Books Read--February, 2012

1.All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley
2.Taken by Robert Crais
3.Tabula Rasa by Shelly Reuben
4. The Skirt Man by Shelly Reuben
5. Cause and Origin by Shelly Reuben
6. The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris
7. At the Stroke of Madness by Alex Kava
8. Angel's Tip Alafair Burke
9. Black Friday by Alex Kava
10. 212 by Alafair Burke
11. Split Second by Alex Kava

Week 3: Homecoming

My knitting/quilting time has been limited this week due to pain in my shoulder. The tentative diagnosis I have is rotator cuff calcific tendonitis. I could not raise my arm very high last week; the worst part was that my husband had to comb my hair. I also haven't been sleeping well. I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday, although my condition is unlikely to require surgery. I am grateful that it appears I do not have a rotator cuff tear. I will, however, have to limit my activities for a while and will probably need to have physical therapy. Blech.

I did make this tree:

and six log cabin blocks. I've sewn two together and plan to applique a couple on it.

Here are a few of the many books I'm using for patterns and inspiration.


I did manage to finish a house block.


Everything about it seems a little wonky, but then, that's what my week has been like.

Week 2: Homecoming

I made another large house block this week.
House with Trees 12" x 20"

What?! You've never seen a pink tree? Or a purple moon? Making anything any color I want is one of the most fun parts of quilting. It makes me think of a line from Dylan Thomas, A Child's Christmas in Wales, which I read every Christmas. Describing Useless Presents, he writes "...and a painting book in which I could make the grass, the trees, the sea and the animals any colour I pleased,and still the dazzling sky-blue sheep are grazing in the red field under the rainbow-billed and pea-green birds."

And see that blue fabric I used for the roof? I thought I'd used the last tiny bit of it in a doll quilt. Then I found a good yard and a half of it in my stash. I have too much fabric. NOT!

I made fifteen smaller blocks too.

Books Read--January, 2012

1. The Wyndham Case by Jill Paton Walsh
2. Dying in the Dark by Sally Spencer
3. Breakdown by Sara Paretsky
4. Well-offed in Vermont by Amy Patricia Meade
5. Private #1 Suspect by James Patterson
6. New York Dead by Stuart Woods
7. A Little Gentle Sleuthing by Betty Rowlands
8. Party to Murder by Betty Rowlands
9. The Confession by Charles Todd
10. One False Move by Alex Kava
11. Weeping by Shelly Reuben

Week 1: Homecoming

I considered several names for this quilt including Country Life, It's a Wonderful Life, Home Sweet Home, Rural Home, Life is Beautiful and, finally, Homecoming. I chose Homecoming because it's short and it encompasses everything I want to express with this quilt.

I found the freezer paper and a glue stick that wasn't all dried up. I set up my ironing board in the guest room now that the Christmas guests are gone. It ended up in front of a window instead of facing a blank wall and I can't tell you what a nice difference that makes!

I'm using a small red/white check fabric to bring everything together, making several larger blocks, using this as the background fabric. These will all be houses. The smaller blocks will also be hand pieced and hand appliqued and they'll include flowers, stars, birds, sheep, trees, dogs, cats, chickens, the sun and moon, baskets, rabbits, children, log cabins, an American flag and a maple leaf plus others. I'm considering whether or not I want to add an applique border, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Many of the patterns will be from Jan Patek's books and patterns and I'll use others as well.

The first block I made was this one. Only later did I decide to use the red checked fabric for the background. I've put this block aside. I'll either use it on the back or it may become a doll quilt.
House Block 8"x 10"

My applique skills are very rusty (I use needle turning) so I made these two stars.
Stars 5" x 5"

Once I decided on the theme and the background fabric, I made these blocks.

Cat on House Block 10" x 20"
I kept auditioning fabrics and must have pieced each block three times apiece with different fabrics until I was happy with what I had. The patterns are from Jan Patek's book, Angels. And that reminds me; I want to add a guardian angel block to my quilt.

Snowbound Quilt

I made this quilt in 2005 and sleep under it every December. I've just put it away for the year which made me want to make another quilt like it. There are blocks with hearts with my name, my husband's, and each of my four sons. I have four boys sledding and singing carols although my husband said I would never be able to make them wear those silly hats! There are sheep and a rabbit and a dog, all with family stories attached. I had so much fun making it and I was sad thinking I'll have to wait another year to use it again. How fun to make another, one I can use whatever time of year it is!

