Quilts and Books

One of Julia London's historicals has an epilogue that takes place some 50 years after the end of the book when the heroine is on her deathbed. I read on AAR once that lots of readers hate that epilogue--they don't like the idea of ending a book with a death. I think it's a wonderful epilogue and I prefer to think of the book ending with a realization that this couple had a wonderful marriage and happy life together. Anyhow, that book made Julia London one of my favorite authors and I've enjoyed her contemporaries as much as I've liked her historicals. In fact, I think I like the contemporaries even better.

So all this to lead into the fact that I pretty much devoured American Diva over the last 24 hours. AD is the 3rd and final book in her Thrillseekers Annonymous trilogy. Hero Jack Price accepts the job of bodyguard to pop singer Audrey LaRue while she goes on a nationwide tour because she's been receiving death threats. Don't be mislead, this is not a sus…

About the same time we were getting new carpet installed in the family room, I saw a folk art pattern in the May/June 2007 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. The pattern, designed by Pat Sloan, struck me as simple, but bold, and an easy way to make something that would let me coordinate with the color of the new carpet. This was the result. It's 20" x 24" and made from fat quarters in my fabric stash. I managed to purchase some special yellow silk thread for the background quilting at the NQA show. Boy, was that stuff fun and easy to quilt with. I used normal 50 wt. cotton thread for the border. The border is free-motion leaves and flowers. That kind of thing is getting easier for me to do and the result is smoother and less jerkey. It feels good to have finished something again.

Back when I first rediscovered romance novels, I stumbled across Lynn Kurland's books and it wasn't long before I read most, if not all of them. I wasn't aware of terms like "wallpaper history" and her "lite" approach to medieval life didn't bother me. And it still doesn't. Because I sure do like the way she tells a story. I'd probably embrace these common criticisms of her work if I didn't find myself enjoying her characters. And I especially enjoy putting myself in her characters' shoes as they make such improbable, logic-defying journeys through time. What the hey, call me shallow. Over the last few years as I've hung out on review sites and blogs I've learned that the book many of her readers consider their least favorite, is one of my top favorites--The More I See You. So there. This fact alone probably invalidates anything I have to say .

When I Fall in Love is the story of the 4th and final McKinnon sibling, Jennifer, a…

There are no words. None at all. Absolutely, hands down, this one is my favorite of the series so far. 'Nuf said.

Eloisa James is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve looked forward to each of her new releases for several years now. Much Ado about You was one I reread a couple of times. But I have to say that her last two books prior to this one were rather disappointing. Now I’m going to venture into unfounded speculation. But I’ve wondered over the last year how someone who is the mother of two young children, holds a demanding full-time job (although maybe she gets her summers off), maintains a visible online presence, and is sometimes found on TV or in print interviews can possibly find time to write. Sometimes I want to tell Ms. James to crawl into a hole and write me some more books, dammit! Her second to last book in particular, The Taming of the Duke, had so many holes I just had to wonder if all that other stuff in her life had her writing to deadline rather than writing her best. Just wondering, and really, her life is her business.

So, this made me rather wary about Desperate Duchesses.…

It's the same size as my computer mouse. It's less than half the size of the Jenna Black book I'm currently reading. It's my new iron and it is NOT a toy! It really works, and works pretty darn well. I almost didn't buy it, but my kid talked me into it on Thursday. At the last minute I added it to my bag of supplies for Friday's class. and when I realized I wasn't doing a thorough job of finger pressing my pieces, I got it out and plugged it in. It made an instant difference in my foundation paper piecing. This project from the class has a ton of small pieces. The miniature lone star center has 240 pieces, all less than a square inch each. I'll post some pictures later. It's going to be very pretty, if I do say so myself! Meanwhile I'll play with my new iron. Guaranteed, these irons are going to be the "hot" new toy of 2007. Ha ha.

I'm a sucker for a quilt with flowers on it. Not floral fabric, but some sort of depiction of flowers. I wonder why this is, as I don't garden, buy flowers for the house, or hang out at gardens. But the variety of methods always draws me in for a closer look. And when I look back at the pictures I took tonight at this year's NQA Show most of them seem to be of the ones with flowers. Not all, but most. So here are a couple that I saw at the Preview Party that I liked best:


Sure is bright, huh? I don't think I could make something quite so green. But I still think it's wonderful. I like the little touches, although some are not obvious from the photo. I like the corner squares that match the flower color. I like the dimensional applique. And it's very nicely quilted, too.





I'm so glad this one won a ribbon. It's got a rather unusual layout. I think the flowers are realistic looking and it takes a lot of attention to detail to make that happen. It's very…