blocks and books and a question

It took a bit of time to get more blocks done (work...again...), but I have a few to share for the retirement quilt.

Block 2:

And bonus blocks from block 2:

My "camera" is still struggling to get colors right.  Both of these were edited, but neither quite represent the colors as my eye sees them.  It's funny because I can put the block on the floor and hover over it with my phone "camera" and SEE the color differences.  F*ing technology.  (Still annoyed with it.)

Anyways.

Block 3:

Freddie has requested that his name go on this quilt as being made by him, as well as me.  He has helped with most steps of the construction, though usually by head-bonking my legs while I sit at the table and sew.  And stealing my chair while I iron.

Bonus blocks from block 3:

(As always, the colors are wrong.  So I guess we'll focus on construction?  Don't zoom in too much, though, please.  Particularly not on the bonus blocks.)

Block 4:

No color correction.  Looks a lot like 3, but it's not.

No bonus blocks.  The lost corners were too small.

Block 5:

(with a Freddie shadow)

Block 5 bonus blocks:

Block 6:

No bonus blocks and this was the easiest one so far.  I think.

I have re-calculated the pieces for the next block, but who knows when I'll get to it.  I had a good chunk of the weekend off, which is why these are done.  Now it's back to work and probably not gonna get better until after the holidays.  (But the boss and I will have a conversation here soon - my review is waiting for us.)

One third of the blocks are done, but some need two (as these above), some need three, some need ten, so that's not quite a correct representation.  The number of blocks grows as the size diminishes.  I also think the complexity lessens some as they shrink.

And the worksheet I linked to in the last post is working nicely.  I would recommend if you need to do some fancy quilty math like I am doing here.

No, wait.  I didn't link it.  I guess maybe I was waiting to see if it worked?  It works!  So here's the link.

Lily is also helping, but not quite as actively as Freddie:

She sits just at the edge of my wool pressing mat (that doesn't look like one because I covered it with fabric after some issues with it (or something stuck to it) gunking up my iron every time I used it) and watches me.  She's a bit afraid of the "spicy dragon", but she cannot stand to be left out of anything.

But you can see she is a true quilter because she is wearing a tiny thread scrap on her nose.

That went fast.  The sharing.  The blocks take hours.  And then I only have two to show for it.  But the quilt is going to be epic and I'm excited to be doing it.

The question:

Have any of my readers out there worked with Quilts of Valor?  I have an idea and am trying to get some ideas of how the interactions have gone before I make any decisions.  I have looked and see there is a "chapter" fairly nearby, so I can reach out to them, but am curious how others have participated.

And the books.

I promised an evaluation of the book cart monthly.  I rearranged a little and took a photo early this month.  It doesn't look much different.

Early October is on the left, early November on the right.

Quite a few books that I read came from the row on the floor.  The random number jar decided that for me, but I suppose that made it easier than moving things all around on the cart?

And the cart isn't QUITE as jam-packed as it was before.  Some of the books were getting a little squish-damaged being in there and I'd rather not do that.

But also, I only read six books in October.  Only.  I know that's a lot for some people and a few for others.  My relaxed goal is one per week.  I've hit that for the year (71 finished this year - a couple more I gave up on), but that doesn't mean I'm quitting.

Anyways.  What have I read since my last post?

I admit I don't know a lot about the indigenous people of my country.  I found this book and thought it might be a good way to learn a bit more.

This book was not good.

First, if I never hear or read the word "aya" again it will be too soon.  Loosely translated (the book has a short vocab list at the beginning) it means "yes."  The author used it about once a page.  To start sentences.  I nearly threw the book across the room because who starts sentences with "Yes" that frequently?

Second, the word "f*ck" was used far too frequently early in the book.  And while I'm absolutely on board with a well-placed swear word (in life or on paper), I don't think it needs to be part of the dialect of a whole group of people.  Its use tapered off after a while, which was nice.  But it did make me go look up when the word originated and it turns out it predates the timeline in this book, though how they learned the word when their interactions with white Europeans was so limited they had not yet seen them is a mystery to me.

There was a lot more killing than I anticipated, but the remainder of my thoughts on that are going to stay in my head for fear of offending someone.

Anyways.

