Everything We Create is a Collaboration

Marian Parsons posted this quote at Miss Mustardseed the other day.  It's from Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey.

Everything we make, in some measure, relies on the help of others.  All of us rely on borrowed light.  Even the blind composer sits at a piano not made in darkness.  There’s only one who can make something from nothing – God.  The rest of us sub-create.  We work with what can be found lying around on the floor of creation and repurposed from the belly of the earth and the salvage heaps of industry.

Marian then commented, 

It’s something good to chew on as we do creative work.  Every tool and material we work with – fabrics, paints, pigments, brushes, nails, hammers, sketchbooks, pencils… they have all been created and made by at least one other person.  Not just that, but there are the people who pack it, ship it, deliver it, put it on the store shelf, etc.  Everything is a collaboration.

I love this!  Everything is a collaboration!  Everything we make ... relies on the help of others! 

If I had to independently prepare the ground (with a shovel I made?) and plant cotton seeds (which I would have purchased or traded with someone else), care for the plants as they grew, harvest the bolls, pick the cotton from the seeds, card the fibers (with carders I made by hand?), then spin the fibers (and how much practice would it take to be able to spin a fine thread, and where did I get a spinning wheel or even a drop spindle?), warp a loom (which I made?!), weave the threads into fabric, dye it or print on it (with dye I made myself?  (No, wait, I've done that!)), cut the fabric (with scissors, or ripe it), sew it by hand (using needles I'd made myself).... 

If I had to do all of that to make a quilt, I don't think I would make one.  I would probably stop at harvesting the bolls or possibly even preparing the ground....

None of us creates in a vacuum.  We all need so much more than our own creativity to make beautiful things.

Just a few thoughts....

--Nancy.

Book List 2024

This the first time in many years that I've read such few books.  I think it's because I started and stopped reading more books than I finished.  For the last dozen years or so I've decided I don't want to give my time to books that don't resonate with me, have foul language, whose characters I wouldn't want to spend time with in real life, or for a variety of other reasons.

People have asked in the past about why I read children's books.  Usually I've seen them recommended somewhere.  Plus, often I think the illustrations are beautiful, the stories are short and concise, and there's a truth in a very simple format.  And I recommend the best ones to my grandchildren or their mother.

| indicates a children's book

January

• The Comfort of Crows.  A Backyard Year.  Margaret Renkl.  Illustrated by Billy Renkl    
• |Sophie’s Squash.   Pat Zietlow Miller.  Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

February

• The Frozen River.  Ariel Lawhon    
• Recipe for a Charmed Life.  Rachel Linden    
• |Orion and the Dark.  Emma Yarlett
• |Big.  Vashti Harrison

March

• The World of All Creatures Great & Small.  Welcome to Skeldale House.  James Steen    
• Excellent Advice for Living.  Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier.  Kevin Kelly
• The Beekeeper’s Promise.  Fiona Valpy

April

• Real Clothes, Real Lives.  200 Years of What Women Wore. The Smith College Historic Clothing Collection.  Kiki Smith
• Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame.  Olivia Ford

May

• |Home.  Isabelle Simler.  Translated by Vineet Lal    
• The Last Bookshop in London.  A Novel of World War II.  Madeline Martin
• Why We Read.  On Bookworms, Libraries and Just One More Page Before Lights Out.  Shannon Reed    
  

June

• Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We’re Discussing in the Faculty Lounge.  Shannon Reed
• The Comfort of Ghosts.  Jacqueline Winspear

July

• The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.  Helen Simonson   

August

• |Tiny Jenny.  Little Fairy, Big Trouble.  Briony May Smith
• The Shop on Royal Street.  Karen White
• The House on Prytania.  Karen White
• Flight Patterns.  Karen White

September

• Barbara Isn’t Dying.  Alina Bronsky
• |Quill the Forest Keeper.  Marije Tolman    
• |Making Space.  Paola Quintavalle, Miguel Tanco    
  

October

• Weyward.  Emilia Hart
• |A Bear Called Paddington.  Michael Bond

November

• The Lions of Fifth Avenue.  Fiona Davis
• A Certain Kind of Starlight.  Heather Webber
• The Home-Maker.  Dorothy Canfield

December

• A Bakery in Paris.  Aimie K. Runyan
• |There’s a Ghost in the Garden.  Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Katty Maurey
• Christmas at Thompson Hall.  Anthony Trollope
• How to Winter.  Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days.  Kari Leibowitz

Have you read any great books lately?

