So many people have told me about Overdrive to check out audiobooks from the library that I finally downloaded the app and gave it a try this month. The price is right but my local library has a very limited selection of audiobooks. I think I'll be able to get new releases (on wait list) but there's not much to choose from in non-fiction or anything published more than a few years ago. Audible is not under thread of losing me as a customer that's for sure!
This month I read Deep Freeze (my favorite book of the month) and At The Water's Edge  on Overdrive so I saved a few dollars. My least favorite book this month was The Silent Sister but even that wasn't horrible. All-in-all it was a good month of listening.

First Strike
By Ben Coes, Narrated by Peter Hermann

There's no better way to kick off the New Year than with an action-packed thriller. Dewey Andreas  always delivers a lot of action.

In this 6th book Dewey is sent to Syria for an operation that ends up blown. Meanwhile the US has discovered a ship full of weapons on the way to ISIS and stops it. ISIS retaliates on US soil. Dewey and  his former colleagues are reunited in the US to help resolve things. 

That all sounds like a pretty simple description of the plot but, as with all of the other Andreas books, this one is action from beginning to end.

Badlands
By Richard Montanari, Narrated by Scott Brick
This is the 4th book in the Byrne and Malzano series. These books all take place in Philadelphia where Byrne and Balzano are detectives. This case opens when the body of a young teenage runaway is found in an abandoned building the Badlands section of Philly. She was drowned but there's no water anywhere.

This begins a chase into the world of magic and puzzles and one demented protagonist. 

If Philadelphia is anything like these books then the city has a very high percentage of psychologically demented people. While, in one way, this series is kind of a typical crime investigation series; in another way, they are a little creepy. Montanari's bad guys like torturing and killing young people. They are really well written and very suspenseful but you need to know the underlying theme before you start this series. 

Wrongful Death
By Robert Dugoni, Narrated by Dan John Miller

This is the second in the David Sloane series. Dugoni also writes the Tracy Crosswhite series. Both are set in the Seattle area.

David Sloan is an attorney and is approached by an Iraq war widow to sue the government for wrongful death. The Feres Doctrine generally makes this impossible but as Sloane starts to look into it he thinks there is more to the story of the soldier's death.

This is a good story and these books have to be read in order. There's too much reference to events in the previous book.  My main complaint with it is that it sort of reads like an abridged book. The story jumps quickly between events and tense situations wrap up pretty quickly. If you like a good thriller but not the ones that get your heart racing then this is the series, and author, for you. If you need to have nail-biting and bad dreams then you can skip this one.

The Infidel Stain
By M.J. Carter, Narrated by Alex Wyndham

This is the second book in the Blake and Avery series. If you happen to be watching he Victoria series on PBS you might enjoy these stories that explore the seedier side of Victorian England. The first one took place in India but this one is back in London. They are hired to investigate a series of murders among the city's "gutter press". 

It's an enjoyable series.
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Cash City
By Jonathan Fredrick, Narrated by Ari Fliakos

This book fell about 15 minutes short of my self-imposed 10-hour minimum but it was a Deal of the Day book and the reviews convinced me to risk the $4. I'm glad I did.

This is the first novel by Jonathan Frederick and is set in the fictional town of Cain City, WV. The main character, Nick Malick, is a former police officer whose life fell apart when his son was kidnapped and murdered by a serial pedophile. The murderer is in jail on another crime and Nick is just waiting for him to get out so he can administer his own justice.

Now he's divorced and a private detective. His next client wants him to find his missing adult daughter. The search leads him into  a drug ring from Detroit and corruption in the police department.

It's a great first novel and it just begs for a series based on Malick and his young sidekick who lives in the same converted high schools as Malick. There are several really well-developed character in this book that would support a series. The narration was fantastic too.

Deep Freeze
By John Sandford, Narrated by Eric Conger

We are big John Sandford fans in this family and Mom and Chris read this as soon as it came out. A week ago I decided to finally get a library card and try out Overdrive. My library system doesn't have a ton of audiobooks (and even less that I'd want to read) but they have some and it will save me a few bucks to get what I can out of the library. I had to wait about a week to get this book but once I had it on my phone I finished it off in about 2 days.

I love all John Sandford books and the Virgil Flowers series is really a lot of fun. This time Virgil is sent back to Trippton where he previously arrested the entire school board for corruption and murder. This time it's the dead of winter and a local woman, and bank owner, has been found dead in a block of ice in the river. He's also asked to assist a Los Angeles attorney in serving Cease and Desist orders to a local woman who is selling obscene Barbie dolls. There are lots of hilarious moments in this adventure.