The actual story (told here and there) is about two people from different tribes who meet by chance, fall in love, marry and eventually have children.  The man becomes a leader, though he didn't seek it until it was suggested to him.  The woman seems to be more willing to break social norms than others.  But theirs is a "great love."

I did learn some about cultural practices and lifestyles and history in general, but I feel like a day at a good museum could have done about as much.

And there is a map at the the beginning that does not seem to coincide with many of the places mentioned in the book, so that was SUPER annoying.

Finally: Windgo = cannibal.

Next up:

Another WW2 historical novel, but one that has been in my TBR longer than the mystery bag I got a few weeks back.

Having just read "The Woman With the Blue Star" just a few weeks ago helped me understand one of the characters better, but this one was also sad and I'm hoping my future books move away from this topic for a bit.

The stories of three women are told here and we all know they'll intersect, right?

An American socialite working (at the start) to send care packages to orphanages in Paris/France because it's a second home to her.  She works with the French consulate in New York doing this and other things.

A Polish woman, quite young, who gets slightly involved with the underground and is arrested, along with her mother and sister, and sent to a concentration camp.  We see their lives and though the worst of things seems to be hidden from sight, you do get an idea of what is happening.

And a German woman, a newly minted doctor, with a hard-won degree takes a job in (surprise, surprise) the concentration camp that the Polish women are sent to.  She performs experimental operations on the women at the camp and this was something that I didn't know much about, so though it was terrible, it was interesting to learn more.

Though the topic is awful and the stories mainly sad, I did enjoy the book.  The characters felt real and had enough depth to make them interesting and made me want to keep reading through the sadness.

One problem:  I'm still not sure why they're the "lilac girls."  There were some mentions of the plant, but nothing truly tying them together in that way.  Hmmm...

And the last one:

As my cat Emma would say:  "Meh."

(She actually did make a mew sound that kinda sounded like this, and my hubby and I, even years after her passing, still use this to mark our slight displeasure.)

The cat people in this book?  The authors.

Told in the third person, about both authors, I have no idea who was writing what.

Short stories about some of the cats they've had.

Warm, fuzzy stories.

With a terrible error in telling us that cats dumped off in the wilderness have a knack at surviving on their own.  Ask any rescue group and they will tell you NO THEY DO NOT.  Some, yes.  Most, no.

So while the stories were entertaining, the book made me mad.  They could have done so much more to help with homeless cats simply by saying they DO NOT SURVIVE IN THE WILD SO DON'T DROP THEM OFF.  PETS ARE FOR LIFE.

Okay, okay.  Off the soapbox, Katie.

And that's it for the finished books.  The current read is the oldest I own and it's quite good.  Yay!

One last thing:  My impulse purchase at the grocery store this morning (that I thought was priced half what it was thanks to asshats putting things on shelves - trust me, I know how easy this is to do wrong, but a WHOLE SHELF WRONG is a little ridiculous, particularly when you can't use a UPC code to sort it out - shelf labels are deceptive at this store, but my grocery visit is a whole other rabbit hole that we're going to avoid here):

I'm sure you've all seen the toy surprise balls everywhere.  Well, it finally made it to the world of cats and they sucked me right in.

Treats (that some of my cats didn't like, but I already knew Bonkers brand is not a favorite around here) and a mystery toy?

What did I (well, technically, the cats) get?

An axolotl.  Not the "rare" toy, but it's cute enough.  And it has a jingly rattle inside.

(I did cut the long hanging cord (?) from the top of its head, as that seemed dangerous.)

Time to go reheat the delicious cheesy ham and potato soup I made for dinner last night to enjoy again for lunch today.  The hubby says its gross, but I happen to think Hamburger Helper is gross, so if you're not doing the cooking, you can eat the real food that the person doing the cooking prepares, thankyouverymuch.

Happy quilting and reading!

Katie 

I started a quilt so I guess I'm back...for now...

I suppose technically I've started two quilts, but I shared a tiny snippet of the first one in my last post:

I've had these Michigan fabrics in my stash for quite a while and after purchasing the Pixelated Michigan pattern this seemed the right direction to go.  I cut some pieces, from these and other stash, but set it aside and haven't gotten back to it.

Life.

