisham, sequel to Camino Island

Blue Moon – by Lee Child – audio

Happy Go Lucky by David Sedaris (audio)

The Yellow Room – Mary Roberts Reinhardt

Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke This short book is a gritty coming of age story – it is dark but I felt compelled to read this sad story.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Reluctant Midwife by Patricia Harmon

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (meh, not great)

Canary Girls by Jennifer Chiaverini (interesting but a bit slow)

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (audio)

Call the Canaries Home by Laura Barrow OK – story of sisters and family conflict

Caught by Harlen Coben (audio)

A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon – excellent read about a young woman who disguises herself and joins the military. Really good read!

The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas (sweet story of a relationship between two people in a senior home.)

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – Audio

The Way Life Should Be by William Dameron – mediocre book

Choosing to Run by Des Linden (memoir – Des Linden is an athlete – not a writer)

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin – very good read.

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery – inspiring memoir of a woman who walked the Appalachian Trail by herself with very little equipment or experience. The writing is lackluster – but what Emma Gatewood accomplished is amazing.

O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton

A is for Alias by Sue Grafton meh, not a great book

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson I loved this quirky book!

For you Mom Finally by Ruth Reichl – audio

Nora Nora by Anne Rivers Siddon (Soo good!)

This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel – audio – narration really well done, voices of Poppy, Mom and Dad are perfect.

Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld – a memoir of a woman with little support who makes it through mental illness and foster homes to become a successful software developer. It moves slowly and even though she has an extremely difficult and challenging life, the book sounds like she is always whining.

Since I started keeping track of the books I’ve read, I have found it fun to go back and look at the books in list form. A few things jump out such as themes I was drawn to, books I didn’t enjoy but finished anyway (why do that when there are soooo many great books to read) and books I read for a second time. Last year I read two books for the second time. One was Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls. By David Sedaris, this book is funny and a good one to listen to while sewing. I don’t have to concentrate on the book as it is a selection of humorous essays. I love Sedaris and his quirky family! The other book was This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. I read the book several years ago and have recommended it to a lot of people. The message about raising a transgender child is really well written – sometimes humorous and sometimes so sad. The audio book was just excellent and I am so glad I listened to it.

As for themes – It appears I was drawn to memoirs this year. I read five of them and all were interesting. Choosing to Run by Des Linden, winner of the 2018 Boston Marathon was a disappointment. This book was really hyped thus I had high expectations. As one reviewer said on Good Reads, ‘Des is an athlete not an author’. The writing is mediocre and basically the book reads like a log of her training. It moved along very slowly and is not one I would recommend.

The second theme I noticed was that of the strong female protagonist. Grandma Gatewood, A Girl Called Samson, Acceptance, Choosing to Run and Girl Runner all feature very strong women who achieved something they felt passionate about. I found a great deal of inspiration within these pages. My favorites from this collection were A Girl Called Samson and Girl Runner.

That is it for 2023 and the books I read; some were fantastic and others not as great. I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these. Did you read one or two of them? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

Books, Libraries, and Minnie Mouse

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Believe it or not, that title will make sense after a bit! I have some fun things to share with everyone. Where to start though??

Let’s start with this book. I just finished it today. It is such a great story. I enjoyed the audio version and have high praise for Julia Whelan’s reading of the book. It is a story of the Pack Horse Librarians in Kentucky during the Depression era. Jojo Moyes wrote a riveting story and I found myself listening to it almost non-stop. It was really hard to put it down. These women were brave and so determined to bring literacy to the poorest Kentucky families. For more information on these devoted librarians, check out this article.

Speaking of libraries, a few months ago I mentioned I was looking for some volunteer work within this new community I moved to. I joined the Friends of the Library for the Port Orchard library. So far, I have been working on Wednesday mornings sorting and shelving books in the Friends of the Library bookshop. I am throughly enjoying this and the group of women are very fun to work alongside. The group provides the funds for the children’s and teen programs in the library. I have long been a huge fan of public libraries and this is a good fit for me.

Shall we take a look at how Minnie Mouse might fit into the conversation here?

Several weeks ago, I was in JoAnn’s and came across this Minnie Mouse fusible appliqué. I didn’t know what I would make with it but I bought it anyway. My youngest grand daughter is currently obsessed with Minnie so I knew I would come up with something fun to make with Minnie. We are going to the kids’ house this weekend to celebrate A’s 3rd birthday. Now seemed to be a good time to put Minnie to use. I knew I had several remnants of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse fabric in the bin of novelty fabrics.

