All posts by Sherry

All the Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

I waited a long time to get my hands on this book. I would search the library listing and see it was available but by the time I made it to the library it would be gone again. I finally put my name on the Hold list and eventually it was my turn.

Werner is a young German orphan who is intrigued by the radio he has managed to build in the attic of the home he lives in. Marie-Laure is a young French girl who lives with her father in Paris. Marie-Laure is blind. As the war in Europe unfolds, Werner is forced into the army and Marie-Laure is forced to flee Paris with her father. Both characters wind up in the small seaside town of Saint-Malo.

The book is told in very short sections bouncing between the current day (under the heavy bombing of Saint-Malo) and the years when the two children were growing up. I thought I might not like the moving between the two storylines but it didn’t bother me at all once I got into the book. And I was particularly pleased as there was some follow-up to both of their stories after the war.

Goodreads Rating * * * *

Happy Birthday Michelle and Ryan

For Michelle (March 19)

Somehow I missed posting for Michelle’s birthday, although I did make and send her a card. Michelle’s card is from the 1880 Sampler quilt-along I am participating in. When I first decided to make this quilt I wanted to use my 1930’s reproduction fabrics. But for the first two blocks I forgot I was going to do that and used some of my other scraps. This was one of the “oops” blocks.

For Ryan (March 31)

Ryan’s card is also from the same series. The blocks are quick to make (usually) although they involve some small pieces. I’ll be making two of each of the blocks from now on so I’ll always have a card top ready!

March UFO Challenge

March 31, 2018

I can’t believe that between my own photos and the ones I take for the Guild I couldn’t find a “Before” photo of this project. It will be a good reminder for me to take a photo for the next one.

The class for this table runner was taught in November, 2016 so it isn’t as old as some of my projects. The class taught us how to do Invisible Machine Appliqué. We used wash-out interfacing for the shapes and then used InvisaFil thread to stitch down the pieces to the background. I managed to get the table runner stitched together and about half of the shapes traced. By the end of that class I had stitched down two of the trees.

My machine didn’t like the InvisaFil thread and continued to break. Also, my class machine doesn’t do zig-zags all that well, and neither do I. When I pulled it out to work on it this month I decided I would finish it using hand appliqué. I didn’t like the wash-out interfacing as I found it much too stiff; it holds the shape well but was difficult to hand stitch through. I have no idea what it will be like once it is washed.

I worry about the felt nose, eyes and buttons when it goes through the wash. And what was I thinking using a white background?

Although the project still needs to be quilted (and washed) I’ve made great progress on it. It will be up next for quilting and will be my Show and Tell for our mini meeting in May.

Happy Birthday Dorothy

March 30, 2018

Bobbin Chase (from the Splendid Sampler series)

It was nice to get back to a Splendid Sampler pattern for Dorothy’s card. And while I made one for Dorothy I also made one for myself! Someday that Splendid Sampler (The Second Time Around) will be finished!