But a few weeks ago a coworker decided to retire.  She's nearing the official age, and works only part time (this is her side gig), but when the company announced that starting next year they will no longer offer health insurance to ANY part time employee (currently you have to work a certain number of hours to qualify), that made her decision.  She'd been leaning towards being done, but this made it so much easier.

She's been there about 20 years and we've become work friends.

So what does she need?

A QUILT!!!!!

I searched around for a while, trying to find something that just screamed her, but really didn't find anything.  I have a lot of quilts saved in Pinterest, I have a fair number of books and I searched around even more on the interwebs.  Finally I settled on the Flower Farm Sampler Quilt.

But it's huge.

So if I make everything 25% smaller it will be a good-sized throw.

Yay math?

Time to shop.

Much of my stash are smaller pieces.  And while this quilt looks quite scrappy, I didn't want to continue to add in fabrics to the very end, hoping it would all look cohesive.

Some of the colors don't show up very true here, but they look good together in person.  I promise.  (I had help at my LQS from the owner and employee - both friends thanks to the now-defunct guild.)

I added a light turquoisey blue from my stash and intended to add some limey greens, but guess what I don't have enough of in my stash?  Yep.  Limey greens.

I went back just before she closed and picked up two more pieces, but they aren't shown here.  If I keep blogging about the blocks, you'll see them.

Oh, wait, sneak peek: the fabric key!

I refigured the first block and set to sewing.

There are a lot of parts.  A lot of lost corners.  I refigured a few components to be no-waste flying geese instead of waste flying geese.  So that saved a few corners!

It took forever.  Two blocks, but they're big.  (More on that size in a minute.)

And done!

(The lighter blue is more green than it's showing up here, but pretty much everything else looks good for colors.  Stupid camera.)

As I was trying to take a few more photos, hoping for color correction...

(Hi Salem!  She looks skinnier here than she is, but she's not a chonk like her brothers and one sister.  Lily is still skinny...)

And it was at this point that I realized I had made a 16 inch block and I needed an 18 inch block.  So I made it 33% smaller, not 25%.  I was so mad.

This block...I made so many rookie mistakes.  I cut into a part of fabric that was folded under and I thought out of the way.  I sewed things on the wrong side.  I nearly burned myself with the iron.  And then this.

I went downstairs and told my hubby maybe I shouldn't be a quilter any more.  I know it's been a while since I've sewn much, but sheesh!

Immediately I thought to make more blocks, but I'm not sure how much leeway I have with fabrics.  I bought less than the pattern called for, knowing I'd be making smaller blocks, but I'm not sure how much extra I have.

So for now it will wait.  I can add a 1" border around the whole thing, or, if at the end I have enough, I can make a couple more.  And these could become throw pillows, tote bags or part of a dolly or baby quilt.

I haven't refigured any of the remaining blocks, but I did find a nice chart from a blog that seems like it will work.  (Because apparently I can't do this myself?)  Perhaps I will make a small block using this method just to be sure before I cut up and ruin more fabric.  (Okay, okay, not ruin, but misuse.)

BUT!!!  The lost corners are not lost!

There are eight more HSTs waiting - pressed and trimmed - I promised myself I'd keep up with these and not end up with a pile that I feel guilty about tossing if I'm going to sew them in the first place - but I have three 4" blocks.  Who knows where these will end up, but they're fun.  (A little fiddly, but fun.)

And one thing I noticed with that floral-ish fabric...

As I was pressing, I saw this detail in the flower.  (The flowers are smaller than a dime.)  It's the designer initials.  This seems quite bold, but perhaps they do this with all their designs and this one just happens to be super obvious?  I mean, it is tiny, but it's still hard to hide.

Anyways.  That's the quilty news.

The coworker plans to be done at the end of the year, so I have a deadline, but I think 2+ months should be fine.  If I can get a block (set - often there are 2 or more) done every time I get a day to sew, I should be fine.  It will be fine.  Everything is fine.

On to books.

On October 1st, my local library had their annual used book sale.  I planned on this one (unlike the extra one back home in late September!) and even took the day off work to make sure I could attend (I swear my boss has a sixth sense about these things and schedules to make them impossible).  It's smaller, but I love knowing I'm directly impacting my local community with my purchases, so I make sure to fill my bag.

