SUMMERTIME SIZZLING #MYSTERY #SALE

Summertime, and the living is anything but easy for me. It’s a hundred and ten in the shade, and my already over-complicated life just got even more complicated, thanks to my author Lois Winston, who’s plunged me into yet another murder investigation.

You’d think she’d give me a bit of a reprieve since my extremely difficult communist mother-in-law Lucille Pollack is in a rehab center recovering from a minor stroke. But no, at least half the center’s staff overhears Lucille threaten to strangle her roommate. Less than twenty-four hours later the woman is found dead in her bed—and not from natural causes.

Of course Lucille becomes the prime suspect in the roommate’s murder. I know Lucille is all bluster and no action, but the cops aren’t willing to take my word for it. And no matter how much easier my life would be without her living under my roof, my conscience won’t allow me to look the other way while they lock her up for a crime she didn’t commit.

You can read all about the mayhem Lois gets me into in Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, which is on sale throughout the month of August on Amazon for only .99 cents. Read it in the comfort of your air-conditioned house or while sipping an ice tea while relaxing on vacation. That way at least one of us will enjoy the summer.

Revenge of the Crafty Corpse

Anastasia Pollack’s dead louse of a spouse has left her with more bills than you can shake a crochet hook at. Teaching craft classes at her mother-in-law’s assisted living center seems like an easy way to supplement her meager income. But when Lyndella Wegner—a 98-year-old know-it-all with a penchant for ruffles and lace—turns up dead, Anastasia’s cantankerous mother-in-law becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Upon discovering that Lyndella’s scandalous craft projects—and her scandalous behavior—made her plenty of enemies, Anastasia sets out to find the real killer before her mother-in-law ends up behind bars.

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--FABRIC YO-YO BIRD PIN

As I mentioned on Friday, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, the latest book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, features yo-yo crafts. Fabric yo-yos have been around since the Depression when women began making them to salvage every last scrap of fabric from garments that had worn out. Most scraps made their way into patchwork quilts, but those pieces too small to be used in quilts were made into yo-yos. Because of the way the yo-yo is constructed, even slightly worn pieces of fabric gained a second life. The yo-yos were then fashioned into coverlets, dresser scarves, placemats, and other useful items.

In the 1960’s yo-yos were rediscovered by the hippies who stitched them into colorful vests. Today you can find yo-yos embellishing various fashion accessories from head-to-toe or hair clips-to-shoes.

In Revenge of the Crafty Corpse Anastasia, the crafts editor at American Woman magazine, comes into possession of a box of fabric yo-yos. She uses some of them to craft a series of Christmas ornaments. Since Christmas is over, and most of you are probably in the process of packing away your ornaments for another year, here’s a yo-yo craft to herald in spring. After all, it’s only 72 days away. (Now doesn’t that help chase away the winter doldrums?)

Yo-yo Bird Pin

Materials: 4” circular piece of lightweight cotton fabric, 1" ceramic bird button, sewing needle, quilting thread, 1” jewelry pin back, jewelry glue
                              
Directions:

Hold the fabric circle with the wrong side facing you. Fold 1/4” of the raw edge toward the wrong side of the fabric. Using the quilting thread, begin the first stitch underneath the fold of the hem to hide the knot, then sew a running stitch around the circle. When you reach your starting point, and the circle is completely hemmed, pull the thread tight to gather the fabric. Smooth and flatten the yo-yo so the hole is in the center. This is the right side of your yo-yo.

Sew the bird button over the center hole of the yo-yo. Knot the thread and snip excess.

Glue pin back to back of yo-yo.

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA - FABRIC YO-YO GREETING CARD

Author Lois Winston recently attended Bouchercon 2012. While there, she took part in two craft rooms where authors of crafting mysteries teach craft projects to readers. Since fabric yo-yo crafts will be featured in the upcoming Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, the third book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series, Lois taught classes in making a fabric yo-yo greeting card. Now, you can make one, too. -- AP

Materials: 6” circular piece of lightweight cotton fabric, 3/4” - 1" diameter button, sewing needle, DMC Perle Cotton, DMC Memory Thread, Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry paper glue, wax paper, 4-1/2” x 6” piece of colored paper, Yarn Tree greeting card and envelope.

Directions for making Memory Thread stem and leaves: Cut one piece of Memory Thread 17” (twice the length of the short side of the sheet of directions.) Using this piece as a guide, cut another piece of Memory Thread four times the 17” length. Fold the longer piece in half, then in half again. Working from one end to the other, tightly twist the four lengths of Memory Thread together. Fold the twisted length in half, forming a “V”.

For the stem, fold the 17” length of Memory Thread in half, then in half again. Center over the “V” of the twisted length. Twist the stem pieces together, starting at the “V” and working to the opposite end.

To form the leaves, coil the ends of the Memory Thread.

Assembly directions for card: Apply a thin line of glue around the front edge of the colored paper. Center behind the card cutout. Apply a thin line of glue around the edge of card flap that folds behind cut-out section. Press flap in place. Place wax paper over the card and weight down.

Apply small dots of glue to back of stem/leaves. Remove weight and wax paper from card. Position stem/leaves on front of card. Place wax paper over the stem/leaves. Weight down Memory Thread until glue dries.

While glue is drying, make fabric yo-yo flower.

Directions for making yo-yo: Hold the fabric circle with the wrong side facing you. Fold 1/4” of the raw edge toward the wrong side of the fabric. Using the quilting thread, begin the first stitch underneath the fold of the hem to hide the knot, then sew a running stitch around the circle. When you reach your starting point, and the circle is completely hemmed, pull the thread tight to gather the fabric. Smooth and flatten the yo-yo so the hole is in the center. This is the right side of your yo-yo. Sew the button over the center hole of the yo-yo. Knot the thread and snip excess.

Glue the yo-yo to the top of stem.