Quilts and Books

For you non-quilters who read this blog, quilters often talk about this mythical group called the "Quilt Police." They're supposedly the ones who walk around insisting that things have to be done a certain way or look a certain way. They're the critical ones who have a comment (usually negative) about everything. I think there are "X, Y, or Z Police" for just about anything you can think of (novel writing? blogging? cooking?). You can let yourself be beat down by the negativity or you can ignore it and do what you want because who are you really trying to satisfy anyway? A third alternative is to take that negativity and channel it into something positive, like a challenge simply for the sake of the challenge--because you might learn something, or it might even be fun! Fabric manufacturer Timeless Treasures and Wing and a Prayer Design company have collaborated on a Block of the Month project being offered by quilt shops around the country. I have signed u...

Louise Allen has written some 2-3 dozen Regency historicals for Harlequin Mills & Boon in the U.K., most of which have also been published by Harlequin Historicals in the U.S. My copy still had its WalMart sticker on it, so I assume I picked it up in early 2006 when it was published over here. When I entered this in my database, I realized that the only other Louise Allen book I'd read was her 2007 Virgin Slave, Barbarian King , a Roman historical set in 410 AD. I don't know how I'd overlooked her books in the past since I do tend toward Regency-set books so often. I definitely liked this well enough that I'll look for some of her backlist. TEIW is not your typical Regency. That scores some major points right there. There's adventure, drama, and a Big Misunderstanding. I'm not fond of the Big Misunderstanding, so despite the unusual setting, adventure, and drama, the book lost a few points, too. The book starts on the island of Malta although it ends back i...

The guild's UFO rules are quite liberal. We are allowed to list as U n F inished O bjects quilts that haven't been started, designed, kitted, or that exist other than ephemerally -- as in "I'm going to make something." And I have one of those ephemeral ones on my list. I knew back in February I'd want to make a baby quilt for work colleague L. who is expecting her first baby in June. Now that it's May, it is time to get started. Going in I knew L. is expecting a girl. She told me that she likes bold, bright colors. Having enjoyed the process of making the Happy Rainbow Quilt I started to wonder if I could make something similar, yet much, much simpler. And limit myself to pink and purple. Doing that would be a study in value as opposed to a study in color. And this time I did have to buy a few fat quarters of purple, because for some reason my purples are too grey-ish. I ended up cutting 4.5 inch squares and it took awhile to come up with a combination I ...

I interrupted work on my UFOs ( U n F inished O bjects) to do the Happy Rainbow Quilt for the auction and with that done, it's time to get back to my UFO list. My guild is sponsoring a mini quilt-in on Friday and I'm going to pack up one of my machines and start quilting this Blooming 9-Patch that I've been anxious to work on for some time. Most people do a large bed-sized version of this quilt, and it really can be stunning depending upon one's fabric choices. I wanted one I could hang on a wall in my living room. My late mother-in-law gifted me with most of the fabric in this quilt shortly before she passed away. I think she would have liked how it turned out. itshardtobelieverichie This year I set my sights much lower! Christine had suggested I aim for one per month. An excellent idea, although it hasn't worked out that I actually work on one per month. No, being ADD means I work on multiple things at once. But I did shorten my list to 13 items and while we...

Before I get into this month's list, don't forget to hop over to the Brenda Novak Online Auction for Diabetes Research . My quilt is listed here and last I looked had already been bid up to $91. Very exciting. QBFF T. says she's going to win it. Make her pay through the nose! I had plenty of strong reads last month and it was hard to pick just 5. 5. In for a Penny by Rose Lerner . This is, I believe, Lerner's debut novel. I had seen several positive reviews for this book, including this DIK review at AAR. The story involves a young man, Nev (short for Lord Nevinstoke), who inherits an earldom and an impoverished estate. When he learns the extent of the debts his father left, he proposes marriage to the only child of a wealthy brewer, a young woman named Penelope, or Penny. Penny is a "Cit" and thus looked down upon by most of aristocratic society. But Nev needs Penny's money and Penny is attracted to Nev and wants to help him. The purpose for their marr...