After a bit of thought, I decided to make a book bag for her. She goes to the library fairly often and this will be a fun way to carry her books back and forth. Before I constructed the bag, I fused the appliqué to some bright yellow fabric. Then that bit was fused to the outside of the bag and stitched down with a satin stitch on the machine. Before sewing the lining to the outside, I fused some batting scraps to the fabric and quilted a few straight lines to hold things in place. The straps are also filled with fusible batting.

I did get a bit carried away and made this book bag a little too big. If it is really filled, she may need Dad to help carry it. I think she will be excited when she sees her favorite mouse!

Now that my round robin quilt is finished, I have pulled out another project to work on.

These diamond blocks were made in 2021 as Rainbow Scrap challenge blocks. I love the blocks and finally have the time to finish this quilt. They are all going to be sashed with white and there will be six inch blocks of white separating the blocks in each column. I’ll share more on this soon. Makes me happy to be playing with these again!

As you all know, Julia is at her happiest when playing in the barns with the pigs. This photo just makes me laugh. Doesn’t this silly boar look like he wants to come out and play with Julia? Honestly, she takes the best pictures of these funny animals.

That’s it for now – Enjoy your day and I will do the same!

Linking up with a few favorites – check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

The Year in Books

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Lots of us share a love of books. It is a treat for me to read a post where a great book is shared (or a not so great read is shared and thus avoided). Last year I started keeping track of the titles read or listened to. That list was shared here. It isn’t a surprise I read quite a bit less in 2022. There was much to be done.

I was raised to be a reader. My mother, age 87, is a voracious reader and usually has more than one book in progress at any single time. All of my sisters are readers and share their finishes via our group text on a regular basis. My kids read as well – different genres that reflect their personalities, some are fans of reading on a kindle, some on paper or their phone. But they read.

When Julia was a toddler, I asked my dad to make her a bookshelf. I had seen a picture of one like this and he replicated it. I loved it and Julia got much use out of it.

Julia and a stack of books balanced on her legs.

She quickly outgrew this sort of bookshelf so my father built her a more standard shelf for the larger books she was constantly reading. (When she was about 12 or so, I walked into her room and she was sitting between her wall and her bed building a tower of books on her legs. Because you know, sometimes a girl has to do these things.)

Now that we have a room set up for my grand daughters to play in, Papa’s book shelf is back on the wall and they love choosing books to read.

Thirty-five books were read and most of them I really enjoyed. I had a few that were not so great. I listened to Love Warrior by Glenn Doyle Melton and didn’t like it. When Glennon first started her blog years back, I read her posts somewhat regularly. I liked her encouragement of her readers, her warriors. For some reason, this book just annoyed me. Hard to explain – I know she has had a lot of tough times, but the audio book seemed really whiny. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it? I also had mixed feelings about Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro. She writes about being a middle age woman and while some of it is amusing, there is a bit too much self-deprecation for my taste. Note – there was a bit about the NextDoor app that was hilarious. If you have read it, you’ll know what I mean. That part was spot on.

Authors I very much enjoyed included Laurie Frankel, Lianne Moriarty, and Olivia Hawker. Seems I can always count on these authors for a great book. New to me are books by Lee Child. My husband has read many of his books and I picked one up to give it a try. They are not my usual thing but I liked them. Who knew? That Jack Reacher is pretty darn smart. (There is quite a bit of violence in the Jack Reacher books so if that is not your thing, you might not enjoy these.)

OK – here is the list for 2022.

JANUARY

Where’d You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Minding Frankie – Maeve Binchy

Not Our Kind – Kitty Zeldis

FEBRUARY

Maisie Dobbs – by Jacqueline Winspear

Where the Crawdads Sing – by Delia Owens (audio)

MARCH

December Wedding – by Anita Shreve

APRIL

Blue Shoe – by Anne Lamott

The Lobotomist’s Wife- by Samantha G Woodruff

Lydia Cassatt – by Harriet S Chessman

The Silent Patient – by Alex Michaelides

MAY

Love Warrior-by Glennon Doyle -audio (meh)

Gray Mountain – by John Grisham

The Good Sister – Sally Hepworth -audio

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate – by Alexander McCall Smith (meh)

JUNE

One Two Three – by Laurie Frankel

A Serial Killer’s Daughter – by Kerri Rawson (meh)

JULY

Bad Things Happen – by Harry Dolan

The Brighter the Light – by MaryEllen Taylor

Monogamy – by Sue Miller

Apples Never Fall – by Lianne Moriarty

AUGUST

The Not So Perfect Mother – by Kerry Fisher

Child of My Heart – by Alice McDermott

SEPTEMBER

The Lamplighters – by Emma Stonex

The Fire and the Ore – by Olivia Hawker (an excellent book!)