I took my own bag, but...

...they also had mystery bags.

I wasn't counting as I piled books into my bag, but as I was heading for the checkout I saw these.  I figured if I could get all I had chosen and this mystery for the $20 I brought with me, it was happening.

I got out for $19!

What was in the bag?

I've read Sarah's Key (it was VERY GOOD), but not the other four.  In all, a good deal and it was fun to let someone else do the choosing.  There were many other bags, but with hints like "women authors" or "mystery" I was a little more wary.  Those could go a lot of ways!  I was also worried with this selection I would end up with titles I'd donated, since that is my go-to genre, but not one of these had previously been mine.  (I kept my copy of Sarah's Key, so even that one was a no!)

I made sure to go onto their facebook page (I only go there now if I'm heading for a specific page because sometimes that's just the only place you can go) and thanked them for my amazing selection since this was the first year they've done this.  I wanted them to know I appreciated the effort and liked what I got besides!  And I want them to do it again next year!

So what all did I get?

I got brave with a couple.  I usually read the blurb and decide from there, but I think there are two that had no blurb, but I liked their covers, so I took a chance.  I'll have to let you know how they turned out when their number comes up.

And then the tedious task (but fun!) of getting them all ready for the random number jar.

My cart is a little overwhelmed...

I think I counted 19 books overflowing as of the start of October.  I've read a few books and plan, on the first of the month (or so), to consolidate and tidy and take a photo to show progress.  I hope to get these all of the floor sooner rather than later because I have cats and...anything can happen!

So what have I read since my last blog post?

Pretty good.  A variety of characters living in London on one street.  A variety of lifestyles, incomes and ages.  And a mystery that wasn't all that exciting, nor was it as much of a focus as one might expect from the cover hype.

(I'm constantly reminded that the cover hype is drivel that seems to be written by someone who didn't actually read the book.  I don't think it's the authors writing these.  If they are, good lord I'm not getting out of these books what they planned.)

Apparently this is a vampire novel.  There were clues (someone else must shave him because he can't see himself...), but not a real introduction.

It's like the 1600's or something.

He takes a mistress, but I think she is to become a vampire at her natural death because he has done a deed that we are not privy to.  She writes music, he publishes it.

He travels because of his publishing.  People in his employ are crooked.  The blurb says he nearly came to ruin, but you'd not guess that from the text in the book.  Also, he can apparently make his own gold, so whatever.

This is one in a string of books about this vampire, apparently written in no chronological order, but I suppose if I had read one before like #18, maybe I would have met the vampire more fully?

I suppose Ann Rice spoiled me in the 90's.  (Yes, they were published earlier, but I read (and watched - Christian Slater in a '65 red Mustang...SWOON!!!! - favorite actor, favorite car!) the books in the 90's.)

The first one of the mystery bag to come up, this one was really good.

A Jewish family in Poland escapes into the sewers to hide/live.  The main character believes her father had further plans, but he is swept away in the water and dies during the initial escape.  Another family is with them and they do the best they can.  A sewer worker guides them and brings them food until he is arrested.

But another girl (both girls are late teens) sees the girl in the sewer and tries to help.  She ends up getting far more involved in the resistance because of her interaction.

The end has a twist, too!

And for a book about such evil, it felt uplifting.

Not bad.

A VerMeer painting is stolen - how it happened, where it ended up (a couple of different ways), the people involved, a vague understanding of their motivations.

I read it in a day.  Because it's skinny, not because it's so suspenseful.

Quite good.

A man is stationed on a "lighthouse" in space, tasked with keeping it running, basically.  It's lonely, but he's a war hero (though not in his mind) and this solace is what he wants as his reward.

Told in five stories (perhaps they were originally published separately?), we meet him, the satellite, a few people who visit, the new neighbor and more.

It was entertaining and a bit, um, funky?  I'm not quite sure how to explain it.  The language wasn't as formal as many books, but it was by no means informal.  If that makes any sense.

There are a few other books by this author in my want to read list, thanks to my This Week in Virology posdcast folks science-ish picks of the week, but I didn't realize this was the author until I read the fine print on the cover!

