WOW, April just flew by!

 April was a pretty busy month…..hence no blog post.

Part of my month was spent in Cadiz, KY attending the AQS Paducah quilt show.

It was the first time for both hubby and I and the quilts were drop dead gorgeous.  I don’t have any pictures, but you can check out YouTube for videos from the show.

I did get to Hancock’s the day before the show started. Oh my goodness……so much fabric!  We wandered around the store and did pick up some pieces….mainly “junk food” fabric for me and truck and farm fabric for hubby.  I want to make a “junk food” quilt as a contrast to the fruit and veggies quilt that I made for hubby.

We also went to the National Quilt Museum.  Again, this was a first for both of us.  There was an exhibit of quilts made by “the quilting astronaut “, Karen Nyberg, that was really interesting.  

The gift shop had several patterns that she designed available for purchase.  I was tempted, but the one that was marked “beginner” level was appliqué….which I am not a fan of. And the other patterns didn’t interest me.

But I did get a magnet and a book from the gift shop.  The book is a murder mystery, Quilt City: Panic in Paducah, by Bruce Leonard.  He was there and was signing his books.

I didn’t realize that I had gotten the 2nd book in the series until I got home.  But, luckily, my library has the first book, Quilt City Murders, and I am waiting to read that one before I start the one I bought.

He also has a cookbook….and we had a sample of one of the biscotti recipes and it was very tasty.

We also went on a train ride in Stearns, KY on the Big South Fork Scenic Railroad.  Here is a picture from their website:

The history of the area was very interesting and it was a nice ride.

After the train we visited the museum there and several of the little shops.

 

There was a Sinclair gas station near where we stayed and I had to take a picture of the dinosaur 

There were several antique shops in Cadiz and while we were walking through the town there were painted piggies everywhere! So, of course, pictures of some of them had to be taken.

I’d also done a fair amount of reading in April….

This was the next book in the series from Barbara Bretton.  It was a fun read and I have the next book in the series to start reading this month.

This is the ninth book in the series….and I am glad that I have gotten the books in order now.  It was a bit weird with the books I read out of sequence because events were happening that I hadn’t gotten the “backstory” of yet. Again, I am really enjoying this series and will continue it.

This was an audio book that I got through my library.  I had seen it hyped up somewhere and I thought it might be a good alternative to the books I have been reading lately.

I can’t say I liked it and I can’t say that I didn’t like it.  It was okay.  The writing seemed good….at least from hearing it.  I was a little put off from the main character right from the beginning because of his description of himself. 

This is the first of a series but I’m not sure that I will be reading any of the others.

I had seen this book in one of the antique shops we stopped at but hadn’t purchased it. Once we were home I thought about it again and checked out the ebook from my library.

I vaguely remember this story, which is heartbreaking, from when it was going on.

It was a good read, and you definitely need tissues by the end.

The writing is very conversational, almost like she is talking to you.

I had worked with a Filipino woman and she had told me stories about the need for bribing to get things done so I understood that part of the story.

There was also some sewing done!

This is the block I sent for the April StashBee swap.  It was a fun block to make and I definitely have it on my bucket list for a scrap busting project.

This quilt top was turned in as a charity project for our guild.  The background and first border fabric was mine but everything else had come in a bag from the guild.

I think it came out pretty well.

So, that wraps up April. I’m not sure what I will be getting into for May.

Hope your days are fun filled.

Until next time,

Sherry V.

Sewing and more reading

 Since my last post my husband finished painting the basement floor on my side so we were able to start setting up my sewing studio.  I’ll show pictures once it is a bit more finished.

Here is a pillowcase that I made.  My brother in law likes Florida sports teams.  So when I went on a FART (fabric acquisition road trip) with several of the ladies from my guild I found this fabric for the Florida Gators.  I thought it was fun and tried to reach my sister to see if she thought it would work.

I didn’t hear back from her until after I had the fabric cut……Gators is one Florida team that is not liked! LOL

So, brother in law won’t be getting this…..it might go to my husband’s grandson (he lives in Florida).

As for the rest of the Gators fabric……well it will probably go into a charity quilt.

I don’t know if you can see it when zooming in on the picture, but the accent band has the word, touchdown, on it repeatedly.  I thought it was a fun touch.