OCTOBER

The Last Thing He Told Me – by Laura Dave

Someone Knows – by Lisa Scotoline

The Memory of Us – by Camille Di Maio

Excuse Me While I Disappear – by Laurie Notaro

NOVEMBER

Die Trying – by Lee Child

Lost and Found – ??

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted – by Elizabeth Berg

The Year of Pleasures – by Elizabeth Berg

The Making of Us – by Lisa Jewell

DECEMBER

Five Winters – by Kitty Johnson

One Shot – by Lee Child

Moving into 2023 I look forward to loads of reading – what better way to spend an hour! If you have a favorite book to share, leave it in the comments. So many times I have found my next read from one of you!! Happy reading to all of you.

My Sewing Workshop – Book Review & Giveaway

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Receiving a review copy this new book by C&T Publishing, My Sewing Workshop, by Annabel Wrigley, made me so excited to teach my grand daughters to sew. Wrigley wrote the book as a guid for young people to learn to sew on their own. If the girls were about 10 – 12 years old, the book would be perfect for that. Because they are much younger, I would utilize the book differently. For me, the book is the perfect outline of how to teach children to sew. It is like having a complete lesson plan with tons of projects all photographed and explained perfectly. What a treasure this book is!

The layout of the book is done well. Wrigley explains the process of threading a machine, the basic parts of a sewing machine, as well as the difference in the types of fabric used in the projects (cotton, felt and canvas).

The projects are earmarked as Easy Peasy, Teeny Bit Challenging, and the most difficult – Take Your Time and Ask for Help. She does an excellent job explaining safety and is sure to tell a student when they need to have the help of an adult (eg using a staple gun or hot glue gun).

A wonderful way to get warmed up with the sewing machine. (Credit to A Wrigley and CT Publishing)

This is such a great exercise. I know my five year old granddaughter would love to pick the thread color and trace the lines. I also know I wouldn’t have thought to have her go through the exercise. Wrigley moves on to a very large zig zag for the student to trace which teaches the process of leaving the needle down and pivoting at each corner. H would want to change thread colors a million times but that is the fun of it and it is certain this Grammy has thread in every color of the rainbow for her to explore.

This is genius! (Credit to A Wrigley and CT Publishing)

Hand stitching is an important part of being able to sew. There are seams to close and fun embroidery to learn. I loved this suggestion for sewing an opening closed. A while back, H was working on a little sewing project with me (I will post more on that later) and there was a bit of hand sewing to be done. I told her I would do it for her but as usual, her response was “no Grammy, I can do it”. Basically she did know how to do it but holding the project and moving the needle in and out was challenging. I think if I had her hold the object between her knees she would have been more successful.

Beyond hand stitching there are also lessons for sewing on a button, inserting a zipper and doing appliqué. This book explains it all!

Let’s check out some of the projects that are offered. The ideas are adorable and there is something for every child. (Side note here – the only area I find lacking in the book is none of the projects show a boy sewing or use masculine themes. Many of them could be adjusted toward a boy. I realize not many boys enjoy sewing but this is changing and should be encouraged in publications such as this.)

Super cute bags with appliqué. (Credit to A Wrigley and CT Publishing)

The cross body pouch shown above is classified as “Teeny Bit Challenging” so it is in the middle, skill wise. Depending on the age of the student, these ratings will sometimes be less accurate. But the book is written for independent use by a middle school child. If I were using it for H, this project would be too difficult. However there are lots of easier projects to be made.

Simple appliqué with some accent stitching. (Credit to A Wrigley and CT Publishing)

This project really appeals to me. Cupcakes are fun at any age and this would be so easy to make. Cutting out the shapes and fusing to the background, then adding the top stitching would be something a beginner could achieve and be successful. Also, one could use any shape here. (By the way, crayon books provide a great opportunity for easy appliqué stencils.) There are many more projects including a cover for a tablet or iPad, a sweet lavender sachet, and fun decorations for their bedroom. I love the yo-yo garland which uses felt to make various sizes of yo-yos. There is a fun bunting and a fabric tassel garland (no sewing needed here). I strongly recommend the book.

