Weekly update: goal #1, some experimenting, and some good books

 

Wonderful wildflowers at Ethel's Woods Forest Preserve this afternoon.  

Clockwise from upper right: coneflower, teasel, false sunflower, rattlesnake master, ironweed, and a mass of monarda and more false sunflowers.

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I received notice that one of my quilts was accepted into the Wisconsin Quilt Expo!  

The quilt is named Antipodes because the word means "polar opposite." For the British that was Australia and southeast Asia -- fitting for the Australian prints and Indonesian batiks that I used.

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In the studio:  I tried again to make a container for Wonder Clips. (See Friday's post for the less-successful first try.) This time I used fusible Peltex, that firm-yet-flexible heavy interfacing that we  got to know back when fabric bowls and boxes were all the rage.  (I looked it up:  the first book was published in 2003. I splurged and bought an entire bolt of Peltex. I made a dozen bowls.  There's a lot of Peltex left.)

Goal #1 is completed!

Making drunkard's path/curved blocks is one skill I want to improve.   When Marti Michell announced she was retiring and closing down her company I placed an order for her Perfect Patchwork drunkard's path templates.  

The instructions are easy to follow and by the time we came upstairs Sunday night (last episode of Grantchester!)  I had 24 blocks on the design wall. 

I kept skinny "half-rectangle" triangles left over from isosceles triangle units.  I sewed pairs and trimmed them with the Studio 180 Split Rects ruler.  These are 1.5" x 3".  I'm intrigued by the diamond setting.  I'm thinking about making them in a larger size. (The ruler goes up to 4" x 8".)

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This is our AAUW book group selection for August. We meet on Wednesday.                                                                                               "May you live in interesting times," is the old saying. Richard and Doris Kearns Goodwin not only lived in and through such times but they also documented them extensively. Dick worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations where he was instrumental in the architecture of the Great Society. Doris was an intern for Johnson and helped him write his memoirs. The Goodwins met in the early 1970's and married in 1975. They were partners personally and professionally.

This is a tribute to Richard Goodwin's significant contribution to the American social and political landscape. It is also a tribute to the Goodwins' lasting respect and love for one another.

I've heard Doris Kearns Goodwin speak twice. The first was at the Maine Library Assn. annual conference in 1993.  Richard came with her.  In lieu of her fee (which MLA could not afford) the MLA president offered a weeklong stay at her summer home on Hancock Point. I don't recall what she spoke about, but we were enthralled.  Richard, on the other hand, wasn't very engaged.            In 2009 she spoke at Loyola University in Chicago when they were launching a new program about presidential studies. Stevens and I both went to that and again, we were enthralled. 

It's taken me three months to read the next two books. Not only are they long but they are dense, to be savored rather than skimmed.

Medieval manuscripts by themselves are incomparable works of art.  One leaf is exquisite and an entire volume of them is nearly indescribable.   Christopher de Hamel tells the story about twelve manuscripts, not only the artistry but also the context.  When? Where? For whom? were these words set down, illuminated, and bound? And where have the volumes been since then?   

These "twelve journeys" provide insights into the development of western European civilization over a millennium.   

De Hamel complements "Meetings" with "The Posthumous Papers of The Manuscripts Club."   He tells the stories of twelve people involved with such manuscripts -- writing, illustrating, binding, selling, editing, organizing, forging, curating -- from the 11th century (St. Anselm) to the 20th century (Belle da Costa Greene).  Once again, he provides context and brings these people to life.                                                                                            Both books are very long -- 600+ pages -- and illustrated with images from the manuscripts. There are length bibliographic essays for each of the mss. and each of the people.      De Hamel is authoritative but not stuffy.  What a treasure for bibliophiles!  

Linking up with Oh Scrap!  Sew and Tell      Design Wall MondayP.S.  The online Alpha Gam Book Club met by Zoom Sunday evening to discuss Remarkably Bright Creatures.  The AAUW Jane Addams online group discussed it last month.  The Alpha Gam group skews younger than AAUW  (one participant just graduated) so it was interesting to listen to different observations on age (the main character is turning 70).   This book is also the selection for the P.E.O. Reading Sisters online group this coming season.  I'll get my money's worth.