Out guild had a class for making X and + sign blocks.  I wasn’t able to attend the class due to a bad back.  But since I had the directions I started them on my own.

So far I have four blocks done.  I am thinking that I will make 20 blocks for a nice size lap throw.

I am a member of the StashBee swap group this year.  The block for March was a log cabin variation.  Here’s the block that I sent out.  This was a fun block and I may put it on my “to do” list.

It seems like it would be a great way to use up scraps.

I am still reading up a storm.  I’ve finished three books since my last post.

All of them are from authors that I have read this year…two more from Joanne Fluke (I’m up to book 9 in the Hannah Swenson series); and one from Barbara Bretton.

I have enjoyed these books as well.

I was also notified that I won something through the Villa Rosa Designs blog hop…..AND….. I have two entries for one of the Grand Prizes!  How exciting is that!?

Have a great day and a blessed Easter tomorrow,

Sherry V

Oh my, where has the time gone?

 Well, so much for blogging more regularly!  Ha ha ha

However, I have not been idle at all.

Since my last post I have read EIGHT books!

This is the first in a series that my librarian referred me to. It is another cozy murder with a supernatural twist, plus a love story.  It was easy reading and the characters are very relatable.

Since the main character owns a knitting shop there are knitting tips and tricks included at the end of the book.

I have already gotten the next book in the series to read.

I could definitely recommend this series….plus the author has other books so I plan to check them out as well.

Again, a cozy murder series, this one has the main character owning a couture dress shop in Victorian era England.

This was an audio book and the reader was very good.

I enjoyed this book also, although the back story for the main character was hinted at without actually explaining it.  That caused the interaction between the main character and one of the secondary characters seem a little weird.

I would recommend this and plan on reading more books in this series.

Surprise! Not a cozy mystery!

This is the sequel to The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society that I read earlier this year.  It is Christian fiction written by a minister.

I enjoyed both books but feel that the first book was more cohesive than the second.  This book felt a little rushed and not as well written as the first.

When I looked to see if there was a third book in the series I didn’t find any.  However, it seems that both this book, and the first one, are being republished with different titles.  That seems a bit of a “cop out” to me.

These five books are all from the same cozy murder mystery series that I have gotten hooked on.

These were all great and I love how good some of the included recipes sound. I have copied some of them so that I can try them.

I would definitely recommend this series, but I would suggest that they be read in order.  Because of availability I read some of them out of order….and it was a little weird since it felt that I was doing “flashbacks”.

Lest you think that all I have been doing is reading…..

This is a bookmark that I made as an entry for the first challenge from Project Quilting (Kim Lapacek). The challenge was birdhouse.  Since the entry had to be completely finished I had to do something easy since my sewing room is still not done.

These are soap sacks and prayer squares that I have been working on for donation through the Cosby Community Stitchers.

This group is the group that started as a knitting class at our library, Cosby Community Library.

Since the beginning of the year I have made 15 soap sacks and 41 prayer squares for donation.

I have also made 55 granny square blocks.  These are joined into lap throws or blankets for donation also.

This is a sample of a project that will be used in October at the retreat we attend at New Like Island in Frenchtown, NJ. This year the theme is about using up your scraps.

The design was a tutorial that I watched on YouTube….but I can’t remember the name. It is a fun pattern.

The woman who runs the knitting classes also provides card making classes through the library.  These are two of the cards we recently made.

I have loved making the cards and could definitely see myself getting hooked on card making….but since I already have a couple of expensive hobbies I am resisting the urge.

Hopefully my next post won’t be so delayed.

St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and the first day of Spring are right around the corner….hope you enjoy them.

Take care,

Sherry V

More books read

 Well I have been doing more reading…..just finished this book today

I really enjoy the Elm Creek Quilts series and wish that there were more; however, I understand that as an author you can’t put all your eggs in one basket.

I have read a number of Jennifer Chiaverini’s other novels and have found them enjoyable so I can recommend her to other readers.

I also “read” this book this month.  I took the audio book out of my “virtual” library and listened to it while I was working on organizing some of my scrap fabric.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book….but it seemed to take forever to go anywhere and by the time the murderer was revealed I was about ready to give up.

I know that authors sometimes let their personal feelings out on the pages of their books….and most times I am able to get past them.  However, with this book the social commentary was just a bit too over the top for me.  I read for enjoyment…..and I don’t think I will be searching out any additional books written by this author.