I could see many ways this book could be utilized. Leaders for Girl Scouts or 4-H could use this when helping kids work toward a sewing and/or crafting badge. Grammy’s such as me could teach their little ones to sew. It would be a wonderful gift for that special child or grandchild during the holidays. Wrap it in fabric instead of paper for a double gift!

If you aren’t familiar with Annabel Wrigley already, here are her social media feeds and website. She is very clever and has taught many students. Year of great experience is shared with us in this book.

To making things even more exciting, I have one copy of the e-book to give to a lucky reader! If you are interested in winning the e-book, please leave me a comment telling a memory about when you learned to sew. Who taught you? How old were you? I would love to know. If you want to read about my early experiences with sewing, check out this post. Good luck all!

A Week’s Worth of Daily Life

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Life in Washington continues to be more comfortable. Over the past week it seems like a lot has been going on both with me as well as my kids. I got a bedroom in the house painted, did a little crafting, and some sewing. My kids – well, their idea of daily lives differ from mine quite a bit (which is as it should be).

Julia is taking a class on swine management this quarter and she loves it. Springtime means birthing – lots and lots of piglets have been born over the last two weeks or so. When she was ‘on duty’ last week, she helped this sow deliver her litter of 21 babies. By the time Julia got there, seven had been birthed. She was there for the birth of the next 14 which took a couple of hours. She said it was hard work, fast paced and exhilarating all at the same time. She loved every bit of it.

Her hands are a little gross but that is part of the deal. She is in her element with this sort of thing and is hoping for another mama to birth piglets during her shifts this coming week. I can say for sure, pig birthing was not a part of the curriculum during my college experience!

My son and daughter in law have been studying the world of beekeeping over the past months. They came across an opportunity to buy a whole beekeeper’s set up (gotta love Facebook Marketplace!) so they are fully experiencing the world of bees. H is right there with them. This process is much more complex than I knew.

These experiences are priceless. I am so happy to see them so excited and learning this together.

On to my less exciting projects! This picture shows Julia’s bedroom when we bought the house. It was lavender – like really purple! We didn’t like it at all! So now that lots of the unpacking is done, I found a day to paint it. The room isn’t too big so, with a little help from my husband, it only took one day to get it done.

Doesn’t it look lovely? It is a buttery yellow shade now. When we moved here, Ray remarked at how much paint was left in the garage. So we browsed the existing paint and I chose this yellow. There was a whole gallon of good quality paint, and it covered in just about one coat. I am all for using up what is already on hand. Plus the color is very pretty. I do want to make different draperies for the windows. That gray is totally wrong in this room. I am happy this is done because Julia comes home in two weeks!

OK – next incredibly exciting project! Sometime ago, my mom asked me to get rid of this old wicker basket for her but somehow I never did. It just sat in the garage and when we moved, Ray tossed it into the truck. I like the shape of the basket though so off I went in search of spray paint. We didn’t have any I liked so this project did require a quick trip to Lowe’s.

I chose white ‘chalk’ paint. It looks so cool! I painted outside because wow, this stuff smells awful.

Isn’t this cute? I think I will put it in the sewing room after it airs out a bit. It is tall enough for rolls of wrapping paper and I also keep a selection of cut dowels for hanging various size wall quilts. I can see this coming in handy upstairs!

I met up with my two local sisters on Monday. We had planned to get coffee and take a walk. However we made the mistake of getting the coffee and parking our posteriors on this bench. After 90 minutes, it was clear we were not going to take a walk at all. So we enjoyed a nice sister visit and some good coffee.

After the sisters left, I headed to the library which was just behind the bench we sat on.

Somehow having a library along the coast feels very decadent to me. Who can go to the library and the beach in one trip? Me, that’s who! I love it.

Here is the stack I brought home and my thoughts so far. Love the Denese Schmidt book and the Quilts Made Modern by Weeks Ringle. Both have fun info and some great patterns. The Simple Simon book is what I thought it might be. While it does include some cute bits from Liz and Elizabeth, the quilts very, very simple. This book is great for someone who is truly making their first quilt. The book on succulents is great. I love succulents and had to give mine away before we moved up here. Time to get some new ones started! Kate Hudson’s book, Pretty Fun, is pretty awful. I tried to like it – but yikes it is all fluff and a waste of time. So after a few chapters, I closed it and moved on. I am in the middle of While You’re Here Doc about a country vet in Maine. I love this sort of thing. I am thinking it is probably similar to the James Herriot book series – well, I think it probably is. I haven’t read those. But if I were to guess, this is the sort of story he writes! Hahaha. It is entertaining though. Finally I will be reading the Laurie Frankel book next – I love her books so much. I am currently listening to the audio version of Goodbye For Now.