The current read is going slowly.  I had hoped to finish it last night - with only 60 pages to go and about an hour till bedtime, it seemed doable - but I only got about 30 pages read and called it a night.  I should finish today.

And that's it.

Of course there was baking and kitty snuggles and a shingles vaccine and a little crafty binge buying, but this has gotten long enough.

GO VOTE!

Happy quilting,
Katie

done?

Where to even begin...

I don't even know.

But I'm increasingly frustrated with technology and all that it brings.

I took a break from social media for a while because I was tired of being bullied to think like other people.  People who have decided THEY are important.  People on both sides of the topic.

I missed the quilting community on Instagram, so I came back.

Turns out there's not much quilting and a lot of OPINIONS.

(Also a huge increase in ads.)

Everyone is entitled to those.  The accounts are theirs to do with as they please.  I respect that.  I respect that these people have opinions that are based on their experiences.  And I know I can go elsewhere.

But here's the thing: I'm okay with being challenged to see things differently.  To learn other perspectives.  I want to understand.

But what I'm experiencing feels more like bullying.  Don't tell me how to feel.  Don't tell me how to react.  Don't tell me what to do.

And most importantly: If you are speaking out about something, please EXPLAIN IT.  Or link to someone who does.

Don't expect to change my mind.  Because I'm surely not expecting you to change yours.  But I might.

I don't know if I'm conveying my thoughts well here, but I'm going to stop.

I'm tired.

Life isn't always perfect outside of the interwebs either.  And the life stuff that goes on that requires repairmen and change also wears on a person.

I'm so tired.

Maybe it's because I'm getting too old for this shit?

And THEN Blogger won't update my sidebar with the blogs I enjoy.

Apparently it's a thing.

The help site tells me to clear my cache and delete cookies.

I've done that AND signed out AND deleted every damn thing I thought possible AND forced it to stop AND tried it on a different browser AND even tried it on my desktop computer instead of my cell phone and guess what?

NOTHING WORKS.  Some update, some don't.

So now I'm tired AND angry.

So I'm going to go be a cranky old lady and do things the way cranky old ladies do them - without the internet as much as possible.

Maybe I'll come back.  Maybe I'll just go work on the finished-quilt scrapbook I abandoned 15 years ago.

Katie

PS I started a quilt:

And I finished a very good book:

 (I had my doubts - what with the badge of winning there on the cover.  But the descriptions were wonderful without being overdone.)

more books, no quilts

I really tried to sew this week.  There is a sheet draped over my ironing board, waiting to become cat carrier covers, but one thing after another kept me busy.

Lots of shifts at work (as always), a doctor appointment and just stuff.

Such as: Friday night, we went to a concert.  There's a company in my little town that does rocks.  As in mines them from the ground.  The first area that they retired has been turned into a park with a lake.  The second is in the process of becoming a destination: The Quarry.  They've been doing smaller events on the premises for most of the summer (I think), but Friday night they launched "The Island" where an amphitheater will eventually be located - for concerts.  Right now...

...the stage is a trailer.

And all the construction equipment?  On loan from one of the sponsors.  (I think the trailer used for a stage probably hauled one of these big things in earlier that day!)  To make things fancier?

With the band?

They're a Bob Seger cover band and they were pretty good.  The hubby is a big Bob Seger fan.  I know some of his stuff...

But it was a lot of fun.  There were two food trucks (one semi-local doing delicious fire oven pizzas as fast as possible and the other really local from a dive bar just north of us), lots of beer and friendly, country people.

There were kinks that will need worked out, but really my biggest complaint was the VERY dark port-a-potties!  (Thank goodness cell phones have flashlights!)  And that, really, is a small thing.

I also met a blog friend at a book sale in my hometown on Saturday.  She'd shared some things that allowed me to figure out her location and I mentioned that's where my parents now live - just a few miles away from where I was raised.  So, after some negotiations and figuring, we were able to meet up and score some cheap used books!

Just as the sale in July goes, you can fill a paper grocery bag for $10.  It's always a fun challenge for me to fill those things as much as I can.  I got 31 books this time.  In one bag.

Previous sales I haven't gotten as many in the bags, but there are quite a few skinny books in there, which makes a difference.

