Friday 28 March 2014

A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan

One draw back of being young, is that you have no say in whether or not your family moves.  Ten year old Violet has no interest in moving, let alone to a town called Perfect.  Her father, an optician, has been offered a perfect research job.  Because he is so enthused about it,  Violet is willing to go along with the move for his sake.

Right from their arrival in town and the overly warm welcome from the Mr. Archers, who hired her dad, Violet feels there is something not quite right about Perfect.  I couldn't agree with her more.  There seems to be some sort of creepiness under all that nice, pretty and perfect.  This type of creepiness is the type that will most definitely appeal to the target reader ( pre-teens and young teens). 

Violet is not alone in her unease with the town.  Others who have felt this way have been dealt with, but no one ever talks about them.  Except Boy.  Boy is only a bit older than Violet, but he seems to know everything about Perfect.  Also, Violet is the only person who can sense that Boy is present. (you'll have to read the book to figure out what I mean by that).  The two of them work well together as a team and are able to accomplish much more united than they ever could have alone.

This is a most unique story.  I don't recall having read another book that relies so heavily on unclouded vision.  Violet learns quickly that what you see is not always what is really there.  She also has to consider what perfect means and whether it's the same thing for each person.

This is a fun story to read, though there are a few short scenes that I feel are  a bit creepy, my daughter assures me that pre-teen readers will love these.  I'm looking forward to loaning this to my eleven year old nephew.

Thanks to author Helena Duggan for my review copy.

Also reviewed by:

Petty Witter at Pen and Paper


The Apothecary by Maile Meloy is another novel that deals with a young girl who is unhappy that her family forces her to move.



Thursday 27 March 2014

Tangled Thursday - There's more to drawing than paper

Two weeks ago I made a challenge to my fellow tanglers, to draw on a media other than paper.  After that, I left it wide open to interpretation.  I had grand plans of using some wood shapes, printed fabrics and plastic, but I left it to the last minute instead of using my two weeks wisely.  Today I was in a focused stitching mode and came up with several postcards.  I tried not to use the same tangles again and again, but there are some that lend their selves to a sewing machine better than others.
 Welcome to Tangled Thursday.  A few of my local and online friends have joined me in an occasional Zentangle challenge.  We'll take turns choosing a theme  and them post our drawings in about 2 weeks time.  All are welcome to join in the fun.  If you are new to Zentangles, then visit the website for a complete explanation and all sorts of online resources.  I'm also a big fan of TanglePatterns.com.
I fused a piece of white cotton fabric to the heaviest interfacing I could find.  Then machine stitched free hand an assortment of designs using a shiny embroidery thread, rayon probably.  For the first two, I used a deep purple, even though it looks black, I think it is a little less harsh than a pure black.  Each card measures 4 x 6 inches.


It will take me a bunch more playing to find more tangles that work well on the machine.  I'll have to keep working with mooka, as I do like it's look when done by others, not too pleased with how mine turn out.

The next photos show some of the wooden items I bought in anticipation of drawing on them.  Some I am going to base paint with acrylic and the simplest ones, I will probably draw on directly with marker.


If you are still wondering how to get started with Zentangles, check out my earlier post where I'll  show you how I started.   You can use that as a launching point for your own explorations of this art style.





Tangled Thursday Participants
1. Tami @ Just One More Thing

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

I loved the concept of this book, one life lived over and over again.  In reality, it got a bit monotonous when I knew that each segment of Ursula Todd's life would end in her death and rebirth.  No surprise there, but it became a matter of wanting the little stories to hurry up so I could get to the details of how her life would end this time.

It's a game that I'm sure many of us play at various times.  What if I had done this instead of that.  What if I'd gotten off the highway one stop sooner, had left for work five minutes earlier, had gone to a different university.  Some of them are small, seeming inconsequential choices, and others are huge.  Author Kate Atkinson makes it interesting to consider the impact of these choices, such as turning one way on a street moments before a bomb is dropped.   Playing the game captures my interest for a few minutes, but if it stretches on too long, I get lost in the possibilities, that's what happened in this book.  The same person reborn again and again, got boring, too much of the same thing.  I lost my attachment and concern for Ursula.

The main character, Ursula Todd, was born in late 1910 and experienced World War One and World War Two many times.  Her perspective of the war from differing sides was quite illuminating.

I have read several of Ms. Atkinson's books from the Jackson Brodie Series and would highly recommend them.

Author Kate Atkinson's website

Cover image courtesy of RandomHouse Canada.