Serendipity Scrap Quilt

Today, the last day of 2011, I've begun a full sized quilt. I hope to have it finished before the end of 2012. I've begun by gathering up scraps and putting them in a large bin and looking at block patterns I may want to include. I'm not going to graph this quilt out, but will assemble it like a jigsaw puzzle. I want it to be full sized, very scrappy, have both pieced and appliqued blocks, and it will be hand quilted. I'm still looking for a theme and a fabric to tie everything together.

I will post a photo of the first few blocks tomorrow.

Christmas Cross Stitch

I haven't done cross stitching for many years, but this project enticed me. It's from
With Thy Needle and Thread. I may use different motifs from it to make small Christmas tree ornaments too, if I have time.

Books Read--December, 2011

1. Exploding Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
2. Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron
3. A Christmas Homecoming by Anne Perry
4. Crime Machine by Giles Blunt
5. The Suicide Murders by Howard Engel
6. Death of an Innocent by Sally Spencer
7. A Victim Must Be Found by Howard Engel
8. Murder at Swan Lake by Sally Spencer
9. There was an Old Woman by Howard Engel
10.Tag Man by Archer Mayor
11. A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch
12. The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin

Books Read - November, 2011

1.Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein
2.Ho-ho Homicide by Corinne Holt Sawyer
3.The Strange Death of Father Candy by Les Roberts
4.Dead on Cue by Sally Spencer
5.A Killer's Christmas in Wales by Elizabeth J. Duncan
6.V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
7.The Black Cat by Martha Grimes
8. Crime Stories by Dashiell Hammett

Books Read - October, 2011

1. The Paradise Job by Sally Spencer
2. Skinner's Rules by Quintin Jardine
3. The Enemy Within by Sally Spencer
4. Skinner's Festival by Quintin Jardine
5. Killing the Blues by Michael Brandman
6. Worst Fears Realized by Stuart Woods
7. The Rose of the World by Alys Clare
8. The Hanging Wood by Martin Edwards
9. The Butcher Beyond by Sally Spencer
10. Son of Stone by Stuart Woods
11. Smoke and Whispers by Mick Herron
12. A Spider on the Stairs by Cassandra Chan
13. Trick of the Mind by Cassandra Chan

Books Read -September, 2011

1. The Salton Killings by Sally Spencer
2. The Bitter Truth by Charles Todd
3. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
4. Dirt by Stuart Woods
5. Echoes of the Dead by Sally Spencer
6. Play Dead by Harlan Coben
7. Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
8. A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell
9. The Vault by Ruth Rendell
10. The Devil on My Doorstep by Stuart Kaminsky
11. Triptych by Karin Slaughter

My Week-End

I started a pair of mittens yesterday but I wasn't happy with how they were turning out. I tried several types of ribbing, different sized needles, and even tried stripes, but I didn't like any of them and ripped every attempt. I think worsted weight yarn is too thick for mittens; I'll try again with DK or fingering weight yarn.

I did made a red and white child's hat this morning. It still lacks the pom-pom on top. I will make more of these using the worsted weight, but there will be some changes.

It's cooler today with highs in the lower 80s. I've started a second hat with the worsted weight yarn and will post photographs of it and the red hat once they are finished and have their pom-poms on.

We're having spaghetti and salad for dinner tonight.

Yesterday I collected only one egg from the chickens. We have three hens and have been getting two to three eggs per day, the weather has been hot and I'm sure that's one reason why. They've also just started laying and when we get eggs will probably be erratic for the next few weeks.

I watered all the flowers early in the morning and then put the laundry out on the line. I didn't quilt yesterday but I did finish reading a book. Supper was a hamburger patty, tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn on the cob.

Books Read - August, 2011

1. The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood
2. File Under Jeopardy by Sarah Lacey
3. Sins of the Father by Sally Spencer
4. One Summer by David Baldacci
5. File Under Arson by Sarah Lacey
6. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
7. Fatal Quest by Sally Spencer
8. The Midsummer Crown by Kate Sedley
9. Wicked Witch Murder by Leslie Meier
10. The Dead Hand of History by Sally Spencer
11. The Witch Maker by Sally Spencer
12. Dangerous Games by Sally Spencer
13. Sante Fe Rules by Stuart Woods
14. Dying Fall by Sally Spencer
15. Death of a Cave Dweller by Sally Spencer

Bowtie Quilt

One of the first quilts I made was a bowtie quilt. I've fallen in love with this one and apparently I'm not the only one as I've heard that a number of bloggers are working on/planning to make this quilt.

I don't have any cheddar fabrics in my stash, but I do have quite a bit of what is unabashedly orange and that's what I'm going to use. Here are my first three blocks. They are 6" and I plan on making 48 and setting them 6x8.