QNSue...it's just your library background showing and it's not a problem. BTW, do you still find the to read at all?

Very little; from five and six hours a day to more like 5 to 10 minutes a day. Life is a challenge every day; little eye sight, achy hands and head, so is one step at a time...forget about running any more, I am moving in the slow lane. I watch my rear view mirror, and pull over carefully, to let those big trucks on by that make their living by driving down the road. My hat's off to them, trying to make time a gettin' down the road and back to their families safely.

Did hear of a new author (to me) Kate Morgan I am going to check out soon. Everyone remember with the holidays coming up, think about getting a gift that gives the whole year...a magazine that they will like....library card...Dennis Wesley books about Flip...and laugh at his colt's expressions in his illustrations, for the younger set and young at heart....Marguerite Henry's Misty, Justin Morgan had a horse, Sea Star for the 8-10 year old....and Walter Farley's Black Stallion series. Hardy Boy mysteries and Nancy Drew, and the Bobbesy twins....Will James: Smokey the cow horse. ..for ten to fourteen year old set. Newborn to four year set: Wright's Mother Goose which was originally written in French but contains all the English phonetic sounds of the English language. All Classics.

You never seem to be moving in the slow lane here ... sometimes I get tired just reading what all you have accomplished in a day, QNSue. You're one amazing woman!!! :)

Good for you for wanting to check out the new author ... and giving credence to the Classics!

Thank you QuiltE, but there are days, then there are days...so glad we are retired!! And our home is so simple, all one floor, no stairs, and a BIG kitchen.

Now to look into possible Guinea recipes!! Noisy birds, so noisy!!

QNS--I have read several of those authors to our children as part of our schooling. I don't read aloud as much as I did when they were younger. Winter months though we do tend to do a little more of that.

Good for you to read to your kids!! Now let them read to you or independently on their own. We limited our three children to what they could carry out of the library themselves...so the youngest girl found the biggest grocery brown paper bag, and filled it to the brim...and struggled out of the library to the car carrying the full bag...we had to return to the library in about 3 days, 'cause she had read them all!!

All our children were readers, (we were both readers, too) and they built up their vocabulary that way, took the math and science courses to gain that knowledge, and became National Merit Scholars...earning their college degrees themselves. Cousins in dh family did it also...well, a couple of them did.

Funny thing, Jeanie, none of them wanted to be teachers since their parents were!! Thought I was raising a Doctor, Lawyer, and Indian chief of the drums; not so. Engineers. Chemistry & electronics (computers). They all provide for themselves...none live where we retired to.

My mother passed on her love to reading to my sister & I; I passed it on to my son (we read every night, even when he learned to read himself). Grand-daughter loves to read, grandson not so much. When my mother passed away, we asked for no flowers, but instead make a donation to our local library which is struggling. I was overwhelmed when the library notified me that they had rec'd enough donations to buy 2 complete sets of encyclopedias. There's a Memorial Sticker in each volume with her name. I'd say she's passing on her love of reading to many more generations.

Oh JanRN, what a lovely tribute to your Mom ... and what a thoughtful decision you made to ask for the donations to the library.

A thought provoking discussion this is ... I was NOT a reader! My Mother was a teacher, and despite that, we were never overly encouraged. Actually, if we were reading, (other than for homework), we'd often be told to get up and do something. I remember one time when wanting a book to be told, "when you finish reading all the books up in the book case, then you can". It was 4 shelves, about 30" and none of the books had all the flash and colour that my friends had at school. Old books. Tattered books. Certainly not inviting and intriguing tio a kid!! Books from when my parents went to school? There was one ancient Bobbsey Twins book ... I eagerly read it. Meanwhile all the kids had the pretty modern BT books. Then the Nancy Drews with the yellow and black covers. I got one, once for Christmas which I treasured ... and classmates had everyone! I hated reading for book reports. I have often wondered why she was not more encouraging towards reading?

And another interesting trivia bit ... are you all familiar with Lucy Maude Montgomery famed for Anne of Green Gables? Her husband was the Minister at my Dad's church when he was a teen and she directed them in plays. Dad always revered LM (that's what they called her!) and when we went to PEI on holidays, we visited her home. And yet ... I was never given an Anne book to read, not even as a souvernir on our holidays. Alas! After being married and we started farming on our own we were right near where LM lived and wrote. It nawed at me and I purchased the first book. An adult reading a kids story! As I finished one, I read the next .... finally the whole series. Oh how I love seeing the play live .... or the TV versions! Again, more questions that make me wonder about my parents missing this in my life? :)

While working in business, I took a speed reading course and "learned" how to read! Amazing! I started to love reading for work (ugh!) and pleasure ... and not just fluffy books, but heavy duty stuff! I became a voracious reader and was always reading anything and everything. Now, since my eye problems, not so much ... just a harder thing to do and less enjoyable. Though I pretty much inhale MacLeans when it arrives and still the breed magazines (farm talk, ladies!) Although, once in awhile, my nose gets in a books and I'm gone again!

QNSue...I agree with Oksewglad. National merit scholars...quite an accomplishment.
QuiltE...I'm glad you discovered reading even if it was later than some. It's never too late to open the world of words. I also read Anne of Green Gables as an adult. Don't know why I never heard of it as a kid because I read every book I could get my hands on. We lived up in the hills without a public library but during the summer when we couldn't use the school resources, we had a bookmobile come every two weeks. There was a limit on how many books we could take at a time..there were others on the route...but Mom and I always filled the limit. After a hard mornings work, she would sit with her very large mug of tea and a book for about an hour as well as later in the evening. She introduced me to Perry Mason and historical novels. Lots of English history learned in novels. Only a couple of my kids are avid readers although I read to all of them when they were young. My 3 sons all have degrees beyond their BA, one daughter a BA and one daughter still working on her Associate. Can you tell it was the girls that didn't do much reading? They both read more now that they don't have to. I don't read as much as I once did but once I start a book nothing else gets done. I get completely lost in it. Most of the time I would rather be quilting. BTW...how many of you use an electronic reader? I started doing that when I traveled this past spring and I like it. No weighty books in my luggage but enough on my reader to fill all the waiting times that happen when traveling.
JanR...I also commend you for directing memorials to the library. That will live on for years!

