Orange-ish at the quilt retreat

I attended a quilt guild retreat a couple weeks ago. 

I went for three of the four days. I went Friday-Saturday-Sunday. Most of the rest of the group started Thursday.

Thursday was an already reschedule massage appointment I did not want to change. 

Friday middle worked from home so the dogs were covered. Thursday, the dogs were with me.

Plus four days felt like too much to me. Even three seemed like a lot. 

I took the orange related fabric (yesterday’s post) as my project for the retreat. 

It was a very safe easy project, I took it so I would be able to be social while I sewed. I did not want to take anything complex. I wanted to take as few supplies as possible. 

I washed and cut all my fabric at home. I cut 8” squares for very simple (one patch) charity quilts. 

I laid them out, one at a time, on my kitchen table. I labeled the rows with blue painters tape. Middle and my husband helped me package each top in order, in zip lock bags, so it was all ready to sew at the retreat.

This meant I only needed to take 

- a sewing machine

- a sandwich size zip lock baggie filled with 2 spools of thread, 4 filled bobbins/package of extra sewing machine needles, and a small pair of scissors

- 2 large zip lock plastic bags full of 8” cut squares. 

Individual garbage cans and power strips were provided by the facility at each table.

Irons and ironing boards were available at the retreat facility, but I did not use them. I waited until I got home to do the pressing.

I planned very carefully. I did not want to have to take half my sewing room with me. 

No one was as minimalist in their approach as I was. It was astonishing how much stuff the other retreat participants brought with them. 

We have this cart we use for dog training - it worked perfectly. I used my cart to move things between my car and the conference room and my hotel from at the same facility. 

I got all five of my tops (below) sewn together over the three days. I have all the backing fabric. These quilts are ready to go to the long arm quilter in future years.

I paced myself carefully. I would sew for a bit, then visit or shop or take a nap. I did very well. I was glad I went.

I went around and looked at what everyone else was sewing at the retreat, I was social.

I shopped at two stores in that area that I like. 

I attended an Amish dinner with the group. 

2027 and 2028 charity quilts

I discovered a collection of orange-ish reproduction fabric in my studio, a lot of orange fabric, mostly in small pieces. The photo below is just part of it.

This orange-ish fabric was purchased at the fabric garage sale I attended a couple years ago. A quilter had died, her husband sold her fabric stash in a series of garage sales. 

I had bought gold and orange fabric sort of together, not seeing how orange some of it was. I used the gold in the two Lottie quilts (3 and 4). That left the orange.

No one needs a pumpkin quilt in my family. I made identical pumpkin quilts a couple years ago. Oldest has the original. I made exact copies for both girls.

I debated what to do with all the orange-ish fabric. I absolutely did not want to make an orange quilt for anyone in my family.

As I was actively pondering the orange fabric, I found a photo that inspired me to plan an orange charity quilt for two years from now, 2027.

There is no danger in working ahead on charity quilts. I will not decide they are the wrong color or style. They will be fine.

With this inspiration photo (above) in hand, I looked for theme fabric to go with orange fabric at my local JoAnns.

I was open to fox fabric, but found none at JoAnns. I did find football fabric and butterfly fabric that blended well with the orange. 

I later found a fox fabric remanent at a quilt guild yard sale.

My original guess was I would get three charity quilt tops from the fabric pile. 

More orange-ish tomorrow.

2026 pink and green charity quilts

Next year, 2026, I am donating two pink and green charity quilts to my local guild’s cancer camp collection.

I made the blocks for these quilts long ago, spring 2016. I sewed the blocks into rows. Then for some unknown reason I stopped. The rows were not sewn together, the project was abandon. I neatly packed the rows away and forgot all about them. I did not think I had any UFO’s. I was wrong.

Again, I think I made the two coordinating pink and green block sets with grandkids in mind. And again, not at all what I want to give granddaughter now, but perfect for charity quilts. 

I sewed the rows together and added borders March 3 - 8, 2025.

These pictures (below) show the quilt tops laying on the pink backing fabric. 

I measure the batting, backing against the top, each time I finish a quilt, before giving it to my long arm quilter, to make sure there are at least 5 extra inches all the way around. 

The binding will be the pink backing fabric.

They are ready to go to the long arm quilter, later this year.

What is very interesting is I have no pink fabric in my bins. I also have none of the green fabric. 

I found several of the small squares in the 9-patch were scraps sewn together.  I clearly used up every bit in the blocks for these two quilts. 

