Quilts and Books

My LQS sponsored a trunk show and personal appearance by fabric designer Amy Butler last night. Lucky me--I had time to go and meet this extremely friendly, charming, and talented woman. Her fabrics and designs have had a major impact on quilters. Here's a shot of one of the displays of her projects: This one is a shot of her latest line, Daisy Chain, on the middle shelf: Here she's talking to one of the people who came to talk to her. She was generous with her time. She explained a little about her design process and answered all kinds of questions: She's signing one of her books : Finally, here's what I came home with: I got a packet with 2 (two!) free patterns, autographed by Amy; a free fat quarter; and 2-1/2 yards for a new purse. Although upon reflection, I'm thinking of doing a messenger bag instead for my laptop.

Sarah Addison Allen’s first book, Garden Spells , was one of my 5 Phaves for July . I eagerly looked forward to her 2nd book, The Sugar Queen , and I was not at all disappointed. This is a wonderful novel of a woman shut off from life who comes into her own. Along the way, issues of love, sisterhood, familial responsibility, forgiveness, food, and living life on your own terms are explored. Somehow, Ms. Addison manages to weave all of these themes into this relatively short book while telling a delightful story with warm, engaging characters. Aside—I wish I belonged to a book club. Either one of her books would make a terrific book club selection. There’s a lot to talk about. Josey is the sugar queen. She’s a 27-year old woman very much under her mother’s thumb. She still lives at home and spends her days doing whatever her mother asks her to do. Josey has virtually no life of her own, except for her very secret stash of sweets, romance novels, and travel magazines that are all h...

Those 3 projects I have had going apparently weren't enough to entertain me. I saw a version of this basket quilt in Fons & Porter this month. I had been thinking I'd like a project I could hand quilt, and this seemed good for that. It's almost done. It's called Williamsburg Basket because in the magazine it used a reproduction fabric collection. But I pulled some stuff out of my stash. All those half square triangles were a good reminder of the importance of an accurate seam allowance. I did a fair bit of re-sewing, LOL! Meanwhile, a friend purchased a Halloween kit in July and asked me to make it for her mother who was born on Halloween. They make a big deal about every year. So, when we were at the Sisters show where there were several Halloween quilts for sale, I told her that I'd make a quilt for her mom if she could pick out a pattern or kit that would go together quickly. This is from a fabric collection called Midnight Mischief from Clothworks . Sorry a...

A Christmas book? Yes, well, Hurricane Ike literally blew through Ohio on Sunday, knocking out our power and pretty much ruining my plans to use an ebook that's been sitting on my hard drive for over a year for this month's TBR read. Things still aren't quite back to normal (The Kid is off school for the 3rd day in a row), so I needed something that wouldn't take long to read. A traditional Regency fits that bill, and the first one I grabbed was this one: Donna Simpson is the author of about a dozen traditional Regencies, including one of my favorites, Lord St. Claire's Angel. She writes paranormals now as Donna Lea Simpson . I must admit that I haven't read any of those yet, but I certainly enjoyed the half dozen or so of her Regencies that I have, including this one. A Matchmaker's Christmas is actually 3 romances for the price of one. The primary romance is between Beatrice Copland and Sir David Chappell. Beatrice is the companion of elderly Lady Bournau...

I'm one of those people who constantly moves from project to project. I do finish things, but midway through one project I'll stop and pull out fabric to start another one. Or something will come up that makes me start in on something else--a challenge, a class, a need to make a gift, or a new fabric purchase. All of those things change my focus. I don't want to admit how many UFOs (UnFinished Objects) I have here, but if I were totally honest, it's probably at least a dozen. Here are 3 I started this summer. And I'm not including the one I started the other night because I couldn't get a decent picture of it. This first one is from a class I took in June with 2 friends. I still have 4 more flowers to add to it. This is funky and fun, but it's large and appliqueing down the flowers is awkward at times. A while back I posted a picture of some flower blocks that I'm doing as part of an exchange with the same 2 friends. I had another set of blocks to finis...

I read quite a few good ones last month and it was hard to narrow it down to just 5. So as a bonus here 3 honorable mentions that didn't make the cut: The Last Rake in London by Nicola Cornick, Flashpoint by Jill Shalvis, and Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy by HelenKay Dimon. Fun reads all. But the 5 best of the month were: 5. Never Lie to a Lady by Liz Carlyle . This one came out last year, but I waited for all 3 books in the trilogy to be published before starting in on it. It was worth the wait. I liked this story of two people who felt very much on the outside of the society in which they lived. They had much in common and their story was very believable. The plot involves some interesting intrigue that pits the hero and heroine against one another at first and I enjoyed the way it was resolved. And I swear, Liz Carlyle gets the best covers. 4. The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran . This is the author's first book. It was the winner in a first chapter contest held by gathe...