Happy Birthday Jody

May 14, 2026

Nosegay (July 21 from Quilter’s Block-a-Day calendar)

We’ll celebrate with Jody a number of times when we are in Saskatoon. We’ll be home though by the time her birthday arrives.

Happy Birthday Ken

May 8, 2026

Thrifty (July 30 from Quilter’s Block-a-Day Calendar)

We’ll be celebrating with Ken a few days prior to his 80th birthday.

I based my fabrics on the name of this block; everything was taken from my scrap bins.

A Column of Fire

Author: Follett, Ken

On our Saskatchewan trip the book I planned to continue reading was finished before we left and I didn’t want to take a “real” book with me so I downloaded the last book of the Kingsbridge series.

Two centuries have passed since the end of the previous story and the links to the characters from the first two novels are mentioned but not obvious. I wasn’t very familiar with the history of this time period – the tensions between the Protestants and the Catholics in England, France and Spain.

This was my least favourite book of the series but there were still plenty of characters to like and dislike.

Goodreads Rating: * * *

Bowl

I bought the pattern for this at the last quilt show. I love English Paper Piecing and this pattern had at least six sizes. At one point Gail and I were looking for a hexie project and we decided to try this. There are also a number of variations depending on the fabric choices.

If I were to make it again I’d use much lighter interfacing as it was difficult stitching. Also, I’d find a better glue stick or dispenser as my fingers were constantly sticky and then the fabric stuck in all the wrong places. I used a machine stitch to join the two sides of the bowl and, again, a lighter interface would have made it a lot easier.

I think these bowls would be a good seller at the next quilt show but I don’t know if I want to make any others until I sort out a couple of the issues.

Since the fabric I picked matched a quilt I made for Kathryn I gave it to her on our recent trip.