book recommendation

Monthly D.E.A.R. Report and Something Sweet from From the Strawberry Patch...

Here's my August reading list, these were all good; actually, D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time has become one of our favorite hours of each day! I especially enjoyed the historical fiction works: A Well Behaved Woman, The Giver of Stars and The Union Quilters, as that's become my latest favorite genre but the other was a great read too. The Giver of Stars was most interesting to me

added by Mrs. Goodneedle 3 years, 8 months ago. under book recommendation , books , d.e.a.r. , dessert , reading , recipe

Monthly D.E.A.R. Report and Something Sweet from From the Strawberry Patch...

Here's my August reading list, these were all good; actually, D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time has become one of our favorite hours of each day! I especially enjoyed the historical fiction works: A Well Behaved Woman, The Giver of Stars and The Union Quilters, as that's become my latest favorite genre but the other was a great read too. The Giver of Stars was most interesting to me

added by Mrs. Goodneedle 3 years, 8 months ago. under book recommendation , books , d.e.a.r. , dessert , reading , recipe

LeMoyne Star Quilt Finished from Fret Not Yourself

"The evil that is inside men is at the last a matter for men to control.

The responsibility and the hope and the promise are in your hands - your hands and

the hands of the children of all men on this earth.

The future cannot blame the present, just as the present cannot blame the past.
The hope is always here, always alive,
but only your fierce caring can fan it into a fire to warm the world."

~Susan Cooper in Silver on the Tree

LeMoyne String Stars quilt is finally finished. Hooray! Quilting started last week and now the ...

added by Ann 3 years, 8 months ago. under baptist fan , book recommendation , lemoyne star , scrap quilt , star , string quilt , ta ne'hisi coates

String Tulips from Fret Not Yourself

Freedom discovers man the moment he loses concern over

what impression he is making or about to make.

~Bruce Lee

Quilting

As if the first set wasn't enough, here's a second set of the Electric Socket strings. {Thanks for the perfect name, Julie.} Not so much yellow here and the green blocks aren't resonating.

Long skinny strings of fabric in a variety of prints form Xs when set together.

More string X blocks

Leaving them on the design wall gave me lots of time to arrange and rearrange all those string blocks. I moved something every time I walked by but they were just too crazy together. It could be the mix ...

added by Ann 3 years, 9 months ago. under #ahiqpositivethinking , #positivethinking , book recommendation , designing a quilt , string piecing , string tulips

Taking a Hatchet to my Scraps from Fret Not Yourself

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Quilting

It's way past time to use up my remnants and scraps. I used the largest to make a simple four-patch called Hatchet that is often seen as a signature block. In fact, I used the block for my first guild name tag. My rule was to two to twelve center squares 5.5" squares with pairs of 3" squares for the triangle sides. Five inches is fairly wide for the scrap bag but I grabbed ...

added by Ann 3 years, 12 months ago. under bill bryson , book recommendation , hatchet , scrap quilt

Snowballs Make a Perfect Border from Fret Not Yourself

Coward: One who, in a perilous emergency, thinks with his legs.

~Ambrose Bierce

Quilting

The snowball borders are finally sewn on the Wheel quilt. Wheee!

A portion of the Wheel quilt showing some of the wheels with a narrow red and white striped sashing and a border of three rows of low volume snowball blocks

Snowball border on the Wheel quilt

Oh, joy! Not that the quilt is done but at least the top is finished. It's too large to get a full photo right now. Hopefully that can happen once it's quilted. Next will be an excavation of my stash to see what white fabrics lurking there could become a back. I can't remember any right now but am certainly not purchasing more before checking the ...

added by Ann 4 years ago. under book recommendation , pillowcases , robert galbraith , snowball block , tote bags , wheel quilt block

Choosing Backgrounds from Fret Not Yourself

Blessedness is what can be snatched out of the passing day, and put away to think of afterwards.