GGal ... perhaps Anne was not so popular in the USA, being that she's a Canuck? Apparently the Japanese next thing to worship her!

I've wondered about the e-Readers ... don't know much about how they work and the initial and ongoing costs.

All, please do tell me more about them!!
THANKS!

QE, I have one of the earlier and cheaper Kindles. It's only for reading books--no flash or pizzazz. That's what I wanted it for --just to read books. There are so many sites with free downloads that I've only purchased a couple (I sound cheap but let's say frugal). You can adjust the font size so my senior eyes have no trouble. I take it everywhere, fits in my purse. I like Dublb's term: bookaholic. That's me!
For any of you that have a Kindle, try www.pixelofink.com. Tons of free books in all genres.

Pardon my ignorance here ... what else would it be for, other than reading books?
Definitely not cheap ... frugality only allows for more FARTs!
BTW how is that darling DGS? :)

Visibility is a concern for me ... with my vision problems, I just am not sure if my eyes would like it!
Sure wish there was a way to take one for a test drive ... like for a week? :)


DublB ... biggest as in screen size, I take it? so how small do they come? and how large is the biggest?


Once again, it proves I need a "kid" to take care of any geek-needs that I have!!



OK ... so while our $$s are different ... what price are these different e-Readers?
(thinking if I buy it and don't get onto it ... how much am I out?)

And in that same vein ... are there e-Reader functions on all the different portable computers?
(Frugality coming thru thinking ... spend more, have more value and variables as to how it can be used)

E readers...something I know nothing about. Dh bought his on a special deal, with advice from ds...who did not know how it worked...so dh flew by the seat of his pants and learned how to operate it. With me, the visual 'look' might not fit me right that I could see and read it with one eye.

And being old-fashioned, I like to 'hold' my book to read it...go back to it at will. Maybe I will hold out until they merge the cell phone with a e reader...

My Kindle was only $79. It doesn't have internet (Jeanie I'm jealous, I would love to have the new Fire but I'd spend more time "surfing" and playing games than reading or sleeping). We have soooooo many books in our house, even had more shelves built, donate them to Humane Society Thrift Store, give them away. They're like zucchinis--they multiply all by themselves. That's why we both have Kindles now and the only thing on the coffee table is dust.

QuiltE...I have the kindle reader software on my iPad so that's what I read in. My DH got it for me last year for my bday. You might want to go to Amazon and download the software and try a book from the link Jan posted. It's not the same as a reader when you have it on a computer but you could see now it can be adjusted for your personal preferences. I love my iPad but it isn't compatible with acrobat software so there are some files on websites that I can't read.

Thanks Ladies ... you're all getting me thinking!
I can't say that I know anyone with an e-Reader so I'm going to have to see if I can find someone who does, just to satisfy my curiosity.
Wish you could just borrow one, like taking a book out of the library! :)

Interesting reading about the E-book and Kindle. I haven't posted pictures for quite awhile, so I'm way behind in reading the posts. [ATTACH=CONFIG]372542[/ATTACH]

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here are my North Carolina & Next Door Neighbor. Hope you like them.

Glad you're catching up with our chatter, grannyQ. We have really been enjoying each other and quilting along the way. I do like your blocks.

GrannyQ---we've missed your pretty blues...great contrasts in these blocks.

Here's my versions for these two blocks ..............
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QE--some great fussy cutting. I like the black w/gold leaves in NC....nice blocks

Ponies, and cows, and goats Oh My!! Love them--I think you are going to have a really fun quilt.

Thanks Ladies!!!!

JanRN ... It's all about FUN, isn't it? :D I've never worked much with novelties and only done limited FC til this quilt. One of my goals was to get better at FC and know how to maneouver around odd shapes to make it work. Whether I am doing it technically right ... it's right for me and it seems to be working! :D

CarrieM ... I had limited fabric in NDN, and was quite the challenge how/where to get my FC to make it work. Some are a little "off" as that was my only choice. I'm thinking the black and gold is a Fairy Frost? Just a little bling and was used in a few of the other blocks too.

Oh both are very nice but I think the NC is exceptionally so. It really caught my eye--left right placement of the horses draws the eye to the center and then the FG (yellow I might add) take you to the corners. A+ in design on that one.

ITA ... NC turned out well. NDN just didn't make the grade so well.

Hello all. It's been fun to see the interpretations of the blocks and the ideas and stories about reading. Me, I love to read. Just wish there was more time.
Finished my final block last night - North Carolina Beauty. I went in a different direction and reversed colour placement in the centre section from the outer.
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I know this block would have been easier paper pieced but I can now say that every single block I made from the book was regular pieced. I have no idea why that is so important to me. lol

I just found out that my final block was finished on The Raven Day - the date in 1845 that Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven was first published. How cool is that? (Thanks QuiltE).

Strike up the band!!!!!!!!!!!
Hip Hip Hooray, W4Me has all her PC blocks made!

Great idea for the reversed geese in the two diagonals. A nice way to show off the different fabrics. Nice and colourful block to finish with.

Thought you would find that trivia interesting when I sent it to you, being that you have those raven fabrics! Just too coincidental that the dates matched! :)