Read any good books lately?

Read any good books lately? I could really go for a good story. 

Leave your suggestions in the Comments.

Here are some that I enjoyed and you might like too:

1. Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

2. Dead Wake, The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, Erik Larson

3. The Geography of Genius, A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley, Eric Weiner

4. The Boys in the Boat, Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown

5. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving

6. The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer

7. Gilead: A Novel, Marilynne Robinson

8. The Help, Kathryn Stockett

9. The Invisible Hand, R. C. Sproul

10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer

11. Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger

12. Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner

13. Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson

14. Abba's Child, Brennan Manning

15. The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis

April Roudabush's Ferris Wheel Quilt

April Roudabush of Pennsylvania made this stunning Ferris Wheel quilt to give as a gift. 

The recipient of the quilt put it under a black light (below). Wow!

She is on Facebook as This Biker Quilts. 

Wonderful job, April!

Donna Bruno's Park Place Quilt!

This gorgeous Park Place quilt is Donna Bruno's latest finish. Isn't it a beauty? The little pink dots on the light background are actually little flowers. I love the red inner border and the black floral border too. Nice job, Donna!

Donna lives in Torrington, CT. She was co-President of the Hearthside Guild in Harwinton last year.  

To see the pattern for this quilt, click here: Park Place.

Everything Tea!

I've been binge-browsing on Pinterest, looking at everything tea: beautiful tea cups, interesting pots, tea party ideas, tea growing, tea houses, tea blends, and clever tea party recipes.

Treat yourself to a little virtual tea party inspiration here: Tea Time!

The lemon flower idea above is from SkinnyMs.

Haha. For links to the shirt and cup, see: Tea Time!

Knotted Binding?

I'm curious about this knotted quilt binding! I found this photo on 10Marifet, but it didn't tell how-to. 

Guzellestirin means "beautify" in Turkish. Well, I knew that from the photos! :)

I would guess you make the knots, then line them up side-by-side and sew them onto a narrow foundation strip. Then insert the strip into a knife-edge binding and top-stitch? I need to give this a try. Any advice?

Couching on Monk Cloth Looks Like Fun!

Look at this! It's by Hata Larson. The source is Postila in Russia. Even though I can't read it, each picture is worth a thousand words. This looks like fun! Knit strips couched on monk cloth. Draw the main shape, then just fill in the spaces. 

Portrait Quilt by Kate Themel

Stunning portrait quilt, "Looking Back," by Kate Themel. It measures 18" x 27."

And she lives close by, in Connecticut! Read about this accomplished artist here. 

Not Your Average Black Dress!

This gets my creativity gears turning! Pretty amazing!

This is from the 2015 Noir collection by Kei Ninomiya.

Read more about it on Style Zeitgeist.

More images on Google.

Sweater Loaded with Beads!

Wow, look at this! I may have to make one of these. Maybe I wouldn't put beads on the sleeves because they might snag on the body of the sweater. Leaning back in a wooden chair could be  uncomfortable too. Okay, beads only on the front. But still!

Ferris Wheel by Nancy H. Sonneborn

This beautiful Ferris Wheel quilt was made by Nancy H. Sonneborn. The fabrics were given to her by a friend and Nancy will donate the quilt to "Quilts that Care" for a patient undergoing chemo. Very nice idea! This is Nancy's first Ferris Wheel quilt. She liked making it and is planning another one.

To see this pattern, click here: Ferris Wheel quilt pattern.

Shilo, the Art Quilt Model

Say hello to Shilo, a first art quilt made by Goldie Markham. Very nice job, Goldie!

See Wearable Art, Ethnic Clothes

Isn't this photo of a little girl in the Ukraine beautiful? 

See my collection of ethnic dress/wearable art photos on Pinterest.

This Pin board is feeding my creative spirit this summer.

Red and White Tumbler Wall Quilt

Do you know someone who's collecting red and white quilts? Here's my latest, a Tumbler wall quilt. It measures 33" x 38." You can see it in my Etsy shop. I haven't made a pattern yet for this quilt. I like the crisp points. Oops, the quilt is upside-down in these photos (which only matters if you want to use the sleeve to hang it.) 

Click HERE to see my post about Red and White Quilts.

Cynthia's Sunshine Quilt

This beautiful Sunshine quilt was made by Cynthia Meredith in Texas. Great fabrics and lots of Baptist Fan quilting. The backing, shown below, is a soft and quiet Amy Butler print. Great job!

Cynthia used the Sunshine pattern. 

Patriotic Quilt Show - Happy Independence Day!

I gathered these patriotic quilt photos from Google Images for our own little Selvage Blog quilt show.

Please help yourself to some virtual picnic foods and your favorite beverage.

Be sure to try the strawberry shortcake (no carbs or calories!). 

Unfortunately these images didn't have the names of the quilt-makers.

Bike Quilt by Martha Wolfe

Martha Wolfe of California calls her quilt "Weekend." She wrote about it on the site: Viewpoints 9.

Nice job, Martha!

Another Quilt Finish and a Useful FMQ Tip

Here's another wall quilt (33" x 39") that I made to practice free-motion quilting skills.

Here's a fmq tip for you: Leave the feed-dogs up and set the stitch length to "0."

It seems wrong but I tried it both ways and this is better! It's a big help. 

Old Red Door Quilt

Yes, this is a quilt! "Old Red Door" by Susan Brubaker Knapp of Mooresville, NC.

This quilt was featured on Pam Holland's blog: I Am Pam. 

The texture is so realistic looking. Remarkable!

Box Wall Quilt with Hidden Apples

My latest finish! I made this quilt top for the purpose of practicing my free-motion quilting, and I'm surprised that I really like it. You can see the quilting better in the close-ups below.

See more photos of this quilt here.

I bought some Fons and Porter quilting gloves at JoAnn. They're supposed to be rubbery so that moving the quilt under the needle is easier. But these gloves aren't very rubbery at all, so I don't recommend them. I ordered some Machingers online from Leah Day. Her online videos of fmq designs are wonderful (and numerous!). 

Red apples appear in only one block. 

Improv Wall Quilt is Finished

This improv wall quilt has no repeating block. It measures 40" x 44." 

I like the saw-tooth edge surrounded by border-less white (Kona Bone). 

This contributes to the modern look, I think. 

All my Kona solids made it into this quilt except the grays and dull colors. 

This kind of quilt is so much fun to make. Maybe I'll make another. :)

Aren't we lucky to have a hobby that never gets boring?

See listing here.