A New-to-Me Book on Hawaiian Quilting

I was out shopping yesterday and found this cool book at the Princeton, N.J., public library book sale.

It's called The Hawaiian Quilt, and it's a guide to the collection of Hawaiian quilts at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. It features 120-odd pages of photos and history behind 62 or so quilts (there is a two-page spread for every quilt) and history of Hawaiian quilting and some of the various cultural institutions in Hawaii that preserve and display Hawaiian quilts. Curated by Reiko Mochinaga Brandon of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the text is in both English and Japanese.

It's not a how-to on making Hawaiian quilts but it will teach those interested in the subject a bit about the different styles and trends in traditional Hawaiian quiltmaking. 

I love Hawaii and Hawaiian quilts; I've made a couple of small pillow-sized Hawaiian-style quilts and have a lap-sized traditional-style Hawaiian quilt that I purchased on Maui hanging in my sewing room. This book features primarily the traditional appliqued style of Hawaiian quilting although there is one log-cabin quilt. The subjects of the quilts come from politics and nature and the book offers a brief history lesson of the islands alongside an appreciation for this beautiful and important art form.
 

2021 Reading Roundup

Another year, another book recap. 2021 was a pretty okay year for reading. I always had a book or two in my hands. I didn't finish any audiobooks; I'm still listening to the same book I was listening to in March 2020- Samantha Irby's Wow, No Thank You. I have about an hour left. It'll probably get counted next year and meanwhile audiobooks continue to stack up in my Libro.fm account.

I'm pretty satisfied with my total even if it strikes me as low compared to some years. I was trying to work my way through some short books, as well as alternating between books that have been in my stash for a long time and newer things that continue to trickle in. I still work for a bookstore but I haven't stepped foot in my workplace since the shutdown last year so I don't get the same access to ARCs that I used to, although I still can get some. But don't worry- I'll never run out of things to read.

That's my Christmas book haul. But on to the recap from 2021.

How many books read in 2021?

59 books in 2021, up 5 from 2020. 

How many fiction and non fiction? 

37 fiction versus 22 nonfiction. I was always reading one of each but the nonfiction books tend to be longer.

Male/Female author ratio?

27 male to 31 female plus one that I don’t know.

Diversity?

19 authors were people of color or about a third. At least 6 authors are Jewish and at least 10 of the books covered LGBTQ themes or characters.

Favorite book of 2021? 

Milk Fed, by Melissa Broder

Any that you simply couldn’t finish and why? Always, but I’ll never tell.

Oldest book read?  Nightmare Alley, by William Lindsay Gresham, published first in 1946.

Newest? My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley, to be published in 2022 by Penguin Random House.

Longest and shortest book titles?

Shortest title: Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell

Longest title: Jack the Ripper & the Case for Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect, by Robert House

Longest and shortest books?

Longest: The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fantonne Jeffers

Shortest: My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley

How many books from the library? 

None! For the sixth year in a row I did not read a library book.

Any translated books?

I read books or stories translated from French, Italian, Japanese, German and Spanish.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?

Apart from various locales in the United States including Los Angeles, Texas, Brooklyn, Georgia, New York City, Boston, Washington state and Oregon, I went to England, South Africa, Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Senegal, Japan, Argentina, Poland, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Tibet, India, Turkey, Kenya, Italy, China, Spain and Russia as well as the Discworld.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?

I read two books by Melissa Broder.

Any re-reads? 

I re-read Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham and Made for Love by Alyssa Nutting.

Favorite character of the year? 

Marie de France in Matrix by Lauren Groff.

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation? 

The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett. My husband recommended it.

Which author was new to you in 2021  that you now want to read the entire works of? 

Deesha Philyaw

Which books are you annoyed you didn't read? 

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read? 

I read all four books I had on last year’s list of books I wanted to make sure to get to- Outlawed, Lampedusa, Grotesque and Luster. I was glad to get to Radio Free Boston by Carter Allan and Savage Nights by Cyril Collard.

Bookish Events in Marie's Life: 

Another pandemic year and not a lot in the way of bookish events. I did enjoy NAIBA’s virtual conference and the CABS seminar I attended virtually in August. I am toying with the idea of becoming a rare book dealer at some point and I learned a lot from that program. 

Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2022:

• All of You Every Single One by Beatrice Hitchman
• Vladimir by Julia May Jones
• Vernon Subutex by Virginie Despentes
• The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces by Susan Tomes

2020 Reading Roundup

How many books read in 2020?

I read a sad 54 books in 2020. Waaaay down from last year's 71. I attribute this to Covid; no commuting after March meant no subway books, and no audiobooks. 

How many fiction and non fiction? 35 fiction versus 19 nonfiction. No audiobooks after March meant a steep decline in that category and the nonfiction I read at home tended to be longer books than the fiction.

Male/Female author ratio? 29 female authors versus 23 male and 1 nonbinary (that I am aware of).

Diversity? Of 54 authors 19 were people of color and 8 books covered LGBTQ themes.

Favorite book of 2019? 

I loved Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker and Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed.

Any that you simply couldn’t finish and why? Always.

