Evening Edition: Free Kindle Book!

First off --- you might notice there is a new widget in my side bar --- right there, on the right side, below where it says “Never Miss A Post”. This is where you can subscribe to this blog via email and – as it says – Never Miss A Post!

I had been getting requests from those who have me in google reader, but they keep forgetting to check it, or, they aren’t on facebook so they don’t get my links there. They wanted to know if there was a way to subscribe and thanks to another fellow blogger, I discovered that yes, I can offer you this as well!

Click where it says "Subscribe."

When you put your email address in the form, you’ll get a word verification ((Hate those)) asking you to confirm that you do want to be notified of new blog posts. As I post at least once a day, many times more if I have something to say and can’t wait to get it out --- you will get a “digest” each evening with links and summaries of the posts from that day. At the bottom of each digest is a link where you can unsubscribe if you ever want to. This is all to make it easier for you, so I hope you will try it out!

Second off –I bit the bullet and treated myself to a newly refurbished Kindle Fire today --- I found where they were on sale for $169.00, and I was tired of waiting. My old kindle is over 2 years old now. It isn’t backlit like the new kindle fire is, so I have to be in good lighting to read it. I don’t use the keyboard thing that the old kindle 2 has so it actually makes my screen smaller. I suppose I can list many many reasons, but let’s just say it’s a great cure for bunion pain!

Third off --- this book sounded really interesting when I found it on a search today:

The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 116 customer reviews.

Category: Historical Fiction

Book Description:

In Chicago’s Ukrainian Village, Nadya Lysenko has built her life on a foundation of secrets. When she was sixteen, Nadya snuck out of her house in Western Ukraine to meet a fortuneteller in the woods. She never expected it to be the last time she would see her family.

Decades later, Nadya continues to be haunted by the death of her parents and sisters. The myths and magic of her childhood are still a part of her reality: dreams unite friends across time and space, house spirits misplace keys and glasses, and a fortuneteller’s cards predict the future.

Nadya’s beloved dead insist on being heard through dreams and whispers in the night. They want the truth to come out. Nadya needs to face her past and confront the secrets she buried–in The Silence of Trees.

It sounded kind of like a fantasy type of story, and I usually don’t do those, and it didn’t seem to jive with the category of the book so I went looking further. This was one of the reviews:

Nearly three years ago, I read the first 5000 words of this story for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Ms. Lupescu left me in a Ukranian forest full of German soldiers bent on rape with sixteen year old Nadya seeking her fortune from a clan of gypsies.

I've wondered what happened ever since.

I bought "The Silence of Trees" as soon as the book was available via Amazon and even paid extra for second day delivery. I sat down with the book and a cup of tea expecting to finish in one sitting.

Normally, I'm a serial devourer of books, but "The Silence of Trees" was entirely too rich for that. I paused at 75 pages and dreamed that night of the gypsy camp. Music, counterpointed by the jangle of tambourines rang in my ears. I even saw the raven-haired dancer clad in red and gold.

I followed Nadya through fifty years of her life, learning what it was like to lose family during World War II, to live in a German work camp, and to finally immigrate to a new land where you do not speak the language and begin anew. Each step is full of the same vivid detail as the initial scenes. Nadya and her family grow and become as real as next-door neighbors.

Ms. Lupescu's prose truly is the stuff that dreams are made of. The narrative voice of her protagonist Nadya remains strong throughout nearly fifty years of her life. You can almost taste the kolachi and feel the willow switches on your backside on Palm Sunday. The best of literature transports you to places you have never been. While some of the locales of "Silence" are places you may not have wished to be, there's heart and hope in every page.

Rebecca Kyle, October 2010

It was the book review that made me want to read the book more than the book description itself. But you decide! The book is free now as I type this, it might not be come morning, so check to be sure it’s still free for you before clicking to purchase.

Have a great Monday evening, everyone!

That “Used Clothing” Odor!

One of the questions that came my way when I asked if there was anything you wanted me to write about came in the form of “How do you remove funky odors from recycled clothing?”

