Weekly update: a flimsy, sewing ahead, catching up -- and some good books!

 

I added an outer border to Rhododendron Trail to contain the design.  In retrospect I should have limited it to 25 blocks because it is really, really long.  Too late now!  

12-1/2 yards.

I had to buy more of the turquoise print. Fortunately Joann's had 2 yards on the bolt. And that was ALL I bought.  (At Joann's, that is. There's a DSW next door and I found these terrific shoes. I've seen them in a couple of mail-order catalogs but this way I could try them on. They also came in two-tone blue and two-tone black/brown. I went for the colorful version.)  

After the intricacies of Rhododendron Trail I wanted some mindless sewing.  I don't know what the March RSC color is but based on RSCs of previous years I know that dark blue, pink, orange, and yellow will come up.  I made 20 spinner blocks in those colors to go with the red and teal spinners for January and February. (Just watch....March will be another color entirely.)  

Each set of 20 uses 1-1/8 yards.  

I had a ziploc bag with triangles left over from the blocks I made for RSC 2016.  (That RSC project is here).   I used them in this colorful heart.  The pattern is from QuiltFolk.  I think they had a quilt-along but I didn't follow it. (I mean, how hard is it to make HSTs and arrange them according to the photo?) Their version used 6" HSTs and mine are 3" [finished].  I will likely use the block as part of a larger design that I haven't begun to work out. 

Log Cabin Basket is the February guild BOM. Marge and I are the BOM chairs this year and we're alternating months -- this is hers.   It's a clever technique.  (This week I have to write the directions for the March block which we will reveal at our meeting March 2.)

QuiltMania had a clearance sale.  I indulged in back issues that were $3 each   I would have indulged more but I had difficulty navigating their website.  I enjoy the quirky French translation and the European viewpoint as well as the quilt designs.

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I am not a knitter but because I'm a quilter I appreciate those who are obsessed with yarn, needles, and all that goes with them.   Last week there was a post to the Just Wanna Quilt FB group saying that Brenda Papadakis is even more fiercely guarding her copyright for Dear Jane -- not only the patterns but also the name.   Knitting designer Alice Starmore has a similar philosophy when it comes to her Fair Isle designs, techniques, and her custom-dyed yarns. 

In Sweater Quest Adrienne Martini documents her "year of knitting dangerously" when she set out to make Starmore's Mary Tudor pattern.  She gives the history of Fair Isle vs. other techniques    It wasn't hard to translate the  knitting terminology and experience to their quilting kin.   How the internet has built the knitting (quilting) community. The lure of the fiber/yarn festival (quilt show).  The enormity of our stashes. All the gadgets.  Practical projects vs. impractical projects. Justifying why we do what we do. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee told Martini, "I love that it is an act of transformation. I love that you're taking one thing and turning it into another thing....I love that I decide...You have to do something right thousands of times. You can congratulate yourself all of those times." 

And did she make the sweater?  Well, yes . . . but you'll need to read this tremendously entertaining book to find out the whole story!   [P.S. The book came out in 2010 but it is still relevant.] 

I finished The Secret Keeper of Jaipur in time for Tuesday's P.E.O. online book club meeting with a visit from author Alka Joshi.  It was so interesting to learn how the books came about and to hear her insights about her Indian heritage.  (#3 in the series is coming in 2023.) The Henna Artist ended with many possibilities for "what happened next?"  The characters return in this sequel set twelve years later (1969). Lakshmi (the henna artist) and her husband Dr. Jay operate a clinic in Shimla. Her ward Malik has finished school and works for the architectural firm owned by Samir, Lakshmi's one-time patron. Samir's spoiled, dissolute son Ravi also works for his father. When a movie palace designed and built by Samir's firm collapses on its opening night Malik suspects Ravi of cutting corners. The multi-character narration enhances the intrigue and the urgency to solve the mystery.

This short tale is a gem. Like a gemstone it is compressed, stripped of nonessentials. Like a gemstone the light reflects off each facet. The prose rolls with a storyteller's cadence.

Bill Furlong is the coal dealer in an Irish town. It's the mid-1980's and times are tough. As Bill delivers fuel and collects payments he reflects on his lot in life -- his mother worked for the wealthy folks outside town so he had a leg up when it came time to go into business. He and his wife have a long, loving, and comfortable marriage. Their daughters are smart, healthy, and happy. When Bill delivers coal to the convent he meets one of the teenaged girls sent there to have her illegitimate baby. He makes a decision -- a Christmas gift of hope for her future, for his family, and for him.

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Linking up with Oh Scrap!    Design Wall Monday  Monday Making