afternoon walk

Latest book list:

1. Quiet by Susan Cain non-fiction this book is about how some people and I am one of them who function better in quiet.
2. Starting Now by Debbie Macomber latest in Blossom Street series.
   
3. Summer Island by Kristin Hannah mother daughter relationships, family secrets and mending fences.
4. A Life in  Hand by Hannah Hinchman about sketching and journaling
   
5. The Devil's Puzzle by Clare O'Donohue quilt mystery
6. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks I will definitely be looking for more of her books, about a small village in England that quarantines itself because of the plague. Book club.
7. Lost and Found in Cedar Cove by Debbie Macomber
8. Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson a murder mystery with recipes
9. A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
10. May the Road Rise up to Meet You by Peter Troy about an Irish immigrant coming to America in the mid 1800's, the Civil war and slavery.
11. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce about Harold Fry who is walking the length of England to see an old co worker who is dying, its about his recollections on his life and marriage. Book Club
    
12. Thanksgiving by Ellen Cooney follows a Massachusetts family from 1600 to present day, a fun read for this time of year.

 For me a measure of a good book is how long I think about the characters after I read the book. Harold Fry is a character I am still thinking about weeks after book club. It was cold here over the weekend 17F and I had son's dog so I bundled up to take her for a walk thinking we would just go to the end of the lane and back and she would do the necessary. I had on my flannel lined jeans and hand knit wool socks and comfortable shoes. I had a scarf around my neck, my coat was zipped, a stocking cap on my head and my grey wool mittens on my hands, the sun was shinning and there was almost no wind (always note worthy in South Dakota) almost no wind. So we walked up the road then past the grain bins and I thought about Harold Fry going to the next post box to mail his letter. We walked up the dirt lane to the fence line then to the next fence line, and I thought about Harold Fry going to the next post box, I walked to the cedar trees, another fence line and almost to the big dip in the lane where the snow melt washed out the road years ago. And unlike Harold Fry I turned around to walk home. --Ann--

How I spent my summer......

How I spent my summer vacation...........Sewing log cabin blocks by the dozen and........
reading. I read 4 books about Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln. 
Visual aid please Log Cabin Quilt of course.

This is my first log cabin quilt sewn in 1987, traditional red centers with three dark fabrics gradually getting darker and 3 lights gradually getting darker. It is about 40 inches square and I hand quilted it.
Reading list:

1. Love is Eternal by Irving Stone  I have been reading biographical novels by Irving Stone since college, he researches all of his books the facts are there along with the real places and people, he gives them personality and dialog. He also wrote The Agony and the Ecstasy about Michelangelo, Lust for Life about Vincent VanGogh, The President's Lady about Rachel and Andrew Jackson, Those Who Love about John and Abigail Adams and many more. I should reread some of them.
2. Behind the Scenes or, Thirty years a slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley  non-fiction, this book is referenced in the three novels. She was an incredible woman.
   
3. An Unlikely Friendship A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley by Ann Rinaldi  Look for Ann Rinaldi books in junior fiction and young adult fiction in your local library, she also  researches her characters,events and places. At the end of her books she tells what is fact and what is not and who she created or embellished and why.
4. Mrs. Lincolns Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini  This might be Jennifer Chiaverini's first book not about the Elm Creek Quilters. This is a look into the Lincoln White House, Mrs. Lincoln after the assassination and publishing Behind the Scenes. 

I had no idea there was so much controversy and scandal during Lincoln's presidency. 

another visual aid please    A ceramic figurine that my mother painted in the late 1940's, I think it looks like one of the dresses Elizabeth Keckley sewed for Mrs. Lincoln.

Sometimes when I am reading a book I imagine the actors I would cast as the characters in the book. It was always Sally Fields voice who was speaking to me as Mary Lincoln and I have not seen the latest Lincoln movie. I could not imagine any other actor in that role.

That's what I did this summer.
would I be teacher's pet or what for all this historic reading!?!
  And now that all my kids are done with school vacation just continues for me!!--Ann--

reading

The  last book I finished was The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh it was a wonderful story about a girl growing up in foster and group homes. In one foster home she learns the Victorian language of flowers.  She has trust issues and self esteem issues but overcomes many obstacles.  I don't want to tell too much and spoil the twists and turns of the story. I am a very visual person so of course I am posting photos of my flowers......Hollyhocks ...ambition.

