"Girlfriends" Quilt

Honoring the special relationship women share with their girlfriends, this whimsical and inspirational quilt pays tribute to women who are challenged by breast cancer. 

The fabric is "Girlfriends, Sisterhood of Quilters" by Jody Houghton for Lyndhurst Studio complimented by gingham checks in pink, black, tan and green.  The quilt design is by Patti Carey.  The quilt is machine-pieced and quilted by me.

I loved the fabric when I first purchased it but had no immediate ideas about a quilt design.  Later, I saw Patti Carey's design in the Summer 2010 issue of Fons and Porter Easy Quilts magazine.  I remembered and located the article when I decided to use this fabric for a 2012 Thriving Survivors quilt.

I made it with love, send it into the world with a hug, and hope that it will bring comfort to someone dealing with cancer. 

It will be donated to the Nutley Thriving Survivors for their 10th Anniversary Brunch.

"Gone Missing" by Linda Castillo

Gone Missing by Linda Castillo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Linda Castillo's imagination is almost as dark as John Sandford's (Prey Series). The climax here will haunt me for a while. The story will be a chilling movie.

Related entirely in the voice of Kate Burkholder, the reader never hears from the bad guys in dialogue or shared thoughts a la Sandford.  Also, the horror is not ongoing throughout the story, but clobbers you in the last few chapters.  I was totally unprepared.  It's possible to feel that the clues are beginning to lead to an arrest, a rescue, a happy ending and then Castillo gives you a jaw-dropping conclusion.

The setting in Ohio's Amish communities and the disappearances of Amish girls give Castillo the opportunity to share a bit of Amish life.  It's great color and then you realize that it is essential to this mystery. It gave me a false sense that there were boundaries for "bad things" that might happen in the story because these were "good" people.

It was great. I will read the first three Chief Burkholder mysteries.



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"Beachcombers" by Nancy Thayer

Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Abby, Emma and Lily enjoyed many hours of fun with their mother combing the beaches of Nantucket.  Now, Abby has returned because Lily called for help to motivate Emma who is home after her life falls apart.  Mother is long gone and Dad is not the same.

In one seamlessly-written narrative, Thayer tells the sisters' stories and that of Marina, who is renting their "playhouse" for the summer. It seems that five plots move together in a way that allows readers to know these women and experience their joys and heartbreaks.

I seldom read "romances." This was one of the light and entertaining ones that kept me picking it up again to find out what was happening, a little like a soap opera without the radical drama.

Entertaining, predictable



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"Simple Genius" by David Baldacci

Simple Genius by David Baldacci

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Oh, just okay. Whenever it takes a chapter at the end to explain who the bad guys/good guys/mischief were all about, that's bad. And, it wasn't even the last chapter!  This book went on to tie up loose ends.

I'm not sure that even taking notes of minor details as you read will give you enough clues to figure out what is happening here.

Michelle Maxwell and Sean King are teamed up again. Desperate for money to pay for Michelle's therapy after she flips out by attacking a muscle-bound guy in a bar, Sean takes a solo job to investigate a murder at a think tank across the river from a high-security CIA camp.  Up to his IQ in quantum physics, cryptography and geniuses, he protects the victim's autistic daughter while trying to figure out if her father committed suicide or was murdered. A second body and Michelle's flight from her therapy compound his problems. 

So many federal law enforcement agencies, plots, harrowing escapes, villains, theories...Baldacci is validated as a smart person.  Was that his intent in writing this book?  He tried so hard that his book was not entertaining.



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Quit Odyssey @ Hershey, PA, July 26, 27, 28, 2012

I love road trips.  My sister Jackie and I met at Quilt Odyssey on Thursday for a few days of fun.

The Hershey Lodge was wonderful. I can imagine family gatherings here for kids to visit Hershey Park and grandmom and great aunt to enjoy the quilt show.  We would all do what we enjoy and meet for dinners to recap the days.

 Back to the quilt show, my favorite quilt was "America, Let It Shine" by Sherry Reynolds. It won the Best of Show Award here, the Best Machine Workmanship Award at the Lancaster show, and prizes at other shows in 2011-2012.  "Masterpiece" is the best word to describe it. It was featured on the cover of "Quilter's Newsletter" in June/July 2012.

We stopped at Burkholder's Fabrics on Saturday morning before driving home.  What a great store.  Jackie is now all set to create Christmas projects and I have the fabrics for Kyle's new quilt in his swim team colors.