Works in Process--Books to Come

I have the corner appliqué to finish on these new 1857 Album blocks from Sentimental Stitches. I will do the embroidery on all of the blocks when the blocks are all finished. I am so enjoying these blocks.

Since making my William Shakespeare portrait I want to make more poet portrait quilts. Next up is Edgar Allan Poe. He was quite a craftsman as a writer. You can read how he wrote The Raven in his Philosophy of Composition here.

I want to drape a 'purple curtain' over the quilt because of the beautiful lines in the Raven: "And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain/Thrilled me-- filled me, with fantastic terror never felt before."

Little Hazel by Esther Alui is sadly being neglected. I failed at machine piecing this block and started hand sewing it. I dislike hand sewing (although I like hand appliqué--go figure) and this is as far as I have gotten...a quarter of a block.

I finally started hand quilting my Austen Family Album by Barbara Brackman, finished a year ago. I expect it will take me a year of quilting to finish!

Quilt Books news:

I will be reviewing Suzie Parron's Following the Barn Quilt Trail from Ohio U Press! They are sending me the book. Perfect timing since last month Suzi was at my quilt guild and I took her workshop.

I have Bill Volckening's new book Modern Roots--Today's Quilts from Yesterday's Inspiration from C&T Publications to review. Bill has an amazing quilt collection. You can see his quilts shared on his blog Wonkyworld.

And the Schiffer Publication's books Inspired By The National Parks and Hmong Story Cloths are on my NetGally shelf.

Also, my review of Thomas Knauer's The Quilt Design Coloring Book will come out in August.

Fiction & Nonfiction

I was happy when St. Martin's Press reached out to offer me Lisa Scottoline's new book Damaged. Apparently they liked my review of Corrupted shared on Amazon. Having lived in Philly for 15 years my hubby and I appreciate Scottoline's books for the setting and enjoy her characters and stories.

I am currently reading Mad Enchantment about Monet and his water lily series and the novel Lucky Boy through NetGalley, and from Blogging for Books The Apache War.

Scheduled reviews to come include the Antarctic love story My Last Continent by Midge Raymond; David Abram's Iraqi war novel Fobbit; the Taming of the Shrew re-imagined in the Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler; Larry Tye's new biography of Bobby Kennedy; an exploration of race in Absalom's Daughters by Suzanne Feldman;  Angels of Detroit by Christopher Hebert; Rae Meadow's Dust Bowl novel I Will Send Rain; the time spanning Mr. Eternity by Aaron Thier; first published in 1864 The Female Detective; The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore (soon to be a movie); The Illustrated Book of Sayings from around the world; and Tara Clancy's memoir The Clancys of Queens.

My NetGalley shelf also holds Victoria:The Queen by Julia Baird; Candace Millard's Hero of the Empire about Churchill during the Boer War; Alice Hoffman's Faithful; The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City by Margaret Creighton about Buffalo, NY during the 1901 Pan American Exhibition; and The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinbourough called "A beautiful book, honestly told" by Neil Gaiman.

Whew! 

Handkerchief Souvenirs From Home and Abroad

New York City Central Park Zoo by Tammis Keefe was part of her NYC landmarks series

Handkerchiefs were popular souvenirs, easily packed colorful reminders of happy travels. Cities, states, countries, landmarks, museums, and fairs were depicted. Here are some from my collection.

City Souvenirs

New York City landmarks

Chicago by Tammis Keefe

Milwaukee, MN

Wilmington, Delaware by Tammis Keefe

Windsor and Niagara Falls Canada silk hankys

Tammis Keefe did a series of Philadelphia landmark handkerchiefs.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Rittenhouse Square

John Wanamaker's, "Meet Me at the Eagle"

Including historical landmarks.

The Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Landmarks, Museums, Historical Interest

Independence Hall

Pennsbury Manor, home of William Penn

House of the Seven Gables

Mt Rushmore

Governor's Palace, Wilmington DE, Tammis Keefe

Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI by Tammis Keefe

Greenfield Village, uncut material, Tammis Keefe 

Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI by Tammis Keefe

Museum of Costume, Bath, England

 State Handkerchiefs

Michigan

The Great Lakes States

Hawaii

Around the World

Chinese handkerchief

New Zealand

Crossing the Equator

Great Britain

Bern, Switzerland

The Taj Mahal

 The New York World's Fair souvenirs

A handkerchief bag New York World's Fair

Silk New York World's Fair showing world costumes 

Years ago I saw this state handkerchief quilt on eBay. I started collecting these state hankys to make my own. I still need a dozen more.

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley: Information vs Entertainment

With the all the buzz about Noah Hawley's Before the Fall I got in a NetGalley request at the last minute and the publisher quickly responded. Two days later I had finished the novel.

Yes, it is that good a read. I gave up going to see Love and Friendship so I could finish the book.

The book begins with a private plane that crashes into the ocean. One man survives and rescues a child. The rest of the book explores, person by person, each passenger 'before the fall', alternating with the investigation and lives of the survivors. This stretches the suspense and drives the reader.

So, its a good beach read and will soon a movie coming to a theater near you.

No, wait, there is more to Before the Fall than plot-driven suspense. Hawley uses the story to explore the role of television journalism and its propensity to manipulate news--to drive profits via increased viewers, even at the expense of the innocent.

Scott Burroughs is climbing back up from a complete meltdown. His early promise as an artist was frittered away with partying and playing the field. Only after reaching rock bottom and dealing with his alcoholism was he able to recreate himself. His sister had drowned as a child. Scott's new series of paintings probes the disasters that await us.

At the farm market Scott had an informal friendship with a wealthy mother and wife, Maggie Bateman. Maggie learns Scott is going into New York City to organize a show of his paintings on the same day her family are taking a private plane there. She invites him to tag along. Eighteen minutes after take-off the plane dives into the sea. Scott thinks he is the only survivor, and as a swimmer hopes to make it to shore. Scott hears Maggie's son JJ calling, and with grit and determination he miraculously saves them both.

Scott should be considered a hero, or a victim of a terrible disaster. To Bill Cunningham, David Bateman's television network star, Scott is an opportunity. Cunningham is arch conservative, a bulldog, who promotes his opinion as 'news.' He begins a campaign that questions if Scott is the villain behind the tragedy. Scott's heroism arises again as he takes arms against notoriety. Even imperfect failures can be heroes.

I was glad to have read this novel and will recommend it to my book club as a great discussion book. Those who like a character or plot driven novel will like it, and it will spark discussion of contemporary media/news practices.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.


Before the Fall
Noah Hawley
Grand Central Publishing
$26 hard cover
ISBN: 9781455561780