Monday, March 24, 2014

Wonky Design Wall

My design mojo has been missing in action since I finished my Celtic Solstice, so I’m really pleased that I finally have something in the works.

My guild, the Mansfield Millennium Quilters, issues a challenge each year and I usually participate. This year we had to select a stick of paint chips and make a quilt with something "wonky" in it.

My colors are teal, and I've chosen a Wonky Log Cabin, using a ruler by Eleanor Burns. It came together really easily and I enjoyed it a lot! I haven't used an EB pattern for quite a while and I forgot how well written her instructions are. It was a pleasure to do this project and I'm already thinking about doing another one, maybe scrappy.

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday, where I'm always inspired. Check it out!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Two rescues


Both of my cats are rescues. It's really hard for me to understand how anyone could dump a kitten, but that's how I've gotten two wonderful pets.

Cato, my ginger kitty, came to us about six years ago. It was an autumn evening and we were watching the Cleveland Indians. We heard an awful sound outside the screen door to the deck. Guess who showed up? He was hungry and thirsty and not at all shy about expressing his displeasure!

We were going to call him Ginger because we thought he was female (what did I know?). He became Cato because he's an attack cat at times. Now, he's my lap kitty and he was an only fur-child until last summer, when another person decided to dump another kitten. That's when Frankie joined our household. She showed up on the porch at my husband's office.

They're all animal lovers there, so it was a toss-up as to who would keep her, but DH really wanted her. He thought she'd be a good companion for Cato. That has certainly proven to be true! Frankie is at least part Siamese and she has the bluest eyes! She's an active, goofy teen-ager and has really enlivened Cato's middle aged days. They chase and play several times a day and then sleep the rest.

Cato loves to sleep in my sewing room while I'm working. Frankie tends to sleep on her favorite chair in the dining room.

I cannot imagine life without them.

I saw this Linky on Colorpoint Quilter and wanted to join in. Click here to see more stories!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Book Review: Things We Set on Fire


   I haven’t done a book review for a while, but this is one that I really want to share. I caught it as a free book for Kindle, and I’m really glad I did. I’d recommend it to anyone:
 Things We Set on Fire By Deborah Reed
   This is a deceptively simple story of a dysfunctional family, still reeling after many years from the loss of their beloved husband and father. In the intervening years, the Vivvie Fenton has grieved and been unable to move on because she lives with a heavy load of guilt, knowing that she’s the one who killed Jackson Fenton.
     The daughters, Kate and Elin, are equally damaged, because they also lost their mother when she became disengaged from life; and their sibling rivalry became so toxic they separated for many years. Unbeknownst to her mother, Kate lived across town in Florida. Elin made a life in Oregon.
    Everything changes when Vivvie is notified by the police that Kate has attempted suicide and the children, Averlee and Quincy, need their family to step in and take care of them. Since Vivvie and Elin didn’t know about the girls, they’re shocked, not to mention nervous about parenting two children they knew nothing about. They assume that Kate overdosed on drugs. Then the secrets begin to come out.
   I checked out reviews on both Amazon and Library Thing and I’m surprised at the wide range of opinion. The Amazon readers liked it; not so much with the Library Thing. I loved it and I would highly recommend it. 

Edited to add back the paragraphing that Blogger somehow deleted. Jeanne