I have always washed recyclable clothing that I plan on using in quilts in hot water with my regular detergent, and that usually solves the problem for me, but sometimes there is a shirt with a “questionable pedigree” and no matter what you try, the smell just doesn’t come “clean.”

Maybe it lived it’s previous life with a smoker, or a home with pets – or someone who loved to cook Greek food with copious amounts of garlic!

Whatever the case, I have a hint just for all of you sent in by Ms Anonymous J!

((If you read all the way to the bottom of her hint, you'll find out WHY she wants to remain anonymous!))

She writes:

Hi Bonnie:

Had to share this info with you. Hope you will pass it along to anyone who needs it.

My husband is one of the cleanest humans alive, neat too! lolol.

But his tshirts and our bed linens get terribly yellowed and become geniunely sticky! Having done everything possible to get rid of this mess---folk rmedies, commerical amd home products ... nothing at all worked.

Somehow I stumbled upon a stain, odor and smell webpage online. Voila! Prayers (literally) were answered.

SALT AND WHITE VINEGAR! To see if this worked, I put hot water on the lowest filling for my washer. Add 1/2 cup salt and 1 cup vinegar, let 4 tees and 1 pillowcase soak for 30 minutes. Then washed in regular detergent! BRIGHT CLEAN AND NO SMELL Hurrah!

The explanation is that our sweat contains acetone, among other chemicals. Putting bleach etc. with the acetone causes the problem to get worse! I was about dissolving tees in BLEACH trying to clean things up, not knowing it made them worse!

Of course there is more to the explaination than I can remember. lol.

But now I presoak (and rinse once) all underwear and bed linens in hot water full setting with 1 cups salt and 2 cups vinegar. Since both products are cheap and work --- what a win win.

Thought perhaps when you pick up used plaids etc., they might have an off odor, try it.

Please feel free to offer this suggestion online or off. But please do not use my name...or I will become the lady who has the stinky hubby!

HUGS

J inTN

Salt and Vinegar! I have to admit when I first read her subject line it had me thinking of Salt & Vinegar potato chips and I was ready to run for the nearest bag in the cupboard --- but this sounds like it just might be the ticket for those of you wondering how to remove smells from older mustier fabrics, and those articles of clothing we want to repurpose into quilts. Anyone want to try to see if it will remove cat pee smells? Would love an update on that because sometimes I get gifts of fabric and or blocks that smell like “Bad Kitty”. :cD If the fabric can be saved, I’d rather save it than toss it out!

Are You “On Track!”?? ((Give-Away!))

I got home after 9pm last night --- falling into bed about 9:30pm and sleeping through the night until 7:30am! I think I needed it.

Travel might have you just sitting there while someone ELSE does the driving, or the flying, but it is just exhausting! And yes, I worked on hexagons. I haven’t shown a picture of progress for a while, so I’ll have to get that out and show you how far that border section has come.

This morning I looked at a HUGE stack of mail that had accumulated on the kitchen counter while I’ve been gone, and there was one big envelope I’d been waiting for!

I have a featured article in “ON TRACK!”, the official magazine of the International Machine Quilters Association.

Membership in IMQA includes the informative longarm quilter's magazine ON TRACK! 4 (four) times a year, optional business listing on the IMQA web site, discounted quilt entry fees for Machine Quilters Showcase (MQS®), discount cards for supply purchases and regional group support.

Within this publication you can find some of the most beautifully machine quilted quilts imaginable --- interviews from well known long arm quilters, tools, techniques and tips to help you hone your quilting skills.

I have THREE extra copies to offer as a Give-Away! If you’d like to win a copy of On Track Magazine, Winter 2012 issue --- just leave me a comment below!

Remember if you are commenting without a blogger-visible email address or as "anonymous" that you need to leave me your name and your email address so I have a way to contact you.

All I'm asking is that if you leave a comment, you tell one friend ((Or one group of friends)) by passing on the link to this post so they can enter too! Feel free to post this give-away link to your fb friends, email lists, message boards, wherever quilters gather ---get the word out and let the fun begin!

We’ll draw the winners on Friday morning.