--Nancy.

Reading List 2020

I should probably post books I've read each month but since I can't seem to manage it, this is my list for 2020.  There was lots of comfort reading this year, some I would call fluff, but not all.  I've included a few quotes and an occasional comment.  I put an asterisk before the titles of the books I really, really liked or loved.  Children's books are indicated by a vertical line in front of the title. 

JANUARY
* Grit.  The Power of Passion and Perseverance.  Angela Duckworth
Excellent!  We often consider talent the big thing but Duckworth points out that so many people are where they are not because they have natural talent but because they have grit – passion and perseverance, they never give up, are driven to improve, and hang-in-there.

Books by Lester L. Laminack  (Illustrator in parentheses.)
| Jake’s 100th Day of School.  (Judy Love)
| Saturdays and Teacakes.  (Chris Soentpiet)
| Three Hens and a Peacock.  (Henry Cole)
| The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins.  (Constance R. Bergum) 
| The King of Bees.  (Jim LaMarche)

Deep Creek:  Finding Hope in the High Country.  Pam Houston

FEBRUARY
The White Witch.  Elizabeth Goudge

MARCH
* The Whistling Season.  Ivan Doig 
The Sister of the Angels.  Elizabeth Goudge

APRIL  (Now reading books still out from the library or that I can find at the thrift stores because the library is closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.  Katherine Howe

MAY
Work Song.  Ivan Doig
"It is surprising how persuasive you can be when talking into your own ear.”

Light a Penny Candle.  Maeve Binchy.
Lucia, Lucia.  Adriana Trigiani.   

JUNE   (Books from the library again, though slow to arrive!)
Back on Blossom Street.  Debbie Macomber
Morning Comes Softly.  Debbie Macomber
| Quiet.  Tomie de Paola
The Shop on Blossom Street.  Debbie Macomber
Summer on Blossom Street.  Debbie Macomber

| Button Up! Wrinkled Rhymes. Alice Schertle  (Petra Mathers)
Oh my goodness what a fun book!  The clothes talk, telling stories in rhyme about what they do.  My favorite:
    Bob’s Bicycle Helmet
    Bob’s on his bike / and I’m on Bob. / I’m Bob’s helmet. / I’m on the job.
    Bob burns rubber. / Bob climbs hills. / Bob does wheelies. / Bob takes spills.
    Bob skins his elbow. / Bob scrapes his knee. / Bob doesn’t hurt his head— / Bob’s got me.
    And if some day / the sky should fall / it will not hurt / Bob’s head at all.
    Bob’s on his bike again.  / I’m on Bob.  / I’ve got him covered.  / I’m on the job.

Blossom Street Brides.  Debbie Macomber
* The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living.  Louise Miller

JULY
| Nothing Stopped Sophie:  The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain.  Cheryl Bardoe

* The Late Bloomers’ Club.  Louise Miller   
“The antidote of envy is to rejoice in the good qualities of others.
“All the suffering that is in the world arises from wishing ourselves to be happy.  All the happiness there is in the world arises from wishing others to be happy.”

