SLOW STITCHING SUNDAY.......

Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts is the host for Slow Stitching Sunday.  Hop over and check out all the stitching projects everyone is working on.

I'm working on my ABC Quilt.  I've got A - L done.  I'm thinking about putting something on the letters that begins with that letter.....like A is for Apple.   I just happen to have an apple button.  Actually I have a whole jar of novelty buttons.  I'm sure I've got lots of buttons that will work for this idea.  If not, I'll think of something else.  Maybe some embroidery will work.

These are 9" blocks worked in needle turn applique.  I'm trying to use a different color for each letter.  I may have to buy some fabric.....as if that will be hard to do.....lol.  The letters are on bleached muslin. 

PLAYING WITH BLOCKS.....

I caught Bub playing with his blocks.

I'm linking up with West Metro Mommy Reads for Saturday Snapshot.

BOOKISH FRIDAY......

Gillion over at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings, Freda over at Freda's Voice hosts The Friday 56, and Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict hosts Book Blogger Hop.  Jump over and check them out, you could find your next book.

 The Other Side of Silence - Bill Pronzini

Synopsis
On his third day in the Valley, Rick Fallon comes upon a deserted Toyota Camry, and soon thereafter, the almost-dead body of Casey Dunbar.  Having rescued her, Fallon soon learns what had driven her to give up on life…and, his own life on hold, he resolves to unravel the twisted and dangerous strands of hers, a quest that leads him to the glitter-dome of Las Vegas.

Book Beginning....
When Geena finally left him and filed for divorce, Fallon put the Encino house up for sale and took his last two weeks of vacation from Unidyne.  Then he loaded the Jeep Liberty and drove straight to Death Valley.

I haven't gotten started good on this book, but the synopsis sounds really intriguing.

The Friday 56.....
On the second floor, a velvet-roped aisleway led to a wide set of closed doors.  A neon sign above the door bore the standard '30s tilted cocktail glass and the words INTIME ROOM in blue letters.

Sounds mysterious to me.  What do you think?  Keep reading or not?

Book Blogger Hop
Do your children, siblings, or other family members enjoy reading as much as you do? 
 My sister reads now and then, that's about all.  I'm the only one that is obsessed with reading.  lol

CREATIVITY CHALLENGE #7.......

We are suppose to start a Junk/Smash Journal.  Don't know what that is?  Click here for more info.  I've started my Smash Book, it's about my stuff.  Recipes, lists, books, movies, tv shows......it's basically ALL ABOUT ME....I'm still working on it, so it's kind of rough right now.  But then again Smash Books are suppose to be kind of rough.  They aren't perfect like scrapbooks.

This is the cover of my Smash Book.  I picked this up at Dollar Store.

Some pictures I got out of a magazine and a grocery store flyer.

A pretty Quilt and a recipe I want to try.

A pretty card and some bookmarks from my library.

A few receipts I've saved.

If you want to join in on the Creativity Challenge head over to Prairie Moon Quilts and check it out.  It's lots of fun!

BOOK REPORT.......

Fire Flight - John J. Nance

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Veteran pilot Clark Maxwell thought his fire bombing days were well behind him. But when Jerry Stein, Maxwell's friend and airtanker fleet-owner, calls at the height of the fire season to beg him to reenter the war, he doesn't hesitate. A pair of ferocious forest fires is raging out of control, threatening to destroy Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and incinerate thousands of area homes. As the wildfires spread, whipped by massive winds, and the federal forces arrayed against the fires reach their limits, anxiety grows in the local population. A paranoia plagues the fire bombers and smoke jumpers as well, after a mysterious string of violent airborne accidents among the airtanker fleet claims the lives of some of the most fearless and experienced veterans.
Maxwell has long argued that the airtankers -- old aircraft used by pilots to bomb the fires with fire retardant slurry -- are faulty museum pieces that should have been grounded years ago. Now some of the fleet seem to be falling apart in midair. In the middle of the area's worst wildfire season in history, Maxwell is convinced that a sinister cover-up is behind the rash of horrific air disasters. Were the planes' inspection papers forged? Is someone capitalizing on these crashes? As he races to unravel a very real mystery and prevent a natural disaster of massive proportions, Maxwell's probe reaches the upper levels of the very government agencies charged with mount-ing the aerial fire fighting effort -- a move that for wholly unexpected reasons just may cost him his life...and the life of Karen Jones, the married smoke jumper with whom he seems to have fallen in love.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a new author to me.  This book is filled with intrigue, romance and mystery.   When a retired pilot Clark Maxwell gets a call from his friend for help with a forest fire, he jumps right in.  But some of the older planes start having "accidents" and Clark is suspicious about what's going on.  Clark starts investigating, but this could lead him down a one way street with his death or the death of someone he loves.  Filled with lots of info about Forest Fires and the brave people who work to put them out.  I give this book 4 stars.....

