Readin', Writin', 'Rithmatic!

I've been on a reading kick recently... I read six or seven books by Daniel Silva over the past month.  His protagonist is a Jewish art restoration expert who also happens to be a spy for a group they just call The Office.  In very believable fashion he and his team manage to save the world from some act of terror or revenge in every book.  Mr Silva is a former journalist, so it's like these stories are ripped from the headlines, as they say.  I like his writing and the flow of the stories are so good that thus far I haven't been a bit tempted to skip over any of the middle to get to the end, like I do with some books where the writing is laborious or the story line is predictable.

I'm also reading quilting patterns.  I've said before that my church quilters make quilts and give them out to people who are ill, hospitalized, suffering loss or hurt, and to all the babies baptized at our church.  We've accumulated a pile and are displaying them in the choir area this summer, like the photo above from a few years ago.  

I'm reading patterns mostly to find some patterns that are fat quarter friendly and easy enough for anyone to sew... we sorted our cabinet last spring and have a good sized box of smaller pieces, half-yards and quarter yards, that need some thought before they're tossed into a kit or into the discard pile.

Many patterns need a yard or more of background to make up a kit, and while we have some background fabric, most of what we have in the stash are prints.  I do take some of our budget occasionally and buy yardage of neutral solids, so we need a sort-out day to see what we need now.

Hopefully the thinking process doesn't burn up brain capacity and we can actually find things that work!  Of course some of our ladies are busy over the summer going to cottages and lake property.  I'm just happy to spend these hot humid days in my air-conditioned sewing space!

I signed up for an on-line class last week called Math for Quilters.  I was pretty sure I knew where they were going (upsizing/downsizing blocks, figuring out half square triangles, adding borders) but the class was free so why not?  It was on Friday evening, and as luck would have it, that was the one Friday where I wasn't sitting around looking for something to do.  Yes, I missed it.  😒

However, I did come across some videos on YouTube about quilter math that were good, so I watched those over the weekend, and I don't feel deprived.

I bought a copy of Electric Quilter 8 and have been playing around with it.  Mostly I wanted to be able to mock up a quilt and change the sizes so I could recalculate the amount of fabric required, like when I have a pattern for a full sized quilt but I want to make it smaller for our donation quilts.  It's been an interesting proposition.  The learning curve isn't too steep unless you want fancy blocks or you want to draw your own blocks.  I started with some 12 inch blocks and simple borders and I think I'm getting the hang of it.  There are free videos, and more advanced classes that you pay for once you go beyond the basics.  Time will tell.

this week I'm getting over a cold.  It's weird.  I haven't had a cold since winter of 2019... I guess all the Covid precautions are good for keeping colds and the flu away too!  I couldn't place the feeling at first, the sluggish head and the sniffles quickly settled into chest congestion and coughing.  Now i remember why my kids hated the taste of cough syrup!  But we're almost over it, and thankfully DH didn't get it, because you know male colds are always more deadly...

Two quilts went to the long-armer yesterday.  The newest one which was the mystery quilt from the virtual retreat in February was finally finished.  I decided it didn't really need a border, it was big enough.  And  the other one was one I've been working on ignoring for the better part of probably 10 years.  It finally made it out of the box and onto the table.  The blocks were finished, and a few of the rows were done too.  Honestly, what made it so forgettable was that it had tiny sashing, 1.25 inches that finished at 3/4 inch.  All that sewing!!  And if you wobble it's so noticeable!!

Quodlibet, pattern by Judy Hasheider... the name means "A medley of familiar melodies" and the quilt is made up of many familiar little blocks.

I have to say that I make much better flying geese now.  

Going down to see what projects are awaiting!  Sew on...