A Good Yarn.  Debbie Macomber
| Angels, Angels Everywhere.  Tomie DePaola
The Rose Garden.  Susanna Kearsley
The Echo of Twilight.  Judith Kinghorn
My Favorite Things.  Maira Kalman

AUGUST
* The Firebird.  Susanna Kearsley
“We cannot know a man's nature when all does go well with him, but when those people he thinks will assist him oppose him instead, then we know, for a man has the patience and humility that he shows then, and no more.”   [I have been thinking a similar thought for a while:  the truth of a person’s character comes out when he or she is in ill health, in pain, or under duress.]

September.  Rosamunde Pilcher
“Fear knocked at the door, Faith went to answer it, and no one was there.”

The Day of the Storm.  Rosamunde Pilcher

* The Water Keeper.  Charles Martin
Love “writes over the old memories.  Makes beauty out of pain.  Love writes what can be.”
“Don’t let your pain speak louder than your love.”

* Bellewether.  Susanna Kearsley

SEPTEMBER
| Tomie de Paola:  A Tribute to the Young at Heart.  Julie Berg
The Memory of Lost Senses.  Judith Kinghorn   (I disliked this book a lot!)
* Stay.  Catherine Ryan Hyde 
“We’re all just doing our best, even if it doesn’t look so good from the outside.  Try not to judge....”
“It’s really important... when you’re thinking bad thoughts about yourself, to remember that they might turn out to be wrong.”

OCTOBER
* Eat Cake.  Jeanne Ray   (Challenges, but told with lots of humor.)

The Pioneers:  The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West.  David McCullough

* The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter.  Hazel Gaynor
* Allie and Bea.  Catherine Ryan Hyde
* The Book of Lost Names.  Kristin Harmel   

As Bright as Heaven.  Susan Meissner
“Home isn’t a place where everything stays the same; it’s a place where you are safe and loved despite nothing staying the same.  Change always happens.  Always....
“We adjust to it.  Somehow we figure out a way.  We straighten what we can or learn how to like something a little crooked.  That’s how it is.  Something breaks, you fix it as best you can.  There’s always a way to make something better, even if it means sweeping up the broken pieces and starting all over.  That’s how we keep moving, keep breathing, keep opening our eyes every morning, even when the only thing we know for sure is that we’re still alive.”

NOVEMBER
The Jane Austen Society.  Natalie Jenner
* When We Meet Again.  Kristin Harmel
* The Sweetness of Forgetting.  Kristin Harmel
| A Leaf Can Be....  Laura Purdie Salas.  (Violeta Dabija)   
* The Life Intended.  Kristin Harmel

DECEMBER
* | The Bookstore Cat.   Cylin Busby.  Illustrated by Charles Santoso
| Leaf Man.  Lois Ehlert   
Catching Christmas.  Terri Blackstock
| Andrew Henry’s Meadow.  Doris Burn
| Wee Gillis.  Munro Leaf.  (Robert Lawson)
Christmas at Harrington’s.  Melody Carlson
Where Angels Go.  Debbie Macomber
* The Book of Mormon
* The Christmas Angel.  Jane Maas
* Christmas at Thompson Hall.  Anthony Trollope
The Christmas Sisters.  Sarah Morgan
Shirley, Goodness and Mercy.  Debbie Macomber

When I want to know more about a book before choosing to read it, I usually check goodreads for a brief synopsis, reviews, and ratings.  I try to stick with books that have a 4.0 rating or above unless the book has been highly recommended by someone I know or has content that is of great interest to me.  And these days I have no qualms about not finishing a book (for any reason).

--Nancy.

A Generous Giver

Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard.  Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, by wisdom, with power.  Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you.  Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there; the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence.

I rediscovered this quote while reviewing my annotated list of books I've read.  It's attributed to Fra Giovanni from a letter written in 1513 and quoted in The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers:  Spiritual Insights from the World’s Most Beloved Neighbor by Amy Hollingsworth.

Perhaps it's a good thought for these days and times.

