Meet Marty Mason

On Thursday I finally got around to writing about our August meeting. In that post I teased everyone with a little about our special guest, Marty Mason, and promised more today. So here we are. Marty is a quilter from North Louisiana who blogs over at Marty's Fiber Musings. I contacted her a while ago and asked her to come to one of our meetings to give a trunk show. 

Wow, did she surprise! I knew she'd do a great job--she's given trunk shows and workshops before--but even though I'd attended one of her presentations, I am still in a little bit of show at how well-received she was.

Let me start at the beginning--which would be lunch. You know how eating is important to Louisianans. I should have been taking guild members who give presentations to lunch on their day to present. Well, I'm not good at entertaining, so you can imagine that I've been derelict in my duties. To make things right with those ladies I planned a nice lunch at one of our local restaurants and invited Marty to join us. Everything planned for the same day meant having to pull myself together only once. Doable in other words.

I couldn't choose a favorite, but it
would be a toss up between this gray...

and this white/neutral.

Lunch was a hit; everyone had a great time; getting to meet Marty early was a special treat. Yay! Redeemed! We left Bunkie and went to the museum in Cottonport for our meeting and got going right on time. 

Once the business part of the meeting was over, we settled down for Marty's presentation. She showed her quilts; told stories about some of them; described the inspiration for others; and entertained us with her humor. Every quilt is unique and interesting in its own way. I kept thinking "I like this one," "This is my favorite," "I have to try to make this." 

  

Now don't think I am one to gush and stutter and aw shucks over every quilt. I have my own tastes and I know what I like. Truthfully, there were a few that while I wouldn't necessarily want to make them, I still found interesting and unique. Surely the one with all the curved seams is more work than I am willing to give, but it's a stunner because of that. 

In the end I can say that bringing my bloggy friend in was a grand idea. But if every cloud has a silver lining, it also has a little rain--now I'm expected to continue my good work. As if I can entertain again next month. 

Miniseries Review: World Without End

Do you remember how much I love historical fiction?  It's my favorite genre and the longer the novel, the more I love it!  It's getting lost in a whole sweeping world, getting to know the characters so very well, the opportunity to learn about another time.  It's just everything that does it for me, and once I get hooked....well, then there's no hope for me!

All that does is lead to the big questions: Have you been watching the Reelz miniseries World Without End?  Did you watch the first miniseries based on the Ken Follett novels, Pillars of the Earth?  Because if you did, you have to be watching the sequel as it would be almost impossible to let it get past you.

I had the pleasure of reading both novels a few years ago after my daughter-in-law, Meggan, recommended and gave them to me.  Although I read them in the wrong order, it didn't matter so much.  In fact, just a few days of pleasurable, magnificent reading had me hooked on these rather long novels.    
Add to that wonderful week of reading the weekend discussion with Meggan, who happens to also be an English teacher, and I was a happy woman.  


Ah, but the best was yet to come!  The miniseries, which we recorded on the DVR and watched at our leisure, was stunning and, I'm thrilled to add, followed Pillars quite closely.  Rory and Meggan came for a couple of weekends and we watched the miniseries again with them.  Our discussions so intrigued Adam and Jenny that they joined the party.  

Queen Isabella

Now we're recording and watching World Without End, which is the second novel in the series.  It also follows the novel closely, but just as important is that the miniseries is so well done.  The costumes, the sets and the headpieces are just stunning.  

It's obvious that the researchers did their jobs, as did the many designers and artists.

To view more of these photos from the miniseries, visit the Reelz website.  And absolutely, if you have the opportunity to enjoy the books, grab them up.  They are well worth the hours (and days) of reading that you'll enjoy.

And because he's such a good writer, here's one more plug for Ken Follett's website.