Remember that this coming SATURDAY is the first Saturday in MARCH!, which means it’s Yard Sale Saturday! Be getting those items that you want to sell ready, write your post, and be ready to come link it to mine. Mine will go live at 7am Eastern time.

The rest of today for me? Laundry is running! Book edits await, this huge stack of snail mail needs taken care of, there are book orders to mail out that have come in while I’ve been gone, and I’ve got to do things like make a bank run, and find myself a podiatrist ---

Can anyone relate to BUNION PAIN!? OH, is this ever going to slow me down

iPhone-O-gram! The quilt bag edition!

Sitting on the plane in Charlotte, I occupied myself watching the bag handlers load the luggage from the truck to the belt.

And there were my quilt bags! It's always a relief to know they made my last connection on my way home.

However, one had to wonder what the comments are from the bag handlers discussing just what might be in these extra heavy bags!!

Consider The Postage Stamp!

I love this quote! I’m a quote junky, but this one applies to me so much and helps me push things through even when I might be feeling a bit bored, and am getting antsy to move on to the next thing.

A recent discussion revealed that many quilters have "so many" projects in various stages, yet can't seem to make progress on any of them.

When asked how I get so much done, I realize I limit myself and mostly stick to one main piecing project at a time --unless it is something that is a leader/ender project like the cheddar bow-ties or little sampler blocks that are released only a couple times a month.

I like to see big amounts of progress and stay mainly focused on ONE THING in the machine piecing department---and of course having deadlines helps with that. I don’t have time to dawdle or be distracted!

I have ONE hand travel project --- the hexagons.

I had one machine travel project -- the Florabunda blocks --simply because I finished the Midnight Flight quilt last week and haven't cut anything else out yet. ;cD

I have two hand quilting projects that are basted and have some hand quilting in them, but am only pushing through on one of them until it’s done – the pink and brown Jane Stickle variation. I’m not switching back and forth. The other one will simply be “next” in line.

I have two quilts needing the binding stitched down – That’s for TV watching time as well.

So there are a few quilt projects in different stages that are perfect to grab and stitch no matter what I’m doing, but it is not so overwhelming that I feel buried or paralyzed by a list of 100 UFOs.

Just what is it that takes a project from the front line, and puts it back on the shelf for you?

What makes us give up and run after the next new shiny thing instead of persevering in completing that project?

Sometimes life requires that we stop and do something else, whether it’s a baby quilt for a new arrival, a wedding quilt for someone special, a comfort quilt for a friend in need – I know these kinds of things can stop us in our tracks and make us shift gears to make a specific project in a limited amount of time ---but what else happens that makes us such distracted quilters?

I was told about a lady who had 87 KITS purchased and on shelves in her quilting room closet. Complete kits! Was she sewing any of them up? Nope. Just kits. For some day. That would feel like a life sentence to me! LOL!

I think if I had a list of 92 UFOs on a spreadsheet I’d go NUTS! It would feel like I couldn't ever get to the end of it. And I know for some people, it helps to list them all out ---but how do you stop yourself from starting new things and getting more and more side tracked with a list that long?

At home I have a white board on the wall in my basement studio. I list a few projects, including those for up coming deadlines --- and now that Midnight Flight is pieced and quilted ((That’s one of the ones waiting for binding to be sewn down now)) I’ll be picking one of those ideas off the list and working it through until the piecing is done and it moves to the next stage. I’m working on the quilts for book 5. I have about 1.5 years to get them done. And I know I work best one at a time.

And there is enough variety for me to be happy when you throw in the leaders & Enders, the hand quilting, the binding, and of course, those traveling hexagons. I am NEVER bored with these projects!

Are you buried in UFOs? Do you find that you are happy with that many, or are you panicky when you consider all it will take to complete them ---start a discussion in the comments section! I have a lot of airport time today, help keep me entertained, won't you? :cD

Just random thoughts from a road weary quilter as I make my long Sunday journey home to NC ---

Smith Mountain Morning in Naples!

Some workshops are a free-for-all, piece-until-you-drop day ---seam allowances aren’t crucial when you are string piecing as we were with Virginia Bound, and there are only a few steps that once learned, simply repeat to make the quilt as big or as small and as easy as you want it. The main objective? USE THE FABRIC!