2025 Eye Spy charity quilts

 This year, 2025, I am donating two I Spy quilts, that I made several years ago, to my quilt guild’s collection for the cancer camp. This is one charity quilt donation from middle and one from me, we are both guild members.

These quilts are finished. I made them many years ago, they are clean and have been kept dust free in plastic bags in the large cupboard in my sewing room. 

I originally made three I Spy quilts thinking I would need them for grandkids. Now, not so much. The style and color are not what I want to give granddaughter. So I am very happily using them as charity quilts. 

Again, my good with color quilting friend encouraged me to give the minimum number of quilts per year. And I agree with that. So even though I have three, I am only donating two this year.

I will donate the two eye spy charity quilts at the April meeting, taking them for show and tell, and then handing them in to the charity quilt chairperson.

The fronts are nearly identical. The backs are flannel and different prints -

This solves all kinds of problems. 

It completes the May 2025 charity quilt deadline easily, the quilts are already finished. 

These quilts were painful for me. I did not know what to do with them. Making them for grandkids, too far in advance, did not work. What looked good to me years ago, no longer looks good now. 

This is a great use of these quilts. They are colorful and detailed. They are quality quilts. Somebody will love them.

Charity quilts are an opportunity to declutter

My local quilt guild supports a children’s camp that hosts children with cancer one week each summer. Members make and donate children’s quilts. Each child at the special cancer camp gets to pick one quilt to keep. The guild provides more than are needed, so the last child picking still has a wide selection.

Years ago, like 25+ years ago, I chaired this committee. My kids were very small at the time and really loved having the quilts in a pile at our old house. It was quite the stack, the guild donates over 120 quilts each year.

Last year, going back to the guild, I thought I would not participate. I did not plan to donate charity quilts. I thought, based on the reality of my hands, I should not waste my time sewing for other people. I thought my priority was sewing for my own family, while I can.

By pacing myself carefully, and taking care, I am doing fine. A lot of this is because I have my binder. The handwork of binding is the main part that is too much for me.

I realized I have finished quilts, parts of quilt tops, cut fabric, and uncut fabric (all that I no longer want) cluttering my studio. 

Anything goes with charity quilts.  They can be crazy. The backs can be pieced. The batting can be pieced. Charity quilts are an excellent way to use up materials.

I realized I can make charity quilts, with very little effort. 

I realized I need to participate in Guild activities in order to feel part of the guild.

By donating two charity quilts each year, I can actively declutter my sewing room. 

Middle also attends the guild with me and is a member. One quilt from each of us, two quilt donations per year.

Sharing this plan with my good with color quilting friend, she thought it was a very good idea. She encouraged me to pace myself. She suggested only donating the minimum number of quilts (2) each year. She suggested working ahead so this process is not painful. 

I am working very far ahead. The two eye spy quilts for this year are done, the 2 pink/green quilt tops are ready for the long arm quilter, I just finished a series of orange-ish quilts.

I feel very motivated in finishing charity quilts. I really look forward to reducing materials in my studio. I enjoy being several years ahead. I look forward to sharing them at Show and Tell each year. I look forward to a child enjoying them. I look forward to getting them out of my house.

Educated by Tara Westover

Educated by Tara Westover was a book group assignment for me. The audio version was easily available on Libby. 

Interestingly, the author did not read the audio version herself. I found that a little unusual, contemporary writers seem to read their own nonfiction pieces these days.

https://tarawestover.com/bio

I had never heard of Educated by Tara Westover. Most of my group was familiar and very excited to read/discuss this book.

Well written, engaging, unique story. Fair warning, there is abuse/violence/injury. 

I devoured this book, listened to it straight thru, only pausing when necessary. I started very early in the morning and finished before I went to bed.  

Many other people on my group expressed the same experience, they devoured this nonfiction book.

Everyone in my group really liked this crazy family story. Great discussion. 

This is the only book by this author. A detailed biography and the story behind this book can be found here -

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/tara-westover/

The Westover family appears very fractured, a detailed article from 2023 is here - 

https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2023/1/29/23575258/what-does-educated-tara-westover-family-think-about-reconciliation-book

Finished Paulette Jiles

You might recall, I read the newest (3) Paulette Jile’s books first and really loved them, excellent books - The News of the World, Simon the Fiddler, Chennville. These stories were all just after the Civil War, Texas. These books are all from the same era with overlapping characters. The books are not listed as a series, but they are definitely a series.

Then I read her oldest book, available in audio, Enemy Women, which is set during the Civil War, Missouri. Not quite as good as Jiles later books, but I still enjoyed it. Enemy Woman was a stand alone book.

