Weekly update: Easter, stash report, a finish, RSC, OMG, and reading

 

Happy Easter! 

It's been a busy week! 

We are fully Pfizerized.  Our second vaccinations were at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday.  We were fortunate that our appointments were convenient -- just three miles down Sheridan Road in Zion at CTCA.  

Beautiful spring weather was a great opportunity for  visiting two forest preserves -- Rollins Savanna on Friday and Lyons Woods on Saturday. 

The arch in this fallen oak (Rollins Savanna) looked like a portal. I didn't want to take any chances of what might happen if I went through it.

 

We saw a pair of cranes at Illinois Beach State Park earlier in the week.   (I zoomed my phone camera to the maximum and then cropped the photo.)

Zion Park District's 66th Annual Easter Egg Hunt was a drive-through on Saturday morning.  I helped out at the Rotary table.  

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In the studio:

Stash report, March:  

Fabric OUT:    36-7/8 yards

Fabric IN:  1 yard (a gift -- cost ZERO)

Year to date:

Fabric OUT:  140-1/2 yards

Fabric IN:  59 yards (all gifts)

Net reduction:  80-1/2 yards

I made 16 framed four-patches for the April Rainbow Scrap Challenge. (The picture shows 15 but there is a 16th block.)

I made two potholders for Joy's Table Scraps RSC sub-challenge. 

Spiked Batiks is finished!  48 x 60. 

The pieced back includes a batik sarong that I got at this estate sale in 2009 . Actually it's part of a batik sarong (only 60" long) and it appears to be a 'second' -- it's misprinted (the flowers don't line up properly). But it cost about $2 and it seemed right for this scrappy project. 

My One Monthly Goal for April is to make four spring placemats.  I had success with making fall placemats back in October -- in fact, I made two sets.  

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A couple of months ago we watched a travelog about Idaho on Netflix.  One of the featured speakers was writer Kim Barnes. I hadn't heard of her so I checked out her books.  This week I read two of them.  (I have the others reserved.) 

In the Wilderness:   Kim Barnes' memoir recounts her childhood in a lumber town in Idaho in the 1960's and early 1970's. Her parents belonged to a Pentecostal church with strict social rules (skirts below the knee, no pierced ears, no TV, women to have long hair). Kim rebelled and left home after high school, but as she grew into herself she and her parents reconciled. The descriptions of the Idaho forest are lyrical.

A Country Called Home:   Fife is a small town in Idaho, far from everywhere else. Despite, or because of, its remoteness people from elsewhere move there to escape their pasts and start over. In 1960 Thomas Deracotte, a newly-minted M.D., and his wife Helen arrive from Connecticut. He is leaving his impoverished upbringing (college and med school scholarship student) and she is leaving her wealthy, privileged suburban family (who disapprove of her husband and the move). Their plan is that he will practice medicine on the side while they reclaim a long-abandoned farmstead. They soon learn that they are totally inept at rural life. Coming to their aid are Manny, a young jack-of-all-trades, and Dr. K, the town pharmacist who dispenses everyday medical and psychological advice. Shortly after Helen gives birth to Elise she dies tragically. The consequences of her death affect Thomas, Manny, Dr. K, and Elise as each of their stories spins out over the next 15 years. There are many "never-saw-this-coming" turns that make this a memorable novel. 

Linking up with: Oh Scrap!  Monday Making    Design Wall Monday    Scrap Happy Saturday    One Monthly Goal