Sister's Choice Quilts

Clean Your Room

Not that she ever did. I remember my mother standing in the doorway of my room saying, "Your room is a mess. You need to stay in it until it is straightened up". And that was that. I had to apply myself to the task and make it happen. I was on my own then, and I'm on my own now.

Deja vu. My sewing room is such a cluttered, unorganized disaster, that I cannot even concentrate on picking up a project. Some serious re-organization must take place, pronto.

My husband is not available at the moment to build me a wall of shelving, so I am on my own to figure out what to do with all this stuff. I don't even want to share a before picture with you as I am so disheartened by the state of things. It took a while to get to this state, and it's going to take a minute to put it to rights.

I plan to tackle the issue this Sunday, so with luck, I will be in a better state of mind by Monday!

So, how are things in your sewing space?

I Read 10 Books in April, Part 2

"You Can't Catch Me" by Catherine McKenzie is a clever psychological thriller with a revenge plot. Twelve years ago Jessica Williams was rescued from a cult. She has re-entered society and adjusted as well as one can with her past experiences. She has just lost her job as a journalist and has received a large severance package. She is at the airport one day, waiting for her flight to be called when she seemingly accidentally meets a woman named Jessica Williams. The two women share a drink and laugh and chat over the coincidence of having the same name. They even have the same birthday...Jessica goes on her trip and when she comes home, her bank account has been emptied. What follows is a twisty tale of revenge as Jessica tries to find the woman who stole all her money and identity. Gripping and entertaining. I listened to the audio version of this book and thought it was well narrated by Julia Whelan. 4 stars 

"The GIrls Are All So Nice Here" by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is another psychological thriller with a revenge plot. Two former best friends return to their alma mater for a reunion. It soon becomes clear that someone is out to pay them back for a terrible thing they did 10 years prior. All I can say is that these mean girls sure had a lot of free time at college to behave badly. Unlikeable characters who I hoped would get what was coming to them. This book was not for me. Meh. 2 stars

"Bitter Orange" by Claire Fuller is a book that came out in 2018. How gorgeous is that cover? The author is coming out with a new book soon and I thought I would pick up something from her backlist. So glad I did. Set in 1969, our frumpy and peculiar protagonist Frances, has been hired to do architectural research at a dilapidated English country estate called Lyntons. She shares the house with Cara and Peter, an attractive and enigmatic couple she is unhealthily fascinated by. Frances has spent the past ten years caring for her demanding mother and is extremely inept socially, never having had friends of her own. She becomes obsessed with Cara and Peter, even spying on them through a peephole in her room. The couple befriends her and begins to include her in all their daily activities. There are only five characters in the book. The mood is atmospheric, dark, and suspenseful. If you liked Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca or any of Shirley Jackson's books, you'll love this one. Throughout the story, you feel as if you aren't getting the whole picture, as the author reveals things a bit at a time up until the book's shocking end. Everything is definitely not as it seems. This was such a well-written literary suspense novel. 5 stars

"The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner is a dual timeline novel that alternates between the present day and early 18th century London. The present-day timeline was not nearly as interesting to me as the historical one, so I took a bit off my rating due to that. The Lost Apothecary is about a woman in the past named Nella who mixes lethal poisons for desperate women who want to do away with a male figure in their lives who is abusing them. If you can accept that premise you will enjoy this atmospheric book. Nella's shop is very well hidden in a storage area behind a shop on a back alley in London. Somehow her customers manage to find her and secure the poison to do the job of eliminating the abusive person who is making their lives miserable.  The present-day main character Caroline finds herself in London alone on what was supposed to be her 10 year wedding anniversary. She participates in an activity called "mudlarking" (fascinating stuff) and finds an ancient apothecary bottle in the muddy shores of the Thames. This leads her to an investigation that reveals the story of Nella and her hidden apothecary shop. The atmosphere of 1790's London was really well done in this book. The writing had some flaws, but overall I enjoyed the book. I wish the author had taken more time to explore the stories of the sad women who were seeking Nella's help. 3.5-4 stars