This book is also for 2 of my reading challenges.
Full House Challenge
Wacky Readers/Locations A - Z

QUILT UPDATE.....

I went to Joann Fabrics over the weekend.  Got some fabric to put the border on my 4th of July Quilt. 

It now joins my loooong list of quilts to finish.
1. Calendar Quilt
2. Tree & Leaves Quilt
3. Winter Quilt
4. Dots Quilt
5. Dresden Quilt(Gray Center)
6. 6" Crazy Quilt
7. Halloween Quilt
8. Thanksgiving Quilt
9. Christmas Quilt
10. Jar Quilt
11. Strip Quilt
12. Easter Quilt
13. Boo Quilt
14. Valentine Quilt
15. Dresden Quilt(Red Center)
16. Under The Sea Quilt
17. Spring Quil
18. 4th of July Quilt

The ones in red are finished.   Just click on the link to see these finished quilts.  Or you can check out my Quilts Tab at the top of the page.  I've also been working on my ABC quilt.  I'm now up to the letter H.  Heather over at Books and Quilts stopped by, she suggested some embellishments for some of the blocks.  Which I think is a great idea!!  While I'm working on them I'll be thinking of what to do with them.  I have lots of novelty buttons, lace, rick rack ribbon and even some beads.   Well, that's it for today.  I'm linking up with Heather for Needlework Tuesday.  Hop over and check out her place.  She's sharing a Quilt Guild get together. 

BOOK REPORT.....

A Handful of Stars - Cynthia Lord

Product Description(Amazon.com)
When Lily's blind dog, Lucky, slips his collar and runs away across the wide-open blueberry barrens of eastern Maine, it's Salma Santiago who manages to catch him. Salma, the daughter of migrant workers, is in the small town with her family for the blueberry-picking season.

After their initial chance meeting, Salma and Lily bond over painting bee boxes for Lily's grandfather, and Salma's friendship transforms Lily's summer. But when Salma decides to run in the upcoming Blueberry Queen pageant, they'll have to face some tough truths about friendship and belonging. Should an outsider like Salma really participate in the pageant-and possibly win?
Hardcover: 192 pages 
Publisher: Scholastic Press (May 26, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0545700272 
ISBN-13: 978-0545700276

MY THOUGHTS:   This is a new author for me and I really enjoyed her style of writing.  The author put all the facts right out front so you didn't have to keep guessing what was going on.  Lucky is Lily's dog and he's going blind.  He needs surgery but they don't have the money.  So Lily is painting Bee Boxes and selling them.  While out for a walk Lucky gets loose from Lily.  He's headed for the road and a on coming car.  Salma jumps up with her lunch and gets Lucky to stop.  Salma and Lily become friends and work together to get enough bee boxes done for the festival.  But do they get enough money to do this?  And does Salma win the Blueberry Queen Pageant?  Read the book, it's really good.  I give this book 5.....

This book is also for 4 of my reading challenges.
What an Animal Challenge
Full House Challenge
Monthly Keyword Challenge
52 Books in 52 Weeks

BOOK REPORT.......

Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter

Product Description(Amazon.com)
More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.

The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it. 
Hardcover: 416 pages 
Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (September 29, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0062429051 
ISBN-13: 978-0062429056

MY THOUGHTS:  This is the second book I've read from this author.  Pretty Girls is a suspense thriller and it does keep you on the edge of your seat.  I couldn't put the book down for too much time, as I wanted to find out what happens to Claire and Lydia.  Claire and Lydia keep digging until they have all the answers they want.  Really awesome book!  I give this book 5......

This book is also for 2 of my reading challenges....
Full House Challenge
A-Z Locations

CREATIVITY CHALLENGE......

I've been slacking on this for the last couple weeks.  I've got the challenges done, but haven't posted them.  Challenge #5 was to illustrate something four ways.  I wasn't too sure how to do this one, so I just did what I thought was right.  This is my version....

I started with a smiley face and progressed from there.

Challenge #6 was to make a drawing using crayons.  I'm not a very good drawer, so I went something simple.  It's my version of a vase of flowers.

