CGM Podcast Episode #50: Beach Bound

Listen to the episode HERE

Show Notes 


Life Update:

• We're off to the beach!
• Summer Camp is kicking Sam's booty, much to my amusement.
• Potty Training has commenced for Maddy...Mom needs to get on board.

 WIPs and FOs:

• June F*ck blocks finished and mailed. To view them, visit our group here. 
• King Spiderweb quilt - working on blocks
• Summer Sampler - working on this as a potential pattern one day.
• C/O knitted socks
• C/O In Threes Cardigan by Kelly Herdrich

2013 UFO Along! 

Don't forget to enter your finished UFOs here and for a 

chance to win monthly prizes. June's prize is a $15 gift card to 

Jimmy Bean's Wool and July's prize is a copy of  

Growing Up Modern by Allison Harris.

Classic Movie Review:

 Summer Stock 

with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly

 Book Reviews:

 Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

 

Thanks for listening!

CGM

Back to Some Fun....

Moving on from my cranky-pants attitude right now, and diving back in to what non-eating activity makes me happy. I am busily sewing away on several projects this month. Here's what I've got going on right now:

This is a summer themed applique quilt I am putting together. Each of the images are from sketches I've done, then transferred to fusible and fabric. I love this method for making quilts at a leisurely pace. The fun part for me is using fabrics to essentially "draw" the picture for me. Next up is what I plan to be the focal point:

Not the best picture, I know, but I wanted to show how I sketch when I'm in my studio, and give you a possible tip when going from sketches to quilts. I often sketch with my tracing paper directly on top of a cutting mat. This way I can better manage the size of the sketch, ensuring it's not too big or small for the finished size block I need. This saves time from having to resize over-and-over to make sure your dimensions and proportions are right for the space you need to fill. 

So in the case of the sketch above, I plan for this block to be approx. 10" x 10" and I made sure when drawing to stay within those lines on the cutting mat. When tracing onto fusible web I will of course "clean up" the lines, and use a Sharpie pen to make them darker.

I am also working on my swap blocks for this fun group. I love "getting naughty" in the studio!

What are you working on these days?

CGM

Thursday Thoughts

• Did you know I can tango?
• Like a pro?
• Yep!
• But I only know how to do a 
• certain kind of tango dance.
• It's called the
• Weight Loss Tango.
• Here's how it goes:
• You lose 3 pounds one week
• Gain 1.5 the next.
• Lose .2 
• Gain 2.2
• Lose 1.6
• Gain 1.6
• Lose .3
• Gain 1
• Lose...
• Gain...
• Back...
• Forth..
• Da-da...
• Da-dum....
• Before you know it
• you're dancing a tango
• on and off the scale
• I am frustrated.
• Pissed at myself.
• Trying not to kick the nice WW lady who checks me in
• every Sunday
• in her skinny, tanned shins.
• "Down this week!" 
• cue chirpy voice
• "Up a little this week!"
• soft chirpy voice
• "Down this week!"
• chirp-chirp
• "Up a little!"
• "Oooh, down .1 this week!"
• 1 tenth of a pound.
• What's that, a fat quarter?
• Eesh.
• And I have only myself to blame.
• Well myself and the
• 5-10 extra points I go over every week.
• That I mentally block out or ignore.
• If only sewing or knitting burned off
• ice cream calories automatically.
• I'd be set for the summer!
• In the meantime
• I will try and console myself that
• why yes, 1/2 a cup of ice cream
• is a perfectly reasonable
• serving size for the points allotted.
• Sure it is.
• Yep.
• Chirp! Chirp!
• It's going to be a long summer folks.

CGM

2013 CGM Summer Book List for the Non-Literary

Based on a number of requests and emails, I have updated my 2012 list below with some new or new-to-you titles to throw in your beach bag this year.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a comment below on your picks for the summer! As I've mentioned in my podcast, I am always happy to not only gab (on-and-on) about books, but my pen is always ready to write down what others are reading. I'll be the first to admit I don't read every genre, so any I've left off are strictly because I haven't read enough to recommend them at this time...please tell us yours!

Chick-Lit/Straight-Up Fun Stories Usually with a Romantic Angle

The Husband List by Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly

I am a big J.E. fan, and this one is pure fluff and fun - set in the 1890s!

Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews

I think I've read everything by MK Andrews - 

she is pure Southern charm and fun.

Manhunting by Jennifer Crusie

I haven't read Crusie in a long time (she hasn't written a new book 

in awhile) but I really enjoy her, and plan to go back through 

some of her early novels this summer.

The Lost Husband by Katherine Center

Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger
by Beth Harbison

Thinking of You by Jill Mansell
(Jill is a classically funny British author - one of the original "chick-litters")

Fiction/Not War-and-Peace or Canterbury Tales but a Book You Can Say "Damn, That Was Good!" by the End

 Fever by Mary Beth Keane

Great historical fiction about the infamous "Typhoid Mary"

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
She's one of my new favorite ficiton writers!

The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio

Wool by Hugh Howey

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

(great "Buffy-like" series, but then I like women who kick ass and kiss paranormals)

Comedic Fiction and Non Fiction/Books To Make You LOL

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

(seriously, if you like to laugh while you read 

you cannot go wrong with Carl Hiaasen)

The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

(the writer of the Stephanie Plum series and the writer for the 

TV show, Monk, team up..hijinx ensue, great start to a new series!)

The Tao of Martha by Jen Lancaster

The Potty Mouth at the Table by Laurie Notaro

(Empty your bladder before reading anything by Laurie Notaro)

Checkout Girl by Anna Sam

Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky

Mysteries/Thrillers/Women Who Kick Ass and Take Names

The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag

Bomb Shell by Catherine Coulter

Unseen by Karin Slaughter

The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo

(great 1st book in an investigative series set in an Amish community)

Quilt Fiction/Knit Lit

 Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick

 (GREAT stand alone book with a well-loved character 

in the Cobbled Court series.)

 The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

 The Lover's Knot by Claire O'Donohue

(1st in a very good quilt mystery series!) 

 While My Pretty One Knits by Anne Canadeo

(1st in a very good knitting mystery series)

 Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

(1st in a sewing mystery series) 

 Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong

Unravelled by Robyn Harding 

(very nice, heartwarming knit lit)

 The Healing Quilt by Lauraine Snelling

 Erotica/Smut We're Now Old Enough to Read

Naked by Raine Miller
(this is a short story/entry into The Blackstone Affair series)

Rush by Maya Banks

Release Me by J. Kenner

If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Seducing Cinderella by Gina L. Maxwell

On My Design Wall..

I'm working on a new sampler quilt of my own design, and it's kind of like putting a puzzle together.

I love to sketch and doodle and I'm finally finding pockets of time to turn some of my silliness on paper into fabric art. Of course I'm using my favorite "fabric painting" method, fusible applique, for this. I've stocked up on Wonder Under, and I'm tracing, fusing, and piecing away! Lots more to come as this and several other projects come together.

What are you working on this week?

CGM

What I'm Reading This Month

It's hot, we're going to the pool on the weekends, and I need a little fun and "fluffy" reading right now...don't you? Here's what I'm pulling off my nightstand this month:

Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes

(on sale 8/20/13, I am reading an advance copy)

 The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

(on sale 7/30/13, I am reading an advance copy)

The Supreme's At Earls All-You-Can-Eat 

by Edward K. Moore

What are you reading this month?

CGM

Knitting F.O: Color Affection Shawl

It's done, done, done! I am so pleased with my Color Affection shawl and I think it's my favorite knitted item yet.

This was made with Plucky Knitter yarn in the Plucky Feet base. Colorways are: Bashful, Vanity, and Vignette.

You can see from the sheer beauty of the shawl's design, why the

pattern is consistently in the top 20 patterns downloaded on

Ravelry. But beyond that, it's a deceptively simple knit. Almost all garter stitch, the only other skills you need are to be able to do a wrap-and turn for short rows, M1R (make 1 right) and M1L (make 1 left), and how to add a new color to your work. I had already learned to do the make 1's on other projects, but there are some very good videos on YouTube that can quickly show you the stitches.

Close up/detail

So if you're a beginning knitter, with maybe 1 or 2 small projects under your belt, I highly recommend giving this shawl pattern a try...the hardest part will be picking out your yarn colors, I promise!

CGM