Jackson Brodie Series:

Case Histories
One Good Turn
When Will there be Good News
Started Early, Took My Dog

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Needlework Tuesday - Passing Time

Slowly, I am working on my crazy quilt block.  The pearl cotton is easy to stitch with and shows up well.  I do need more colours though. 
Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you. 


I have also started an online crazy quilt class with Kathy Shaw from Shawkl Designs.  Should you be in her area of Alabama, do take her class.  She is taking up step by step through the stitching and decorating of this block.  I'm awaiting the delivery of some supplies I ordered, then I am ready for the first of the embroidery.

Daughter helped me pick out the next pattern for a tea cosy.  Again, it's crochet, though it will be a cupcake.  a really cute design from Yarnspiration.  

I've got to cut this short as it's dentist time, just a cleaning thank goodness.  In the mean time, let me know what you've been up to, either by leaving a comment or adding a link to Mr. Linky below. 

Friday 21 March 2014

The Town that Drowned by Riel Nason

It's the mid 1960's in a small town in New Brunswick.  Little do the residents  know,  over the next two years  life in their town is going to change in ways they could never have imagined.  The entire town lies in the future flood plain of a yet to built dam.  Almost everyone will have to move.  For most people, they will adapt, but for the Carson family, it will be more of a challenge.  Their nine year old son, Percy, is not like the other kids.  He sticks to his own strict routine and doesn't accept change. (autism?)  Along with worrying about her brother and his quirky behaviour, Ruby has her own issues.  Ever since she fell in the river, hitting her head, no one will let her forget the prophetic babbling she uttered. 

Small towns can be a supportive community where everyone knows everyone else, but it can also seem like a punishment when people continue to rub past events in your face.  Ruby is hoping that the forced move will improve her and Percy's lot in life.

While the main story line is the flooding of the town, that of Percy, his behaviour and how the towns people respond to him is equally significant in my opinion.  The term autism has been used since 1908, though it wasn't until the 1970s that it became more widely know.  Keeping this in mind, I shouldn't be too surprised that there was so little understanding/tolerance for Percy.

I was younger than Percy at the time this novel was set.  I have no memories of politics and how governments worked.  In this book, the provincial government is portrayed as paternalistic.  No public hearings nor consultations with the affected communities were held.  No discussion with the towns people of where they want to located their new town.  This lack of consultation led to all sorts of distrust and rumours in the community.  I really got the feel of neighbour against neighbour as people tried to cope with their loss. 

This book should appeal to teens through adults.  History lovers will appreciate that the story was inspired by the construction of a dam on the St. John River in the late 1960's.

This is a debut novel for author Riel Nason

Cover image credit  - Goose Lane Editions.

Monday 17 March 2014

Needlework Tuesday - A Tea Cosy Finish + more

My Scalloped Tea Cosy is finished, and as you can see, it looks good on my tea pot.  A wee bit big, but that is probably more a result of my tension than the pattern.  I did twelve pattern repeats of six scallops.  For a smaller pot you could do five scallops.  The pattern is free  from Crochetroo. If you plan to make this cosy, I do recommend that you find a video showing how to do the stitch, it will make it much easier to understand the directions.
 
 Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.
 

 
The above two photos show the pieces I'll be working on today and tomorrow.  I'll be out of town visiting and sewing with a friend, hence I am putting my Tuesday post up early on Monday.  I'll have some more photos of this project next week.
 
It took a while, but I have finally started stitching on my crazy quilt block.  I was overwhelmed by the choice of thread colours to use when I pulled out my boxes of threads.  Which to choose?  while I was searching for supplies for another project, I came across a bag of pearl cotton that I had forgotten about.  There were only a dozen or so colours.  Perfect.  Just a wee bit of choice, far easier for me to work with. 
 
Two seams are completed here, both starting with a button hole type stitch.

 
To my cute polar bear friend, I have added a basic button hole stitch.

Years ago I bought a copy of The Crazy Quilt Handbook by Judith Baker Montano . Even then, I had plans to give this quilt form a try, it just took me much longer than expected.   I haven't read all the instructional parts and have skipped to the back section that gives detailed diagrams for an assortment of stitches and embellishments.  This should keep me going for a while until the next book I have ordered arrives.
Have you been stitching along at a project over the past week.  Add your link to Mr. Linky below and leave a comment telling me about it.  Without the encouragement of my readers, I wouldn't have started on my crazy quilt stitches (thanks to Regina and Teresa, and to Shelly regarding those weeds, I'll get to that one later in the week).
 

