Sunday, July 29, 2012

Finishes & Finds

Monster Applique Top; QUILTED Custom (freehand)
I had to post pics of every monster. They're adorable!! LOVE this quilt & can't help wondering who the lucky little one is?












Floral Applique Top; QUILTED Custom (freehand)









Hearts in Squares Top; QUILTED with Puffy Heart Meander (freehand)


Black & Yellow Top; QUILTED with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)


Purple Fan Top; QUILTED with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)


 Embroidery in Blue; QUILTED interior SID & Ribbon Meander in Border


Last but not least, I went to the Hershey Quilt Show with my BFF & came home with rather meager findings. You'll notice there's NO FABRIC!?!?!? 




Friday, July 13, 2012

A Quilt, a Book, and the Flu

I finished a quilt:
Autumn Sampler top was quilted with the Oak Leaf panto




The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Trilogy Series #1)
I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. A little behind everyone else, I know. For some reason I do tend to resist going with the flow of readers & tend to wait until the ebb has occurred. 


This is a fabulously twisting set of stories. Though one book, it's stories include those of love, murder, seduction, and espionage. Intertwined masterfully, the web is spun densely & richly. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next in it's series.



The blurb from the back:
"Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of iniquity and corruption."

Last but not least, I got the flu. I'd like to ask what kind of Freak of Mother Nature decided to wield her sickly wand over my head smack dab in the middle 'o summer?? Thankfully, it's not the barfing kind, nor the kind that would have me running to the loo; however, it's irritating presence is definitely felt by way of chills, sweats, aches, tingly skin, fever, sore throat, & utter exhaustion.

Besides the aforementioned sickly fun, this week has also brought a decision to return to homeschooling next year (which leave me approximately 6 weeks behind in the planning stage, which means I'm constantly telling my neurotic self to calm down & it'll all turn out fine... it will all get planned & we'll begin in due time!!) & an infestation of fleas which encompasses two dogs, two cats & three floors worth of house... did I mention I've been sick & can barely move. Do y 'all know what it means to rid a house of fleas? OY VEY: wash bedding, vacuum floors & furniture, spray floors, move furniture & spray underneath, vacuum it all again, mop floors, bathe dogs, brush uncooperative cats, then treat all animals with prescription strength topical stuff from the vet. Just typing it all out is making me hyperventilate from exhaustion...

And I do still work as a quilter... which means I would actually need to get something quilted... if I'd like to get paid...

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Quilts of the Week

Sampler in Browns top; Quilted with a Freehand Meandering Puzzle Piece.


Bright Rectangles top; Quilted in Freehand Maze.



 Embroidered Snowman II top; Quilted SID around the blocks & Freehand Loopy Snowflakes in the outer border


I don't know the name of this pattern?? How 'bout we call it Winding Star? The client only wanted me to SID around various pieces, so other than the stunning color/pattern, there's not much to show of quilting.

We're expecting some record temperatures here in Lancaster, PA today. Personally, since our pool isn't operational currently, my plan is to stay in the a/c as much as possible. I have a couple errands to do, but I'm still planning to crank that air!!

I'm not opposed to sweating~ just not all day against my will.
(Holy Crow, if that doesn't make me sound spoiled...)

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Two Book Reviews


Reading is my first love (sorry Marshall), and I'm thrilled to say I've been getting some extra reading time in recently. 

Because it's one of those things that feels like an "extra" (a hobby), I don't "allow" myself to partake usually during the day. It's a personality defect I'm working on... feeling like I should be working during working hours, even though the fact that I work from home suggests I should be able to arrange my days however I want. 

Unfortunately, the Responsible Woman in me comes out & reminds me that I work better during daylight hours & for a couple hours after dinner randomly. Sooo I try to abstain from my true love until I need a break or until I go up for bed. 

There's no good tv on lately, so I've been heading upstairs early & reading for a couple 2-3 hours!! 


Still Missing
Still Missing is Chevy Stevens' debut novel. She did a fine job of keeping my interest & of writing a compelling story:

Annie O'Sullivan's story splits between the present-day conversations with her psychiatrist & and an in-the-past year she spent held captive in a remote cabin.

Annie is kidnapped at the end of a rather boring open house she hosted as a realtor. Her last visitor was unassuming, gave off no "creep vibe", and all she had on her mind was the recent argument she'd had with her mother & of meeting her boyfriend for dinner.

Before she knew it, Annie had been attacked from behind, forced at gunpoint to a nearby van, drugged & awoke in a fully equipped, unescapable cabin. What unfolds is her story of surviving a very warped idea The Freak had of love & family. 






Full Dark, No Stars
Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars is a compilation of four short stories which are just what the title suggests: full of darkness with no light being emitted, not even from some faint, far-off stars:    

1922 ~ 
As disturbing as this story becomes, I felt compelled to find out, "what next?". A wife has inherited sizable acreage, which she means to sell to a hog farmer. Being an obstinate woman not inclined to meekness, she held firm, whilst the husband fumed at his lack of control. He wasn't going to stand for a hog farmer moving in next door, stinking up his land, the air, and polluting the stream his cows drank from! He wasn't going to stand for his wife's disagreement. This is where the story really begins...


Big Driver~
A woman on her way back home after a speaking engagement finds herself stranded just outside of town with a flat tire. Being a writer, it's second nature to ask "why". Investigating what happened with her tire, she realizes the plank with nails poking up looks like a trap. She laughs at her overactive imagination & pushes those thoughts aside when a man stops to help her change her tire... until he starts pushing her around. Beaten, raped & left for dead in a ravine, Tess lives, makes her way home & begins to ask "why" again. Her investigation leads her on a trail of vigilantism with which most can empathize.


Fair Extension~
To what lengths would you be willing to go IF you were dying of inoperable cancer that was responding to no treatment? What if you were offered something so unbelievable you started to believe? What if doing so would hurt someone you've loved most of your life... but of whom you've been jealous & hurt by as well??


A Good Marriage~
This story explores the psychology & behaviors one might go through if one found their significant other of 27 years had been hiding a terrible secret. 


I've also been perusing some Labrador Retriever books, but I'll spare  you those boring details. 


I wish you all a Festive, Safe, and Happy 4rth!