If you've never read John Sandford I'd place him between Michael Connolly's Harry Bosch series and Carl Hiassen books. They are mystery with a great does of humor.​

At the Water's Edge
By Sara Gruen, Narrated by Justine Eyre

I read Gruen's earlier novel, Water For Elephants, and I love historical fiction so this seemed like a good choice.
Not so much.
This is more like historical romance than historical fiction. It's set during WWII in Scotland. Madelyne and Ellis Hyde are part of Philadelphia society until they and their friend, Hank make total jerks of themselves at a society New Year's Eve party. Ellis' parents have had enough and kick them out. Hank still has his generous allowance so they decide to go to Scotland, in the middle of the war, to find the Loch Ness Monster. Ellis' father was disgraced years before on his own mission to find Nessie. 

They get to Scotland where Ellis and Hank continue to behave like the spoiled, arrogant pigs that they are. Maddy, meanwhile, has no backbone but eventually befriends the people working at the Inn where they are staying.

If you like lite stories you will love this. It's well written and things wrap up conveniently and neatly in the end. There's even a white knight of sorts. 

In reviews the narrator gets a lot of criticism. I didn't find her annoying at all but if you get the audionook of this one you might want to sample the audio first.

The Silent Sister
By Diane Chamberlain, Narrated by Susan Bennett

Well, it started off strong. Riley MacPherson has arrived in New Bern, NC to settle her father's estate. She had already lost her mother to cancer and her older sister to suicide over 20 years ago. While settling the estate she discovers that her sister might be alive and that her family had a lot of secrets.

This story started strong and then it rolled pretty much every current event cliche (child abuse, PTSD, gender selection) into the mix and finished it off with a pretty unsatisfying ending. Everything wrapped up nice and tidy. 

The narration was good and the book wasn't awful but it was entirely predictable. The image on the cover of the book is  a bit confusing. While there is one scene with water, the water in that scene is a frozen river on a snowy day. 

The Trespasser
By Tana French, Narrated By Hilda Fay

This is the 6th book in the Dublin Murder Squad series and the interesting thing about this series is that the characters are mostly new in each book. Because of that the books can easily be read out of order. I've read 1 - 4 and liked them but this one was a bit of a slog to get through.

Detectives Conway and Moran are called to a murder scene that looks like a simple lover's quarrel gone bad. They quickly go after the boyfriend although he claims he's never been in the victim's home. Other detectives are pushing her them to quickly arrest the boyfriend. 

Conway is getting a little paranoid over the pressure and other harassment that she is experiencing. She can't give up on a scene and other evidence that might be linked to the victim's missing father from years before.

This book spends a LOT of time on conspiracy and paranoia and it gets a little tedious. Things get much better near the end when everything starts to unravel. 

The fabric if the week is Gray Skies Gradient. If you want some for your stash get it before it sells out. Through Sunday (or while supplies last) this fabric is 25% off or $6.75/half yard.

​Gray Skies is the fabric that Betsy Hughes used in her Lighthouse quilt and that Susan Bianchi used in Liberty Marches.

I have nothing to show for my efforts for the weekend but I can report that all of my class preps are done! That was big because it included editing about 40 photos and writing up instructions for each. While I did boring work Laura beavered away (one of their British phrases) on her baby quilt.

As much as I dislike pink, even I have to admit that this quilt is adorable. It finished up about 45 x 57 and will be a crib quilt. Mary's Quick Strippie pattern is perfect for a baby quilt and makes great use of a feature fabric like this.

We couldn't turn down Minky fabric for the back. Laura quilted it on the longarm and used the Popcorn pantograph which makes perfect clouds for the frolicking sheep. This was Laura's first try at a panto and she did great!

If you absolutely need some sheep fabric, I found it online at Melinda's with all of the coordinating fabrics.

The gem this week is a new one by Patricia Caldwell. It's called Moonlight and is a blend of batiks, the Black Gradient, cheesecloth, fabric paints and Red Creek Jasper gemstones. Patricia is very generous sharing her work in process and you can follow her on her Facebook page.

​If you have made anything with my hand dyed fabric I hope you will consider sharing it in the Customer Gallery. In appreciation you will receive a 20% shop coupon that's good for 3 months!

Yesterday was a lot of fun but I didn't get anything accomplished....and I'm good with that. Ian and I took a clay shooting lesson in the morning then after lunch Laura and I did some fabric shopping and took a long walk. 