--Nancy.
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Quilt Block Books for Inspiration

Don't you sometimes just need a good book of blocks to look through -- for inspiration, for directions, for ideas?  A few years ago Claire of Cspoonquilt mentioned that she has a few books on hand when she's searching for "blocky inspiration."  It seemed look a good idea to me.  I realized I owned one or two then searched for others.  The ones below are some of the ones I use though I don't own all of them.  You can see a better image of a pattern page by clicking on the image.  It will open in a new tab and you'll be able to click again to enlarge it.  These are in no particular order.  Comments about each are below the images.
................................................................

The It's Okay If You Sit On My Quilt Book by Mary Ellen Hopkins


This is one of those block books you just have to love!  It's not encyclopedic but it has some wonderful qualities.
> There are no cutting measurements given for the block, but....
> Each page has a pale grid background which helps a quilter determine how to measure and cut for the block (if one has a passing knowledge of standard quilt and block sizes).
> Include tips for making quilts, hints for figuring yardage, etc.
> Gives possible layouts and settings for various blocks.
> All blocks are numbered with names beneath.
> There's an index at the back with names of blocks, numbers, and page number.
................................................................

5oo Full-Size Patchwork Patterns by Maggie Malone

> The patterns are grouped by block size.
> There are nine patterns per page, presented in grey-scale.
> Each block is numbered, named, and has pattern numbers.
> The patterns are at the back of the book and must be copied and cut out to be used.
................................................................

Encyclopedia Of Pieced Quilt Patterns compiled by Barbara Brackman
> Blocks are presented in more than 24 different pattern categories, e.g., One Patch, Multi-Patch, Strip Quilts, Two-Block, Sash & Block, etc.
> Images are on the right page, block names and creators on the left page.
> Alternate block names are given.
> Index lists blocks and page numbers.
> There are many older, traditional patterns that I've not seen elsewhere.
> Book does not include patterns with cutting measurements.

................................................................

The New Quilting & Patchwork Dictionary by Rhoda Ochser Goldberg




This book was new in 1988!
> Includes quilting tips, tools, styles, means and methods of making a quilt, etc.
> Images are grey-scale which give an idea of light, medium, dark fabric placement.
> Blocks are presented on a grid, though no cutting measurements are given.
> Block patterns are presented alphabetically.
> Templates are included at the back of the book should you not have a rotary cutter.
> Includes index of patchwork patterns.
................................................................

501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks by Judy Hopkins


This is one of my go-to block books when looking for a particular size block without having to figured out the cutting sizes.  Not all patterns are given in the same size, though.
> The book begins with tips for quilters.
> Includes a gallery of quilt blocks at the beginning of the book, all color illustrations with block names and page number.
> Blocks are presented alphabetically eliminating the need for an index.
> There are cutting measurements for six different sizes of each block.
> There is a layout for each block and the illustration shows how to sew the block together.
> Only one name is given for each block.
> For a few unusual blocks, patterns are given at the back of the book.
> Includes templates for blocks that have unusual shapes or that don't have standard sizing.
................................................................

5500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone


> Block images are in color.
> Blocks are arranged by category (9-patch, 5-patch, etc.).
> Blocks are numbered and also identified by name and alternate names.
> Creators are identified with initials; there is a key to the initials at the beginning of the book.
> Includes patterns for 5" letters.
> Has index of pattern names at the back.
> There are no patterns.
................................................................

101 Patchwork Patterns:  Quilt Name Stories, Cutting Designs, Material Suggestions, Yardage Estimates, Definite Instructions for Every Step of Quilt Making by Ruby McKim


> Most of the patterns are older, tried-and-true favorites.
> There is one pattern per page which includes block sizes and sewing instructions.
> Fabric and color suggestions given.
> Pattern pieces must be copied and cut by hand.
................................................................

The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns:  More Than 4050 Pieced Blocks for Quilters by Jinny Beyer


> Offers methods for using grids to design blocks.
> Blocks are organized by grids (2x2, 4x4, etc.).
> Grid images for each block are across the bottom of each page.
> Includes many new, more recently created block designs.
> Names and alternate block names given.
> Creators' names given.
> Publication and publication dates of blocks are given.
> Appendices include lists of creators and their patterns with creation dates.
> Includes index with list of block names and tells the page and block number on the page.
................................................................

