Let the Wild Rumpus Start! In a calm way, please

 

Happy New Year – though I did hear ‘Mrs Maisel’ say that she’s just calling February 1 the start of the new year.  Let January shake off it’s ‘2020 vibe’.  

It's a New Year from sunrise on Rainbow Rock

2020 did give us lots of time … to waste, to discover, to read and even to spend HOURS on your computer devise.  I will never tell how many Wheel of Fortune games I played!!  Although I do have to point out, it’s one of the few games there are no ads every move!  Just saying!

I read 83 books this year!  The last two years my count was in the 40s.  And a LOT of them were excellent!  Here’s the ones I recommend.

A Small Town by Thomas Perry  I love his Jayne Whitefield series: a one woman Native American witness protection force.  Always excited to find a new book.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn  Artsy woman trying to make a living and find a man ... good old romance for a bewildering year.

Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg  Not your typical book club group!

Virgin River by Robyn Carr  Beware there are over a dozen books in this series, you’re going to have to pace yourself!  And then there is the series on Netflix!  Oh, yeah!

Jane Harper’s series based in Australia   The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man.  Excellent series and The Lost Man took my breath away!  I hear there is a new book out soon.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett  She is usually a great read but she’s outdone herself in this one!  The cover is delicious and the story is even better.

American by Day by Derek Miller  Book 2 of a series from a Norwegian author.  The first book was Norwegian by Night.  I think I read it, but didn't log it.  I love a good strong woman character and this has her.

The Dressmakers Gift by Fiona Valpy  Generational tale centered on WWII

Year One by Nora Roberts  Set in an alternate reality, proving Nora Roberts isn't just a romance writer.

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian  This was really good, kept me guessing until the end.  And the series on HBOmax is good even if the story is tweaked a little.  As usual, book first is the way to go.

The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg  Who doesn’t want to run away from home?  Yes, I’m talking to you grown-ups!

The Lola Quartet by Emily St John Mandel

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins  Excellent prequel to Hunger Games.  Learn how Snow got to be Snow.  I listened to the audio book from our online library and the narrator was awesome.  Got a lot of quilting done just listen to the book.

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Mortimore  This was a real find, different plot.  I loved it, loaned it to my friend, told my daughter to read it and they both loved it!!  SciFi but not really.  Try it!

Beyond the Black Stump by Neville Shute  Written in the ‘40s (!)  another Australia author.  I really love his writing, I went on to read 3 more books in our library.  Definitely a winner.

Well, shall we talk about quilting?

I looked at my list and I was underwhelmed.  But then I remembered I made more than 300 masks!  Well, that explains it!   

 

My favorite projects this year were:

I topped the Road to OK that was a raffle block from Nebraska.  I wanted to win back then but I didn’t, so I made one block to remember it.  It IS a tricky block because the points of the stars are in the center of the block, not the outside.  There was ripping.  The star is made by the 4 corners together.  AND I really just loved the name for it’s own sake:  I wanted to be on the road back to OK (normal), didn’t you.  We still do.

It's the weekend, I guess!!

Yesterday was spent in the sewing room - again.  But it didn't seem as productive.

I resewed 1/2 the Flying Geese blocks - have the blue on.  Today the beige-ing.  Fingers crossed that I can square it up to the right size this time!  Then I just have one more block set, which I'm changing!!  Hey - I had to do it once!!

My DH cleaned out his closet, looking for a missing pair of shorts.  He handed me two pair of shorts and 2 old t-shirts!  So I used Bonnie Hunter's method of making 'bias' for face masks.  I folded them in half, squared them up on my rotary cutting board, cut 1" strips.  Then stretched each one until there was no more give.  It looks promising!  Today I'll put them into my "7 face masks a day" production today. #Ihatebias  Fingers crossed.

I'm dealing with an uprising from 1 DGS and my DS!  Only my DGD is playing the game.  She's 13 - so I'm thrilled to have this daily contact with her.  This weekend I'll try to talk the others into joining in again!

Yesterday's photo, the reveal is at the bottom of the post:

I found a baggie of 3.5" squares.  There were a lot of Blue and Beige-ings, so I marked and made 16 HST starts.  This is for Rd to OK - which I'm excited about, since I managed to sew 3 blocks together correctly!!

My Plus/X block of the day is themed!  I noticed when going thru my scraps that I have a lot of Bee fabrics.  So I used 5 of them, added an alphabet background, cuz we need a "Spelling Bee" too!  #Badjoke!  

Part of the explosion in the sewing room is from the scrap baggies!  Literally!!  Digging around in them, and then making the blocks, throwing back the left-overs.  Bad management!!  I end up with 8 bags looking like this!

                              

Believe it or not - after dumping the baggie on the ironing board, pressing and pulling out miniature pieces for a friend; pieces I want to use, and even tossing some ... I end up with this!

Easy to use again, at least until the next time!  I sorted the Red; Yellow/Orange and the Black/Brown/Greys!!  I have TWO bags of blue; TWO+ bags and piles of beige-ings; Green; Purple and Pink left to manage.  We'll see if that actually helps!

News Alert!  Sue Spargo is presenting stitch lessons on Instagram.  She calls it 90 days of stitches.  She's on Day 20 today!  How I didn't really notice this was happening goes to show my state of (no)mind!  She uses a circle sampler, which I happened to have made the circles after a class I took.  Only stitched one circle and not happy with it - will probably rip that one out.  AND miracle of miracles - I found it!

Now you would think that she would start with some simple stitches ... HA!  Bullion Knot on first day.  That's what attracted me to the first video.  I need to brush up on Bullion Knot for my DropCloth sampler.  Second day is Palestrina Knot!  I've never even done that one!!!  Going to try - no way will I catch up, up but hopefully will save the video in favorites and keep the Diagrams.  Just listening to her calm English accent helps!


 The reveal - the wall that separates the forest from our complex grounds.  One spring a young bear came up from the beach(?) and panicked.  You could follow his large muddy paw prints across the parking lot and up over the wall into the forest!!  We don't get many bears on this side of the Highway.  (Thank Goodness!)

Stay Safe and QUILT ON!