summer reading

Even though it's hard find much time to read, I try to keep a good book on hand most of the time.  And now, with the options available through my library and Kindle and recorded books, there is no excuse to not have a story to get caught up in.  Here are my most recent reads:

Driftless came to my attention because I was looking for a book title Jewelweed by the same author.  That title was not available at that time, but this looked intriguing and I'm glad I chose it.  It is a novel about the people in and around a small community in southwest Wisconsin.  A little intrigue, a little scandal, a little love story, and a whole lot of local flavor.  

Gone Girl was a hard one to get my hands on, I was on the waiting list for the Kindle edition for weeks.  It is a story of the disappearance of a woman.  And a tangled web of interwoven lives.  It left me wondering if the wait was worth it.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton is a big departure from his typical work.  This is historical fiction about seafaring and swashbuckling at their best.  The usual damsel in distress was involved, but not a key element of the story so I liked that.  I would rather read about the hunt for treasures and the heroics of a bunch of misfits!

Currently, I am listening to a new novel, A Wanted Man, about Jack Reacher, the hero of a series of books by Lee Child.  I'm right in the middle, so still a bit to go to know what's going to happen, but Jack is up to his old tricks.  This character is the basis for a recent movie starring Tom Cruise.  The Jack Reacher of the books is always described as a real big, forbidding kind of guy.  Kind of the opposite of Tom Cruise!

a rainy day at home

Today is my work-at-home day, starting out with some quilting on a t-shirt quilt for a customer. These are very popular for graduates to showcase their collected shirts. It turns into a personal history, and even though I don't know this recipient, I can see that there is some TLC going into putting this all together for her.



I have been on what I call a 'fabric diet' here lately, following my sewing room clean-up and reorganization. I self-diagnosed a fabric collecting disorder, and went through a period of purging before I settled down into a healthier fabric lifestyle of controlled accumulation. Only bringing home the necessities to complete what I had already committed to. Ignoring those Joann's coupons. Resisting temptation each time I went into Bear Patch. This has been going on 4 months now, and I am pleased that my shelves have stayed neat and orderly and still have a few empty spaces. But there is one group of fabric that I have been lusting for and I capitulated last week. I brought home this:


A neat, tidy bundle of Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley fabric! No immediate plans for it, other than relishing in the look and feel. I'm halfway glad that I held off on buying these prints, because sometimes the restraint makes the end game more sweet, don't you think?

Speaking of end game, let's talk sports! Not my strong suit, but I have been enjoying Bob's participation in a Family Fantasy Baseball League. Dads, sons, cousins, uncles, etc., have been reviewing stats, trading players, and pouring over every baseball game result. Bob used to do this back in the stone age, before the dawning of the world of personal home computers. The weekly results were actually typed or written on paper and circulated by the group leader! Imagine that! Now they all log onto the internet and statistics, points, rankings, details, etc. are all automatically tabulated. The first couple weeks Bob has been struggling to gain some ground amidst some stiff competition. Garnering a point here and there for some player's good performance. Not one to quietly slip into the night, I wanted to stand by my man and get him into the World Series. So I have developed a new points category that supersedes all those RBI, HR, DH, and PBR statistics. (That's Pabst Blue Ribbon, for all you non-baseball people!) Two of Bob's players are Morneau and Mauer. Because they have more vowels than consonants in their names, I am petitioning The League for bonus points for Bob. Sounds reasonable to me!

While I am waiting to hear back from the Commissioner, I have started this book:

I have not been successful in finding much reading time lately, although I do listen to books every time I am driving, so that counts for something.

I did find time to start a new quilt just for my own purposes. We badly need a makeover of our bedroom, and this is the start. I am going for something totally different with this quirky, fun, colorful hedgehog fabric--

I'm calling it the Not So Nermal quilt (named after Dan's pet hedgehog). I put together a bundle of coordinating fabric, using prints, solids, stripes and dots. This is a small sample of what I hope to do:

I'm wondering if that dark brown sashing is too stark, I may have to audition something else. Walls will need to be repainted, I am thinking grey. Window coverings are also needed, no decision on that yet. I don't think Bob knows what he is in for! Well, he's usually a very good sport about my home dec projects so I'm not too worried.

I better wrap this up, I need to check on our birdfeeder in the backyard. We are having squirrel wars. Amazingly, the squirrel barrier that has worked for about 10 years to keep the little critters at bay has been surmounted by a rogue squirrel. I have spotted him twice on top of the pole, helping himself to seed from the 3 feeders suspended there. Do you think this is an example of evolution of the species?

updating

Several new things to report to you tonight. Just a potpourri of fun!

1. What I am reading--slowly.

2. A finished knitting project, another version of the already discussed 22.5 degree scarf, this time in Paton's Silk Bamboo color 85219. This took 3 balls on sz. 6 needles. It is very soft and drapey. This yarn was purchased at Joanne's, if you watch for it on sale it is very economical.

3. I have finished sewing the blocks for Civil War March from YellowCreek Quilt Designs, started back in January.

Now that I have all of the blocks made, I can begin putting them together in rows. They are set "on point", which in quilt speak means they are rotated 90 degrees off square. They are joined with triangles to make them into a square edged row. If that is as clear as mud, just stay tuned, I will post further pictures of the construction process.

4. I have reached the end of the fabric sorting and reorganizing, and amazingly, I have some empty spaces! Now if I can just keep it that way, it feels like I just took a cleansing breath. No, wait, that's childbirth I was thinking of!

5. New book that I am strangely fascinated with, trying to figure out if this is something I really want to take on, or whether it will just be another addition to the Library of Pam's Future Projects. The diagrams and instructions make it seem very detailed, and since I am seriously starting a new hand applique project, this may be relegated for another year.

But always good to have on-hand in case.

6. The new season of The Amazing Race started last Sunday, and I am worried. My all-time favorite racers, the cowboys, are back, and they are in trouble. At the end of the first episode, they were in last place and burning daylight. Good gravy, boys, it's time to saddle up! I think that they remind me of my college days at South Dakota State University. A very fun place with a cowboy subculture. A place where cattle lived next to the dorm and the big spring event was the rodeo. My most unforgettable character was Max, a fellow student, bull rider, and a great date! Go cowboys!

7. I saw this purse in a magazine, and realized that I must be missing the purse gene because there is no part of me that thinks that it is necessary or even OK to pay $3940 for something to carry around my dirty kleenex and crumbling altoids.

What are they thinking??!!

8. Instead of a new handbag, I splurged on more plastic shoeboxes to store my growing collection of squares and strips from my reprioritized fabric stash.

I get some kind of weird enjoyment out of admiring this collection and dreaming about making a pile of charity quilts from it.

9. I started a new scarf from this yummy yarn that was a Christmas gift from Debbie--

Mushishi from Plymouth Yarn, a wool and silk blend.

10. If you haven't used this soap before, you need to. I love it for everything I knit, it smells so fresh, not perfumey. There are several scents, this one is called Scent of Celebration.

This one's for you, Carol!