Day lily....... coquetry

white poppy........ consolation

Bellflower........ constancy

1. 8 Sandpiper Way  by Debbie Macomber
2. Tie Died A Quilting Cozy by Carol Dean Jones
3. Cathedral Windows by Clare O'Donohue
4. Quilt by Association by Arlene Sachitano
5. The House I Loved by Tatiana Rosney a story about modernizing the great cities of France
   
6. Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber
7. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant for book club story from the Old Testament
8. 92 Pacific Boulevard by Debbie Macomber
9. 1022 Evergreen Place by Debbie Macomber
10. 1105 Yakima Street by Debbie Macomber
11. 1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber  finished the Cedar Cove Series now on to other books
12. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for book club
13. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg non fiction
14. The Long Shining Water by Danille Sosin for book club 4 stories in one about Lake Superior
15. The Aloha Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
16. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Starting a new list of books and looking at my flowers from a different point of view.  My top priority in choosing flowers for my garden is what will thrive on the wind blown prairie and survive our weather extremes.--Ann--

Design Wall Monday

I have a good  start on the second of three log cabin with fans quilts. click the first one. This one is to have more green. Some of the log cabin blocks were partial blocks left over from the first quilt. I think I need more green in the LC blocks. I also need to stay home and work on it.
In the search for a particular quilt magazine that I knew had the color scheme I was looking for.....I stacked up some books that I haven't used for years so have listed them on etsy.  click here   or on the "where to find me" sidebar to find my etsy shop.
The 12 Days of Christmas by Debbie Mumm
The Joy of Quilting by Joan Hanson and Mary Hickey
In the Studio with Judy Murrah  and Jacket Jazz by Judy Murrah
At Home with Thimbleberries by Lynett Jensen
also three book on Marbeling on paper and fabric
too be listed in the next couple days....... there is gardening to do and errands to run and sewing to do and a meeting to go to, and daughter is home for a couple days...........
French Braid Quilts by Jane Hardy Miller         Altered Books Workshop  by Bev Brazelton
Pop up Greeting cards by Ondori               The Art and Craft of Papermaking by Sophie Dawson
Better Homes and Gardens American Patchwork and Quilting book published in 1985

and now the wind has come up so I won't be riding the bike to run my errands but I am linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday --Ann--

Books and Log Cabin

 

Thirty blocks and 3 inch borders. It will be a great quilt to curl up under and read. My reading list since a while ago............. I have obviously been on a Debbie Macomber kick and all the drama in Cedar Cove. Its been fun. Last night I finished The Blue Virgin by Tracy Chevalier. It is about an American woman searching for her French roots,  the story goes back and forth between present day and her 16th century ancestors.  Religion, midwifery and art are all part of the story.

The sun is shining today!!!! and not a cloud in any direction! It has been a long time since we have had a sunny day here, now if it would just warm up and melt the snow!!!

1. A Lady Cyclist Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Johnson
2. Quilt as you Go by Arlene Sachitano
3. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
4. Things I Learned from Knitting  by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
5. Free Range Knitters by Stephanie Pearl McPhee
6. 16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber
7. Knit Together by Debbie Macomber
8. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford for book club
9. 204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber
10. God's Guest List by Debbie Macomber
11. Patterns of Grace by Debbie Macomber
12. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
13. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
14. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris for book club This is a story about growing up in France during the German occupation during WWII. Joanne Harris also wrote Chocolat
15. 311 Pelican Court by Debbie Macomber
16. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom 
17. 44 Cranberry Point by Debbie Macomber
18. 50 Harbor Street by Debbie Macomber
19. 6 Rainer Drive by Debbie Macomber
20. 74 Seaside Avenue by Debbie Macomber
21. The Blue Virgin by Tracy Chevalier

Tuesday books

It's a great day to read or knit or quilt with 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow. The plan is to do a little of each today.

 I recently finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  The story is about  the Chinese and Japanese Americans living on the West Coast and goes back and forth between present day and the 1940's. Many of the events really happened, places in the book are real and some still exist today. Delightful story, I don't want to spoil any of the surprises for you.

I'm a fan of Debbie Macomber and check out  her books on kindle from the library, last one was 204 Rosewood Lane, so many of her of her kindle books have a long waiting list and in my search for an available book I came across her non fiction books. Knit Together, I couldn't resist the title of that one, which lead me to God's Guest List and Patterns of Grace, these are inspirational, they tell about her struggles with her faith and struggles as a writer and handling success. God's Guest List is about people who influence our lives. She really makes me stop and think about who changed the course of my life and how I influence others.

In that spirit thank you to Rea for getting me started quilting 20 some years ago, thank you Emilia for reteaching me to knit with the yarn on my left finger, and my Dad for throwing the book Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier at me one Christmas vacation during college and learning to read for the fun of it.

This was a great idea Judy at PatchworkTimes to see what others read and now to start another "to do" list of books.  Blessings and Gratitude --Ann--