The table didn't come out very well, but overall I like the picture.

For Challenge #7 we are suppose to start a smash/junk book.  I've been wanting to make one of these for a while.  But where to start????  So I'm going to give it a try.  If you want to join in, just head over to Prairie Moon Quilts and check out this Creativity Challenge....

 

WHAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON......

I've been working on my quilts the last couple weeks.  I've got the 4th of July quilt done, except for the border.  Have to make a trip to Joann Fabrics for that. 

I've also been working on Crazy Quilt Number 8 block.  It's kind of going slowly.  I've run out of ideas for the embellishments.  I'm hoping something will pop out at me.

A few weeks ago I was working on my Creativity project hosted over at Prairie Moon quilts.  We had to make something using our initial.  I made a pillow with the letter S.  I got to thinking this would be a great quilt, an ABC quilt.  I've started this one, it's coming along nicely.  The blocks are 9" X 9", on unbleached muslin. 

I'm also linking up with Heather over at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday.  Hop over and check out Heather's quilt, it's beautiful.

What have you been working on?  Let me know, I'll come visit you.

BOOK REPORT......

Virginia's Diary - Suzanne Peyton

Product Description(Amazon.com)
What would you do if you went to bed tonight and had a dream that changed your life and your family's history forever? January 3, 1958 - An old woman, who had been wrongly committed into a mental hospital, took her own life. I found out later that woman was my great-grandmother, Virginia Avery. January 3, 1999 - I had a dream that causes me to challenge every story my mother had been told about Virginia, who supposedly abandoned her children in 1904. As the lies began to unravel, my journey led me to New Orleans, and what I found, rocked me to my core. 
Paperback: 294 pages 
Publisher: White Bird Publications (August 4, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1633631249 
ISBN-13: 978-1633631243

MY THOUGHTS:  I received this book from Kelley & Hall Book Publicity for my fair and honest review.  This is an awesome book.  I couldn't put it down.  The mystery is so real I could almost think I was there with the author.  The author takes you on a wild ride while she is trying to solve the mystery of her Great Grandmother, Virgina.  Weeding through all the lies that have come down through the generations from her family.  What the author finds is really hard to believe.  The book is based upon the author's Great Grandmother.    I highly recommend this book and I give this book 5....

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges....
Full House Challenge
52 Books in 52 Weeks

BOOK REPORT.....

Stand Your Ground - Raeder Lomax

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Through a series of jewel heists and comedy of errors, we see fortunes slip through various hands, and in the wrong hands the comedy turns deadly when "reasonable" judgement, which is required under the Stand Your Ground law to use a weapon for self-defense, is unreasonably used. 
Paperback: 232 pages 
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 18, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1514888416 
ISBN-13: 978-1514888414

MY THOUGHTS:  This is a free book given to me by Kelley & Hall Publishing for my fair and honest review.  This book follows Roy LaHood and Lawton Gibbs after they get out of prison.  The were called the 4 minute cat burglars.   They have gone home to family and friends and are trying to get back to regular life.  Roberta gets Ronnie and Lawton to rob her boss of 2 million unclaimed money he has stashed in his safe at his house.  Things start going wrong when the the money comes up missing.  Lawton and Roy have no idea where it went or who took it.  Roberta's boss, Ronnie, is so mad that someone stole his money and has an idea who it is.  But can't prove it.  Ronnie shoots several of his employees and uses the "Stand Your Ground" law for his own purposes.  I really liked this book, it was well written and all the characters were well connected in the story line.  To find out more about this law, Stand Your Ground, just click on the link.  I give this book 4....

This book is also for The Full House Challenge.

BOOK REPORT......

The Edge of Lost - Kristina McMorris

Product Description(Amazon.com)
On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard's only daughter--one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island--has gone missing. Tending the warden's greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl's whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search's outcome.

Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.

Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell--and believe--in order to survive. 
Paperback: 352 pages 
Publisher: Kensington (November 24, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0758281188
ISBN-13: 978-0758281180

MY THOUGHTS:  This is my book clubs choice for February.   This book caught my attention from page 1 and held it until the very end.  Following this little boy, Shanley Keagan through the book, through all his dreams and disappointments, and the final outcome of his life, was at times heart breaking.  I wanted to keep reading to find out a few things.  If he finds his father, if he gets to America, if he gets to perform on stage in New York.  Lots of IF's along the way for Shan.  Also trying to figure out how Alcatraz prison fits into all this.  Really awesome book!  I give this book 5....

