Quilts and Books

My Phillies are getting ready to lock down their 4th consecutive NL East crown. With so much great baseball to capture my attention, not to mention the start of football season, my reading is down a quite a bit from usual. As of today I've only finished 9 books in September. Usually by this date I'd be closer to 15 or 16. I haven't felt much like writing any reviews either. I've read a couple of books I'd like to write about, but then I get focused elsewhere--on baseball, on sewing, on the new TV season... But today, the UPS guy brought me a very special package: Look, my own brand new Kindle (the cheap wi-fi one)!!! I didn't want to spend money on the case, so tonight I whipped one out. Took me exactly one hour. While the Phillies completed their sweep of the Braves. How sweet! Oh how I love this time of year! Happy First Day of Fall everyone. Hope you got to see the Harvest Moon where you are (we didn't--it rained).

This time I played with adding a 3rd fabric and squaring off the edges. It looks a little wonky, but I don't think you'd notice if you put it on a small end table. In the end, I think I like the rounded edges better. So that's 3 of these things in the last week. Next time I want to make a bigger one.

When I need to whip out a quick gift, I love my ARDCO circle square templates . A good friend just moved to a new home. And my church was looking for some items to use as door prizes at an upcoming event. Each one of these only take 2 hours or so to put together. They are approx. 18" across. I think the backs look pretty cool, too. And speaking of gifts, I finished the binding on the baby quilt for my coworker. I showed you closeups of the quilting here a couple weeks ago.

Ah, September. I'm very ambivalent about this time of year. I love the heat. I love the long days. I hate that today was probably our last 90 degree day of the year. However, I also love that school starts and a regular routine is re-established. And I love football season because I do lots of sewing. I guess in the end I'm not sorry to see August go. Before I move on to the Phaves, remember that contest I won? Look what's up at Amazon! Only 6 months and 28 days to go! And BTW, I've slowly been spending my winnings. A special post will be forthcoming. Meanwhile, I suppose we must move on to the purpose of this post. 5. The Sergeant's Lady by Susanna Fraser . I almost wrote a full-blown review of this. Then I got lazy. Sorry. This will have to do. Let me say, I'm so glad I watched all of those BBC episodes of Sharpe's Rifles . Besides the awesome goodness of Sean Bean, those shows really help you visualize Spain during the Peninsular War and Fraser's ...

My sister, the QBFFs, and I are doing a "paint chip challenge." We swapped paint chips and each of us has to make a monochromatic quilt using the color of our paint chip. I was the recipient of this lovely green paint chip: Here are some fabrics I pulled from my stash (OK, I admit it--I did do a little shopping, but just a little!): I'm thinking one or more of those might have to go. And since white and black are not colors, I may add a little of each for some "pop!" What to make, what to make... Actually, I have an idea. Stay tuned!

I've been neglecting my blog lately. Someone even noticed (thanks JW!). Between travels, the heat, reading, the heat, sewing, and the heat, well, I've just run out of steam at the end of each day. But I did want to make an attempt to catch back up. So here's what I've been sewing. I machine quilted two quilts. One is a fairly large square "Blooming 9-Patch" from the book Tradition with a Twist by Dalene Young Stone & Blanche Young . This quilt is about 5' x 5'. My mother-in-law bought the fabric for me for my birthday about 6 years ago. I finished the top before she passed away, but sadly, she did not get to see it. The top sat for several years while I figured out how I wanted to quilt it. Here are some detail shots of the quilting from the front and then the back. It took me about 3 months to finish this, but I'm VERY pleased with the results. As soon as I get the binding on, I'll post some more pictures. I also finished the quilting on...

Blog? I have a blog? Goodness, but I have a lot to catch up on. Before I get into the phaves, I do want to mention that I began reading Barry Eisler's John Rain series in July. I met Eisler at RT and purchased the 3rd book in the series there. He told me the 3rd book was a good place to start, but I decided to go back to the first one, Rain Fall , and got it at the library. I'm glad I did. I've read 2 of the books so far and they were a nice change from romance. I liked them both. But when it came to the phaves, romance won out. 5. One Season of Sunshine by Julia London . I have become a big fan of London's contemporaries even though I first began reading her historicals. I frequently find her books to be emotional and sometimes thought-provoking. I was intrigued by this story of Jane, a woman adopted as an infant, who is seeking her biological family. I once watched a close friend struggle with the same questions; that fact made Jane a believable and sympathetic char...