OK – that does it for now. I am at my son’s house, babysitting the youngest while he is off celebrating H’s last day of preschool. She was so excited! She told me she is graduating to kindergarten today but has to wait for summer break first. They celebrate with a hot dog bbq and taking turns riding the horses that live at the preschool. She had a great year here. How on earth is it the end of the school year already???

Remember!! The second annual Positivity QAL kicks off this weekend, Sunday May 29th. I really hope you will join us and sew along for Mercyful Quilts!

Books, 49 in 2021

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In the beginning of 2021 I decided to keep track of what I read through the year. Not for any real reason other than to encourage myself to read more. I keep a list on my phone of books people recommend as well as a list on Instagram of books I see there.

It turned out to be a fun thing to keep track of. I like looking back and seeing the various books I read and loved (such as Cold Sassy Tree, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Turtles All the Way Down and Four Winds). Then there are the books I read and didn’t love (such as Educated, A Day Like This and The Handmaiden and the Carpenter). Special mention for The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson. If you haven’t read this and are in my age range, give it a try. It is a hilarious and sometimes serious memoir for growing up in the 1960’s. This was my second time through it and just as enjoyable as the first time!

I know Educated was super popular and what the main character overcame is truly amazing. But for me that book just went on for too long. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it. So I decided not to finish it. As for The Handmaiden and the Carpenter by Elizabeth Berg, that was a strange read for me. I have read and loved just about everything Berg has written and read many of the books more than once. So during the holidays I thought it would be fun to read her interpretation of the Christmas Story. But I couldn’t get into her perception of Mary and Joseph. It felt very strange to me. This book seems to be one that people love or don’t- and I didn’t.

Sometime during the year, I picked up a stack of novels by Elin Hildebrand at the local used book store. I read them and they are ok. But very light – lots of fluff. Now that I have read a few of them, they are feeling formulaic and I think I am done with her for a while!

I will be keeping track this year as well. It has been crazy busy so the list hasn’t been too long for the start of 2022 but I am sure as things calm down, I will have more time to read. Currently I am enjoying Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.

If you are a reader, and I know many of you are, share some of your favorites in the comments. I love having a list of suggestions!

JANUARY-

Three Junes, by Julia Glass

Heal Your Headache, by David Buchholz

Before You Go, by Elizabeth Berg

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris (audio)

The Tenth Circle, by Jodi Piccoult

All He Ever Wanted, by Anita Shreve

Something Rising, by Haven Kimmel

FEBRUARY-

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel, by Ruth Hogan

The Innocent, by Harlan Coben

Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns

How to be Cool, by Johanna Edwards

MARCH-

The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware

Happiness Sold Separately, by Lilly Winston

What to Keep, by Rachel Cline

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris

Looking For Alaska, by John Green

APRIL-

Accused, by Lisa Scottoline

Betrayed, by Lisa Scottoline

Frederick Douglas’ memoir

MAY-

Redhead by the Side of the Road, By Ann Tyler

Water Witches, by Chris Bohjalian

Summer of ‘69, by Elin Hildebrand

Fly Away, by Kristin Hannah

JUNE-

I See You Everywhere, by Julia Glass

7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Associate, by John Grisham

JULY-

Big Little Lies, by Lianne Moriarty

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman

Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green

AUGUST –

Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah

28 Summers, by Elin Hildebrand

Barefoot, by Elin Hildebrand

The Ugly Cry, by Danielle Henderson

SEPTEMBER-

The Atlas of Love, Laurie Frankel

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson

Educated- 1/2 way but didn’t like it enough to finish it.

OCTOBER –

I didn’t record anything. Not sure what happened here and I can’t remember what I read! It was a very busy month – so who knows? Maybe I didn’t actually finish a book.

NOVEMBER-

The Island, by Elin Hildebrand

A Day Like This, by Kelley McNeill

Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid

Harvest, by Tess Garritson (Audio)

DECEMBER–

Where or When, by Anita Shreve

The Art of Mending, by Elizabeth Berg

Home Safe, by Elizabeth Berg

Strange Fits of Passion, by Anita Shreve

One By One, by Ruth Ware

The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett (audio)

The Handmaiden and the Carpenter, by Elizabeth Berg

Just One Charm Pack – Blog Hop!