"Yellow Crocus" by Laila Ibrahim. I have mixed feelings about this book. The story is about Mattie, an enslaved woman who is separated from her own newborn to be the wetnurse for Lisbeth, the child of the plantation owner. Lisbeth comes to love Mattie even more than she does her own emotionally distant mother. She loves to follow Mattie into the slave quarters and to interact with Mattie's family and the other slaves. Obviously, in mid 1800s Virginia, this activity would not be without consequences. The mistreatment of enslaved people is a hard subject for me to read about, so the book was at times hard going for me. The story also seems rather over-simplified. Nevertheless, many of you will find this a worthwhile book to pick up. I started the sequel "Mustard Seed", which is set after the Civil War, and continues the stories of the characters in Yellow Crocus. The characters made such foolhardy decisions which put them right in harm's way that I could not continue and DNF'd the book half way through. 2.5-3 stars

Overall, April was a terrific reading month for me. I've made a great start with my May books and look forward to sharing those with you as well.

I Read 10 Books in April! Part One

April was a great reading month for me. I plowed through 10 books. I started an 11th one, but became annoyed with it and stopped about halfway through. Life is too short to stick with a book you are not enjoying. Here are my reviews of 5 of my April Books. I will tackle the remaining 5 in my next post.

"The Comeback" by Ella Berman is the story of Grace Turner, a child actress who is burned out by addiction and abuse from her "mentor". At the age of 23, at the height of her career, she drops out of sight, retreating to her neglectful parents' home in Anaheim. She finally pulls herself together and is ready to fight back and re-enter the world. This book escapes being formulaic and is instead a character study of someone struggling with the effects of manipulation, gaslighting, and poor self-control. It is slow-moving at times, but ultimately I found it absorbing. 3.5 stars

"The Garden of Last Days" by Andre Dubus III. This is a book by the author of "The House of Sand and Fog", which you may have read a few years back. It is a gripping story of three very flawed characters who make insane decisions throughout the book. If that sort of thing frustrates you, this may not be the book for you. I found myself pulling my hair muttering "Are you kidding me? You cannot seriously think that is ok" to the characters as I read. Basically, this is the story of April, a stripper, who can't find a babysitter and takes her 3-year-old to work with her one night. (See what I mean?) There she meets a customer with money to burn, who turns out to be one of the 9/11 highjackers living it up before his suicide mission. Then there is AJ, a troubled man who has been kicked out of the strip club for bad behavior. Their stories come together and the result was page-turning for me. As gritty and far-fetched as the plot was, I enjoyed the tension of this book. 4 stars

"Good Eggs" by Rebecca Hardiman was quite entertaining. I listened to it as an audiobook and found myself laughing out loud a number of times. The narration was very well done, and I am always a sucker for an Irish accent. The story follows three generations of a dysfunctional Irish family as they navigate through a difficult period. Millie is the feisty 83-year-old grandma who seems to be in the early stages of dementia, Kevin is her middle-aged son who is aging out of his career, and Aideen is her teenage granddaughter who is going through a troubled phase. Everyone behaves badly, but is somehow redeemed by the end of the book. Except for the father Kevin, who I never did warm up to. Anyway, the story is full of hilarious moments as the characters find their ways. Every family has its ups and downs, right? It was fun and quite entertaining. 3.5 stars

"Surviving Savannah" by Patti Callahan. I love reading a book that informs me of something I knew nothing about. Surviving Savannah is a dual timeline story of the sinking of the luxury steamship Pulaski 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina in 1838. Called "the Titanic of the South", it was a massive disaster, killing two-thirds of her wealthy passengers and crew. At the time of the event, wealthy people often escaped the heat of the South to go to their second homes in Boston or other northern cities. It was faster to go by ship along the east coast of the US rather than overland. People would pack up their valuables, including trunks of cash, and travel north for the summer. Due to an error by one of the ship's crew, the steamship's boiler exploded, causing the disaster. The story has multiple points of view and flips from the story of Everly, a present-day museum consultant, and back to some of the members of a prominent family who were thrown into the sea and managed to survive the sinking of the ship. This book was excellently written and so informative about a real-life event that somehow I had never heard of. Well researched and everything historical fiction should be. 4.5 stars.