Laura decided that she wanted to make a crib quilt for her niece's new baby, Luna. We went to the Blue Crab Quilt Company and found this adorable sheep fabric with some matching dots. Her original plan was a quilt with 6" squares but once she picked these fabrics out I knew the perfect pattern.

Mary's Quick Strippie quilt was perfect for a feature fabric with two accent fabrics. Laura had this together before she went to bed last night. She bought Minkie for the back so we will probably get this quilted tomorrow and bound Saturday or Sunday in between their other social engagements.

​If you are looking for an easy pattern for a donation or quick quilt always check Mary's site. She has dozens of great patterns.

Today and tomorrow I'll get my binding class materials finished up and I might reward myself with some cutting out on the new guest room quilt.

Time for panic!
My friends from England are here and I want to spend every minute with them. But I also have just 14 days until I leave for Birds of a Feather. I'm teaching 4 classes and, for the first time ever, selling fabric in a booth. This is my staging area and it's not even half full! I'm not sure how much creativity I'll be able to accomplish in the mean time so don't be alarmed if there's a day I miss posting.

I've got 3 of 4 class materials ready and need to get the 4th done by Sunday.
Sunday I'm not doing anything except watching Super Bowl hype and the game.
Next week is totally dedicated to preparing everything for the shop. I'm about 40% done so far....I think! 
In the middle of that Laura and I will be starting a new baby quilt for her and maybe I'll sew on the Maine quilt for my relaxing time the next 14 days.

I'm nearing the end of the Maine quilt top so will need another project to do after that one and this is going to be it. I picked this palette because it will match the guest bedroom and that's where this quilt is going. It all started with the fabric in the middle.

This is the center fabric and is one of the Galaxy fabrics. I dyed the gradient (for borders) and the 3 solids to match this fabric. If you ever want fabrics to match one of the fabrics in the shop I can do that for you!

The pattern is going to be Antelope Canyon. You can see on the bed in the photo that the quilt just covers the top of the bed. That's why I'm adding the gradient border. I need a wide overhang to hide the sheets and mattress.

For now I'm just working on some color options in EQ so I won't be cutting fabric for a few weeks. I'll try to share the color layout options next week.
​I could easily see myself making more than 1 of these quilts.

The fabric of the week this week is the Poppy Shades Pack and it's on sale 20% off through Sunday! Shades Packs are dyed when ordered so there's no limit to what you can buy. If you order multiple quantities it comes as one cut. For example, order 2 quantities for 1/2 yard cuts. Orders received by Wednesday morning (EST) will be shipped by January 29. Orders placed after Wednesday morning will be shipped February 5.

I know that reds and oranges can display off on computer displays so I'm including the color comparison chart for you to see. Poppy is a reddish-orange but it definitely more orange than red.
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It's my goal to give you want you need and after a few requests Reflections fabrics are now available by the yard!

Birds of a Feather is a wonderful longarm quilting conference that I've been attending for a few years. This year I'm teaching and selling fabric! If you live near Northern Virginia and are looking for something fun to do in February come join me. There are some great classes being offered.

If you live in the area and just want to come to shop you can! No registration is required to shop with any of the vendors. I'll have lots of Shades Packs, Crystals, Stash Packs and Gradients that you can see in person.

Two more blossoms done and, frankly, it's a miracle! I got this first one done while watching TV one night.

 I got some stitching done during the Patriots game yesterday but I didn't do anything but scream during the Eagles game and surely not going to stitch during the Super Bowl. I can't believe "my" Eagles are going to the Super Bowl and it's double special because our friends from England are coming over to watch with us! Of course, they are coming for other reasons but they did time the trip for Ian to watch the SB with us and now it will include the Eagles I couldn't be more excited.

I'm also excited to report that my applique borders are now 61% done!

I've got so much to do over the next 2 weeks to get ready for the Birds of a Feather Conference. I'm teaching and selling there and they allow people to come and just shop. So if you want to shop for hand dyed fabric in person and live in Northern Virginia come on by!

Cosplay is a cool thing right now and I think it's been responsible for much of the resurgence in sewing. Sarah Schulz is very much into Cosplay as you can see from her Facebook page and I was trilled to see that she had used the Sea and Sky gradient for the scarf for her latest costume.

The blue in the gradient matches the rest of her fabrics perfectly!

In these photos you can see the beads and crystals that she added to give it some bling.

​If you have made anything with my hand dyed fabric I hope you will consider sharing it in the Customer Gallery. In appreciation you will receive a 20% shop coupon that's good for 3 months!