In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

I was fooling myself last week, assuming I could have the rainbow quilt on the living room sofa, all ready for me to hand-quilt. Conveniently I forgot about securing the perimeter, that I prefer to do in our guest room, with said quilt spread out on the bed. That imperative fact somehow slipped my mind, or I blocked it. Either way, for the next few days that precious quilt will loiter in its own space, and eventually it will meander to where I am currently seated, typing this post. One reason I didn't make the quilt sandwich until today was that yesterday I attended a protest/rally to denounce the murders taking place in Minneapolis, as well to honor Keith Porter, killed by ICE in Northridge on New Year's Eve, 2025, and others harmed and slain by ICE in the last year. This protest was announced in our local news and on Reddit late on Saturday afternoon. Less than eighteen hours later over one thousand people stood in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse seeking justice, peac...

New mug rug. Fabrics are those I'm considering for the quilt explained below.... At times, this life feels, seems, looks UNFATHOMABLE. Regardless of how faithful we are to a creed, how at peace hearts remain in abject misery, how unshakeable love dwells within us, and despite the FULL SUN we're seeing here on the North Coast, the tyranny and horror and anguish and death suffered by others hits our chest muscles like we are right in the thick of all that darkness. I'm not merely thinking of what's happening in America, or the oncoming winter storm that will cause severe distress for millions in my home nation. There's Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Iran.... Massacres in Iran have quelled the protests for now. Yet thousands, perhaps upwards of thirty-three thousand, have died in one government's attempt to throttle democracy. Scores more have perished in other places, I don't wish to diminish those atrocities. But this uprising in Iran is a month old, or it was. And ot...

A finished, no longer mystery cozy! Looks rather charming, if I say so myself. There's laundry to fold and dishes to wash, but first! A post about a quilt now received, beloved, and of which it's time to share. Thus, here's a Winnie the Pooh cozy for my BFF who ADORES all things Pooh. Adorable images and cheery colours! Eeyore is her fave character; she has Birkenstocks with Eeyore on them, lol! When I saw the Echo Park Paper Co. Winnie the Pooh collection , my heart leaped thinking of one person so dear to me who would LOVE a cozy made from these gorgeous prints. I ordered a layer cake (ten-inch precut squares) late last fall, and even with the bustle of Advent, a quilt top emerged, assisted by Liberty Fabrics by Riley Blake from the Autumn Woodland line. The border is from that collection, which gussies up this rather simple array of large squares. Yet I wanted the prints to shine, no need to cut them into smaller squares. This allows one to admire the 100 Aker Wood, a g...

This shot has nothing to do with 1963 Manhattan, but it's pretty, and there you go! Snapped in June of 2006 while we lived in Northern England. When writing a saga, characters emerge that at first seem like bystanders. Stanford Taylor, an aloof New York art dealer, came on the scene early in The Hawk , but little did I know how vital would be his role, and certainly how little did I know him, hehehe. Yet over the course of, ahem, MANY chapters, Stanford became one of my favourites to write, to display, to move along the story in his rather formal, detached bearing that alters significantly within the novel. Today's chapter that I just read aloud to myself is a perfect example of how a fictional soul turns into one far more than two dimensions. And how love weaves all through us, even when we believe ourselves incapable of it. Keep sparkling; our lights make all the difference in this crazy world!     Chapter 98   On the third morning of Stanford’s vacation, he woke al...