Thursday 13 March 2014

Tangled Thursday - Weaving Tangles

There are several tangles that remind me of weaving. Tami challenged us to use them in our drawings this week.  She specified W2 and Huggins, but said we were welcome to include others as desired.  I did a quick search and came up with eight that I wanted to try.  W2, Cheesecloth, Huggins, Bask-it, Basket Weave, Keeko, Weave, and Jute.  So far, I just can't get a handle on Jute, but will keep trying.  My next step was to draw them all out on one page for a quick reference.


 Welcome to Tangled Thursday.  A few of my local and online friends have joined me in an occasional Zentangle challenge.  We'll take turns choosing a theme  and them post our drawings in about 2 weeks time.  All are welcome to join in the fun.  If you are new to Zentangles, then visit the website for a complete explanation and all sorts of online resources.  I'm also a big fan of TanglePatterns.com.

I wasn't sure how a tile would look with four weave type tangles, but I needn't have worried, I feel there is enough difference in them, that they work well together.  Tangled featured: Huggins, Basket Weave, Keeko, and Weave.  The tile is a standard 3 1/2 inches.



A while back, I bought some little wood shapes with the plan of painting them white and then drawing on them.  I saw some on another site where the artist drew directly on the unpainted wood.  It was a very appealing look. 

The heart is about 2 1/2 inches high, 3 inches wide and just over 1/32 inch thick.  Tangle used: W2.
The bird is about 3 1/2 inches long and a bit over 2 inches tall.  Tangles used: Hair, Keeko, Papyrus, Cheesecloth and Bask-it.
It was fairly easy to draw on this wood as the surface was very smooth.  occasionally the pen seemed to snag as I drew across the grain, but it drew beautifully when I was going with the grain.  I am looking forward to purchasing more shapes.

I have had private messages for a few readers who have told me that they have been trying a few of the tangles.  I  hope that they will soon share their work either on their blog, or by sending me their photos and I'll post them here.

Our next challenge is for two weeks. This time, you need to draw on a medium other than paper.  It could be glass, fabric, wood or any other type of surface.  Go wild.

Feel free to add a link to your current Zentangle post below in Mr. Linky.




Tuesday 11 March 2014

Needlework Tuesday - It's great when i see some project progress.

I was on the Red Heart site looking for yarns for my current afghan project.  I wanted to find colours that would match with the variegated yarn I am using for the granny squares.  in their FAQ section I found a multi-color co-ordinate list for several Red Heart yarns.  This could be particularly helpful when ordering online. 

 My Crochet Along is going well.  I had been planning to use yellow and teal for the patterned blocks, but they aren't easy colours to find around here and I didn't want to mail order.  Once I laid out my existing blocks, I decided that they look good together as is. 
The most recent block is Front Post Treble, which was easy to make and looks really good.  I did have some trouble with my vertical tension and my block was too short. To remedy that, I added two pattern repeats.
Unknown to me, my sister has been working on the same afghan.  I'll take some photos next week when I am visiting her and share them with you . She is doing hers in one colour throughout.
Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.


It's time for March's tea cosy.  I have been procrastinating starting.  I needed to select several colours of yarn that would work together and I wanted to avoid any new purchases.  Several combinations were considered and even once I started stitching, I changed out some colours.  I was going to use a pale blue instead of the rose. 

The pattern for the Scallop Tea Cosy is from Crochetroo.   It is very addictive.  Changing colours every two scallop rows and with rows being so short, I don't want to put it down.  I was able to finish four colours last night while watching tv.  I did have to pull out a few stitches here and there, but then I never said I was great at crochet.  Hint: I was having trouble finding the last stitch in the row. To make it easier, as I start a row, after I make the first stitch, I then place a stitch marker through the loops, then when I get there on my next row, I can find it easily.  you can just see the white markers on the top left and top right of the following picture, click on the photo to enlarge.

Doesn't this just make you want to put everything else aside and start you own.  Next week I'll be showing my sister how to do this stitch and expect she'll want to try it right away.
 
Not much to say here. same as all the previous months.  My temperatures scarves are getting long and I'm only five months in.  they will easily loop around the neck three times.  On the left is mine which is using the daily high temperatures in Waterloo, Ontario.  On the right is the mystery location, which I will reveal at once the scarf is completed and given to it's recipient.
Last week, I mentioned that I was sewing with a friend.  Here is the interim results.  We sliced up a layer cake, sorted it, and now we are sewing it back together in long strips.  The pattern is from Black Cat Creations.
Did you get to some stitching last week, I'd love to see what you were doing.  Add your link to Mr. Linky below, and I'll be sure to drop by for a visit. 
 
