Book Review and Giveaway

UPDATE:  Sorry for the delay, I was feeling a bit under the weather for the past few days,
I put all the eligible names in a hat and the first name drawn was Lisa Lisa, second name was Sandie, and the third name Crafter1953.  Thank you to all who commented!
 

 I received two paperback copies from the publisher last month of Jennifer Chiaverini's newest Elm Creek Quilts book, The Giving Quilt in exchange for a review. [The paperback version goes on sale April 2.]  I also have three sets of pins to give away, one with each book and a set by themselves and as this is a quilting blog and the book is about quilting,  I think a fat quarter might find its way into each winner's package! So let's get started.

This is the first Elm Creeks Quilts novel I have read so I can't compare it to Ms. Chiaverini's other books.  I don't really read this genre (historical women's fiction) that often. Briefly, Elm Creek Manor is hosting a free "Quiltsgiving" retreat for a group of volunteer quilters where quilts will be made to be given to Project Linus.  The novel delves into the lives of five of the participants:  Pauline (my favorite character), Linnea (a librarian), Michaela (a college student), Jocelyn (a teacher), and Karen (a quilt shop clerk).  The reader learns of the adversities each character has had to overcome.  The staff of Elm Creek Manor is not addressed much but I get the idea the reader already knows them from prior books.  I enjoyed reading about the quilting retreat whether it be about the participants getting to know each other, the extensive sewing time, and my favorite, being served three meals a day of delicious food without having to cook a thing!  I must say all the characters sounded like nice people, a few I'd like to spend some time with as long as we don't discuss politics.  An off-putting fact for me was that all the characters were left-leaning and a few promoted their views rather heavyhandedly.  For example, talk radio gets bashed while left-leaning NPR is promoted.  Another character instructs her budding journalist students "...to shine the light of truth upon injustice and inequity, and to never ignore an opportunity to make their community and the world a better place."  Somewhere along the way the purpose of the media has been lost or I should say taken over by people who want to further their agenda and not simply report the news.

I think the theme of the book is how we all encounter difficulties in life or as Jocelyn says, "Life wasn't fair, and sometimes goodness wasn't rewarded, and sometimes the wrong people won."  But no matter how bad your situation is, there is always someone having a worse time than you.  Helping other people ends up helping ourselves through the positive feelings generated by our actions.  We all have different motivations for charity, as different as we are as people, it seems. I think the book does a fine job of exploring this idea.

More info about the quilt pattern made in the book and Ms. Chiaverini's other books can be found here.  

If you're interested in winning a book,  just leave a comment and answer the following questions:  what quilting fiction (if any) do you read? What are your favorite books?  How you ever made a quilt to donate to Project Linus?

Sorry, I can't send international on this giveaway.  I'll pick 3 winners on Wednesday, April 3.  Please make sure I have a way of getting in touch with you.
 Almost forgot, here are the pins,

Thanks for visiting.

Easter Greetings

Happy Easter, everyone!

An Experiment

I finally finished this little quilt top I have been slowly sewing together and actually basted it today. This might seem odd, but I do the basting on my sewing room wall.  I'd rather do it on the floor but the only available floor space is right in the center of the kitchen, and that would necessitate washing the floor...

My LQS was hyping these new Pinmoors a few months ago. The idea sounds good, you just use long straight pins rather than safety pins which eliminates the closing of the pin part which always wrecks my finger. But the downside is they are expensive. Multiple packages would be necessary to do a decent-sized quilt. 

So about three-fourths of the way through safety pinning, I remember this...

I wish I could take credit for this idea but I read it on a forum somewhere. I think this product has a use in plumbing. It comes in a 20 foot long strip that is easily cut to size. I pinned the last quarter of my top using it and long straight pins. The foam is not as dense as the Pinmoors but hopefully it will stay in place during quilting.

And a closeup,

Hope it works as it's way cheaper (less than five dollars at Home Depot for a lot more product) than the Pinmoors.

I spent about an hour trying to get close to some white pelicans that arrived in our neighborhood recently.

This is a small flock of the total. It's been a real treat to see the white ones as they are rather rare. I am sure the other birds cannot wait for them to leave. I watched a great blue heron catch a fish and hurriedly swallow it while being mobbed by about twenty of these guys. Quite funny to see.

Thanks for visiting~

If You're Lucky Enough to be Irish ...

... You're lucky enough!  Happy St. Patrick's Day! I've been doing a wee bit of sewing on my Catnip quilt kit and have most of the blocks finished. I am trying to resist making it larger. It is supposed to finish at about 37 by 51 but to me a quilt is not a quilt unless it's a minimum of twin-sized. Quite silly, I know plus it makes the task of actually quilting the top that much more onerous. I guess that's why I have a closet full of quilt tops. I'll have to show you some time.

Enjoy the day and watch that green beer!
Talk to you later~

We Have A Winner!

First off, I hope everyone has a chance to celebrate National Quilting Day! I paid a trip to my LQS to check out the new fabric and check out the scrap bin.

I signed up again for the swap at The Curious Quilter.  I think I got a nice variety.

Unfortunately there are a lot of jelly roll strips but I can't use them as they get ragged and the size I swap is 2.5 inches. There's just no way to neaten the edges.

Came home and chose a winner for the Winter Blues Giveaway by using the Random Number Generator and #185 came up.

Erin @Sew at Home Mummy said...

Wow, what a great giveaway!!!
At the moment I'm working on a Riley Blake instructor's project and binding a queen sized quilt :)

I had so much fun hosting this and reading all the comments. I responded to everyone who I had a way of getting in contact with. The comments were just awesome! I learned about a lot of new fabric lines and reading about what projects were in the works was so inspiring. Thank you to all who took the time to comment!

I've been asked to review Jennifer Chiaverini's new Elm Creek Quilts novel, The Giving Quilt so that's coming up the beginning of April. I have 2 books to give away and some quilting pins which are kind of neat.

 I've never read any of the Elm Creek Quilts novels so I am really looking forward to it. Here are the pins,

Thanks or visiting!

A Small Project

For Beat the Winter Blues giveaway, go one post down.

 I found a little kit from Art Girlz (which now seems defunct?) I had won awhile back and decided to make it into a card.  I used to find the little bag full of goodies every so often and take it out and admire all the trinkets, especially the tiny bag of beads.  I thought it would make a great birthday card for my niece who turns 13 in July. She regards me as somewhat of a Craft Goddess so living up to the reputation factored into that decision.  Although, in passing my daughter seemed overly interested also...

I first glued the purple Batik (does that get capitalized? If not, it should!) and then sewed the piece of glittered-decorated tulle over that before sewing a green felt heart on top. Sorry about the bad pic, I tried, really tried to get a good one but man, it was cloudy here today in Florida.

Some beads and a metal heart...and I called it done. It looks better in person. Really.

Here's the inside. 
Maybe I better stick with quilting!
Thanks for visiting.