On the plus side, the reader was extremely good.  As the story is based in Europe it was great to have a corresponding accent…..and the Gaelic was wonderful to listen to.

Here’s a cute picture to share

My husband was in the basement doing some work and our two dogs wanted to keep tabs on both of us.  So they had their backs to me watching down the steps to make sure they did not miss anything.

Other than reading I have been doing some crochet for our library’s charity group.  Didn’t take any pictures of the last batch of donated items….will have to post the new stuff once I get a bit more done.

Tomorrow is the start of a new month…. I can’t believe that we have gone through a month already!

Take care,

Sherry V

Books and yarn

 Well I have started out 2024 pretty well.

I completed this shawl that I found while unpacking boxes.  I have no idea when I started it, but it is completed now…except for hiding the yarn joins.  I am keeping this one for me.

I have also been getting in a bit of reading time.  I have completed two books so far…..

This is a cozy murder mystery where the heroine is a cookie shop owner.  I found it easy reading and liked the character development.  This book also had a novella in the back that was a quick 111 page read.

The other thing that I really enjoyed is that there were recipes sprinkled throughout the book.  I copied several of them to try before Christmas so that I may be able to put more variety into my cookie tin gifts for friends and family.

The librarian at my local library said that she has a friend that has read the series and made several recipes.  It seems that she was happy with the results.

This was the first book I read, all in one day.  The writing style was very enjoyable.  It is about a group of women that knit at a church and how they are going through struggles and try to help each other.

There were a lot of characters to keep track of and in the beginning I had a little bit of trouble keeping them all straight….but it all worked out.

There was a knitted shawl pattern included in the book that seemed to be good for beginners and/or more experienced stitchers that want a “mindless” project.

I would definitely recommend both books.

I have taken out two other books from the library and started an audiobook so there should be more reviews soon.

Take care,

Sherry

It has been quite a while…..

 I hadn’t planned on taking such a long break from blogging…..but things have been a bit crazy.

A. In March 2020 I was “downsized” from the job that I had for almost 25 years.  Of course I think part of the issue was due to

B.  Covid 19 shut almost everything down.  So I was out of a job and had no real options of getting a job.

C.  In early 2021 I found another position.  It required on site work, which was fine.  But it felt surreal to be driving to work when there were so few cars on the roads.

D.  In November 2021 we broke ground for a new home.  We had purchased the property in 2019 without having a real plan of when we would move forward.  After Covid we decided to get “our ducks in a row” and move forward.

E.  There were issues with our builder, which I really don’t want to go into.  Suffice it to say that he walked off the job on May 31, 2023 without finishing the house.

After spending over four months living in our travel trailer we moved into the house….without a kitchen and without bathroom sinks.

We were able to complete the house and while there are still projects, like the unfinished basement, that need to be done we have been able to do some decorating for Christmas.

This is a blow up figure that we have had for years.  This is the first time we have used it.

I have gotten into baking….this is part of a log cookie called “church windows”.  It was fun to make and tasted really good.

This is the first time in a number of years that we decorated for Christmas.  2022 our decorations consisted of a single Santa figurine.  Luckily this years the dogs have not bothered the trains….too much. 

I also cooked my first meatloaf!  It was a Mr. Food recipe and it was also really good.

I also have been busy sewing….my quilt machine is still packed but I have made quite a number of quilt tops.  I also got involved with a knitting group at our local library and we do a lot of charity stitching so that has kept me busy as well.

I am hoping that 2024 will see me doing a lot more consistent blogging.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Sherry

Welcome to my blog

Thank you for stopping by......I hope that you will enjoy seeing what I am working on.

My stitching runs the gamut of crochet, quilting, cross stitch and black work.

Here are two recent finishes:

This is an Easy Basket made from a tutorial on SewCanShe.com .....

https://www.sewcanshe.com/blog/how-to-sew-easy-baskets-with-10-squares-layer-cake-leftover-project

This next item is a table topper from a kit I have had for a while.  It is called Minnesota Star Topper and the pattern is from Fabrics Plus in Marshall, MN.

The kit came with enough fabric for the top, backing and binding. I just need to cut the batting and get it quilted.

I hope you enjoy visiting my blog and seeing what I come up with top make.

Have a lovely day,

Sherry V.