~Ellis Peters in The Leper of St. Giles

Quilting

I collaged some photos of different fabric pulls for the next step in the fan quilt. The top shows choices for posts and possibly a secondary sashing. Bottom left is background and more sashing ideas. Although a bunch of reds and greens were pulled for the wedges, the pile mysteriously decreased over time as other projects took precedence. When the wheels restarted, there were not enough soft reds. The crab prints on the ...

added by Ann 4 years ago. under book recommendation , ellis peters , fan quilt block , stash quilt , wheel quilt block

Helping from Fret Not Yourself

The most precious thing you can give someone is your time because you can never get it back.
When you don't think about getting it back, you've given it in love.
~Mitch Alborn in Finding Chika

Quilting

Just a bit of quilting this week. Sort of. No sewing, only arranging the arcs. They required lots of moving/adjusting. Because the values occupy a narrow band, the colors blend into grey-ness. {That's not a word but you can see what I mean. The greens and reds seem to blend rather than contrast.}

Fan blocks set as wheels are arranged on the design wall in two ways

Arranging the wheel blocks into a ...

added by Ann 4 years ago. under book recommendation , fan quilt block , phillip pullman , stash quilt , wheel quilt block

Taking the Wheel from Fret Not Yourself

"You may not lie idly expecting the second coming of anybody now,
because the world is yours and it is up to you.
Now especially since man has the strength to destroy this world,
it is the responsibility of man to keep it alive, in all its beauty and marvelous joy."

~Susan Cooper in The Silver on the Tree

Quilting

Combining regular spring cleaning with the deep cleaning pushed me to sort and cull. Clothing, dishes, books, cleaning supplies. Everything is getting a second look. Is it being used? Is it needed? Does it need replacing? Of course, cleaning also ...

added by Ann 4 years ago. under #uanduqal , book recommendation , fan quilt block , stash quilt , susan cooper , wheel quilt block

A Fail and a Few Finishes from Fret Not Yourself

'Home is the place where, when you have to go there,

They have to take you in.'

'I should have called it

Something you somehow haven't to deserve.'

~ The Death of the Hired Man

by Robert Frost

My mother used to quote the first two lines to us but I didn't know the author although I'd read many of Frost's poems. I'm fortunate to have a large family that gets along. We write; we call; we visit. What a blessing to just belong to this group; people who have known you all your life. {Although ...

added by Ann 4 years, 1 month ago. under book recommendation , phillip pullman , pillowcases , shadow star , tree block

Placement Matters from Fret Not Yourself

"There are many kinds of selfishness in this world, but the most selfish is hoarding time,

because none of us know how much we have,

and it is an affront to God to assume there will be more."

~Mitch Alborn in Finding Chika

We are all doing what we can to fight this virus - the bravest on the front lines, the rest of us donating to charities, tipping delivery people heavily, and staying home.

Homemade masks

I made 40 masks this week with my tightest weave fabric for the front, cotton t-shirts for lining, and polyester or quilting thread to ...

added by Ann 4 years, 1 month ago. under book recommendation , mary pipher , tree block

D.E.A.R. Time from From the Strawberry Patch...

Since we've created the new porch space to enjoy we've added a new element to our daily schedules. No matter what Mr. Goodneedle or I are doing at 4:00 PM we Drop Everything And Read for an hour. We have really come to enjoy this custom over the past two weeks and we hold each other to it, if I'm busy in the sewing room and might even consider skipping a day he encourages me to leave what I'm

added by Mrs. Goodneedle 4 years, 1 month ago. under adapting , book recommendation , books , covid-19 , d.e.a.r. , reading

D.E.A.R. Time from From the Strawberry Patch...

Since we've created the new porch space to enjoy we've added a new element to our daily schedules. No matter what Mr. Goodneedle or I are doing at 4:00 PM we Drop Everything And Read for an hour. We have really come to enjoy this custom over the past two weeks and we hold each other to it, if I'm busy in the sewing room and might even consider skipping a day he encourages me to leave what I'm

added by Mrs. Goodneedle 4 years, 1 month ago. under adapting , book recommendation , books , covid-19 , d.e.a.r. , reading

Lessons Learned from From the Strawberry Patch...