There is nothing in here I was particularly hoping to find (I know better than to expect anything like that, but one can still hope), but there are a few authors I've enjoyed in the past.  And Denise also suggested a few that she's read and enjoyed, though I might not be able to remember which ones they were.

When I got home, it was time to organize!  That's almost as much fun as the finding/buying and reading!

The cart before:

Well, that doesn't look too empty...let's see it from the top:

Not as interesting (no spines to peep), but you can see a number of books have been removed.  If you really want to see where I started, check out the post from when I refilled it in July!

I squished everything together and made room for as many as I could...

They didn't all fit...I think I counted 9 that are on the floor next to the cart.

And the local library here, where I now call home, has a sale on October 1st.  Oh dear.  I *could* go buy another cart, but I don't think I better.

I've already pulled a book from the cart, as I finished the one I was reading last night.

And in quilty news...while I was sorta nearby and had a little time to kill on Saturday, I went to a new-ish quilt shop.  I've been shopping with them since they were online only and I originally found them vending at a quilt show.  They got a real store a few years ago, but I haven't made it in yet.  Saturday was the day!

I had a gift certificate that I got a few years ago (oops!), so I had some mad money to spend.

The Michigan pattern has caught my eye a number of times, but I just wasn't feeling it - all the pieces!  I decided it was time to just bite the bullet and get it.  And the best part is that I can resize it easily - it's all squares and half-square triangles!

The other two just looked fun.  The Elizabeth Hartmann pattern I'm sure can be broken up by blocks and could make a cute baby quilt with either single patterns or the original.  And the funky applique is probably something with shapes I could draft myself, but it's inspiration and the hard part is already done (thinking of what shapes to make), plus a few that I probably couldn't draw on my own and make look like anything but more blobby shapes.

I'm kinda feeling an urge to start the Michigan quilt, but for now, life is busy.  Lots on the calendar this week, but they're mostly one-off things and once they're done, they're done.

But don't you worry - I'll at least find time to read!

Happy quilting and reading,
Katie

PS  I almost forgot what I read this week!

First was:

This bounces back and forth in time a bit.  The end of the main character's career (and her husbands - he was also a codebreaker) in the late 1950's as well as during both world wars and prohibition where she worked to help the military and law enforcement.

In a chronological timeline, it starts out with her being recruited to learn to break codes in her early 20's.  She meets a man who soon becomes her husband - also a recruit.  They seem to start from scratch, but I think that may be a little misleading.  They learn more as the codes become more complex, to be sure, but they weren't the first - perhaps the first truly organized effort?

Eventually she and her hubby are separated by their jobs, but they both continue to work as codebreakers during the wars.  She also helps fight those importing liquor during prohibition.

She also manages to have children and raise them.  And we see how being a woman in her time made having a career difficult, never mind the part about having children.  She seems to manage everything with grace, but there are a few places where we see that crack a little.

It was interesting, though I wish the author had stuck to the actual timeline and story of the woman who inspired her more because I felt like I was getting a false history and now wonder how much was true.  (She admits to doing as much in the blurb at the end.)  Still a good book, though.

Then I tried to read this:

I don't give up easy, but after just 70 pages of this, I was done.

Paragraphs didn't stick to one person.  Quotation marks were absent for dialogue.  And after 70 pages if I still can't keep the two main characters apart, I'm probably never going to.

I think it was about two poor American younger men who moved to Ireland hoping to fake their way into being rich Americans.  By the time I gave up, both were still poor and making terrible choices that would keep them there.

On to something better:

I read "A Wrinkle in Time" earlier this year (I think?) and didn't remember it from childhood, but enjoyed it.  I didn't realize there were further books in that adventure.  This is one of them.  (It seems to be the third, but I was able to follow the story without any trouble, having read the first one.)

Threat of nuclear attack sends the youngest child of the family on a quest to slightly change events of the past to keep it from happening.  He rides a unicorn and is transported in time by some all-knowing presence we do not see, and enters the minds of a key person at each time.  We don't actually see him influence things past the first time (and that was minor), but it is definitely an adventure!

Some key points in American history are touched upon, but not really dealt with, which is to be expected in a book for kids.  Nothing too heavy, but an understanding that these events were bad.

I read it quickly - probably could have done it in a day, but I started it late the first night and was tired.

Today I get to start a new one!