Holiday Reading - White Teeth

I'm currently away visiting the in-laws so crafting activity has been replaced with tourist activity, but the reading continues. Ulysses has taken a bit of a back seat for the time being, and I've just finished reading Zadie Smith's 'White Teeth'. It is the story of several immigrant and mixed-raced families living and adjusting to changes in culture, language and expectations and the changes that occur in their relationships with each other. A good read - not too taxing, so a good choice for a holiday read. I think having some familiarity with London, and/or some experience of immigrant culture would help to increase the appreciation of Zadie Smith's writing style. Her ability to effortlessly slip into Patois, London street language and other vernacular made me appreciate her skill. So - another book to tick off the list of 1000 books, and I'm hoping to see another Zadie Smith title on the list to make sure that this wasn't a one off skillful weaving together of narrative.

First line of quilt - done

I've sewn the first line of my quilt! Yeay!

That's 10 9-patch squares with white piecing between them all, although I've only photographed 5 of them as I have to keep some of the final product a secret after all!

A reading update

I am currently in the process of reading James Joyce's 'Ulysses', a dauntingly hefty piece of literature that I must admit I'm struggling through. Currently I'm only about 250 pages into it, and have enjoyed sections of it immensely but have struggled to stay with the flow of writing in other sections. I thought that having visited Dublin, I might find this more of an enjoyable read, but maybe I haven't got to the section which took place in the parts I visited yet. Who knows? What I am rapidly realising is that I am someone who enjoys reading novels for their stories, and the plot, rather than for the depth and meaning in the language. As I understand it, Ulysses is meant to be read with the understanding of the 'flow of consciousness'; dipping in and out of the narrator's thoughts, what they hear, what they say, thoughts that merge midway through a sentence, interruptions, distractions etc. And in sections of the novel, I can appreciate being 'inside someone's head' but at other times, it frustrates me as it doesn't add to the 'story'.
This is a mid-novel moan. I'm hoping that I'll get back into the swing of the writing soon and who knows, maybe I'll end up loving it. I mean, people clearly do love this book, if the droves of tourists who were on a Ulysses tour in Dublin are anything to go by!

I've taken the plunge

Chopping has started, and even some sewing. I can start to imagine the finished product, which is great! Although a delay may occur as the extra wool has now arrived, so knitting a scarf for the other half is what I am doing most evenings at the moment. I predict that I'll be done this time next week and then quilting will continue full pelt.

Perhaps some inspiration will help me move forward?...

Still in a panic - still haven't started cutting fabric - so it probably isn't the right time to be planning a future project... but look at these lovely fabrics that my sister got me for my birthday! Its limited edition fabric issued by the Victoria and Albert Museum, based on fabrics from vintage quilts from their Quilt exhibition - which I sadly missed.

Panic stations!

Ok, having laid out all 120 9-square pieces... I'm in a bit of a panic. It's big. Very big. Very, very big!


In fact, it takes over the whole of my living room floor. How on earth am I going to get all of this done? (I haven't even started to cut the white fabric yet - instead I started knitting a scarf, but that will be put on hold for a little while as i realised I didn't have enough wool to complete it - and have ordered some more.... a rooky mistake I know).

120!

2 days ahead of the one a day schedule, and I've finished sewing the 120 9 patches. Very pleased to have got to this point, but now the real work begins. White sashing needs to be added to each square, and then they all need to be sewn together, a backing made and then needs to be basted, quilted and then bound - that's all! Yikes!!! I might need to have a bit of a project break first and try something else in the meantime...

The Black Prince

Reading 'The Black Prince' was my first venture into the the novels by Iris Murdoch. As I understand it, this isn't her most well known novel - and some more familiar titles are on my list and will be tackled at a later date.

'The Black Prince' is the story of Bradley Pearson, a novelist of moderate success for his one previous novel who is suffering from writers block. Pearson is surrounded by friends and family who encroach on his plans to get away from London in order to write a novel. His ex-wife re-appears on the scene with her devious brother, his sister leaves her husband and turns up on his doorstep, and his relationship with his friend (successful, younger author) Arthur Baffin, his wife and their daughter takes a complicated turn, and eventually vicious turn. This is mainly the story of a middle-aged man's sexual frustration, distraction and procrastination, but is also a disturbing examination of human nature.

It is a witty novel with dark comedy skillfully woven through it. It is a page-turner in a similar vein to a murder mystery or thriller, but due to the content and examination of the unpleasant natures of human characteristics, I could not say that it is an enjoyable read. My favourite aspect of the novel came in the last few pages, where a number of post-scripts are added by other characters in the novel. These throw the whole narration by Pearson on its head, contradicting entire sections of the story and the reader is left questioning the honesty of the narrator and the truth and innocence of the main character. I was left thinking about the story and re-evaluating my conclusions for days afterwards which I always take as a sign of a good author.

