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Vacation slowed my reading a little but I still got through some good books. I enjoyed all of the books although we were a bit disappointed in Beyond Measure, a book that let us down a bit as our road-trip book. I had one DNF book, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. It seems a good book but it's really long and was moving slowly. Then someone noticed that the house we are renting had the DVD of the movie. I watched that instead and gave up on the book. The movie was a little slow too.  Birds in Flight By Anni Taylor, Read By Harriet Gordon-Anderson In 1998 Elsa Jorgensen took her two daughters, Iris and Lily, on a trip to Australia. They set off on a long road trip taking along two other girls. One rainy night Elsa and the youngest girl disappear and there isn't a trace of them left behind. After a long search, Iris and Lily return home to Philadelphia. Some years later Iris returns to Australia to live permanently and the two sisters don't talk again. Twenty-four years after disappearing, Elsa's backpack is discovered and the case is reopened. Lily goes to Australia intending to reunite with her sister and, together, to figure out what happened to their mother. I enjoyed this mystery book. I liked the character development and there were enough twists to keep me engrossed.  Beyond Measure By James Vincent, Read By James Vincent This is the book Chris and I selected for our road trip to Maine. Sometimes we listen to mysteries but we also like some nerdy topics and this fit that bill. It's mostly about the history of measurement and there's a lot of interesting information in it. However, it went a bit off the rails with his need to describe how every new type of measurement brought along oppression is some way. Of course, everything has good and bad but methods of measurement truly moved cultures forward and focusing only on the bad effect is tremendously biased. By the end of the book we were tired of it. Good information burdened by personal political views.  Whiskey When We're Dry By John Larison, Read by Sophie Amoss This is a clever coming of age Western novel. Jessilyn Harney's mother died in childbirth and she was raised by her father and brother on a struggling homestead. By the time she's 17 in 1885, her father is dead and her brother has left home. She's alone and unable to keep the farm going herself. She disguises herself as a boy and sets off to find her brother, now a well known outlaw. This is a true old-fashioned Western as Jess transforms herself into a sharp-shooter and in security detail for a governor, all while pretending to be a man. A lot of the reviews share much excitement over the exploration of gender roles but that's not what resonated with me. I think the gender identity storyline was probably true to the era and not, as we usually see in modern writing, an overlay of today's morals on a historical period. Jess did what she did out of necessity and it had a predictable effect on her. That's all. The storytelling reminded me of Larry McMurtry. It's not totally of that caliber but it's really good and the narration is perfect for the story.  All The Colors of the Dark By Chris Whitaker, Read By Edoardo Ballerini This book is on a lot of recommended lists and I understand why. It's a very interesting plot approach to several themes: mystery, serial killer, love story. It's got a little of everything. It opens in 1975 in a small town in Missouri. Girls are going missing. One day the daughter of a wealth family is targeted and a surprising hero emerges. Patch, a young petty thief, thwarts the attack but becomes a victim himself. What follows is the story of people affected by the series of missing girls. It follows the characters through 2010. It's a really unique book in the way that the story is told. The main characters are Patch, his best friend from school, the girl who was rescued and, of course, the killer. Many people are obsessed with solving the murders. I think that the character development is outstanding and the story jumps forward in time and is told against news headlines of each time. There were some awkward transitions where a scene suddenly ends but isn't explained until a few chapters later. But, aside from that small complaint, it was a good book.  A Most Agreeable Murder By Julia Seales, Read By Fiona Hampton If Jane Austen wrote a murder mystery it would be this book. After ready the book I looked up the author and found out that she is a Jane Austen fan so that makes sense. Beatrice Steele will not be the daughter to marry properly and save the family's financial situation. She's not good at following the etiquette of Swampshire and she has an inappropriate fascination with true crime. On the night of the local ball, Beatrice is pressed to good behavior so that her beautiful sister might make a match with the eligible bachelor, Edward Crookshank. In the middle of the ball, Crookshank drops dead and Beatrice can't help but insert herself in the middle of the investigation. If you like Jane Austen, you will enjoy this book. It was a quick read for me and I can easily see sequels in the future.  The House of Eve