Yesterday’s Smith Mountain Morning workshop was the complete opposite. A piecing challenge, and a skill builder in learning to use specialty rulers that work well not only in this particular quilt, but anywhere these traditional and oft repeated units are found.

We worked with half square triangles in 2 sizes using the Easy Angle Ruler.

We worked with quarter square triangles using the Companion Angle ruler.

We used Tri-Rec rulers to make long spikey star points with ease and precision, even if it felt like you were awkwardly rubbing your belly with one hand and patting your head with the other ---it feels odd sometimes to use new tools until you get used to them.

I was most encouraged when one quilter, who confessed to preferring to sew all of her half square triangles extra big, and sliver-trimming them all down to size ----was over the moon at the fact that her triangle units using the Easy Angle Ruler turned out “JUST RIGHT” and the only thing that needed trimming was to remove that one dog ear. That makes me feel so good!

I also had the privilege of meeting a long time email friend, Pati, and it was a big surprise to see her here! We met “back in the day” on Interquilt – a paid quilter’s email list serve that existed long before there were free “yahoo groups” and long before blogs ever existed. We figured it had to be about 1996 when we met via email, and this was the first time we saw each other face to face for real! Thanks for coming and sharing in the fun, Pati!

This was Pati’s big hint to share. She likes the Faultless MAXX spray starch. It’s got a non-clog spray bottle, gives a nice firm finish, and comes in vanilla lavender scent --- yummy!

Because this was such a skill builder class, we broke it down into chapters, and spent an hour or so working on each unit --- by the end of the day, several had one of each block done….and everyone had several units that were ready to piece into stars or alternate blocks, but they wanted to build up more variety in their fabrics within the units before they started sewing them together –take a look below and see what we got up to!

		Smith Mountain Morning, Naples, FL 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It’s a travel home day for me today ----can’t wait to get home and sleep in my own bed! I also finished up the Florabunda blocks….there wasn’t enough room to lay them out in the hotel room, so I’m looking forward to doing that at home!

Evening Edition, Free Kindle Book!

And further down, more info on Suzanne’s “Dump Machine”!

Class is done, supplies are packed up. The extra books and rulers are securely bundled in boxes, using the “PACKING MATERIAL” I bought at Quilt Lover’s Hang-out in North Fort Myers to pad the boxes and keep books and contents from slipping during shipping. These will be dropped off at Fedex tomorrow on the way to the airport.

Oh – funny ---did I say this before already? It’s a good thing that Fedex and UPS don’t merge, or they’d be called “Fed-Ups.” LOL! Okay, so I’m so tired I am cracking myself up!

I probably need dinner --- and a walk--- and some sewing time on my blocks….but before I do, here's a freebie while it’s still free:

Eulogy’s Secret by Grace Elliot is free today from the Amazon Kindle store.

Category: Drama/ Historical Fiction

Book Description:

Greed, prejudice and a stolen identity.

In the four weeks since her guardians’ death, Eulogy Foster has lost everything.

Penniless and alone she seeks the help of her estranged brother, Lord Lucien Devlin. But Devlin throws Eulogy onto the streets and the mercy of a passing stranger, Jack Huntley, who becomes an unlikely ally. As Eulogy seeks the truth behind her birth, she is drawn into the world of art and artists, where her morals are challenged and nothing is as it seems.

Jack Huntley: bitter, cynical and betrayed in love. He believes women are devious, scheming, untrustworthy creatures – and when he rescues a naïve Miss from being raped, his life is about to change forever.

There is something about Miss Foster that haunts him and challenges his emotions. But despite their growing attraction, Eulogy will not share her secret, which means he cannot trust her. Caught in a deadlock, both denying their true feelings, events take a sinister turn as someone seeks to silence Eulogy…permanently.

The first thing I thought was “Eulogy?? Who names a girl EULOGY!?” And then I started thinking of all those stupid names that we have joked about being named, or that parents should be shot for ever naming their kids…..I mean, what would you name this Eulogy’s brother? PALL?? ((Paul)) as in PALL bearer? LOL Okay --- I really need to go get something to eat.

