a week of everything but sewing

It's been a busy week around here. Yes, there was some reading, but more importantly, there was some serious pruning in the garden (no photos but imagine Mr D with chainsaw and me with secateurs), and a lovely long lunch out, and delightful afterschool pickups, and (ongoing) experimental culinary endeavours here at home. 

It all slowed down my sewing somewhat. But there's always tomorrow ...

Carolyn Forster's book 'string quilts' arrived from the library at The. Perfect. Moment! I'd been tossing up whether to finish another EPP 'rosemary block' , piece a scrappy backing, or start something new. 

Thursday night, I ventured into the sewing room and guess what I ended up doing! 

Carolyn's book is a delightful read, full of sustainable ideas to use up those fabric scraps. 

I also spent some time faffing around, flicking back to Emily's post here @quilty love and downloading a free tutorial from then came June & @naomialicec (brilliant use of colour) for further ideas. 

Sew, research all over, 

I made up a few trial blocks in a particular colour combo I was bursting to try. ...

These string blocks are really brightening up my design wall - such a yummy mix of colour & pattern! 

I think I may have just found a summer strings project!

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And here's what I've been reading lately, have you read any of these too?

My favourite read for October was "All the Colours of the Dark" by Chris Whittaker. This book was epic. It's about a love and friendship taking place over 25+ years from 1976 to 2001. In it, we follow the lives of Saint and Patch as they navigate from their early teenage years into adulthood, living in a small town rocked by a horrible serial kidnapper. The writing is beautiful, the storyline emotionally compelling.

This book follows his earlier novel "We Begin at the End" also an excellent read.

Historical fiction isn't my usual, but I found Jodi Picoult's latest, "By Any Other Name' an interesting read. And such a super cover!

The novel is split between the 16th/17th Centuries and the present, and depicts a story where Emilia Bassano is a ghostwriter for William Shakespeare. The other timeline is set in the present day where playwright Melina Green is having trouble getting her plays produced. When Melina’s play is submitted under a different name things begin to heat up.

Jodi Picoult always seems to find diverse topics to write about. While I enjoyed Emilia & Melina’s stories of courage & bravery, I was not familiar with the idea that Shakespeare was possibly not the author of his works, so I found this book quite eye-opening. 

Talking magpies? I was very dubious when my daughter suggested this book to me. This was so good. Tama, our magpie guide, is an astute observer, mimic and mischief maker and I loved him from the very first page! The novel is set in Central Otago, NZ where Marnie & Rob live on a struggling sheep farm. 

It's beautifully written and at times I laughed out loud. At other times, I felt for Marnie and all the pressures and isolation of farming life.

and now it's November, only 57 sleeps until Christmas🎄

Linda