After seeing on Instagram a few Kawandi quilts, I pursued learning about them. Only one YouTube tutorial somewhat inadequately explains how to make a Kawandi quilt. I also watched several videos about them, how they're made with old clothing by Siddi women in India. There's also a good YouTube interview between a Kawandi quilt collector/seller and Nancy Zieman. Striking out on my own, I cut background fabric 16" X 26". I sorted through and rough-cut these scraps, and discovered as I went along that I needed twice this amount. Hand-stitching is size 8 perle cotton, and batting is Quilter's Dream Cotton Request. It's interesting to work from the outside in. Nice texture is created by straight quilting lines. This is the finished piece, though it has its flaws. Several edges of turned-under scraps weren't caught by hand-stitches, so when I was finished, I used fabric glue to stick them in place. It turned out pretty enough, but I want to do better. On Friday, November 5, I'm taking a three-hour Kawandi quilt online workshop with Sujata Shah @therootconnection, to learn to do it properly. My supplies are gathered, cut, and ready to go. The following afternoon, though the South Florida MQG, I'll take another three-hour online workshop with Malka Dubrawsky to make a "Maze" quilt, a free pattern from February 2019 available to MQG members. I figure it will be a way to begin to use some of the dozens of yards of Painter's Palette Solids I've bought in the past two month. "Maze" quilt by Malka Dubrawsky Oh, didn't I mention? I found a great sale on Painter's Palette Solids ($5.96 a yard) at The Quilt Place (Orlando) that was too good to pass up. Another 50 yards (25 colors) are on the way. I know. "Yikes!" As this pandemic goes on and on, I find myself looking for more virtual workshops. I have several projects and techniques that I'd like to have a go at so I'm taking advantage of every online opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. I've also discovered that, in general, it's less expensive to take a workshop directly from the instructor, versus taking the same workshop through an organization. Recent quilt-y days have been full of working on my latest Shell-inspired, patterned improv quilt. I plan to make six of these 20" X 20" blocks. Yep, the quilt will be large; around 60" x 80". I'm naming it Italica because: 1) the main block is called "Old Italian" according to Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns (Did you know an updated version of this 1993 book will be available soon from Electric Quilt?) 2) when I Googled "old Italian," I learned about the 102 year-old woman from Italy who, in March, survived Coronavirus, and survived the 1918 Spanish Flu! Her name? Italica Grondona. Perfect. My she-cave got a little brighter with the arrival of an aqua-colored Ecopeco cutting mat. Aqua decor is goin' on here, and I love it! What's out of view is my favorite piece of furniture in the house - my aqua swivel-glider that sits in the bay window. Book Recommendation Outsider by Linda Castillo is another series book I unknowingly selected, though it stands alone pretty well. Turns out it's #12 in the Kate Burkholder series. Kate is the chief of police in a rural Ohio community that's mostly Amish. After ten years, Kate's once-closest friend, Gina, resurfaces with a gunshot wound in the home of a widowed Amish man and his three children. With a record-setting snowstorm hitting the area, Kate hunkers down with the family to await the storm's lessening and take Gina in for questioning. But Gina's pursuers who are cops themselves, aren't giving up on finding Gina and "taking care of their problem." This is a suspenseful story that includes dirty cops, and a glimpse into Amish life and values. Linda's score: 3.8/5.0 If I still lived in Iowa, I would go to Lutheran Church of Hope to pick up one of these yard signs. I need this reminder and I'm pretty sure others do too! In good news, Beth Moore has rescheduled a Living Proof Ministries event in Des Moines for November 5-6, 2021. I hope to be there too! This is the weekend our time changes. Does anyone feel happy about getting an extra hour of sleep?! Linda