Sunday, March 27, 2011

Reading instead of quilting

Well I have been reading instead of finishing up some quilts. I have 6 of them sitting in the house ready for quilting. I might have to rename the blog, Tops by Joanne. I finished The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini. This is a story of the Civil War in the US and the impact the war has on families from the Elm Creek Valley. Since I do not have a wealth of Civil War background I cannot say how accurate the information was in the story but it seemed very realistic to me. Today I finished A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley. He is a Canadian author and his lead character Flavia De Luce is a charming and precocious 11 year old. She loves chemistry and fancies herself as a bit of a sleuth. The time period for the stories (this is the third in a series) is early 50's in England. I love Flavia and am now waiting for the next book to come out. Another book I finished recently was The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton. Another Canadian author, this was his first book. The lead character in this novel is a smart, female, Chinese, forensic accountant. I have my name in for the next book in this series which is expect out in July. I am hoping to get back in the sewing groove soon. Joanne

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild-Project Linus

This little quilt is called Steppin' to the Nine's . The directions were provided on-line at one of my Yahoo groups. I am donating it to the Kincardine Sunset Quilt Guild's Project Linus drive for this year. Yesterday was the day I handed it in. Several others have made lovely baby quilts and some for older children too. The Kincardine Sunset Quilt guild is a very friendly group and I enjoy their hands on approach to quilting. Our drive to Kincardine was fine but the return trip featured ice pellets, snow and rain. That is the nasty part of living in this part of the world. Two of the quilters have made quilts following directions I gave verbally in January. That was a real boost.
I have been continuing to work away at my quilts but have no recent finishes to picture. I have four that have the blocks finished and are waiting in line to be made into rows and then a top. I did aquire the tail end of a quilt batt so will have no excuses for not finishing them. Joanne