Oldest book read? 

August Folly, by Angela Thirkell, originally published in 1936.

Newest? 

Sure, I'll Be Your Black Friend, by Ben Philippe, due out later this year.

Longest and shortest book titles?

Shortest title: Meaty, by Samantha Irby
Longest title: My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, by Jenn Shapland

Longest and shortest books?

Longest: The Lying Life of Adults, by Elena Ferrante
Shortest:  The Famous Magician, by Cesar Aira

How many books from the library? 

None! For the fifth year in a row I did not read a library book.

Any translated books?

I read books or stories translated from Spanish, French, Italian, Korean and Swedish. This year I read the fewest translated books in probably the last 15 years. Weird.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?

I went to Colombia, France, Italy, North Korea, England. Nigeria, Ireland, Sweden, Scotland, South Africa, Russia, Kenya, China, New Zealand, all over Polynesia, Argentina, Thailand and several fantasy worlds as well.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author? I did not repeat a single author all year.

Any re-reads? 

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. I last read it in high school; it definitely held up. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 

Favorite character of the year? 

Giorgio Pellegrini from Gang of Lovers.

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation? 

The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula LeGuin. My husband recommended it.

Which author was new to you in 2020 that you now want to read the entire works of? 

Kristen Arnett

Which books are you annoyed you didn't read? 

Lampedusa by Steven Price.

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read? 

No. I was sort of picking from the shelves at random.

Bookish Events in Marie's Life: 

There were no bookish events in my life except for my job. I continued my job which changed and changed again over the course of the year. I pivoted from a part time paperwork job to a fulltime ecommerce position, rode the waves we experienced as a business and washed up on the post-holiday shores exhausted but happy and grateful.

Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2021:

• Outlawed by Anna North
• Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino
• Lampedusa by Richard Price
• Luster by Raven Leilani

Reccomended Reading: No One Is Coming To Save Us, by Stephanie Powell Watts

No One is Coming to Save Us, by Stephanie Powell Watts 9780062472991

A perfect choice for a quiet afternoon in your favorite chair and set in modern day North Carolina, Powell Watts tells the story of Ava and Sylvia, mother and daughter navigating family, change and the future. Ava’s lackluster marriage to underachiever Henry is falling apart as she makes what may be a final, desperate attempt to have a child. Then her first love moves back to town in a flashy mansion on a hill. Sylvia’s troubles are with the past and present, too, and with her troubled daughter. This is a moving, engrossing and character-driven story about family- the one you’re given and the one you choose, even when life doesn’t go as expected. It’s a lovely and honest look at being a woman, a wife and a mother and making peace with what is and what can be. 

Buy it from Bookshop.org.

Since I Can't Be at the Retreat...

This weekend is my guild's winter retreat and I am super bummed I'm not there. All weekend long I'm looking at pictures of my friends hanging out and making things and I'm envious of the camaraderie and the opportunity to sew sew sew all day long.

I tried to make up for it a little bit though.

I spent yesterday at my machine learning Victoria Findlay Wolfe's technique for Y-seam-free herringbone quilts. The design's not the best and I picked those scraps to practice with because I didn't think I would miss them lol.

However it was fun and not even very difficult. Findlay Wolfe teaches the technique in her book Modern Quilt Magic.

I have a pattern from Etsy that uses this technique and I've already started picking fabrics for that- and of course I have a million other ideas for things I'd like to make with herringbones.

Then this morning before work I spent about a half hour working on a different project that's further along. I'll have pics and more about that soon.

What are you sewing this weekend?

Japanese Sewing Books?

Do you ever buy Japanese sewing books?

I love to go to Kinokuniya in Manhattan, the American flagship of the Japanese book chain; I don't read or speak the language but they have a great selection of general fiction, manga/anime stuff and a basement filled with bags, toys, magazines- and books of course in Japanese.

And I love salivating over the beautiful craft books. Like I said I can't read it and I have literally no idea what the title of this book is but it's filled with patterns and inspiration for Hawaiian-style quilts, bags and accessories. And I love Hawaiian quilting.

The pictures are gorgeous- bright colors, bold designs, lots of options for all kinds of fun things to make.

I realized I couldn't live without this book, so I got it.

The book includes all the patterns needed, and since I do have some basic bag-making skills I'm sure I could figure out how to make almost anything in the book. And there are YouTube videos for the skills I haven't acquired yet.

How fun!

New Crafting Books

After my first attempt at doll-making went so great, I decided to get a couple of books to help me learn how to do it properly.

Wee Wonderfuls: 24 Dolls to Sew and Love, by Hillary Lang (2010, Abrams, ISBN 9781584798583)  looks great. It contains a bunch of patterns for different kinds of dolls and toys, and simple accessories. There are lots of things here I want to try- an inchworm in wool felt and lots of dolls.

The Making of a Rag Doll, by Jess Brown (2014, Chronicle Books, ISBN 9781452119519) shows and tells how to make a single doll and her accessories. Her style is more primitive versus Lang's, which is more modern. I'm looking forward to going step by step through these projects.

Both books together form a little course on dollmaking.  So much fun!