This book is for my 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge...Week 6

BOOK REPORT.....

The Risk of Darkness - Susan Hill

Product Description(Amazon.com)
We met Simon Serrailler first in The Various Haunts of Men and got to know him better in The Pure in Heart. Susan Hill's third crime novel, The Risk of Darkness-perhaps even more compulsive and convincing than its predecessors-explores the crazy grief of a widowed husband, whose derangement turns into obsession and threats, violence and terror. Meanwhile, handsome, introverted Simon Serrailler, whose cool reserve has broken the hearts of several women, finds his own heart troubled by the newest recruit to the Cathedral staff: a feisty female Anglican priest with red hair. The Risk of Darkness is truly the work of a writer at the top of her form. 
Series: A Simon Serrailler Mystery 
Paperback: 384 pages 
Publisher: The Overlook Press; Reprint edition (March 2, 2010) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1590202902 
ISBN-13: 978-1590202906

MY THOUGHTS:  I started this book not knowing it was a series.  I think that's why I didn't really enjoy this book.  I was totally lost on what was going on.  The author has lots of characters that don't seem to have anything to do with the story line.  I'm sure they do, but I just couldn't finish this book.  When I have so many more books I want to read, I can't see wasting my time on one I'm not enjoying.  I give this book 2.....

 





This book is for my 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
Week 6

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY......

Ashley over at Ramblings & Photos is the host for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  Head over to Ashley's place and check out all the photos everyone is sharing.

Here's my interpretations of this week's hunt.

Frosty...

This is really cold and frosty.

Folded....

Laundry, we have a lot of it.  This is waiting to be put away.

Rocky.....

The cement floor in the laundry room.  It has little tiny rocks in it.

Soft......

Luke's "blankie", it's very soft.

Dual or Two.....

This is one of my favorite photos of the twins.  It was taken August, 2014.  Someway or another Luke always gets dirt all over his face.  This day he had a mustache of dirt.

MESSING AROUND......

My son got my Y - Fi hooked up to my computer and camera.  Now as soon as I take a picture it pops up on my computer.  Puts the pictures in a folder, so I can go right to them and start working on them.  I usually adjust lighting and sharpening, then do some cropping.  Here are a few I took yesterday, trying out the Y - Fi hook up.

Toby trying to nap, but Bella keeps bothering him.

The corner of our living room....this is the main door into our house, well the one we use.

This is part of the north wall.  I have pictures on all four walls.  This is what I call my memory walls.  There are pictures of family and friends.  I've run out of room to hang anymore.  lol

And this is the west wall.  The Shadowbox was my mom's, it needs the mirror cleaned.  lol  Well, that's it for today.  Hope you all have a great day!

BOOKISH FRIDAY.......

Gillon hosts Book Beginnings, Freda hosts The Friday 56 and Billy hosts Book Blogger Hop.  Head over and check them out.  You could find your next book.

The Risk of Darkness - Susan Hill

My Book Beginning

The wall at the far end was covered in whiteboards and pinboards.  Names.  Dates.  Places.  Then came:
Witnesses (which was blank).
Suspects. (Blank.)
Forensics. (Blank.)
In each case.

I've just started this book, but so far it has my attention.  Can you guess what kind of book it is?

The Friday 56

Page 56....
Max Jameson had been widowed five years before meeting Lizzie.  His first wife had died of breast cancer.  There had been no children.

This is one of the characters in this story.  There are about 3 or 4 families in the story line.  I'm waiting to see how these people fit into the story line.  I haven't figured it out yet.  Keep reading or stop reading?

Book Blogger Hop Question....
 Does your significant other share your reading passion? 

No, my hubby doesn't read.  He would much rather be outside, watching the world go around.  

CREATIVITY CHALLENGE #4.....

Shelley over at Prairie Moons Quilts is the host for this Challenge.

The challenge is to kick your Creativity into gear and see where it leads you.  #4 challenge is to color, not just any coloring book, but and Adult Coloring Book.  I've been looking at them, but never bought one before.  This is the one I went with.

I love to color.....I've been known to grab the kids coloring books and just color a few hours.  It's very relaxing.  I used Crayola Colored Pencils to color.  I've tried several different coloring tools, but I prefer Colored Pencils.  This is the first picture I colored....

And I colored another one...Bella was watching me color.  She went and got her Dora Coloring book, but she didn't color.  I'm hoping she will color with me one of these days.