Published

What a great day I had. I got in the groove and spent the day listening to an audiobook, which I'll tell you about in a second. I made leaps and bounds in progress for the homework this weekend, and I think I should be finished by lunch, which means I won't be running around at the last minute to finish up stuff. Yeah me!! 

I used to live a pretty sheltered life when reading novels. I had a "few" authors that wrote book series (about the same character), and I would read almost exclusively those books. Some of my favorite authors are James Patterson, Lee Child, Louise Penny, Clive Cussler, and well, that's just a couple -- there are MANY more. 

But lately, I've been discovering MANY authors that write standalone books or are perhaps lesser-known (at least in my world). 

I think I discovered this author from a friend's recommendation on Facebook. OH MY GOSH!! I believe that is why I was in the zone yesterday. I had my headphones on, and I was in my own little world. I NEED to finish this book this morning. I have less than one hour. The author? Lisa Jewell. She's a British author, and I'm reading The Family Upstairs. It's a page-turner, to be sure! I see she wrote a sequel to the book  -- hmmm --- I may have to get that one and read it as well, and she has MANY standalone books. 

There isn't enough time to read all the books I want to. But that's OK -- I'll read what I can and enjoy them. So if you are stuck in a rut with your reading --- check out other authors -- there are so many, and what I find with some of the serial stuff --- you get a cookie-cutter book where the same stuff happens, just in a different location to different people. 

Well, some of the plots I've read lately are totally twisted! How does the author's mind work that way? 

I haven't been doing much for the US magazines lately as I really haven't had time. And this magazine has been sitting here for at least a month for me to share with you. 

This is the May/June issue of McCall's Quilting. 

McCall's Quilting - May/June

It's all about pre-cuts, and this is my quilt. I LOVE this quilt, and it's made with a bundle of 10" squares. I LOVE it!!!!!   I worked with a  bundle of squares from Wilmington Fabrics -- a gorgeous collection called Essentials Basics: Royal Nights 10 Karat Gems. It's a blender collection, and the colors are gorgeous!!!! 

My quilt

It's a super easy pattern to make, and you'll love it!!!! 

The second publication is A Needle Pulling Thread -- Issue 58. This time, it's all about landscapes! 

A Needle Pulling Thread

I'm not the best at drawing and making realistic portraits or landscapes (something to work on, perhaps), so I turn to abstract. I love abstract, and I guess we should stick with what we know best! 

My article on Abstract Quilted Landscapes

This article is filled with tips on making your own abstract landscape, and I use a different color than the one shown in that picture!

I haven't submitted anything to the US magazines for MONTHs. They will think I have died, but I just haven't had time to come up with some designs, and I'm cognizant of when the quilt would need to be made. SEE -- I am being responsible. Now that things are somewhat under control, I might think about submitting stuff in the future!

I'll see how it goes. 

I may have posted this already, but if not, here it is again. This is the latest DIGITAL issue of QUILTsocial. There is loads of information in this magazine - it's basically some of the tutorials/projects/articles that the bloggers put on QUILTsocial, compiled into a magazine format. I have articles on choosing stabilizers for machine embroidery, repairing a sweater, and sewing on buttons --- all with the sewing machine!

QUILTsocial is a fantastic blog filled with LOADS of tutorials five days a week, so you can learn a ton of stuff from that blog. 

I'm working on two more articles for magazines, and one of them needs to be completed very soon. The other one -- well, it's also due! So that will be on the list of stuff to do. Prepping presentations takes a lot of time -- I'm trying to get smarter, but that has definitely cut into the time allowed for writing. 

I did NOT get anything done on the Cherrywood Challenge, so that NEEDS to be a priority today. I would be so angry (doesn't that word look so -- well, ANGRY), so I'll say that I'll be very disappointed with myself if I don't make it happen. And I'm so close! 

Well, what's going on in the world of the girls at my house? Lexi is now taken to jumping on the couch even when it has furniture on it. Why? So she can get away from Murphy, and DH just stands there watching. NO --- you need to tell her to get off!! The couch -- well, it's a goner for sure! It's just dirty, and I'm not about to clean it. We should have put a blanket or quilt on it BEFORE she started jumping up. Now -- what's the point? 

Lexi jumps even with furniture in the way

So now they can fight with Lexi on the couch and Murphy on the floor. Sigh...................

Let the fighting continue

And then you have this little angel! 

Little Bear -- the angel - NOT!

OK, he has his own issues, but he looks so darn cute!!! This was a professional photo -- apparently, M was doing a photo shoot, and Bear "got in the way!" I think the picture was photoshopped as he's not quite that white in real life!

On that note, I'm out of here. I've got stuff to do, but here are some events to watch for. 

Virtual Retreat 

Saturday, April 30  (6 PM - 9 pm)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, May 1 (10 AM -- 8 PM)

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81693717518?pwd=STNoVVQzbDd4ZnROQndNNlpvcC90QT09 Meeting ID: 816 9371 7518 Passcode: 579285

If you are into art and I do not know what types of art will be displayed, there is a show in Norval, Ontario, and Helen (a member of our Monday group) has a couple of pieces of digital art in the show. These photos are amazing, and she created them in Photoshop.

Here's the information on the show:

Location: Parish Hall, 16 Adamson Street South, Norval, ON L0P 1K0

Dates: May 5 - 29

Hours: Thurs – Sun, holiday Mon, noon – 4:30 pm

 And if you want to read how she created one of the pieces, check out her blog. 

 https://imhalca.blogspot.com/2022/01/growing-as-artist.html?m=1

I see more quilt shows are coming up, and I'll try to post a list in the next couple of days. I've run out of time this morning. 

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!