what. a. week.

This week has been so busy, I haven't even hardly had time to read!

But I did squeak in a little kitty sewing...

Oh, wait, sewing FOR the kitties, not WITH the kitties...

(but both happened)

This stack is the eight carrier covers I was working on last week.  I managed to complete them this week, but that is all the time I've spent in the sewing room.  (Five shifts in a row - open, then close, then open, then close, then open - took a lot out of me and left me little time for anything else, let alone something fun.)

But there you have a little proof of sewing!

I also haven't read much, but this last book was pretty heavy.

True to Oprah's picks, this one was not a fun read.  She tends to choose books that force you to see parts of the world and parts of human character that are not widely discussed or even realized.  Generally I don't choose picks of hers, but there this one was...in the stash...

It is a collection of short stories (some shorter than others), all set in Africa, but all over the continent.  They all feature children.  Children in distress.  The blurb speaks of the resilience of children and I suppose that is true, but what really stood out to me was the helplessness of children in the situations adults put them into.

Reading took a while because there was some dialect that took a bit to get into (the conversation bits, the actual text was fine) and, for me, it was a slower read overall.

It wasn't a bad book, but it also wasn't uplifting.  None of the stories ended happily.  (Though they all ended predictably and realistically.)

The book title is an instruction given to one of the children in one of the stories.

I've moved on to the next book, but it's a classic, and you know how slow those can sometimes be - this one is no exception.  Also, I'm so tired at night, I read about one chapter (about 10 pages) and my eyes are closing on their own.  The next week or so looks to be about as busy (today is my first day off and I won't have another until Thursday, then maybe not again till the following Wednesday if I pick up a shift from a coworker), but I'm okay with it all.  Life gets busy sometimes!

Happy quilting!

Katie

two blocks and two books

It has been a busy busy week around here and today is the first day I have nowhere to be ALL DAY!  Of course, there are a zillion chores that need to be done to catch up (I've been trying, but they seem to get ahead of me when I'm gone a lot), but I think I'm almost to a point where I can do some fun stuff!  (Blogging counts, right?!)

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of blocks for the wedding quilt...

The colors still aren't coming across as bright as they are in real life, but the first of the two is closer.  Hopefully at some point I'll get a good photo!

I start my sewing day (when I get one!) with one of these and then work on cat carrier covers.  I've gotten through three of the fabrics and am working on a fourth.  That one was a LOT of fabric and the smaller covers I'm making with it take less fabric, so I have eight (eight!) in progress right now.

We spent a little more time finishing up building the catio last week, but decided against putting the top on, as it needs to be mounted to the outside of the house and we don't want to do that.  We're going to use L brackets to attach it to the concrete, but don't really want to drill holes in the walls.  So we just stapled some netting across the top and so far it's working.

The kitties like it!  I bought a cat grass planter and grew that up for them to have outside as well.  It's not as big as their previous enclosure, but first up on the list for Toby and Finn - every time out - is a roll on the concrete and everyone loves the perches.  The hubby wanted to put some sort of outdoor carpet out there, but I talked him into some inexpensive rugs.  They're easier to replace and the kitties like to wrestle them, too.

The garden is doing nicely - we've finally gotten some warmer weather and the plants are starting to recover from a colder stretch right after they were planted.  No photos...sorry...but I spent about two hours out there weeding yesterday.  The weeds seem to be doing better than the garden plants, but I'm going to stay ahead of them!

I have been reading, and with a crazy schedule, sometimes it's just easier to pick up a book for 20 minutes than just get started in the sewing room and have to stop again, so two books this week!

Another one I'm not entirely sure where it came from, but it was pretty good.  A middle-aged man (though the author would have you believe he is older than the 59 he admits to later in the book) is living alone in a very rustic cabin in the remote woods of Maine.  After a tragic fire took his entire family, this is how he is able to mentally survive.