But the story sounds like it could be good – so go get it.

Something I want to say --- like last night’s freebie. It was free to EVERYONE when I posted it. If you didn’t check it until the next day --- it may have changed as free to “prime members only” after a certain number of hours, but it wasn’t that way when I posted it.

I have no control over that, and you don’t need to leave me a comment in the comment section if it is not free anymore, or if it has switched to "free for prime members only" because there is nothing that I can do to change it at that point. It’s available free for a limited time only ---- like this one –and by morning it might not be. ((Which is why I’m sending this now as fast as I can!))

Several have asked about Suzanne’s “Dump Machine” And I got a cute picture of the front of her:

Isn’t she just a sweet pink thing?! Suzanne is hoping to find the cams that go with it so she can play with some of the decorative stitches –if anyone has any they’d like to pass on, please contact me!

Okay --- I’m off to find something to eat ---catch you in the morning!

iPhone-O-Gram---ugh!!

I had an hour this am to sew before class.

I didn't intend to spend half of it un-sewing what I had sewed in wrong. But somehow---this just will NOT do!! Lol!

Ughhhhhh!!!!

Virginia Bound Day in Naples!

How many times have I posted pictures from Virginia Bound workshops? I know it is many times, but each time I am so thrilled with the directions the quilters take their own projects that it continues to reconfirm to me how important it is for us to each work things in our own way with our own vision ----no kit required!

When I first walked into the room, there were only a couple people in there----but I saw this ONE old Singer machine sitting on the table --- and my first thought was “Hey! There is another one of those old pink-based Singers ---I remember seeing someone with one of these not long ago ---“

And then after going back out to the car, making the second trip to the room to unload more stuff ((You know that quilt class is at least a two-trip-to-the-car venture, right?!)) I saw Suzanne! And it all clicked! It wasn’t that there were “TWO” of these vintage pink-based Singer machines --- it was the SAME ONE! And there was Suzanne to prove it. I had to run over and give her a hug --- we got to know each other last month when I taught in Venice ---and she had traveled all the way from The Villages to take two days of my workshops then -----and if 2 UFOs in one month isn’t bad enough, she drove even farther to come take 2 more days of workshops, and I was so happy to see her familiar face!

This machine is known as “The Dump Machine” because ---- welll ----you guessed it! Suzanne found it at the DUMP! A little cleaning, oiling and tuning up and it runs like a top. It’s another boat anchor, solid as can be --- this is one of the last heavy Singer models before they began to be made with plastic parts and gears ---the fall of the giant in the sewing world at that point. I’m so happy she adopted this machine and that it is working well for her, hopefully it has many more years in it yet. Sure love those vintage babies!

We had a great time watching the strips fly!

This was Alice’s “under the bed storage bin” Where she throws all her strings so they are ready to go! She had enough strips to furnish a 3rd world country --- and what variety! It was fun to listen to her talk about which fabric went into which quilt ----all the memories still attached.

Strips began to expand and take over even the areas surrounding our chairs!

We laughed about who had the ugliest or the weirdest fabric --- I think this one took the cake hands down ----spooky masks and heads and ---things that look like tornados?

Cut it SMALL enough and this became the perfect object lesson of “Now you see it ----“

“Now You Don’t!”

Can you see where that hideous fabric ended up? Just barely! And cut narrow, and placed where it is, it’s going to add a lot of interest to the quilt ---where as a whole piece it was a “What was I THINKING?!” thing!

Here is a glimpse at what else came together in class:

		Virginia Bound, Naples FL 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’ll never get tired of string quilts in all of their varieties! And on the subject of string quilts --- I’ve gotten word that the photo shoots for the next book are complete and I can’t wait to see the photos! From what I hear they staged them in some freshly decorated model homes ---fully furnished and modern. I can hardly wait to see what they did! Dates are closing in fast for this next book release, and it can’t get here soon enough for me.

Have a great Saturday everyone ---I’m off to go do a “Smith Mountain Morning” workshop! It’s my last hoorah for this Florida trip, I’ll be back in my own bed by Sunday night!