By Sadeqa Johnson, Read by a cast This book is set in 1950's Philadelphia and Washington, DC. This book is a really interesting take on racial and economic prejudices of the time. The twist is that, in this case, much of the discrimination takes place WITHIN the African-American community. Ruby Pearsall is 15 and is the daughter of a single mother who isn't particularly interested in raising her. She's been raised by her grandmother and aunt. She's very smart and has gotten into a great program that will help her get in to college to be the first college graduate in her family. Eleanor Quarles arrived in Washington, DC to attend Howard University. Her parents have had hard working lives and scraped and saved to help her get to college. There she meets William Pride and they fall in love. William is almost white and is from one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Washington, DC. His family is not welcoming to Eleanor. The book centers on relationships (acceptable and unacceptable) and babies (wanted and unwanted). To me, the story was very fresh and I enjoyed it. I loved Eleanor and Ruby as characters and really felt for the trials that they faced.  We started off early yesterday to get on the trails before the parking lot filled up. If you want to hike in the morning in Acadia you have to get to the parking areas before 9 to be sure of getting a space. We got to the trailhead about 8 and when we returned about 10:30 there were 5 cars waiting for a parking space. We selected the Bubbles for our hike yesterday. This fun trail has two mountain tops in one trail. This is on top of South Bubble looking over Jordan Pond with the ocean beyond.  On the North Bubble we were in view of Pemetic and Cadillac mountains. This weekend my goal is for us to hike one of these. Cadillac is the highest so that's a goal. But if we don't do Cadillac I hope we can do Pemetic, it's my favorite trail in the whole park.  We got back in time to relax in the sun for a while and then get in some sewing time. I'm now working on chickens! I started with the sections that are common to all 4 chickens. Getting these out of the way will speed up all of the other chickens.  I got the first chicken made and I think it's so cute! We have another friend coming to visit today so I might not get the other chickens done before Monday.  The crochet blanket is coming along great. I'm working on the border and only have about a round and half left to go.
 We left Wilton, ME Friday and made out way through Belfast and then on to Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island. We look forward to this view every year. We had some friends arrive and we were blessed with perfect weather for 4 days. Those guests left yesterday and we are on our own until Friday. Yesterday we woke to rain and it was mostly cloudy all day. But here's what's been going on so far.  We have a tradition of doing our first hike on Beech Mountain. It's a nice length with great views and all different types of hiking surfaces. This view overlooks the pond that "our house" is on. Tuesday I kayaked the length of this pond out and back. It was about 2 hours and a lot of fun.  Everyone except me hiked the Precipice Trail Sunday. Precipice has the right name, lots of ledges, rungs and ladders. Not for me at all! I kayaked the lake that day too. On Monday three of us hiked the Champlain North Ridge Trail. It's quite steep but had great views looking over Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is the far point of the land mass with Bar Island right behind it. The town is named for the "bar" of land that is only visible during low tide. On the other side they have a sign with the nuber of a water taxi in case you get stranded. Midway in the photo is a big complex that is the Jackson Laboratory, a large research complex that has 4 location just in Maine. In this photo you can see that the fog was rolling in as we were hiking up.  At the top it looked like we were above the clouds. So far the hiking and kayaking has been great but we took yesterday off.  I didn't do any sewing while we had guests here but I got my sewing corner set up yesterday and got back to the Fab Farm quilt.  I finished the tall sunflowers yesterday. Only chickens and bees left to do. We have a couple of days until the next guest arrives so I'll make some chicken progress the next 2 days.  I did get some crochet done while our guests were here because we watched movies at night. The red marker is where I last left off and was ready to attach the next ball of yarn. I finished that whole ball and the blanket is basically square, as I wanted. Now I will start the border and get this one wrapped up soon.
Today we hope to go for a hike and then I'll be on chicken duty while Chris goes out fishing. We are gett the best weather this year! It's the best year yet for weather.  Today we leave Wilton and head to Southwest Harbor for the last 2 weeks of our vacation. We have enjoyed our last 2 days here. Yesterday Chris had a guided fishing trip so I headed out on the kayak for one last trip around Wilson Pond. It takes about 2 hours to paddle around the whole pond and I made it back just as some rain was coming in. Aside from Long Pond on Mount Desert Island, I think this is my favorite pond that we've stayed on in Maine.  On Wednesday we went toward Weld and hiked half of the Blueberry Mountain Trail. It's a very steep trail that gains over 1400 feet in 1.2 miles. I knew that I wouldn't make it all the way to the top but I needed to test out how well my foot is healing before we head to Acadia for a lot more hiking. It seems to be healed as long as I have it taped up with the KT tape. It's a cool trail and, if we come back this way next year, we will definitely hike it again. We saw some interesting flora along the way like these black trumpet mushrooms that are supposedly edible.....but I'm not trying them!  This cool caterpillar is the spotted tussock moth caterpillar. I was thinking that it would make a cool fly lure to tie and actually found one but I can't seem to find it again.  I've also been sewing and got 4 sunflower blocks done. I think these are the least fun to sew but they are really cute and will add some brightness to the quilt. These are the short sunflowers. There are 4 tall sunflowers too.  I got the flowers for the tall sunflowers done before I packed up my mini sewing room. All I have left to make are these remaining tall sunflowers, 4 chickens and 4 bees. I might have the whole top together by the time we head home in 2 weeks.