The morning following an ice storm a younger, pregnant, woman shows up, clearly running from something and despite his attempts to get rid of her, she stays.  As time moves on, they become friends in an awkward sort of way.

She was running from her husband and a past mistake that her religion somewhat shunned her for.  The husband does find her and the dynamic there is interesting.

It was a slow paced story, though there are jumps in time that are weeks long.  Both the main characters help each other heal, though, so it's a pretty positive book.

And then there was this disaster.

This author....

I read her first book a while back and reported on it being atrocious.  I had high hopes that this, about her 7th, would be better.  It was, in a general sense, not.

The grammar in the first was very precise.  This one is a bit better, though the typos still continue.

So this is book two in a series of three.  Generally series books are okay, as the author takes time to reintroduce characters and though it's a slog when you've read the first one, if you haven't, it's a nice courtesy.

That is not what happened here.  I felt like I walked into the middle of a conversation a group of people were having and one of them casually said "oh, that's Ned and that's Lisa" and went back to their conversation, but let me hang out.  I have no idea what the main character looks like (though she cut her hair near the end), I have no idea about how old she is (though she referred to people as "old" that were in their 50's, yet she has an adult son) and I only have a vague idea of the situation that put her where this book starts.

But lets regroup.  In the first book, the main character's cheating, drunk husband died in a car accident and she inherited all his wealth, including a house in a small, quaint, though fake, town in Missouri.  She was going to sell it (apparently she is from South Haven, Michigan (a real city that I'm sure the author googled once and went "blueberries, check; beach, check" and closed the browser window), so no idea how that connection happened), but ends up renovating it and turning it into a bed and breakfast (where she bakes a LOT of blueberry muffins).  That is haunted, apparently.

So this book sees the grand opening of her little adventure and all of about 12 people stay there before the book ends.  She is off galivanting around to visit South Haven (where I might note that the sun DOES NOT SET at 8pm in the summer - it is much later) multiple times, her friends that run a winery, the local antique shop that has Tiffany lamps and dating no less than three different men.  Mention is made that SHE can set her schedule of when to welcome guests, but I'd think you'd be busting your butt a little harder the first few months you're open.

Anyways...  She commissions her friend to make a signature quilt to hang in the entry of the home for guests to sign.  Because, though she's a quilter, she's not good enough and obviously is too busy running around in her Mercedes that she keeps saying she is going to sell.  The ghost removes names of people who she doesn't like.  Who are less than BFFs with the owner at the end of their stay.  The ghost also signs the name of one of the boyfriends (he did the renovations, that's how we met him in the last book - apparently he's a hunk, but I have no idea what he looks like...again...) but then removes it later.

And then the book ends.

But not without a TV miniseries wrap-up style "what will happen next - you'll have to tune in tomorrow to find out" few paragraphs at the end.

And honestly?  I'm so fed up with this author, I don't care what happens.  Because if I have to read "yummy" about anything for the next 100 months, I might puke.

The next book is better.  Sad stories, but at least the author probably owns a thesaurus.

Off to get the banana bread out of the pan (it came out of the oven a few minutes ago and it's best to get it out of the pan when warm!) and then go maybe do some sewing!!!

Happy quilting and reading and baking and gardening!

Katie

an end to block parts and a start to blocks

The wedding quilt and all its many pieces continues to trudge along...

These look quite similar to me, but maybe that's because I've made so many?

There is one set of block parts missing here on the blog (and in my photos) and I'm not sure if I forgot to photograph them or what.  But I'm sure I made them!

Once these block sections were done (and they were time consuming - about an hour and a half per set!), I set them all out and added sashing strips.  Each block gets 12 strips and they are all different, so I had some work to do.  I have no photos of that pile, but I assure you, it is waiting for me in the sewing room!

Yesterday I got some time to myself (the hubby started his two week vacation on Friday, so it's gonna be a rough stretch) and I ran into the sewing room and turned out the first full block!