Are there other block books you use and love?  If so, please mention the titles and tell what's wonderful about them in a comment.

--Nancy.
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Autumn Color

Other years these would have been early October trees.  This year the leaves turned late, toward the end of the month, and many didn't change at all.  There are still leaves, both green and colored, on some trees but the wind and rains have sent most of them to the ground.  Other years most trees except oaks would have been leafless by the beginning of November.  It's been an unusual fall in this part of Ohio this year.  Even coming late, I'm grateful for autumn's beauty.

I read this poem for the first time last week and love it.  I love this time of year when the nights come early and there's a restfulness and comfort to being inside.

          Welcome, November
            by Elizabeth Coatsworth

          November comes
          And November goes,
          With the last red berries
          And the first white snows.

          With night coming early,
          And dawn coming late,
          And ice in the bucket
          And frost by the gate.

          The fires burn
          And the kettles sing,
          And earth sinks to rest
          Until next spring.


I'm ready to welcome our first snow, predicted for tomorrow!  Happy November to you.

--Nancy.
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Out and About, June 2019

One day last week we visited Ohio's state capital in Columbus.  We anticipated doing a tour but time on the parking meter and the tour schedule didn't correlate so we walked around, stopping to admire the architecture and view the displays and exhibits.  These are poor phone photos but you can get an idea of the Statehouse's beauty and size.






















I think the rotunda is truly beautiful with its circular space, high arches, and domed ceiling. The walls are painted a coral/pink and robin's egg blue, with white trim.

As my daughter and I stepped off an elevator we heard singing and wondered where it could be coming from.  As we walked down a hall and through a doorway we realized that a group was singing in the rotunda.  We thought we were hearing a choir of angels.  Their voices ascended to the top of the dome then descended back down, filling the space with exquisite music.

We learned that the singers were The Cardinal Chorale, a group of high school students, sophomores through college freshman.  They meet in the summer for a week-long workshop, take their music home and practice, then meet again in late spring to present several concerts.  This was not a public concert.  They were singing for the joy of it and, no doubt, enjoying the acoustical effects of their voices in this setting.  There was no audience except those who happened to be walking through the space, on their way to some other place, or people like us who stopped to listen.  It was a happy surprise to hear them. 

Another happy surprise came earlier in the month when a package arrived from Lizzy of Gone to the Beach.  She sent a package of beautiful, mostly reproduction, fabric scraps.  I think this was my first in-person view of chrome yellow fabric, having seen only photos in Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960 by Eileen Jahnke Trestain.  All the fabrics are wonderful.  Thank you, Lizzy!

This past Friday we went to a Half Price Books book sale at the state fairgrounds.  I'm always on the lookout for quilting books and these were a deal.  I bought the seven below, five of which were brand new.

I am sleep-deprived:  we have critters, probably raccoons, in our attic directly over our bed.  When I go to bed, sometime after midnight, all is quiet.  Just as I'm drifting off to sleep I hear scratching, scrabbling, thumping, tumbling.  Sometimes I think they are holding a wrestling match, other times I imagine they've set up a playground.  The only thing we've found (so far) that sends them on their way is the smoke alarm!  What an inconvenience and disruption of sleep in the middle of the night.  We have a company coming in a few days that I hope will remove the raccoons and prevent them from returning.  (Though I wonder if that's possible since we had them two years ago and made repairs to the spaces where they were entering.  Have they marked our house?)  I need some good sleep!

Back to block making and quilting this week.

I hope all is well in your part of the world.

--Nancy.

Miniature Books - Really Random Thursday Post

For years I've been fascinated by little things.  Tiny toys, little books, miniature dolls, wee animal figurines -- if it's tiny, I want to see it and, if possible, hold and examine it.  But this post is about those littlest of books that I've found around the internet and a few that I own.