Today we will spend some of the day in Belfast on our way to Southwest Harbor. We have friends meeting is there to hike with us for a few days. The weather is expected to be spectacular for the next several days.  I forgot to post yesterday but it's just as well, I didn't have much to report. The weather hasn't been great> Monday it rained off and on and yesterday was overcast, breezy and chilly. We went out to the local town and did a little shopping. By "a little", I mean 2 books from a used book store and a few little things for Christmas gifts. But mostly, the last 2 days, I've bee sewing! The horses are done. I thought these would be the hardest blocks but I've looked ahead and I think the sunflowers are going to be the most challenging and there are 8 of them.  Before doing the sunflowers I decided to make the sheep blocks. I love all of the blocks but I think these are particularly cute! Next, sunflowers.  Last night we had lobster for dinner. What a treat! My Mom was quilt to text that she had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. LOL!
After dinner the wind had died down so we (Chris) built a fire. He had s'mores and I had a scotch. It was a lovely way to end the day. Today we are hoping to go on a hike. We have 2 more days here at this lovely lake and then we head to Acadia for 2 more week is beautiful Maine. Like (almost) all vacations, things are going well here in Maine. Yesterday it turned a little rainy and it will be rainy today. But we have books and sewing so we're happy.  On Saturday we got out to the Mount Pisgah Conservation Area and hiked the Tower and Blueberry trails. I taped up my ankle and I have absolutely no pain in my foot. That was a great success! Stepping in dog poo wasn't a great success but I got over it and my sneakers are really clean now. I realized that the hike location was 10 miles from the Maine Cabin Masters store so we detoured there before heading home. It was fun to visit but it's just a tourist retail store with a lot of really expensive things.  Chris is having fun fishing. It's always slow on maine lakes because there just aren't tons of fish here but he's having better luck on this lake than anywhere else we've been in Maine. If he had kept this one it might have been a citation. But he put it back from someone else.  Sewing continues at pace and now the cows are all out to pasture.  Next up are the horses. The horse blocks have strawberries as a component so I made these blocks first. They turned out to be harder than expected because I cut the green pieces and the large red pieces wrong! I didn't figure it out until I was sewing them together.  My little workstation is quite dark so on a trip to WalMart yesterday, I picked up this work light in the hardware department. It was about $30.  I love it! It has 2 lights and the light arms are adjustable in height and angle. There are 3 light strength settings and a flashlight on the end.  It's even magnetic on the base! This is going to be a great travel sewing light for me. It will be good for crochet too.
Today is another rain day. I hope to get enough of a break for a walk to town (1.2 miles) but mostly I will sew horses and we will read.
We are still enjoying our time in the little cabin in Maine. Yesterday Chris caught a 4.5 lb smallmouth bass. He says it's the biggest he's ever caught so he was VERY happy. I took the kayak around the perimeter of the lake so I was very tired but also happy. It was a beautiful day and we plan to do a relatively easy hike today to test out my ankle/foot issues.
Before I get to the crochet update I want to remind you that if you subscribe to the blog by email that you will need to sign up with the new email provider: follow.it Just use the box below. The old email service will stop August 31. 
Vacation time has allowed me more crochet time and Thursday night I got to watch the Eagles preseason game so crochet season is officially underway. This is the blanket that I had to unravel on the way here. I raveled one whole ball and about a third of another. I've gotten the 1/3 ball restitched.
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I stitched about 4 rows. This one is going slower because I didn't bring the right hook with me and the one I'm having to use is not comfortable. I'm hoping to convince Chris to drive by a Hobby Lobby next Friday so I can get a Clover hook.
I'm making more progress on this blanket and I'm really loving how this is looking. The last time I check in I was at the point with the red marker (circled in yellow).
I've done about 14 rows. It's moving right along!