I'm pretty excited with how it turned out.  It's a little brighter in real life, but I can't for the life of me figure out why my phone refuses to take true-color photos.  I could look at the phone and the block under it and SEE the differences in colors.  What's up with that?  I edited the photo a little to brighten it up, but that's a whole other skill.  (Cue the eyerolls.)

After this, I decided to tackle some of the fabric for the kitties.  No proof, but I have five very large covers finished (they're cut 36x57 and hemmed just slightly).  That knocked out two of the fabrics on the stack.  12 more to go!

(Not to worry, I'm sure more fabrics will be donated before I finish this set!)

When the hubby got home yesterday, it was time to do what he wanted to do: build the catio he purchased months ago.  And while I'm not sure this is going to go quite as he anticipates (there seems to be an aggressive stray around lately), I wanted the 3 very large boxes out of the side of my living room where my desk and doorway to the longarm room are.  It's not in HIS way, but very much in mine.

This is after about 3 hours of work.  The directions are drawings only (aside from a screw ID letter and how many to use) and not terribly helpful for things like making sure pre-drilled holes are on the right side of the unit.

Things went faster after a 30-minute break where the hubby went out and bought a new electric drill and bit extender to screw in the many, many, many screws.

There are a lot of shelves and such that need to be added, plus a clear plastic roof, but I have to work later today, so we'll see how this goes.  (I got up early to do my chores and he's still sleeping, so I'm safe for now!)

I'll have to give you an update next week - along with finished photos.

And finally, the reading.  I'm nearly finished with a second book for this week, but life has been a little busy (work added a shift, which I'm glad for) and I'm tired at night.  This week will be even tricker with the hubby home all the time.

But I did finish one book!

This one was pretty good.

A young girl (13) is able to heal, and though she has known this for a number of years, she knows to keep it secret.  A tragic accident prompts her to heal her best friend and, thanks to the magic of the internet, the whole world knows very soon after.

As you would expect, her skill brings out all sorts of people, including a lot of fanatics and crazies.  They overrun her small town and make demands of her, also as you'd expect.  Her father, the police chief, buddies up with a televangelist, and they try to manage the people and her.

The trouble is that this healing takes a lot out of her and the only person who doesn't seem to want anything from her is the best friend that she healed.  (I'm not sure he would have asked her to do it in the first place.)

So this is the story of her and those around her trying to navigate this and keeps you hoping till the end that things won't end the way you think they probably will.

A sad book, despite the healing.

The next book is also kinda sad, but seems to be taking a positive twist.  We'll see, though, as there are a lot of players that could screw it up.

And that's it for my week.  Of course there was weeding the garden (goodness that was a long chore, but with a lot of rain and then sunshine, the weeds took off!) and flowers and work and the usual chores.

Wish me luck to get anything much done this week with the hubby home...he is VERY good at sitting on the couch doing absolutely nothing until I look busy and then all of a sudden he wants me to drive to the big town north of us to look for a drill bit or something.  (We have plenty of stores here that sell such things, so I don't know what his deal is.)  He bribes me with promises of lunch out.

Happy quilting and such!

Katie

quilting and reading and FABRIC!!

As usual, life didn't go quite as planned last week, but thankfully the curveballs were all good ones.  And really, is it real life if there aren't curveballs?

First up, the stuff I planned to work on - the wedding quilt blocks:

Three more sets of block parts.  Four more to go.  I had hoped to get more done, but in all honesty, even without the curveballs, I'm not sure I would have gotten much more done.  Maybe one set?

The first curveball was a call (well, text) from the cat rescue group asking if we could haul a pallet of bedding pellets - they use these for cat litter as they're cheaper.  We have a truck and muscles (though they ask for other volunteers to help unload the 50 bags that come on a pallet), so we looked at the schedule for the coming days and decided that Thursday midafternoon would be best.

That is not where the bulk of my lost time went that day.  Remember the cat toys that I was trying to finish in time for the fabric donation?  Well...since I was headed to the clinic the day after the text came through, I decided to spend the morning before the delivery finishing the toys.