Then I had a pause, reading five John Marrs’ books and a couple other assigned books. 

As soon as I had a chance, I dove right back into Paulette Jiles to finish Stormy Weather, The Color of Lightning, Lighthouse Island.

Stormy Weather is definitely a stand alone book. It started just a little slow for me, as it introduced characters and settings. Then it rolled into a really great story of a family in Texas, 1920’s and 1930’s. 

The first part of the book centers on the wanderlust father and the middle daughter, the rest of the book is focused on the same middle daughter with her two sisters and their mother, back on the family farm.  

Loved it. It felt like Jiles was in her true voice/mature writing. It was well written and a great story.

I understood, in a way I never have before, that the same people who survived the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, then rolled right into WWII.  The book ends right at the end of the Dust Bowl, just before the war.

The Color of Lightning is back to the time span of the Civil War, but has very little to do with Civil War, other than the war caused people to move west to Indian Country. 

This story focuses on life in the untamed west with settlers in close proximity to the Indian tribes. The story is (very) violent in places, especially in the beginning. 

This was a great story. A really terrific book. Again, Jiles was up to her full stride as an author. It is extremely well written.

And such a surprise, as I read, I quickly realized this is actually the first of the series. There are four books, not three. There are overlapping characters, locations, plot, interest between all four books. They are most excellent in my opinion.

The Color of Lightning

The News of the World, 

Simon the Fiddler,

Chennville

In both The Color of Lightning and News of the World, settlers taken by Indians and kept as captives is a main topic. 

Again, I have read another book on this topic, that I cannot remember, which (I think) took place earlier and on the east coast.

I looked up some of the famous real life captives -

Lighthouse Island is dystopian novel, set in the future. Totally different than the rest of Jiles’ books. Like where did this book come from? 

I am not normally attracted to dystopian books. That is middle’s preferred genre, but absolutely not mine.

Luckily this was the last Jiles’ book on my list, by this point I was committed to finishing this author.

I fully intended to listen to this book. Reality - I listened to 50% of this story on Libby. 

At the half way point, I read reviews on GoodReads and I realized, it was not going to get better. I stopped. I am considering 50% to be “done”.

If I had picked up this book first, I would never have read any of Jiles other books. And that would have been a shame. I loved those other books.

The only other dystopian novels I could think of, that I have read in this genre, is The Giver series by Lois Lowry. That is a beloved series at our house.

I looked up a list, I had read many more dystopian novels, but not all 30.

https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/dystopian-novels

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/paulette-jiles/

The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin

The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin is Youngest’s book group assignment for March. This is a historical fiction book based on a real blizzard in January of 1888. 

This book had a very long waiting list at all the libraries. It must be very popular. We purchased it on Audible.

We talked about this book, before anyone listened to it, because there are blizzard stories and winter stories in the Little House on the Prairie series. We pondered life on the prairie in winter. 

I looked it up, The Long Winter is based on the winter of 1880-81, which started with an early October blizzard. I think I also remember a story where a school teacher, maybe Laura, was faced with a sudden blizzard and the safety of the school children.

If your family loved The Little House series as children, probably this book would be loved by now adults. There are adult themes in The Children's Blizzard.

Youngest and my husband listened to The Children's Blizzard on Audible, overlapping. Multiple devices can listen to the same story on Audible. 

They both liked it a lot. My husband in particular really loved it, he grew up in Iowa. He understands prairie weather and the vastness of the landscape. He has never read the Little House series. I read it out loud to the kids, each in turn, so I have read the whole series many  times.

March 2025 is a tight book month for me. I read this book two weeks after youngest and my husband read it. I squeezed it in just before her group met. 

I thought The Children's Blizzard was a terrific book. It was well written. The story was very engaging. 

There is an author’s note at the end of this audio book. Melanie Benjamin shares, that only in this one book of hers, the characters were fictional and the event was real. (In the rest of her historical fiction, she is writing about real people.)

That is how historical fiction should be written in my opinion, real event, fictional people.

I boycott historical fiction where the author makes up a story about real people. That is how most historical fiction is written.

So it is very fortunate that this is the one book I am reading of hers. 

Melanie Benjamin has published many books, listed at the bottom of this post. Anyone who likes traditional historical fiction, she writes very well.

Two nonfiction titles are mentioned in the author’s note at the end of Melanie Benjamin‘s The Children’s Blizzard. 

Melanie Benjamin -

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/melanie-benjamin/

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

The One Universe series by John Marrs

 Looking ahead at my March and April books, at the end of February, I discovered one of the early April assigned books was actually part of a series.

