Sunday, November 21, 2021

Weekly update: projects small and large + reading

 

Lake Michigan at Illinois Beach State Park this weekend:   if you look closely you can see a freighter on the horizon.  


The beach is back after strong autumn storms with over-wash -- the waves went over the low dunes along the shoreline.   




I paced the length of this trunk. It's nearly fifty feet.  A year and a half or two years ago it was growing some feet from the beach. The erosion is so severe that it undercut the dune and the tree toppled.


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In the studio:


Our guild has an ornament exchange at the holiday party. Ornaments don't have to hang on the tree! I made this mug rug as an ornament for someone's table.  (Pattern in the latest issue of Quilts & More.)  











After I finished quilting the CW Repro strippy (see last Wednesday's post) I leafed through the file of patterns-that-would-look-good-in-reproductions.  This was in Quiltmaker S/O 2001. I made a few 9-patches and decided I didn't want to fuss with the applique per the pattern.  I made more nine-patches.  Here's the work in progress.  

As patterned:  43 x 54.  My version will be 73 x 77.

Can you spot the mis-piecing? Fourth column. 


I had this much of the setting fabric left. 


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 Danny and Maeve Conroy, brother and sister, are seven years apart in age but bound tightly together by their childhood experiences. First, their mother Elna leaves them inexplicably to do charity work in India.  Then their father marries Andrea, an avaricious woman who personifies the wicked stepmother.   To cap that when their father dies (Danny is 15, Maeve 22)  they learn that Andrea has schemed to get all their father's assets with the exception of a trust fund set up for their education.  For the rest of their lives the Conroy siblings compensate, and compensate even more, for their losses.   The story is unsentimental and unpredictable -- and really, really good.

 Unfortunately the copy of The Dutch House that I read had lost its dust jacket -- the evocative portrait (shown here; it's Maeve) is a key element.


I have not followed the ups and downs of the Miss America Pageant. After reading Mifflin's history -- current as of 2020 -- I am better-informed, and I don't need to know any more.  (The book was well-written and well-researched. It's just not a topic that interests me.)

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Linking up with:  Oh Scrap!  Monday Making   Design Wall Monday


P.S.   Tree roots along the beach.   


11 comments:

  1. Thank you for the book recommendation. I've placed a hold on The Dutch House at my library.

    You did well with the setting fabric for your 9-patch quilt! Just enough.

    The mug rug is a cute idea.

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  2. that is what i love about the beach....it changes every day...never boring...love your repro and good for you for busting the entire piece! i love it when that happens...those traditional quilts always get me...love 'em!

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  3. I liked The Dutch House so much. It is set in the next town over from ours! When it first came out, the owners of a little independent book shop had her come to speak; she was delightful

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  4. Gotta love a good strippy! I have a similar quilt on our guest room bed. I wanted to keep the center simple to show off the gorgeous border print that I used.

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  5. I too love nine patches set in a strip setting! Thanks for the book recommendation!

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  6. Hum, your more intrepid than I am -- I would never have started the Miss America book! Your latest reproduction fabric quilt is looking good. Sometimes you just have to bounce off of a pattern and do your own thing. No doubt your decision not to do the appliqué means it will get done in a reasonable time.

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  7. I enjoyed your beach photos! Great start on a repro 9-patch quilt!!!!

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  8. I loved The Dutch House, and generally enjoy reading Ann Patchett.
    I IBSP doing anything to counteract the beach erosion? Seems like they'd want to make an effort now.

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  9. Jay, your email bounced back. Here is more about the erosion: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/23ae66b26b9a4c3daa1757a69308becc

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  10. Love your incense and peppermint quilt and the CW strippy. Didn't see it finished though.

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