Life After Deadline

I've got a pile of books on the table next to my bed, waiting patiently for me. Every now and then I pick one up and glance at the cover and then the back, then put it down. I know I'll never get my work done if I open it. Have to make my book deadline first. Ah, deadlines.

Working at home isn't all it's cracked up to be. I must constantly strive to be organized, focused and self-disciplined in order to get things done. Not that everybody else with a job doesn't have to be organized too, I guess. But I can't leave my work at the office--it's always there, night and day, a constant reminder of everything I still need to do. And very often distractions rule the day some days so then I'm up late. I DO get to work in my jammies if I choose, so that's a perk.

Setting goals for myself is something I need to do on a very regular basis. Then I break them down and set goals within THOSE goals to be able to really accomplish things. And the goals need to be constantly reevaluated. Even the little ones.

But first thing, when I'm finished with the book in February, I resolve to read more. I used to be a great reader but now I find that I get so busy with quilts that I don't make the time for reading the way I used to. And I miss it. I know that if I get involved in a book I won't want to put it down though so I guess I'm just preserving my attention for the quilt work that requires all of my attention right now. Then I'll be able to spend time at one of my favorite places:

When I was a child, sometimes all I wanted to do was read--especially during the summers off. My mom would point to the sunny sky and say--"Go play outside, it's too nice to be sitting inside." But it was nice to get inside a book too and so I ignored her for as long as I could, then compromised by sitting out on the back porch with my book. Reading was like a vacation. I remember being about 10 and begging my mom for the independence to take my first outing all alone with a friend and her little sister--we walked 6 blocks to the library all by ourselves, no grownups.

Going to the library was a weekly treat back in the day when my kids were young. Sometimes more than weekly if one of them had a question I couldn't answer or explain--Are birds really dinosaurs? Where does the sun go at night? Do dogs dream? Let's go to the library and find some books about it. Now we just look it up on the internet--not as much fun, but quicker. (Do I sound old or what??)

So here are a few of the books on my reading list for this year:

I've been waiting a while for this one--just released so I couldn't put it on my Christmas list. I'll probably spend my Christmas Barnes & Noble gift card on it tomorrow even though I won't read it for another month:

Gail Godwin is one of my favorite authors and one of her books is high on a list of my top 5 favorite books of all time. According to Publishers Weekly, in Unfinished Desires, "Bestselling author Godwin brings readers back in time to the early 1950s in this endearing story of Catholic school girls and the nuns who oversee them. Godwin captures brilliantly the subtleties of friendships between teenage girls, their ambivalence toward religion and their momentous struggle to define people—especially themselves. Poignant and transporting . . ." As a true sentimentalist (yes! It's a real word!), you can see why this is right up my alley.

The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

Not a quilting fiction book, but a contemporary novel where the main character happens to be a professional quilter. Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite authors and I thought I had read all of her books except for the latest one, Home Safe, but I somehow missed this one from 2006, so it will be a nice treat to read it. "Bestselling novelist Berg explores memory, love and forgiveness in her flawed but moving 12th novel. At her annual family reunion, Laura Bartone, a 50-something 'quilt artist,' is forced to confront the secrets that have long haunted her family. Her emotionally unstable sister . . ."

I've never read How to Make An American Quilt and have not seen the movie. Time to catch up.

Other books on the list for my soon-to-come reading reverie:

Inside of a Dog offers "a thoughtful take on the interior life of the dog, a topic often left to poets and philosophers." The author "ponders more basic questions about the pet dogs of the American living room: What's with the sniffing? Why do they bark? Oh, and do they actually like us?" This was a great Christmas gift from someone who oviously knows me well . . .

A Three Dog Life-- Booklist:  "In these exquisitely written essays Thomas reflects on how her marriage had to be reinvented after the night her husband, Richard, took their dog, Harry, out for a walk, and Harry came home alone. Richard had been hit by a car and was lying bleeding in the street. The traumatic head injury he suffered didn't kill him, as attending police had predicted it would, but it rendered him susceptible to large-scale memory loss, hallucinations, and such wild rages that Thomas was forced to commit him to an institution. Lesser events have destroyed relationships, so it would not be surprising to learn that Thomas abandoned Richard. She didn't. Instead, she sold their New York apartment, moved upstate to be near him, and acquired two more dogs to keep her company. What's more, she can't imagine life without her husband."
I'll probably cry when I read it. (Maybe I shouldn't say this . . . but my husband sometimes forgets things at the grocery store . . . )

Not to worry, puppy . . .

I usually read anything by Anita Shreve or Alice Hoffman. I picked these up at the library's used book sale for fifty cents last summer and put them on the pile. The title Blue Diary intrigued me. Nice cover, although you really shouldn't judge the book by it I'm told. But for fifty cents . . .

Oprah LOVED The Pillars of the Earth and so did my sister-in-law, so I asked for it for Christmas LAST year but haven't read it yet. This is going to be the year. Some have called it a medieval Gone With The Wind (Wait, it's about monks?)

I got The Devil in the White City for my birthday last September. It's about the incredible, actual events (murders) surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, not long after Jack the Ripper haunted the ill-lit streets of London in 1888. "The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing." I saw a PBS special not long ago on the Chicago World's Fair and it sparked my interest. Non-fiction, who knew.

My husband said perhaps I'd get more reading done  if I didn't spend so much time on this blog thing . . .

Happy New Year

From our snowy back yard to yours . . .

May the new year refresh your spirit and bring you tons of inspiration and happiness.