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Finally! Today is my day on the blog hop celebrating the release of Cheryl Brickey’s second quilt book, Just One Charm Pack. I have been waiting to play with this book for quite some time. I loved her first book Modern Plus Sign Quilts and knew this book would be at least as creative. Cheryl’s patterns are not new to me. I have made three so far (Postage Plus, Pike’s Peak and Flock of Geese.) Additionally, I have carried her patterns in my shop for a long while and they are very popular. (Note – all quilt patterns, including Cheryl’s, are currently 25% off and have free shipping in the US. Take a peek!)

Just in case you are new to Needle and Foot via Cheryl’s book celebration, welcome! I have been quilting on and off since 1978. Well, I made several quilts in 1978 and 1979 and then didn’t begin again until 2011. But as with most quilters, once the bug bit, I started quilting with a passion! Please take a minute to poke around my blog and visit. I have also had an on-line fabric shop for the last (almost) five years. I am in the process of retiring so all fabric there is on sale. If you’d like to check it out, click here!

Some time ago, Cheryl invited a group of quilt bloggers to make a quilt from the new book and share it upon the release of the book. We were able to choose which quilt we wanted to make and I chose the Ninja pattern which is based on a variation of the Friendship Star block.

My version of the Ninja quilt was made with 1/2 of a Kaffe Fassett charm pack that I had left from an earlier project. I was thrilled to see I could complete a quilt with just that small stack! I had both the white and the lavender solid fabric in my stash so it was a breeze to pull fabrics for this quilt. The lavender background is actually a solid cotton voile. I hadn’t made a quilt with cotton voile and have to say, I love the extra soft feel it has.

Piecing the quilt was very simple and because of Cheryl’s clear, concise instructions, there were no issues when putting the top together. By off-setting the placement of the Friendship Star blocks, there is nice movement to the design. I played around with ideas for quilting it until I took a closer look at the sample quilt in the book. It was quilted with concentric circles. The curved lines looked so perfect with the angular design. Not willing to free motion quilt that many circles, I chose to use my walking foot and do a pattern similar to a Baptist Fan. It was so simple to just begin in a corner and work to the center. Once I hit the center (or close to it), I just started another corner. Filling in between all four sections was the last step.

The quilt is backed with a dark purple flannel and the quilting shows nicely from the back side.

This cute little quilt (about 36″ x 50″) will be sent to a friend of the family. They just had their first baby, a girl named Natalie. I hope they will enjoy it and use it to pieces!

By the way, the patterns in this book are all traditionally pieced which means no paper piecing. For me, that is a big win! Another win, in my opinion, is that the quilt designs appear to be quite easy to enlarge. It would be no issue to just make more of these blocks and add to the width of the top and bottom border to make this a larger, lap size quilt.

Now that I have shared the quilt I made, I wanted to also show you a peek at some of the other patterns. Honestly, Cheryl designed some really fun, easy patterns.

*Pieced by Cheryl Brickey, quilted by Carol Alperin*

This quilt is named Fishies, rightfully so, don’t you think? I love the look of the school of fish all traveling together. So sweet.

Pieced and quilted by Myra at Busy Hands Quilt

This pattern is called Ships Ahoy. It was made by Myra of Busy Hands Quilts. Her colors are perfect for a bright addition to a nursery and that quilting is gorgeous. You can read more about her process here

Pieced and quilted by Liz, Savor Every Stitch

Finally, I have to share this version of Cat’s Eye. It was pieced and quilted by Liz at Savor Every Stitch. Just spend a minute adoring the quilting. Liz has such talent. To see more photos and read about Liz’s process, click here.

No doubt there is a quilt for everyone in this book. I encourage you to take a further look by following along with the blog hop. It began on July 15th and goes through July 29th. Cheryl will be posting the newest quilts on her site daily so you can read along.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Each pattern in the book uses a single charm pack, an additional fabric (called fabric A in the pattern) and a background fabric). The book is the Hamburger Helper for charm packs, stretching one into a full quilt 🙂

You can grab a copy of Just One Charm Pack Quilts on Amazon or get a signed copy in Cheryl’s shop.

As a bonus, if you purchase a signed copy from Cheryl’s shop, you can get one additional free stand alone pattern (digital or printed) by adding the book and a stand alone pattern ($12 value) and then using the coupon code HOPPATTERN (through the end of the hop 7/29) during checkout.