"The Sweet Taste of Muscadines" by Pamela Terry was so enjoyable. If you love family sagas set in the South, this book might be just your cup of tea. Lila's domineering mother passes away unexpectedly and she must return to Georgia and reconnect with some difficult relatives and confront some major family secrets. Lila and her brother Henry embark on a journey that will uncover the truth and change the course of their future. Great character descriptions and secondary characters who vividly come to life. It was funny, poignant, suspenseful at times, and really a very good story. Do give this one a try if Southern women's fiction is your thing. 4 stars.

Hope you enjoyed these reviews. I'll have five more for you tomorrow!

Just a note about my rating system: My highest rating is 5 stars, and I reserve that for books that blow my socks off and will stick with me forever. 4 stars from me is high praise and means I recommend the book very much. 3 stars means I enjoyed the book while reading it and think many others would as well, but it may not have "staying power". 2 stars is kind of a "meh" experience for me, and 1 star is something I regard as a poor effort.

Extreme Happy Mail

Normally I dislike it when bloggers post all about all the fabric they are buying and rarely about what they make with it, but I just have to share this. You know I have confessed that I have been on a bit of a buying spree lately. My latest purchase arrived yesterday and I am feeling quite excited. 

Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet is doing a red sampler sew along, that is just so darn cute. I know I said no more red quilts for a long while, but this one is irresistible. Check it out, see if you don't feel the same. This is her fat quarter bundle of reds to get you started on the sew along.

And then. And then I got this Moda kit to make a red white and blue flag quilt by Primitive Gatherings.

This Flag Stands For Freedom is a Moda kit that features fat quarters from the new American Gatherings collection by Primitive Gatherings. There is a ton of fabric in the kit. Fatquarters of the entire collection plus some extra yardage. Moda kits are so attractively packaged, and you have to love the box.

I have a couple of projects I have been saving for summer, and this will be one of them!

Moving On

These pretty red blocks are some that I made for the Sewcialites Sew Along, sponsored by Fatquartershop.com. I also have a group of black/cream blocks and a group of gold/cream blocks. I think this is going to be a striking quilt when it is put together. And it won't be long until the finish now! Just a handful more blocks and they will be ready to be put into their setting.

This is block 29 "Delight" by Me and My Sister Designs.

Sorry for dropping out of sight last week. I had some personal things going on that took the starch out of my sails. Thank you to those of you who reached out and wished me well. I am ready to move on now and hope to get some quality sewing in this week! New month, new goals, new attitude.

Sewcialites #28 Hope

I am so proud of myself for keeping up with the Sewcialites blocks every week. This one is #28 Hope by April Rosenthal. It definitely is not my favorite in this sew-along. I wish I had thought of a way to make it more interesting because to me, it just isn't. Used over and over again in a one-block quilt, the diagonal pattern it makes could be very eye-catching, but honestly, as a stand-alone block, it is pretty blah. You know, I may just sub it out with something I like better. I tend to do that anyway when I am putting a top together, as you may have noticed.

I had a nice drizzly weekend with my dad. I got lots of work done, and while I did that he was able to read his Kindle. Now that is a real miracle. A few months ago, he had lost a good deal of his sight due to macular degeneration, but due to his treatments being extremely successful he is able to enjoy reading again. I ordered him Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, the fictional retelling of the life of Thomas Cromwell. He is a real history buff, so I hope he loves it. Anybody read it? It is almost 600 pages!

Hope you all had a splendid weekend!

Summer in Kansas is Calling to Me

I am getting quite excited about sewing this new project. It is Summer in Kansas by Carrie Nelson. I want to make this quilt exactly like she did because I can't imagine it being any more perfect. She used two different collections, Canning Day by Corry Yoder in the photo above, and Summer Sweet by Sherri and Chelsi below.

You need a layer cake and a mini charm pack of each. These are older collections and I couldn't find mini charm packs, so I went with the regular size. These fabric collections are just so summery and fresh looking. The colors do not exactly match each other, but somehow they just "go".

You also need 6 yards of Bella 98, and two #11 Cake Mix recipe packs. No doubt about it, this quilt is labor-intensive, with all those half square triangles. Still, I think it will make a fun summer project. I know I posted on this a few weeks ago, but I am just getting in the mood to begin, I guess.

The pattern is free. Here is a link. Well, I have a lot of starching to do, don't I? 

Have a great weekend everyone!