I can to do this!

I did do it!

But I have no photographic proof.  Just imagine that box Salem was lounging in last week absolutely packed full.  (Remind me not to do that many at once again!)

Then off to deliver and a couple of folks met us there to make lighter work.  I hauled a few bags and then the gal who coordinates the sewing projects showed up.  Neither of us knew the other would be there, but there she was.  With 14 bolts of fabric.  She'd been to JoAnn's on their last day and snagged some good deals.

I wish I'd taken a photo of the before, but I was anxious to get them all washed and preshrunk, so this is the aftermath...curveball number two, but really just a project that I thought I had more time to contemplate.

Five loads of laundry and an estimated 120 yards of fabric and now they're all folded semi-neatly and stuffed onto the designated shelf in my sewing room...

There is still a lot of work to go on these, but I'll get there.  They are all larger pieces (6 to 10 yards), which makes for awkward pressing and folding, but hopefully the assembly line sewing I will perform after that will go faster.

I know they're in high demand because I saw the bin where they live at the clinic and it is completely empty!  I saw a few scattered around, next to kennels housing kitties, that were clearly mid-use and that makes me feel good.  Of course, I'd rather their roof hadn't been blown off, or that it was fixed already, but this is something I can do since fostering kitties is really not possible in this 6-cat household...

The other curveballs weren't as dramatic or interesting, so we'll just let them go.  Just normal life stuff.  Thankfully!

And finally, the reading.  There's been good progress this week...

This book was really good.  Like so good I'm keeping it.

It's the story of a young woman, aging out of foster care, trying to make her way in the world.  In her last foster home (she was in group homes after this), she learned the meaning of flowers and uses it to get a job with a florist when she is out on her own, fending for herself.

She tells, in alternating chapters, her childhood story and her current life story.  Both are messy and she is a chaotic character, but it all felt real.  When she made a bad choice, I cringed, but realized that it was a reasonable choice considering her past, and I liked that it wasn't cookie cutter perfect.

I felt like parts of the story are a bit blurry or muddy and that could have bothered me more, but in this book, it just seemed right.

And I liked that, through it all, the good things did outweigh the bad, which is what we all hope for in our own lives.

It did take me a few more days to finish that it could have, but sometimes I just needed to finish that chapter, put it aside and let it soak in.

And then the random book chooser gave me this:

This is the second in a trilogy and I have read the first.  I vaguely remembered the first and I think I enjoyed it, so I expected a fair amount from this one.  It wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, but it wasn't bad either.

The blurb says it's the story of a woman, but the first third does not even mention her.  It, however, does tell the story of her parents and a little of the story of her grandparents (her maternal grandparents are the subject of the first book).  While most of it wasn't essential to her story, it does give some interesting history of late 1800's Chinatown and Nob Hill in California.

Eventually her story does come to the front and it is a good story, but is interspersed with more history of Chile (where she moves at age 10 with her paternal grandmother and step grandfather) that is less interesting.  (Wars and such...no, wait...maybe that was the first third?)

Anyways, she is a shy but stubborn young woman who learns photography from a man in California before she is transplanted to Chile.  It becomes her lens to see the world, as she realizes she can see more from the still photos than her eyes in the moment.  Through her photography she learns a devastating truth that changes her adult life, but sends her on a path that is probably better for her.

(But really, this photography isn't much of a plot.  It's just something to move the plot along and you get a lot of history and family stories and such.)

Again, not bad, but not great.  I don't think I'll look for the third book.  I mean, if it happens in my path at a used book sale for a good price and I snag it, maybe, but I'm not going to put it on the want to read list anywhere!

Of course I've started another book and so far (about 50 pages in), I'm enjoying it.  More on that next week!

Now it's time to go water my garden and get ready for another shift at work today.  Hopefully it will go fast and people will be nice.

Happy quilting and reading and all the other things,

Katie