A gift for a lovely new baby

This is a little gift that I made last week for the birth of a lovely baby girl. Hand stitched in one afternoon. Quite pleased with how it turned out as I made the pattern up as I went along, although there are a few things that I would probably change if I made one again. Made entirely with fabric from my stock at home.

An unlikely heroine

We've just had a lovely bank holiday weekend, where I was able to finish reading Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl Who Played With Fire'. I couldn't put it down! I read the first part of the trilogy, which was also stimulating, but in my opinion, the second novel is much better. I think it is partly because this novel concentrates more on the unlikely heroine of Lisbeth Salander, a petite, anti-social computer hacker who is caught up in and targetted by a violent criminal underworld, when she is accused of committing a triple murder. This novel withholds more information than the first one, and the already mysterious character of Lisbeth draws you in. In the first novel, she was a main character but was most definately sidelined by Blomkvist's role in the novel - afterall she was his assistant. In this novel the roles are reversed, and Blomkvist has to turn detective and dig into Salander's unconventional past in order to help her. Larsson's writing style seems to be more polished in this particular novel and whilst being an enjoyable page turner - I don't think that it will become a modern classic, but in a few years time will probably be remembered more for the phenomena of the Millennium series rather than the content of the book. Having said that - I can't wait to read number 3!

9-patch quilt progress

As I will be blogging here more than on Tumblr, I thought I'd better catch up with the progress/saga so far:

Photo from Frogdancer

(June 2nd)

Its been a while since I’ve done anything crafty. I recently finished my first ever knitting project (a scarf) just in time for a heat wave! Perfect timing.

The above photo is my inspiration for a quilt that I want to make. Again, this is my first real attempt at quilting. The aim is to make a quilt cover for a double bed. I’ve used Excel to chart out a plan for my quilt. I will use the same solid colour (grey) for the 4 squares in an attempt to tie everything in a bit more, and will use the white borders as in the photo above. I’ve worked out that I will need to make 90 ‘9 patch’ squares to complete the middle section and a ridiculous number of odds and ends to create a patchy border.
Tutorial found at crazymomquilts

Cutting and Chopping (June 14th)
A few days of chopping up fabric - these squares will make up the 90 9-patch squares. A few more hours of chopping should complete the grey squares but all colourful ones are done (subject to me changing my mind about a couple of colours that may not fit the overall scheme). Chopping up the white fabric that will hold it all together will have to wait. In the mean time, I can’t wait to start sewing.

9-patch update (August 15th)
Currently over half way in making the 9 patches and one day ahead on the one a day target. Pleased with my progress so far! It’s most definately a challenge, but I can imagine the end result which is keeping me going.
Once I’ve completed the 90 9 patches that I need, its a matter of cutting and sewing on the white border fabric which will surround each 9-patch; then i need to baste, quilt and bind.
(edit and update: I’ve just done a recalculation to ensure that the quilt is the same as a queen size quilt - that means that I have to complete 120 9-patch sqaures and means that all my calculations are now out…. I think my adapted design means that I am approaching midway - and the advantage is that I’m still one day ahead as the final date of 9-patch completion will simply shift as its one a day. 30 extra days to calculate, and some more fabric cutting to do…)

An Introduction

Starting a new blog requires an introduction.

This is a space that I am planning to use to write and share my musings, mumblings and mutterings. I'm not sure that it will always make sense, and I don't know if anyone will read it.

I work at a boring desk job that I am working desperately to get out of. To reduce the monotony I need a creative outlet. I dabbled with sewing in my childhood, but have taken this up again, learning how to knit and starting my first quilt. I'm finding it a wonderful way to unwind and de-stress, and even bring sewing into work to complete on my lunch break or on the bus on the way home. This blog will most likely track some of my crafty projects, and I've been gleaning inspiration and instruction from a number of crafty blogs that I follow.

I am an avid reader and have currently set myself a target of trying to read all the novels listed in the Guardian's 1000 novels everyone must read. Occasionally I might refer to some of these books. I'm really enjoying going through the list, and challenging myself with reading some fantastic novels that I would not have otherwise picked up. Admittedly, there are also some novels that I haven't particularly enjoyed - Martin Amis springs to mind - but I guess that's part and parcel of working your way through a list like this.

I used to blog with Tumblr and may still keep this going with occasional updates. Anyway, lets see if I can keep this one going on a less sporadic basis.