Monday, April 14, 2025

Weekly update: bunco, a surprise finish, and reading

 S is getting more alert.  His appetite is good.  I will learn more when I meet with the care team this week.



The Zion Woman's Club spring bunco party was Friday evening.   Everyone had a good time!  

My friend Donna won the quilt I donated to the raffle.

I'm sure the club treasurer will have a glowing report at tomorrow's board meeting. 





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Here's the ninth block for the guild BOM.  

These are 8" (finished) blocks so the pieces were a bit fiddly to cut.



From "just a few more blocks" (Friday's post) to a finished quilt -- here is Gray Scale!

68 x 80.


 The back is a black-on-white floral bed sheet (thrift shop bargain).  

I used the walking foot and serpentine stitch.  


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What a gem!   A historical novel, a bit of a mystery, emotional turmoil, and an unexpected and hopeful ending.

I learned about this book from Martha Barnett, host of "A Way With Words."  She was especially interested in the old Norse language that is a large part of the story.

I was taken with the setting.  The Clearances were decades when absentee landlords summarily evicted tenant farmers from land they had worked for generations.  By the 1840's the last territories to be 'cleared' were the outermost islands.    John Ferguson, a pastor without a pulpit and desperate to earn some money, accepts a job to go to a remote island, halfway to Norway, to evict its last resident, a farmer named Ivar. What he doesn't know is that Ivar doesn't speak Scots or English. His language is a Norse dialect.   John suffers an injury and Ivar nurses him back to health.  How can John deliver the eviction summons?   That inevitable action hovers over the story even as John creates a glossary of Ivar's language.   



As I was quilting I listened to the audio version of Osman's latest book.  

I really enjoy caper novels and this was such fun!   I look forward to the next entry in the series. (But I hope he'll keep up with the Thursday Murder Club....and is that the same Russian strongman in both?)


Linking up with Oh Scrap! Design Wall Monday Sew and Tell 

 


P.S.  At Bunco:  Lauren, who's 16, showed me the quilt she made for her uncle out of his shirts. She pieced, quilted, and bound it herself.   Her grandma Regina helped hold it. 

I especially liked the pieced back.  

14 comments:

  1. Gray Scale is gorgeous! Congratulations on the finish, Nann. Clear sounds fascinating - thanks for the recommendation. I love Lauren's quilt - and fabulous pieced backing, too!

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  2. Your gray scale quilt turned out well. The setting triangle fabric was a nice addition.

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  3. loving those BOM blocks and gray scale is very nice indeed...book review intriguing...

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  4. Happy that there is good news for Steven!! What a great quilt Lauren made!!
    Your Gray Scale is a beauty!! Nice work hugs, Julierose

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  5. I love Gray Scale. What a perfect backing for it. It's always nice to see young folks interested in quilting. Lauren did a fabulous job. And she's upcycling and gifting to boot! How wonderful.

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  6. How nice to see a quilt by a sixtern year old. And “Grey Scale” seems very serene. Ceci

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  7. I so glad Stephens seems to be doing well, even better.
    Your bright blocks for the guild BOM look great. Such interesting patterns, some of them.
    Looking at your black and white and grey quilt, it's hard to tell it's not a black and white photo! You nailed it for a the black to white range.
    Thanks for the book recommendations.
    That's a wonderfui quilt by Lauren.

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  8. You made very quick work of your grey scale quilt. Very cool. It's quite a contrast with your very colorful guild BOM blocks.

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  9. Gray Scale is lovely! Your BOM blocks make me happy! Sounds like things are going well now (knock wood). Love your friend's quilt (love the backing too)!

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  10. Such a lot of goodness in this post!

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  11. A grandson wants a twin quilt. I have an idea but wish I’d seen your grey quilt first. He would love that.Sending a hug to Stevens. It’s a bittersweet time for you but this sounds like a safer location
    Ann at FretNotYourself.

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  12. I love Gray Scale. It's wonderful.

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  13. I love Gray Scale too - it proves you don't need a whole lot of different colours to make a really beautiful quilt. And lovely to see the next generation making quilts, and doing such an amazing job too.

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  14. Glad to hear there is improvement and I hope you have a good report when meeting with the care team. Gray Scale is beautiful and I really love those colorful guild BOM blocks. Lauren's shirt quilt is fantastic and I, too, really love that pieced back. Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings!

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