Quilts and Books

While I didn't actually finish anything from my UFO list in January, I made significant progress on three projects. I should easily finish them by the end of the month and maybe one or two others besides. Meanwhile, here is where I stand: First up, here is the one that's closest to being done. It's a simple 9-patch throw for my son's friend. All that's left to do is to whip stitch the binding to the back of the quilt. You can see the binding clips around the edges. It will be a perfect hand sewing project to work on during tomorrow's Super Bowl. I'm not sure how far I'll get though if I have to keep looking up to watch the commercials, LOL! This one is the result of a block exchange with two friends. The pattern originally appeared in the July 2007 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting . Thanks to a timely winter storm, I had two snow days at home this week and finally took time to assemble the top. I pinned it into a sandwich tonight and it's...

To a quilter, a UFO is not an Unidentified Flying Object, but an UnFinished Object. Many of us suffer from an excess of enthusiasm for the next project. Actually, it's probably really ADD, but no one wants to admit it. I know I am not the only quilter who flits from project to project, eventually finishing some of them, but not always all of them. And my guild is proving it. We're having a guild challenge this year to finish our UFOs. We had to list them and turn the list in during our November meeting. We have until November of this year to finish as many projects on the list as we can. Each time we finish a project from our lists we are entered to win cool prizes. Frankly, what a great idea. I am very motivated to work on what I already have rather than go and spend money for yet another project to start. My goal is also to post my progress here. A monthly UFO Day, just like TBR Day. But first, you have to know just how bad it is. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea it was t...

Keishon's 2009 TBR Challenge kicks off today. This year we've been challenged to read specific types of books each month and this month's theme is category romances. I admit that not so long ago I looked down my nose on categories, but I have come to appreciate how difficult it must be to craft a good read with such a limited word count. I've been fortunate to read dozens of good categories over the last few years and I do like the fact that they're easy on the pocketbook. At any point in time I have 6-10 of them on my PDA and this month's selection is one that's been there for over a year now. Déjà You is the second in Lynda Sandoval's "Troublesome Gulch" miniseries, published in the Silhoutte Special Edition line from Harlequin. Troublesome Gulch is a ficticious Colorado mountain town where 12 years ago, on prom night, a horrible accident occured, leaving broken lives and broken hearts. The survivors all chose careers in emergency services ...

Heh. Bet you thought I forgot. No, just been lazy. December was a good reading month. That's because I spent 2 weeks at my in-laws where I had quite a bit of time to read. Those long plane flights helped too... 5. Faking It by Jennifer Crusie . This description from JC's web site is a good one: She has a history of forgery she's trying to forget. He has a knack for scamming he's trying to resist. But one fateful night, their good intentions go bad, and what they get up to is downright immoral, illegal, and irresistible. This book has a huge cast of characters, but JC has a knack for helping you keep them straight and as usual this was fun and funny. I think it's only the 3rd JC book I've read and I eventually want to read her whole back list and then move on to her collaborations. 4. Divorced Desperate and Dating by Christie Craig . Another very funny book, this is also a romantic suspense as the heroine is a mystery author who is the subject of death threat...

I finished this book a week ago and have been meaning to write this ever since. But I consider it a good sign that I still remember the book well enough to write about it. Unlike some books that I forget within days, if not hours. Veiled Passions by Tracy MacNish is the 3rd book in a series. I did not read the others first and while I might go back and do that someday, I didn’t feel I was missing anything regarding this story by not having read them. VP is a historical set in 1777 Venice and England. The time period and setting alone were enough to make me interested in this. This blurb describes a traumatized heroine and had me eager to find out more: Three years ago, Kieran Mullen was a carefree, confident beauty. One fateful night, everything changed, and she became solitary and aloof, reluctant to leave her London home even when her brother, Rogan, insists she accompany him on holiday to Venice. There, amid the wild revelries of Carnivale, Kieran is attacked by a masked villain a...

So I was at quilt club Thursday night and A. hands me a little package. Inside is this gorgeous book cover. I had to put it to use right away! Thank you, A. I love it! The heart is perfect for all my romance books. Hmm. Does the purple refer to purple prose????? Of course, here's a peak at what's inside: I'd rather be reading it than blogging. It's quite good and I'm enjoying this immensely. It's so well written that no doubt I'll be watching for more by this author. I may even get ambitious and review it! A. & T., you guys need to read this one, too. Lots of football this weekend. I love the playoffs! It means I'll do lots of sewing, especially with snow moving into the area. Double the reason to stay home. I did finish something recently. It's about the only sewing I've done since before Thanksgiving. I just free-motion quilted the images in this souvenir panel I brought home from Sisters last July.