These are my own little, but not tiny, books.

Closed, they measure 1 12/" x 1 7/8".

I found them at an ocean gift shop about 45 years ago.

A friend's young son adored these books and carried them around whenever he came to visit.

My daughters were much less interested in them, which probably explains why they are still in such good condition.

. . . . . . . . .

I happened upon this blog post at Atlas Obscura and was fascinated by the size of the books there.  At least one is minuscule, smaller than the tip of a finger.  Go see!

How about this tiny Danish-Norwegian-French Dictionary? 

Photo by Tomasz Sienickim, © 2010.  Used with permission, from Wikimedia Creative Commons.

And it's legible, though perhaps only with great eyesight, with the use of a magnifying glass, or in a photo taken with the macro lens of a camera.  Isn't it charming?  It makes me wish I spoke Danish, Norwegian, or French.   From Wikimedia Commons.

And then there is this video of a young man making what may be the world's smallest flip book.  He begins with one that's regular size, then makes one 2" tall, then makes one that's oh-so-tiny.  It's amazing to see him make the tiniest.



And one more really short video of a collection of miniature books presented by British Pathé.



If you're interested in seeing other tiny book treasures click any of the links below.

• A Dictionary to Wear Around Your Neck
  Ladybug-sized book under a microscope (video) 
• Cleveland Public Library's collection of tiny books (with names and size definitions)

Do enjoy miniatures, too?

--Nancy.

October's Party

by George Cooper

        October gave a party;
        The leaves by hundreds came —
        The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
        And leaves of every name.
        The Sunshine spread a carpet,
        And everything was grand,
        Miss Weather led the dancing,
        Professor Wind the band.

        The Chestnuts came in yellow,
        The Oaks in crimson dressed;
        The lovely Misses Maple
        In scarlet looked their best;
        All balanced to their partners,
        And gaily fluttered by;
        The sight was like a rainbow
        New fallen from the sky.

        Then, in the rustic hollow,
        At hide-and-seek they played,
        The party closed at sundown,
        And everybody stayed.
        Professor Wind played louder;
        They flew along the ground;
        And then the party ended
        In jolly "hands around."


I love the imagery of George Cooper's poem!  By the middle of October we're usually seeing views like the one above, with the glow of the sun through gold and bronze leaves, a brilliant carpet on the ground, and wind fluttering through the leaves.  But this year -- this year in central Ohio! -- we're still waiting for the leaves to change colors.  Here and there, bright trees dot the landscape but they are few and far between.  This year I'll just have to think of the beautiful colors in this photo and the imagery in the poem to enjoy autumn's beauty.

I hope your October has been beautiful!

--Nancy.
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An Assortment of Red Scraps, Pluses, and a Book

One of the hardest things about quilting for me is choosing a pattern and then beginning, especially when I have a selection of scraps I want to use up.  I have this group of red scraps.... Some are 1" to 2" wide strips, other pieces are larger. 

Some of these fabrics could be from the 1930s through 1950s, some are from the 1980s, and some are recently new.

There is such a range of reds, from almost orange to almost purple.  I'm trying to decide whether I can use them together in a quilt and, if so, what quilt pattern will "accept" them and create a unified quilt.  And which other color(s) to use with them.

Ideas for blocks for these scraps include

• one patch with reds alternating with lights/naturals or golds or browns
• nine-patch with any of those color combinations above
• Square-in-a-Square block with reds in the centers and browns on the outside
• double nine-patch in reds and browns with browns in the corners, or reds and creams with reds in the corners
• double four-patch
• housetop blocks with a center square and one border around it in reds and lights or reds and browns, alternating the center and outer colors from one block to another
• snowballs in reds and another color

Will these fabrics actually work together in a scrap quilt?  They are from different eras and there are so many different tints and shades of red.  Some of these fabrics are already small pieces.  If I have several of the same print, I'm happy to sew them together to create a larger piece, but there is only one small piece of some of them. 