​  We have been spending a lot of time in the kayaks this week. The lake is beautiful and there are very few people on it. Our hosts took us on a boat ride yesterday and told us about many of the houses on the lake. There are a surprising number of them that are only occupied 2 weeks a year. That's great news for us! But I have plenty of sewing time and I got my goats done.  I thought I'd share how I set these blocks up for quilting. Next up are the cow blocks and this is one fo the more complex blocks. I start by laying out all of the background pieces. I double check the measurement of each piece and, luckily, I cut all of the cow pieces correctly!  A lot of the pieces are sewn on the diagonal so I draw the stitching lines as I lay them out.  Then, I lay out the animal pieces one block at a time. It looks like a mess but that's really a cow.  Here's my first cow! Just as I'm looking at it here I see that I made a mistake. Can you see it? By the time you read this it will be fixed. Three more cows to go! Yesterday was going to be a hiking day but we had thunderstorms and rain all night the night before and rain in the morning. I don't hike wet trails. Instead it was a relaxing book reading and sewing day. In the evening "crochet season" opened with the Eagles/Patriots pre-season game on local TV here.  Yesterday was going to be a hiking day but we had thunderstorms and rain all night the night before and rain in the morning. I don't hike wet trails. Instead it was a relaxing book reading and sewing day. In the evening "crochet season" opened with the Eagles/Patriots pre-season game on local TV here. My crochet projects should pick up speed now.
 Zen Nosegay by Pat Ferguson When we visited the New England Quilt Museum we went specifically to see the Paula Nadelstern exhibit. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had an exhibit on the evolution of machine quilting! I didn't take as many photos in the exhibit because 1) I had seen many of the quilts in shows before and 2) there were a number of people looking at the quilts and it was taking too long to get in a position to take photos. But I have a few to share. This first photo is a small section of a wholecloth quilt.  Mountain Torrent by M. Joan Lintault I have seen this quilt in a magazine but it's so much more impressive in person. The center section is all machine created lace. You can see right through the quilt. She said she experimented with machine made lace as a connecting element, not decorative delicate element, in this quilt. As I'm posting these photos I realized that I didn't get any photos of some of the earlies machine quilted quilts. It's clear that as soon as sewing machines were invented that quilters were taking advantage of the timesaving tool for every step of the quilting process. There are some very early machine quilted quilts. They even have probably the earliest free motion quilted quilt.  Bamboo White by Jinzenji Yoshiko The photo can't possibly do this quilt justice. It's absolutely stunning.  The quilt is made in intricately quited strips and pieced strips are appliqued over each panel join. I love Zentangling so I had to capture photos of these 3 Zentangled stitched quilts by Pat Ferguson.  Double Arc by Carson Converse I think there were 3 quilts in the exhibit by Carson Converse and each one was very powerful and so precise! Her website is worth a visit!  Here's a closeup of the absolutely perfect stitching on this quilt. There isn't a backstitch on it anywhere.  Gray Applique by Karen McTavish When I started longarm quilting Karen McTavish was one of the first "famous" longarmers that I followed and I took a couple of classes with her at some quilt shows. She says that she made this quilt during the winter of 2023 when Minnesota had 138 inches of snow. I just love the grayscale transition from block to block. Funny story on this one. I really wanted a photo and was waiting for another woman to finish taking photos so I could get in position. She was taking her time getting her shot lined up. What she didn't realize was that I could see that she wasn't taking a photo at all. She was holding her phone like she was taking a photo but she was actually reading something on social media. I know she was doing it on purpose as a little powerplay but I wasn't in a hurry and was just amused.  The detail quilting is beautiful! There were also quilts by Margaret Soloman Gunn, Debra Wagner and others. You can see a few more quilts on the website. Then we turned a corner and got this fun surprise...  Humamachine Sculpture by Bruce Rosenbaum  You can read more about it here.
 Instead of having more quilt museum quilts today I decided to share my progress on the Fab Farm quilt. These blocks take a lot of concentration and precision piecing and it's exactly the kind of sewing that I love. I have finished the 4 pigs.  Fortunately I brought all of the extra fabric with me. I had made 2 cutting errors, one too large and one too small. Then, on the pink pig I sewed one of the ears wrong. It's all fixed now.  Now I'm on to the goats! This little guy is not wonky as it looks in the photo. The goat is so cute!
Yesterday we went into Farmington to look around the cute little town. There's a nice quilt shop downtown called Pins and Needles. They have some yarn too and I was looking for a H size crochet hook. Unfortunately they only had Susan Bates and I don't use that style. I found what I needed at Walmart and then we stopped by the seafood market to order lobsters for dinner tonight! Back to the museum photos tomorrow. |
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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