 

Thursday 6 March 2014

Tangled Thursday - The Never Ending Winter

Winter, winter, winter, I think it's time for it to start fading away, or at least warm up.  We have had about four winters crushed into one.  Most days of below -20C, most winter weather storm watches, most wind chill warnings, most anything involving cold and bad driving conditions.  The only thing it hasn't been the most of is days off school due to snow, but it's coming close. 
For my drawing today, I sought out tangles that reminded me of snow.  They are on a 5 x 8 inch white page.  Tangles included: widgets, betweed, flake, starry night, and web variations.  I have left open spaces for any others that I might find.

Thanks to Marie at Daisy's Book Journal for this fun challenge.  Next week's challenge will be posed by Tami at Just One More Thing.

 Welcome to Tangled Thursday.  A few of my local and online friends have joined me in an occasional Zentangle challenge.  We'll take turns choosing a theme  and them post our drawings in about 2 weeks time.  All are welcome to join in the fun.  If you are new to Zentangles, then visit the website for a complete explanation and all sorts of online resources.  I'm also a big fan of TanglePatterns.com.

I have posted this snowman previously. He is drawn on a window cling using a Sharpie marker.

I was visiting with my mother earlier in the week.  She started drawing tangles shortly after I did.  We have taken two classes together and plan to do more.  While she does participate in our challenges, she is finding it difficult to keep up with each weeks drawing.  I have reminded her that it's not a race.  It's supposed to be relaxing.  Each of us works at our own pace when they chose to.  It wouldn't be fun nor relaxing if we were only doing it because  we had to.   I'll admit that I do sometimes race to get mine finished in time for posting, but I'm mostly ok with that.  All readers are welcome to join in at any time they want, your drawings don't have to be complete, they don't even have to be the same topic.  Just relax and enjoy what you are drawing. 

One way to improve your drawings and to get more benefit from the process, is to take your time.  Don't rush.  Consider each pen stroke before and as you make it.  If you rush when you are making dots, they will not be round, rather, they will be ovoid smears.  Place the tip of your pen precisely and then lift it up.   Yes, it does take a bit longer, but you will get a better visual result, and you find that your concentration improves.  The rest of the house and all it's happenings seem to fade away when I am focused and drawing.

I've seen it posted in chats and heard it from others in comments, why should I buy a Zentangle book when I can get it all free online.  Yes, there is all sorts of free information online on just about any topic that you can imagine, but remember, treat it for what it is, as in "you get what you pay for".  I use lots of online resources, but I also purchase a fair amount.  I can't afford to buy every book out there, but I do have five Zentangle related books and will get more in the future.  They have every thing I need together in one place with lots of examples, not only how to draw an individual tangle, but  completed drawings using multiple tangles together.  They also show me other way to use these skills rather than just on a 3 1/2 inch piece of paper.  When I view these ideas in front of me, they feed my imagination.  I don't want to be glued to my computer and internet every moment of the day.  When I am drawing with friends, it's easier to share a book than it is to crowd around a screen.   

There are also tangles that can't be found online.  Some are only available when you take a class from a CZT (certified zentangle teacher) , these ones will never be in print, nor made available online.  If we only learn online, then the teachers and authors will haven no incentive to produce more materials. (we've all heard this argument that someone somewhere has to pay the bill whether it is books, music, movies, and it still holds true). 

You are welcome to disagree with my thoughts posted here, but don't leave me a nasty comment telling me how you don't have enough money to go and purchase books, that is not constructive information to further this discussion. 

Mr. Linky is below awaiting a link to your current tangled post.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Needlework Tuesday - February's Postcards

I'm away for a quilt class with a dear friend who has recently taken up quilting.  In my absence, I have left some colourful photos for your enjoyment.  Once again I am participating in Prairie Moon Quilts 350 block challenge.  I didn't meet this month's objective, but I did complete 13 fabric postcards and one quilt block.  twelve of the postcards are shown  in this first photo.  Individual or group photos are included below.
Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.
 
Christmas

 
Strip piecing.

 
Two direction strip piecing.

 
Fused Squares

 
Re-embroidered fabric.  I time consuming, but fun method.
 
 
This one is not in the group photo at the beginning, as I made it for my post mistress and mailed it to her as soon as it was complete.  She loved it and has it displayed on her desk at the post office.
 
This is the third square for my Red Heart crochet along.  This block is all about working in the back loop giving a ribbing effect.  I turned out nice and square. 
I have to do some piecing and completed this 15 inch slab block.  The concept if from Cheryl Arkison.  So far, I have three blocks made in different colours.  I need at least a few more before I can make something with them.  No rush on this project. 
I hope that you all had some stitching time this past week.  Leave me  a comment as well, visit Mr. Linky below and add a link to your recent needlework post.  I'll be sure to visit with you and leave a comment.