The Marriage Act by John Marrs, assigned for early April, is fourth in a five book science fiction universe series. The books can be read stand alone. But the publisher suggests reading the whole set, in order. The set is not numbered/listed correctly on GoodReads. The correct order is below.

The One 

The Passengers 

The Minders

The Marriage Act

The Family Experiment

 

My reading list for March was quite full. I still have the last three Paulette Jiles books to finish. I have my assigned books for March. The end of the month is my tightest timeline. I usually have two book groups meet the last week of the month. I knew I could not read five books in late March in preparation for the first week in April. 

What to do? What to do? 

I decided to read the first book of the series, The One, in February, to see if I liked it. If I loved it, I would read the whole series, in order, very early. 

If I did not like it, I would then just read The One (#1) in February and the assigned book, The Marriage Act (#4) just before my April meeting.

I did indeed love it, The One is a great book, in my opinion.

I moved on to books 2 and 3, The Passengers and The Minders, they were excellent also, in my opinion.

Then came the assigned book, The Marriage Act. I finished it, but I was not a fan. I did not like the story line/premise, I was not attached to the characters. If I had read it stand alone, it would have been out of context of the universe, and I think I would have liked it even less. It got better as I went, but it was my least favorite of the set.

I finished the series, reading The Family Experiment. I liked this one a lot. 

These are all science fiction, they are clever. The writing, characters, plots are well done. Parts of all of them are dark. 

My GoodReads account (below, in reverse order) shows how quickly I went thru this series. (I also fit another assigned book in the middle in preparation for a meeting.)

A very good book is a 4 for me. 

(I give very few 5 star ratings. It has to be one of the best books I have ever read to rate a 5.)

I squeezed an assigned book in here.

Please note, there are a lot of characters in all these books. In audio format, these books had multiple readers which helped. 

At the start of each book, I wondered if I needed a list, but just kept going with each one. I quickly acclimated. I did not need lists, until the 5th book, The Family Experiment (below).  

Here is a very good character list for The Family Experiment  -

Rufus Green and Kitty Carter are in their late twenties and have a MetaBaby named Olivia.

Salena and Jaden Wilson are in their early thirties and have a MetaBaby son named Malachi.

Woody and Tina Finn have been married for fifteen years and have a MetaBaby named Belle and a daughter named Issy.

Cadman N’Yu and Gabriel Macmillan have been together for seven years and have a MetaBaby named River.

Dimitri and Zoe Taylor-Georgian are in their forties and have a MetaBaby named Lenny and a previous son named Adam.

Hudson Wright is a single man aged 22 who joins The Family Experiment to prove that single parent families can provide as much love as two-parent families. Hudson’s metachild is named Alice.

Note, the description below is a little misleading. The books are set in a current timeline (not far in the future). The stories take place in modern day England. Each book focuses on one or two new pieces of technology. But these are not far fetched science fiction. Each new technology development is just slightly beyond modern day. Most of them are things that could be in our future. 

I added the rest of the John Marrs stand alone books to my To Read list. 

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/john-marrs/

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

Time change!

 Yes, it is that time again! Hard to believe! 

My calendar automatically has an entry for Daylight Savings. 

I have a second alert (below) set for the day before at 4pm.

We run around the house and change all the clocks on Saturday afternoon (today), almost 12 hours in advance of the actual time change. 

Then, quite frankly, I do not notice the time change, at all, it is invisible to me. I do not notice anything amiss the next morning. I do not walk around for a week complaining about the time change. 

 

Note - if we had no extra clocks, if the only clocks I had were my phone and my car, which both change automatically, I would not notice the daylight savings change at all. But I am a clock person. We have clocks all over the house. Changing clocks is an event. 

Indiana has followed Daylight Savings since 2006. Most of the state stays on Eastern, the western corners remain on Central. 

For years, prior to 2006, most of Indiana did not follow Daylight Savings. We liked that. We liked not changing our clocks. 

Now, all of Indiana is on eastern and follows daylight savings, except the western corners.

Would I like to go back to NO time change in Indiana? Yes. Yes, I would. 

The only inconvenience not changing used to have was live network TV (and radio). Since my area did not change, and national TV did, prime time was 7-10pm half the year and 8-11pm the other half. Now I watch no live network TV. I also do not listen to the radio. So not following Daylight Savings would have no impact on me. 