Quilting Cozy Series, Book Review & Giveaway

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It has been quite a while since I have done a book review. When I saw an email from C&T Pubs in my in-box a couple of months ago, I was delighted. I really enjoy working with them as they publish so many high quality books. This set of books is a bit different though.

When I read that these books, the Quilting Cozy series, were described by the author, Carol Dean Jones, as a Cozy series of books, I didn’t know what that referred to. Of course Wikipedia answered all my questions. Per Wikipedia, ‘Cozy mysteries, also referred to as “cozies”, are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.’ This is new to me. (I don’t generally read mysteries). C&T Pubs provided me with a copy of a book in the series. Titled Tie Died, it is the first book in the series. About a woman who has recently moved into a senior living village, she takes up quilting (among other hobbies) to meet other people. The story is sweet and short and of course there is both a love interest and a murder mystery to be solved. I will say the twist at the end took me by surprise.

Each book includes the full pattern for the quilt shown on the cover.

There is a reader’s guide available too. Ms. Jones put together a collection of discussion points and questions that go with the books. Some of the questions do contain spoilers so you may want to read the book before looking through the reader’s guide.

I found it interesting to learn that the author, Carol Dean Jones, wrote her first book at the age of 73. She was a geriatric social worker prior to retiring. This gives her a realistic perspective on the issues with aging and all that comes with this stage of life. This insight adds a very genuine touch to her books. Carol is also an experienced quilter which adds greatly to the stories. Having the stories built around the lives of several women in this retirement village, Carol brings up thought-provoking questions about friendship, crime, responsibility, aging, and marriage. The books would be fun to read and chat about at your next small group quilt club meeting. You can read more about this author on her website.

These books were actually self published at first. C&T Pubs is releasing the second edition now. They are available as both hard copy and e-books. The first six books in the series (Tie Died, Running Stitches, Sea Bound, Patchwork Connections, Stitched Together, and Moon Over the Mountain) are already out; the next four books (The Rescue Quilt, Missing Memories, Tattered & Torn, and Left Holding the Bag) are coming out in December and January.

The release of the Quilting Cozy series is being celebrated this week with a blog hop. There is a very generous giveaway on each blog in the hop. C&T Pubs has given each of us one full e-book set to give to a lucky reader.

Check out these posts for more on this set of books as well as more chances to win.

Monday 12/3: C&T Publishing

Tuesday 12/4: Bonnie K. Hunter at Quiltville

Wednesday 12/5: Barbara Chojnacki at Six Gables Designs

Thursday 12/6: You are here!! Bernie Kringel at Needle & Foot

Friday 12/7: Carol Dean Jones

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED.

~~To enter the giveaway for the series of Quilting cozy e-books, leave me a comment.~~ Tell me if you are a reader and what genres do you enjoy? Do you like mysteries? Did you know what a cozy was?? Have you read any of the books in this series? I love to read and would love to chat with you about what you enjoy! Good luck everyone! Giveaway is open until Sunday. I will announce the winner Monday.

Fabric & Fiction, Round Six

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It has been quite a while since I last started a round of Fabric and Fiction. Somehow the autumn months went by and it just never happened. With the beginning of the new year, I have been reading a lot. I think it feels good to slow down after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. So far this year I have read Icy Sparks, by Gwen Rubio and The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella.

These two books couldn’t be more unalike. Icy Sparks, an Oprah book club pick from about 15 years ago, is a dark but somewhat humorous look at a girl growing up in the 1950’s in Kentucky. She suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome which wasn’t well understood at that time. This feisty girl lives with her doting grand parents and suffers the wrath of her school mates, mean teachers and others who taunt her endlessly. It made me sad to read it in part but I will tell you I liked the ending (I’m not saying more than that though!) She befriends a very obese woman in town and they support each other as best they can, empathizing with each other as outcasts in their community.

The other book, The Undomestic Goddess, is a book about a high powered attorney who makes a mistake with one of her clients. Horrified and not knowing what to do, she runs away and takes a job as a housekeeper for a ditzy but wealthy couple. She hasn’t a clue how to cook, clean or do laundry and it is fun to read about her mistakes. Of course there is a sweet love story built in as well.

Remember Amelia Bedelia?