I have some thoughts on another quilt that I haven't yet started sewing.  At the beginning of last year my nearest local quilt shop offered a pattern and fabrics for these blocks if we returned every two weeks to get them.  I have all the fabrics but I haven't started on the blocks yet. 

I'm not a huge fan of orange and now that I have all the fabrics, it occurs to me that the oranges might look great with browns and/or blacks for an autumn quilt. 

Then, instead of orange crosses/pluses I could make yellow ones.  I have an over-abundance of yellow fabrics (mostly purchased in odd lighting that caused them to look light and creamy).  The light fabrics we received are much lighter than the ones shown in the photo above.  I think the blocks finish at 6" so the quilt is not large.

I've been so unmotivated the past week or two.  I'm happy to sit and hand quilt (building up callouses on my fingers) and do little more (except the essentials, of course).  I hope finally deciding on the reds will propel me into action.  Do you ever feel unmotivated?  I have a friend who says, "Doing is better than dreaming."  I need to quit dreaming and do.  Just do.

I have been reading Victoria The Queen:  An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird.  I think it is excellently written and is a joy to read.  I have ancestors who lived in England during the reign of Victoria which makes the book all the more interesting as I imagine what their lives might have been like.

I hope you're enjoying life!

--Nancy.
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One Quilt Plus Four Other Finishes in December

This little quilt made from leftover blocks is the very last finish of the year for me.  I stitched the binding today and it now only awaits a wash and dry. 

It's already dark so the photos are with a flash.  Even if I'd finished it earlier I would have needed a flash because we've had such a grey day.  (Love those grey days.  No kidding!)  And it's snowing now as I get ready to post this. 

The quilt measures just 41½" x 54¼" (before wash and dry) -- a little quilt just big enough for a baby, or maybe the top of a table, maybe big enough to go over one's legs for warmth.  I used leftover Cream Rose batting and Americana thread. 

The quilt looks crooked below but it's the angle of the photo.  (If people are born with photography genes, I didn't get any.)  When I see photos of a finished quilt I notice things I didn't when it was in progress.  Like, maybe I should have arranged those blocks a little differently, or maybe the sashing should have been wider/narrower/another color; etc.  But it's done and I'm happy enough with this little quilt.

My other finishes this month were books and, sadly, not quilts.  They were books.  Four books in a month is a record for me.

This first books was one I noticed on a shelf of Christmas books at the library.  It looked light, simple, and Christmasy.  And it was short:  just what I needed after plowing through American Grit for a month.  Away in a Manger by Rhys Bowen takes place in New York City in the early 1900s.  The heroine, Molly Murphy, discovers several supposed-waifs begging in the street.  It doesn't take her long to realize that they hadn't always needed to beg and determines to learn their situation and story.   This was a cozy mystery, a genre new to me -- or at least the name of the genre is new.  Other authors include Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier, Mary Steward, Jacqueline Winspear, and plenty of recent authors who are new to me.  I recommend this book as a fun, fast, light read.

Next I read The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, also the author of Better Than Before, a book about habits.  She discovered the tendencies while researching how people created habits and discovered that the way people respond to expectations can be grouped into four different categories, sometimes overlapping.  They are upholder, questioner, obliger, and rebel.  You can read a little more about the tendencies here.  I found this book really  helpful in understanding my "rebel" husband.  She also offers an online quiz to learn your own tendency. 

Then I moved back to fiction and read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate in less than a week.  This story was inspired by the Tennessee Children's Home Society scandal of the early 1950s.  The story is told in the first person by two individuals:  Avery, a 30-something daughter of a N.C. senator whose father and grandfather had been senators; and May Crandall, a resident in a nursing home.  Avery meets May when she attends a birthday party for a 100-year-old resident.  May greets Avery and walks away with the dragonfly bracelet Avery's grandmother, Judy, had given her.  It happens that Judy is also in a nursing home struggling with memory loss.  When Avery returns for her bracelet, she visits May and becomes aware of a possible connection between May and Judy.  May's story of her childhood was sad and sometimes horrible but the resiliency of the human spirit wins out.  I loved this book. 

