Quilts and Books

It's been awhile since I posted any quilt pictures. Here are some small things that I recently finished:
I posted a picture of this back in April when it was just squares up on my design board. This was a gift for a co-worker's baby shower.
I made another "Waffle Time" table runner. The first one is here. I do like this pattern and I'm sure I'll be making more of them. Anyhow, here's the latest:
Both quilts above were done entirely by machine. Here's one that I did entirely by hand. It is only 15" x 15", so it didn't take very long to make it.
I have a friend who re-did her kitchen and collects roosters for it. I found this rooster fabric and knew I had to make something for her. Just because.I do do something besides read all the time. Ha!

Elizabeth Boyle writes that style of romance that I consider “Regency Lite.” I honestly don’t mean that in a derogatory way, although some may take it that way. Her books are usually fun and easy to read, but because there’s a bit too much 21st century sensibility, they aren’t stellar historicals. Nonetheless, I am a fan of Ms. Boyle’s writing because I like her voice and her humor. I remember buying this book when it was published, but there were some disappointing reviews of it, so I didn’t get around to reading it until now.

I must add that I am enjoying going through my TBR shelf each month trying to decide what to read this time around.

This Rake of Mine is loosely related to her series of books on the Danvers family as well as the book previous to this, Something about Emmaline. However it stands on its own quite well. The back blurb tells the story well enough, so I'll be lazy and copy it:

When the rakehell Lord Jack Tremont kissed Miranda Mabberly, mistaking her for his mistr…

I discovered Lynn Kurland’s books around 4-5 years ago and blissfully read my way through her entire back list. I’m unabashedly a big fan of her writing. A couple of years ago on a reader forum somewhere I read that her books are full of anachronisms and I realized that she has quite a few harsh critics. But I love her stories and characters so much that I just cannot get worked up about the stuff that obviously bothers others. So because this one wasn’t available on Fictionwise the day it was released I did something I never do anymore—I bought it in print. And I am so glad I did. I had to force myself to read it slowly as it’ll probably be a year until her next release.

With Every Breath is another of her time travel stories, pulling in characters from previous books and novellas. While this stands alone quite well, it’s certainly more entertaining if you’ve read the other related books. Heroine Sunshine (Sunny) Phillips is the sister of Madelyn, heroine of A Garden in the Rain. Suns…

Jo Beverley has been an auto-buy for me now for several years. I’ve read most of her back list and I think she really is one of the better romance authors writing today. Her books often take an unusual twist and she’s not afraid to take a risk. She has a reputation for being meticulous in her research. She manages to convey a fine sense of time and place without dumping too much information.

So how come this book sat in my TBR pile for nearly a year? It was released last June and I remember buying it the week it was published. But for some reason I kept putting it aside.

Ms. Beverley has built her own Regency world through her “Company of Rogues” series, books that tell the stories of a group of friends who formed a club of sorts when they were boys together at Harrow. The book previous to this one, To Rescue a Rogue, completed the Rogues’ stories. So where to go from here? Well, she took a character who had a small, but significant role in TRAR, and gave him his own book. Horatio Cave …

As the mom of a juvenile diabetic I cannot begin to express how much this auction means to our family. Please stop over and check out all the wonderful things people have donated.

I bought this used over 2 years ago because I saw several references to it by readers who considered it one of their favorite Anne Stuart books. It has been sitting in the TBR pile all this time and I was glad for the excuse to finally get it out and read it. I was not disappointed.

Lord of Danger is a medieval-set historical, the story of Alys of Summersedge and Simon of Navarre. Alys is half-sister to Richard de Lancie. Simon is a magician who works for Richard. Because of his dark looks, crippled hand, and mastery of the dark arts, everyone is afraid of Simon except for Richard. Alys and her younger sister Claire were raised in a convent and have been brought home to Summersedge so Richard can marry one of them to Simon. This will tie Simon to Richard so that Richard can continue to make use of Simon's talents. Simon, who manages to quietly manipulate Richard, has his own reasons for agreeing to the match. He views his association with Richard as temporary and will move on again…

So I should be working on The Kid's quilt in the sidebar. But in 8 days there's a baby shower at work for a friend. Can I whip up something in time? For the last 3 nights I've been cutting out 6 inch squares and here's how they're laid out up on the design wall. Before I can start piecing them together I have to finish my taxes. Which I would need to start first.

And I'm going away this weekend. And I have to read the book for next Wednesday's TBR Day. And I'm sure there are a ton of other things I really need to be doing. But nope, I'm working on this quilt for Jenn. Yes, she's having a girl.