Kinsella’s book reminds me of a grown up version of Ameila Bedelia. Did you read that series as a child? I loved it. There were over twenty Amelia Bedelia stories written from the 1960’s through the 1980’s. I believe the original author, Peggy Parish, passed away and her nephew has written more Amelia Bedelia books since her death. Anyway, The Undomestic Goddess is somehow similar, very light, lots of fluff, and a bit predictable but I really enjoyed the story. Not everything I read has to be deep and carry life altering messages. Sometimes it is just fun to read and be entertained.

Since I skipped the fall book share, let’s go crazy and do two books this time! Here is my plan. I will open two book shares. Six people can sign up for each one. It might be best if you only sign up for one book so more people can participate. If we don’t get up to six people for either of the books, then you can sign up for the second book.

In case this is new to you, the way it works is I will send the book and three fat quarters of fabric to the first person on the list. That person reads the book (please don’t keep the book any longer than three weeks or it takes forever for the book to go around) and then chooses three fat quarters and sends them along to the next reader. It has proven to be too expensive to send the book out of the country so I think it is best to limit this to the US. (I’m sorry about this!) When you choose the fat quarters, try to select fabrics that relate to the book in some fashion. Include a quick note about how the fabric made you think of the book (without telling too much and spoiling the book for the next reader!)

I have really enjoyed this book club of sorts and hope you will join in! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment and please tell me which book is your top choice. I will try to create groups of six with you getting your book of choice, if possible. It is first come, first serve. Please, if you are reading this on Bloglovin, click through to my actual site and leave your comment there. It is hard to track who was first to comment, between the blog and the Bloglovin reader comments. If you have questions, leave them in the comments.

Thanks for sharing books with me in this way. I love hearing from the group and finding out what each person thought of the book! Now that I have finished the two books featured here, I am reading The Things We Keep, by Sally Hepworth. It is a great read so far. Maybe we will share it next time around! What are you reading these days? Share with us by leaving a comment.

*This is an affiliate post, meaning if you click through links on my page and make a purchase, I will be compensated. My compensation does not change the price you pay.

Fabric and Fiction, Round 5

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Time just buzzes by. It is one year since I began hosting the Fabric & Fiction book group. Last June, while on vacation in Maine, I thought it would be fun to share a book and see what others thought of it. About five or six readers joined in and we mailed the book from one member to the next, including three fat quarters of fabric that were somehow relevant to the book. Since then we have read Vinegar Girl, Double Bind, and Open House. Currently The Book of Bright Ideas is in route to various readers. It has really been a fun way to build community, enjoy a fun book, and give and receive fabric. As the book is received and read by the members of the group, each person writes a short note about their opinion of the book and then sends it to the next person along with three new fat quarters.

Today marks the beginning of the next book share. This summer we will share The Hypnotist’s Love Story, by Liane Moriarty. Ms. Moriarty is a prolific auther who has written a number of really good books. Last summer I read What Alice Forgot and it was excellent. Liane also wrote Big Little Lies which I haven’t read yet. I am on the waiting list for it at the library though.

The Hypnotist’s Love Story is about a woman who is a professional hypnotherapist who, until now, has not had many successful relationships with men. She meets Patrick, a widower with a young son, and feels like this might be ‘the one’ until she learns of a woman who stalks him constantly. I won’t tell you anymore but to say this is a really good book. I loved the characters, the setting, and the bits of information about hypnotherapy the author tucks into the story. The plot has a suspenseful element to it, making it quite hard to put down. It is a fun summer read and I hope you will enjoy it!

The first six readers to sign up via the comments are in. As much as I hate to do this, I am limiting this round to readers in the US. We have been sharing within Canada and the UK but it is expensive and shipping out of the country really slows the book down. I hope this doesn’t offend anyone.

Before I close, I want to share the fat quarters I have received through the Fabric and Fiction groups. I think this photo shows the fabric received from the first two books. The second two books have not completed the rotation completely so I don’t have the books back yet. I love this mix and I hope to add to it as we go. When I have enough I will make a quilt just for me and it will contain fabric from all sorts of quilty friends!!

This group of fabric, sent to me by Rhonda of Rhonda’s Ramblings was a total surprise. She sent it as a thank you for organizing these reading circles. What a sweet gesture and a wonderful treat to open!!

I added the two gray and pink fat quarters to the collection for my quilt. The other two, the ducks and the vintage kitchen piece, will be used for other projects. I love all of them!

If you are interested in joining the summer group, please let me know in the comments! Also, there is still plenty of time to join in the Summer Sewalong. We will be making a cute shirt with a very simple pattern. Click here to read the details.