The history of Daylight Savings in Indiana is complex:  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Indiana#:~:text=As%20a%20result%20of%20a,%2C%20effective%20April%202%2C%202006.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2006/01/20/06-563/standard-time-zone-boundary-in-the-state-of-indiana#:~:text=In%201918%2C%20when%20the%20Federal,move%20more%20of%20the%20State.

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff was a book group assignment. I listened on Libby. It was just over 13 hours.

Of my goodness. This was a hard book to start. 

We started this book in audio (Libby) on a one hour drive. I was driving, middle was with me. We got about 30 minutes in and paused, I was struggling. 

Middle looked up the book on SuperSummary and very carefully explained the characters to me. They were all foreign names, story takes place in a village in India, which is always tough for me.

The next day, on my own, I started the book over from the beginning. Then I was fine.

I used this same technique with the first Thursday Murder Club book. I had a hard time with all the characters. I think I was 4-5 chapters into The Thursday Murder Club and started over. Then I was fine and could keep everyone straight.

I actually enjoyed this book very much after I got going the second time. I got used to the names. I was able to keep the characters straight. 

I did not look up any of the India/cultural references. I did not look up any of the foreign words. I just let the story roll over me. 

Going into my book group meeting, I had no idea what the others would think. 

A few of us liked the book. We agreed that it got better as we read. A couple of us agreed it was a farce. 

Several started the book and did not finish. Others read it, but did not like it.

It would be interesting to have someone originally from India, now living in the USA, read it.  

It seemed to be deep in India culture, but was written by a girl who grew up in up in the USA and went to college in Texas. I caught USA references (like raccoons). 

So it was hard to tell if her version of the India culture was correct. It would be interesting to know what her relatives from India think of her book.

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff is the only title listed under this author. It is her first book.

There is a detailed author bio, and the story behind this book, here -

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/parini-shroff/

Highway 59 series by Attica Locke

FYI - I read 13 books in January, 15 books in February. Goodreads is very helpful in helping me track information.

Highway 59 series by Attica Locke

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke was a current book group assignment for me. 

This was my last assigned book for February, another Black History book. I appreciate focusing on all the black authors for February. I found some I really liked. The assigned books expanded my horizons.

I appreciated the straight forward writing style of the author, Attica Locke, immediately. I liked the stories and the characters. 

When I finished Bluebird, Bluebird, I jumped right into Heaven, My Home. And then I finished the third in the series, Guide Me Home. All three books have the same main character.

I did not plan to read all three Highway 59 books, I didn’t really have time to read all three right now, but when I liked the first book, and was in the groove of the Highway 59 world and all the characters, it made sense to read all three books in quick succession. 

This exact thing happened with the Thursday Murder Club series. When I finished the first book of that series, with all the characters straight in my head, it was a now or never moment and I read the whole series.

I listened to two of the Highway 59 books on Libby, and one on Audible, because of a long wait list on Libby. I increased the speed slightly 1.15x, for all three books, and the slightly increased pace was a good fit for me. It also helped finish the books quickly.

My reading list for March is quite full. I cannot read the rest of Attica Locke’s other books right now. I have added her other three books to my reading list. 

Everyone in my book group finished Bluebird, Bluebird, but no one else liked it. None of them are going on to read the series, so they had me tell them all about the second and third books. 

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/attica-locke/

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. 

JoAnn’s

You might have seen the news that Joann’s has filed bankruptcy twice and is closing 500 stores. 

200 stores are not on the closure list currently, but are liquidating with exactly the same procedures as the 500 stores. So it seems likely these stores will eventually close too.

It is extremely sad.

The dogs will be very sad, they shop in Joann’s with me regularly.

We are stocking up a bit like the end of the world or another lock down. 

I made one trip to JoAnns for white fabric. I use a lot of white fabric. I was okay on this trip. 

The next day, Middle and I made a list, and went back to shop again. We bought wide backings and binding. I bought fabric for orange based charity quilts (future post). On this trip I was near tears. It is just so sad.

Youngest made a trip to the JoAnns in her town for wide flannel green back for oldest/DIL’s green Lottie quilt and more wide white bleached muslin and lots of gray, white, off white thread.

In many areas of the country, including mine, Joann’s is the last standing regular fabric store selling fabric and general sewing notions. 

There used to be lots of fabric stores. There also used to be lots of Cross Stitch Stores and lots of Knitting Stores.

There are still a few quilt shops, not was many as their used to be, but there are some. Quilt shops specialize in quilt supplies only. They do not sell things like clothing patterns and zippers and pillow forms. Quilt stores tend to be very expensive.