Quilts and Books

Fifteen months ago I was browsing various author and reader websites when I ran across a notice of a little contest that would be held during the month of February 2010. Avon was asking readers who enjoyed the anthology "It Happened One Night" to supply possible plot points for a repeat performance, this time titled "It Happened One Season." I read the contest rules, did a little pondering, and came up with this: PLOT LINE 1: The younger brother of a titled lord, the hero had a career in the army but has lived as a recluse since returning from the war with France. PLOT LINE 2: Heroine is shy or unattractive and after many seasons has never had a suitor. PLOT LINE 3: Hero's brother has only daughters and asks his brother to marry in order to try to ensure that succession stays within their family. I was inspired, I think, by all of the things I'd learned over the years about British laws of succession and their social, economic, and familial importa...

This is a smaller version of the Blooming 9-Patch pattern made popular by the book Tradition with a Twist  by Blanche Young and Dalene Young-Stone which was first published in 1996. I don't remember precisely when I first saw a quilt made out of this pattern, but it probably wasn't long after 1996. All I know is that I wanted to make one for years. My mother-in-law gifted me with the fabric for this quilt for my birthday about a year before she passed away. Although I had finished the top before she died, because she lived 2500 miles away she never got to see the finished top. The fabric was purchased at Quilting in the Country in Bozeman, MT when we were vacationing together in Yellowstone. We had a great day together and it has become a special memory; this quilt will always be in honor of her. So here's a former UFO that I finished two nights ago after only 5.5 years. Sometimes I make a quilt in less than two weeks . Sometimes it takes a few years. Miss you, Oma.

"My" book is released a week from today. Are you ready? I'm so anxious to read it I can hardly stand it. I'm supposed to get a copy signed by all 4 authors. With one living in Australia, another in Canada, and the other two in different parts of the U.S., well, it could take awhile. I've pre-ordered a copy for my Kindle. Meanwhile, I've had to content myself with some excerpts. Mary's is here . Candice has one here . No other excerpts that I could find. I'll just have to wait and contain my jealousy over the fact that Wendy's library got a copy and she's seen it.

This is from the Maple Island BQ2 pattern, and measures around 52" x 65". Not exactly a "baby" quilt, but it is for a young couple about to have their first child, most likely a girl. The new baby's grandmother is one of my best friends and I remember when S. was 7 years old. In fact I babysat for S. and her brothers more than once. So it was pretty exciting to make this for her. This pattern is also darn easy. I finished it in less than 2 weeks; in fact I put the final stitch in the binding about an hour and a half before the baby shower started. I'd say there's a total of only 15-16 hours in it. I showed off some of the machine quilting here . I can show it off again, though! This is the second time I've made this pattern for a baby. Here's a smaller version, about 36" x 45" and the blocks are laid out in a different pattern. I made the one below about 2 years ago.

  This is a book I bought last spring at the RT booksigning. Pretty cover, no? Anyhow, I've been meaning to read it for ages now and this was the perfect book for this month's theme of "New To Me" author. Kayla Perrin  has written several dozen books in a wide variety of genres-- category romance, mainstream fiction, mass market romance, children's fiction, and romantic suspense. I had a very nice chat with Ms. Perrin at the booksigning. Currently she has some recent releases in Harlequin's Kimani line as well as some other RS titles published in trade-sized like this one. Spring Break is a romantic suspense novel told in the first person by Chantelle, the heroine, who is one of three college friends traveling together to a Caribbean island for (you guessed it!) Spring Break and meet up with Trouble. Chantelle, Erica, and Ashley are close friends and all three are aspiring authors. They've signed up for a week-long package deal on the fictional isla...

There's a large university hospital in my town with a well-regarded cancer treatment center. There are all kinds of groups that provide services to patients and their families to help ease their way through the painful realities that come with a diagnosis of cancer. One of those groups provides quilts to cancer patients. This group started out in 2005 by making and giving quilts to breast cancer patients. Last year they expanded the program and now children receiving chemotherapy and thoracic cancer patients each get a quilt. My guild got involved and this spring will donate at least 50 quilts to the program. Last fall a whole bunch of us received fabric remnants from the kind folks at Connecting Threads . So here's a look at the quilts my QBFFs & I made. First up is QBFF A's. Simple, yet so striking. I love this. Next up is QBFF T's.  She used a scrappy pattern to create hidden pinwheels. This is fun to look at to see the patterns emerge. This one is mine: A...

Short month. Short reading list. Plus I've been very productive on the quilting side. I need to get pictures up. 5. Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey . This book received a lot of positive buzz when it came out last year and it was one of my first Kindle purchases.  I finally got around to reading it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Keri and Joe had been high school sweethearts and everyone, including both of them, expected them to marry and wind up together. Except upon graduation, Keri abruptly decided to go to California for college, leaving Joe behind and breaking his heart. Nearly two decades later Joe is a wildly successful but reclusive author of horror novels and Keri has an excellent job as a reporter for a well-known Hollywood gossip magazine. When Keri's boss finds out that Keri used to date Joe, Keri is sent home to get an interview with Joe. Joe agrees to the interview as long as it's on his terms-- which are that Keri has to accompany him and his family (parent...

My current WIP.