Wonder by R. J. Palacio is the last book I finished this year.  It is about a boy who was born with some genetic that caused his face to be malformed.  It was told in the first person by the boy, August; by his sister, Via; Via's boyfriend, Justin; and several of August's classmates.  It’s a story about seeing past appearances; about accepting others and being kind; about bullying....  You may have seen a preview for the movie but based on the preview, I think the book is better.  It was definitely worth my time to read it.

I'm linking this post to
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts
> TGIFF at Kathy's Kwilts and More
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
> Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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Two Quilters: Four Quilts in Three Weeks & Two Days

On November 5, 1847, Anna Bentley wrote,

[Alice] took in 5 bed quilts to quilt.  In 3 weeks and 2 days we quilted 4 (which amounts to 7 dollars), have another ready to put in tomorrow which is to have considerable work on it.  It will be 3 dollars more.  Another she has to peice [sic] and quilt will be 3 more.  And she has 6 ready to quilt for herself.  She owes 3 dollars on her bureau, but the remainder will help get some little articles needful, and she has a fine cow worth 12 dollars which she expects to sell.

This quote comes from American Grit:  A Woman's Letters from the Ohio Frontier, a collection of letters Anna Briggs Bentley wrote beginning in 1826 after her move from Maryland to the Ohio frontier.  Anna's daughter, Alice, was preparing to marry and was earning and saving money.  I can only guess that these were bed-sized quilts, not little crib or doll quilts.

I think I'm a slower quilter than many.  It takes me three or four months (or more) to hand quilt a twin-size quilt.  Granted, I don't spend all day every day quilting (my fingers couldn't handle it) but even if I spent more time quilting I know I could not quilt as fast as Anna and her daughter, Alice did.

In the 40 or more years' worth of bright and lively letters Anna penned, she detailed many of her daily activities.  But she wrote of quilting only several times, almost in passing, while mending clothes and knitting socks are oft-mentioned topics.  How I wish Anna had written more about quilting and had given a description of the quilts they quilted. 

I mentioned Anna in a previous post where she requested that her mother and sisters send her needles.

What about you?  Could you and a friend hand quilt four quilts in 3 weeks and 2 days, along with your other 1840s-era chores and responsibilities?

--Nancy.
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"Stick to a Task . . ."

Yes, I did!  I stuck to it and I finished sewing these 32 blocks together.  Truly, it only took a few hours to finish them.  As unending as the sewing seemed at the time I wrote the last post about them, I knew I wouldn't want to put away the blocks and all the fabric only to have to pull them out later.  So I pushed through.

I do love these blocks.  All stitched and pressed, they look scrappy and fresh.

One of my early ideas for the layout of these blocks was this (though the blocks in real life are lighter and less creamy than these).

The circles in the photo above are cut from fabric but for the blocks I laid out on the floor I cut circles from red paper.  (I didn't want to waste good fabric, you know.)  I don't know yet whether the quilt will get circles or not. 

I hope to sew the blocks into a quilt top tomorrow and then let the top rest for 5 or 6 days while my daughter and grands are visiting.  Then I'll deciee about the circles (or something else, or nothing else) next week. 

The saying goes,

        Stick to a task till it sticks to you.
        Beginners many, finishers few. 

Even when I have to push myself to finish something (and maybe especially then) I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.  Do you, too?

I'm linking this post to
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework 
> WOW at Esther's Blog
> Let's Bee Social #179 at Sew Fresh Quilts
> Midweek Makers #74 at Quilt Fabrication
> Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

--Nancy.
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