So Many Goodies — Janet Szabo

Yesterday was a great day. I woke up to find an e-mail from Koerts Music—James Koerts is one of my favorite arrangers and I have just about every collection of music he has released. I also belong to his Piano Club and get a new arrangement at the start of every month. I get tired of playing the same pieces Sunday after Sunday, so I am constantly searching out new, fun music to play. (Yes, church music can be fun to play!)

I went to the website immediately and purchased this:

After I printed the file, I went to the piano and played through each of the medleys. Not only are they fun to play, but each medley is balanced with popular and lesser-known hymns. I sight-read most of them easily; only a few passages are going to require some work.

[Music for church pianists usually falls into one of two categories: very short, simple arrangements or complex, dramatic pieces. Finding interesting arrangements for someone who plays for two small, relatively older congregations and who doesn’t spend hours practicing or playing every day is a challenge. Really talented arrangers want to arrange challenging music. One arranger I used to like—before she went off the rails—once stated that pianists should be able to play with equal facility in all keys, so she began releasing pieces with five and six sharps and really weird chord substitutions. No thank you.]

I was so happy with this purchase that I went back to my computer and sent a thank you e-mail to James Koerts. I know that I love to receive positive feedback, so I try to give it, too.

I also belong to a subscription service called The Church Pianist from the Lorenz Corporation. I’ve belonged to this for years—it arrives quarterly and contains about a dozen seasonally-appropriate arrangements in a variety of styles and skill levels. I depend on that publication for finding new beloved arrangers. A few weeks ago, I got a letter in the mail from the Lorenz Corporation letting all subscribers know that from now on, the publication will be available in PDF format only. I understand they are trying to save money and stay solvent, but I dread having to print music to file in page protectors in binders. It is what it is. That’s a quality publication and I have a three-year subscription.

[I have seen pianists play from music on iPads and other tablets, but I have enough issues with my middle-aged vision that I prefer to have the actual music.]

Soon it will be time to start working on Christmas music.

After lunch, the big brown truck of happiness delivered my Amazon order, including the purse embroidery book, which is very good. It features excellent designs, excellent instructions for actually making the purses—the first I’ve seen in a book like that—and excellent embroidery instructions. More projects! And this week’s Squash Squad block is the Baby Boo Pumpkin.

As if all of that weren’t enough to make me deliriously happy, Anna Graham at Noodlehead released a new pattern yesterday, the Sandhill Sling.

The Slabtown Backpack from Klum House is still up first in the queue, but I I’ll have plenty of waxed canvas in the stash to make this one, because my yard of Lime Green waxed canvas from AL Frances Textiles came in the mail:

I am prepared to be snowed in for MONTHS, people.

I have a custom apron order to make after the wedding, and I need to finish the Noon and Night quilt, but after that, I’ll be making bags and embroidering up a storm. Watch out.