                            

I was about to walk out my front door a few days ago when I saw these kids on the block having a great time playing in the snow. I was impressed with how hard they were working at moving a giant snowball to a different location (for a snowman?) and so I made them stop to have their picture taken. So cute. I was really inspired by how much fun they put into their hard work. That snowball must have weighed a ton!

I wish you all a wonderful new year filled with abundance, joy, and treasured moments, and time to sew and play, of course!

Quilt Shop Tours

Well, the frenzy of the holidays is almost over and it's back to the relaxation of quilting for many of us. The gifts are made and the holiday projects finished, right? It's almost a new year and a great time to be inspired. I can't exactly take a breath until my next book is finished--I'll be ready to send it to the publisher next month--but I'm looking forward to getting a start on my Dear Jane quilt and numerous other projects once the book is done.

What's a better way to be inspired than to take a tour of some of my favorite quilt shops? I'm so lucky I live in an area where there are a couple of great shops within a 40-minute drive. Wish they were a just a little closer but many quilters have to drive even farther than that.  So sit back and have some fun--take a little tour and peek inside some of the shops. If you're ever in northern Illinois and need a fabric fix, take some time to stop by some of these great quilt shops. And, just so you know, they all carry my books in case you or a friend need to stock up, LOL.

Quilt Play, located at 62 Center Street  in Grayslake, IL

Quilt Play is in northern Illinois, just south of the Wisconsin border.

Shelley has a great variety of fabrics and is always friendly and eager to help.

Lots of Moda fabric, thirties prints and Civil War repro fabric. Lots of great samples too!

Nice and bright--plenty of pastels for Spring already.

NEXT STOP

A Touch of Amish--located at 130 Applebee Street in Barrington, Illinois.

Lovely shop in an old house with lots of different rooms.

Yep, that's an Orange Peel sample from Remembering Adelia.

Lots of antique quilts and reproduction samples

A huge Civil War repro section

The shop carries so many shirtings prints! This is one of my favorite quilts made with a number of different shirtings. Isn't it fantastic? I want to use up my scraps and make this one as soon as I'm finished with my next book.

And don't forget Thimbleberries prints as well as a Thimbleberries club

There's even a Remembering Adelia Club--I stopped by a few weeks ago and had a great time visiting with everyone.

Kitty was teaching them how to make the little Prairie Points quilt from Remembering Adelia. She's a great teacher and I always learn a thing or two!

Here are her Scrappy Star blocks from the book in 4 different sizes.

Love the Peony Stars sample, too.

NEXT STOP

Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop--located at 106 Northwest Highway (Rt. 14) in Fox River Grove, Illinois

Carrie and Katie are always more than happy to help you find something or introduce you to what's new in the quilting world. They always have a wonderful variety of 19th century prints and great samples made from them.

But watch out! You may get hooked into making little quilts because they have so many cute samples and kits available. Lots of kits for BIG quilts too, don't worry.

And always lots of kits for quilts from my books.

I stopped by a couple of weeks ago and while my friend Julia was hiding out in another room, I sneaked away and bought her Christmas present--a kit for that little blue and red Sawtooth Star quilt you see below, hanging on the wall.

 Oops, here she comes, hide it!

Whew, I'm exhausted, what about you? Nothing like shopping till you drop . . . Hope you had a great time. I think I'm going to make this a regular feature. I visit a lot of shops as I travel throughout the year, so I'll try to remember to bring my camera and post more photos from now on.

                        

I hear complaints from quilters all the time about the great shops that were once near them but are now closed. They need our help more than ever these days, you know. Have you heard about this great plan for helping your local small retail businesses STAY in business? It's called The 3/50 Project. Take a look.

So, if you're able, try to support your local quilt shops this year--buy some fabric, pick up a book or some fat quarters or maybe take a class. What a great New Year's resolution, don't you think? I couldn't do what I do without them, and I'll bet you couldn't either.

Merry Christmas!

Love came down at Christmas;

Love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Stars and angels gave the sign.

-Christina Rossetti

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus."

Merry Christmas and may hope and peace be with you all for the New Year

Christmas Lights

I recently learned that the tradition of putting lights--candles actually--on Christmas trees began in the middle of the 17th century in Germany. The candles were attached to the ends of tree branches with wax and since this was before the invention of electricity, people didn't usually put up their trees until December 24 because of the risk of fire. Did you know that the very first Christmas tree with electric lights (the size of walnuts!) was lit in 1882 by the vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company at his home in New York? 

In 1895, President Grover Cleveland proudly sponsored the first electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House, featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights. By 1900, stores began stringing up Christmas lights behind their windows to attract customers. It wasn't until the 1930s that electric Christmas lights became a popular tradition for Americans to use in decorating. Now it's almost become something of an art form in our society.

Last week we went into the city for dinner and drove past a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago where the houses are lavishly decorated with Christmas lights. We used to take the kids there every year when they were young, play Christmas music in the car and oooh and aaahh over all the displays. This year the kids were busy, but we decided to take a side trip on the way home and drive through the area anyway, for old times' sake. You could tell we were in a recession--there were fewer houses with lights and the ones that did have them were a little less elaborate than usual. But it brought back a lot of memories and reminded me of how much I loved Christmas lights growing up.

The treehouse below contained moving elves, snowmen and Mr & Mrs Santa, waving

Nothing like Christmas lights to really get you into the spirit of things.

That thing on the right is a revolving carousel with reindeer.

Keep in mind I was in a moving car. . . .

We have a few lights at our house--not a lot and not lavish, but I'm pretty grateful I was able to convince my husband to put  up any at all, LOL. They're for the kids, you know . . . .

Helps get my daughter into the mood to do some baking!

Have a deLIGHTful Christmas!