Thursday, November 02, 2006

New Quilting Book

Diane Hire's Quilters Playtime arrived and has some deliciously casual quilts to look at and admire. The less restrictive style of these quilts has a lot in common with Moran and Marston's style but often with less vibrant colors in the sample quilts. Color choice is individual, and I like both the brights in Moran's style and the more subdued examples in the Hire's book. The Hire's book has both her own quilts and many examples made by her students so you get a wide variety of individual interpretations.

I've still not heard anything from Ringsurf about my codes. Frustrating. There has been something of an exodus from Blogger (for various reasons), but with my lack of skills, I'm not ready to switch. However, Jane Ann's and Deb's new blogs are looking great.

A while back, Karoda at Seamless Skin posted about the Sudanese Lost Boys and now Dave Eggers- collaborating with Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys- has a new novel, What Is the What . A "blend of fact and imagination," the novel relates the journey of a fictional child based on Deng's own trek toward safety. The review of this novel is here. I couldn't find Karoda's original post, but if you read this K., you can give the link. I love being able to listen to these NPR reviews on line while doing something else.

11 comments:

  1. Well, kiss my grits, Jen! I forgot I HAVE the Quilter's Playtime book and have never really read it! I mean, I browsed it when I got it, but I think it was around the holidays last year and it got put on the shelf without a thorough read. You and I seem to like the same quilters, so I will certainly haul my copy off the shelf tonight. Thanks for the timely reminder.

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  2. Jane Ann, we seem to like the same quilters and the same books. I will try to get to Tender at the Bone soon! I have a passle of library books to get through, but maybe I will sneak the Reichl in. By the way, how do you eat your grits?

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  3. A number of the Lost Boys were "adopted" by our church a number of years back. It has been amazing watching one woman do so much organizing to see that they get tutored and have all the things they need. It has also been quite a pleasure watching them grow up and start families. They are so appreciative and kind and pretty shy.I love reading or hearing things about the others whom these sweet guys may have known. Thanks for the link.

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  4. I heard that book review yesterday on NPR and another oral interview a while ago. There story is absolutely amazing, beyond amazing. Their stories make the world seem so large and so small both at the same time, ya know?!

    oh, and i restarted my book blog at wordpress...i find it much easier than blogger and typepad.

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  5. Lisa - I imagine it has been a pleasure to watch them grow up. Good for the members of your church that made it possible.

    Karoda - I was listening to the review in the parking lot of the grocery store, then I realized I could listen to it at home on NPR online, so I finally went in. Their stories are amazing.

    I'll check out your book blog now.

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  6. I'm not a sugar-on-my-grits girl, I'm afraid. I'm a butter/salt & pepper girl. When we went to Paducah we stayed at Metropolis, just over the Illinois line. The first morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, it was very noticeable that there were no grits--I even remarked on it. The next morning we stopped at the Huddle House on the way out of Metropolis, and grits appeared on my breakfast plate. I was happy. Also funny you ask, because just tonight I was reading Southern Living and I tore out a cheese grits recipe. Now, you'd think I wouldn't need a recipe after all these years, but this one uses chicken stock and you fold grated fresh parmesan into the pot (no eggs so no baking) and serve. Thought that might be a nice change.

    I stumbled onto an exhibit of the Lost Boys' artwork last fall at the Frist Museum here. There was a reception going on, and many, many of the young men were there, shy and obviously proud of their accomplishments. We've had quite a few of them here in Nashville.

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  7. Jane Ann's comment makes me very curious about the art work the young men produced...I hope google makes this easy to find :)

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  8. The Lost Boys exhibit sounds so very interesting.

    I too have thought about switching to wordpress but it's hard to figure out. For me, anyway.

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  9. Jane Ann - I'm always a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I'm a sugar-and-butter grits girl. The Cheese Grits Recipe might change my whole perception of grits, though. Sounds delicious.

    Like Karoda, I'm curious about the Lost Boys' artwork.

    Karoda - I'm on to Google, too.

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  10. Jen, I own the Quilter's Playtime book and agree it holds many possibilities! I also ordered What is the What after reading your post...Actually, you have been directly responsible for some recent increases in my book piles...=-) Thanks! (I think...?)

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  11. I can certainly sympathise, Rian. When I can't manage what I have, the idea of jumping into something new is more than a little intimidating. Some people just seem to take to the technology naturally, but everything is a struggle for me.

    Debby - Do you have a blog? All I get is a profile page, but since you own Quilter's Playtime, I'm assuming you are a quilter. :) We both seem to be readers, so I THINK I'm glad you gotten some book titles here. The book piles are a blessing and a curse, aren't they?

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Good to hear from you!