I hope to be a lifelong learner; I pray that I never get to that place where I think I've learned all that there is to learn. My grandmother used to tell me that every day spent without learning something new was a wasted day. Recalling that now, probably told to me when I was Jr. High age, was most likely in response to thinking that I already knew it all! We kept the grandchildren late last

added by Mrs. Goodneedle 4 years, 2 months ago. under book recommendation , cribbage , edge finish , fabric scraps , learning , lesson learned , lessons , scraps

Lessons Learned from From the Strawberry Patch...

I hope to be a lifelong learner; I pray that I never get to that place where I think I've learned all that there is to learn. My grandmother used to tell me that every day spent without learning something new was a wasted day. Recalling that now, probably told to me when I was Jr. High age, was most likely in response to thinking that I already knew it all! We kept the grandchildren late last

added by Mrs. Goodneedle 4 years, 2 months ago. under book recommendation , cribbage , edge finish , fabric scraps , learning , lesson learned , lessons , scraps

Restart from Fret Not Yourself

"Progress is not created by contented people."

~Frank Tyger

Frank may be correct but taking this top apart is a funny sort of progress. And that's what I'm doing. Fortunately not all the seams are sewn but it's still a lot. Why? Because I'm very unhappy with the result.

It's not visible in this photo but there is no way to press the compass seams flat. They must twist or create a gigantic lump at the post or the point. If they twist, there's a dimple in the seam, especially because of the solid ...

added by Ann 4 years, 2 months ago. under book recommendation , compass sashing , megan whalen turner , shadow star

Moving on to the Square Deal from Fret Not Yourself

"Your future depends on many things but mostly on you."

~Frank Tyger

The Square Deal is finally moving ahead again. My machine is threaded and raring to go. This one might be finished in a week or two. I divided the quilt into three sections: the center Square Deal blocks, the white sashing and inner border, and the outer lattice border. Each will have different quilting.

Free motion quilting in progress on The Square Deal

Angela Walters' recent FMQ Challenge inspired the quilting design here. It's looking better as more blocks are finished. Isn't that frequently the case ...

added by Ann 4 years, 3 months ago. under #fmqchallenge , book recommendation , charlotte macleod , free motion quilting , square deal

Working the Border from Fret Not Yourself

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard a work worth doing."

~Theodore Roosevelt

Last week the black border didn't add anything to the conversation but the quilt still needed more contrast. I pieced more hourglasses with some black added to the pink and blues for the border then spent a while laying them out. This arrangement makes a striking zig zag but is much too strong for the weak center. {I'll have to remember it for another time.}

Zig zag border arrangement

Black to the outside and pink ...

added by Ann 4 years, 3 months ago. under #ahiqhourglass , apron , book recommendation , designing a border , hourglass block , improv quilt , stash quilt

One Improv Hourglass Quilt Finished from Fret Not Yourself

"It has been said that patriotism is not a frenzied burst of emotion, rather the quiet and steady dedication of a lifetime."

~ George H.W. Bush

After three weeks this "quick and simple" baby quilt is finally done. Wow, that's too long but it turned out well.

Improv Hourglass quilt

Since my machine with the working walking foot was in for repairs I had to use FMQ only. No SID around the sashing. I tried using a ruler to make straight lines a quarter-inch inside the sashing with mediocre success. The lines wobble but worse is the way the ...

added by Ann 4 years, 3 months ago. under #ahiqhourglass , book recommendation , hourglass block , improv quilt

Using the Hourglass Prompt from Fret Not Yourself

"Green is not simply a new form of generating electric power; it is a new form of generating national power - period."
~ David Rothkopf

For a change I'm starting the AHIQ prompt right away. {Although I should be finishing the Square Deal or Tethys Waves, they were put away when company came and you know how that breaks the rhythm. A new project pushed its way to the front of the line.} The previous hourglass quilt was rotary cut; this time I wanted to try an improv variation from Cultural Fusion. It seemed like a relaxing and quick{er} solution ...

added by Ann 4 years, 4 months ago. under #ahiqhourglass , book recommendation , hourglass block , stash quilt

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