Friday, September 6, 2013

Reading and applique

Some months ago, I joined a round robin group.  Mine is red and off-white with a schoolhouse block in the center.  I posted a photo so won't do so again here - I'll wait til it comes home.  Right now, I have Cindy's lovely Christmas quilt and mine is the third border, so it's getting somewhat large.  The center is 15", and with the other two borders, it's about 35" square.  I decided to add an appliqued vine with poinsettias, holly leaves, and berries.  One of the fabrics frays quite a bit, making it quite difficult to handle.  Now that I'm nearing the end of this project, which has taken a couple of weeks, I find myself wishing I had just done something less fraught with anxiety.   I hope to finish this weekend and get it in the mail to Candy who will do the last border.  Then I hope I won't receive another one until October.  I have a few unfinished projects to work on before our first guild meetings this fall.

The Heart of Vermont Guild meets Sept. 17, and already planned are a block robin, a challenge, and a mystery quilt.  Will I participate in all of these?  Probably - for the cause, as they say!   On Wed. Paula and I went over to another quilter's house and helped her sort and weed out magazines going back about 25 years.  We selected 3 bags for the free table at guild.  We left a mountain of recycling!

The Calico County Quilters meets Sept. 14, and we usually do an ugly-pretty challenge, which is fun and pretty easy.  And the state quilt guild meets in October and in preparation, I'll try to participate in the pillowcase challenge and a block exchange.  So that's a lot of projects coming up. 

It was very humid last week, so instead of sewing, I turned my attention to Louise Penny's latest book, How the Light Gets In.  I love her careful writing, her very human and believable characters, and the setting just over the border in Quebec.  It's a long time between books, so I tried to savor every word.  Still, the plot moves along and in the end, it took me just three wonderful days.

Now I'm reading something lighter, Emilie Richards' Wedding Ring, for which I will be leading an online discussion beginning Sept. 16.  Having never done that, I am taking more time than I normally would, marking passages, jotting down issues and possible questions as I go.  It's quite an easy read with some interesting characters.  Part of this online activity will involve making something as we read, so I'm thinking about that possibilities as I go along, too.  Because the characters work on quilts to deal with tragedy in their lives, I may turn my attention to mending the quilt I made with my aunt was dying.  I use the quilt a lot, so it has some torn spots which will need to be appliqued over.  IF I can find the same or matching fabric deep down in my stash.  Quilting is a journey!

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