Quilts and Books

Back in May I blogged here about a quilt I was working on that was made up of 1600 2-inch squares. At that time the top was finished, but hadn't been quilted. I finished the quilt, but never got around to posting pictures of it here. And meanwhile, just the other day I learned something very interesting that really enhanced -- for me -- the meaning of this quilt. To recap: Last summer I saw this graphic that was to be used as the logo for my professional association during the 2010/2011 year: To put it simply, I fell in love with it and became obsessed with using it as the basis for a quilt. I received permission from AALL  to exhibit any quilt I would make (as long as they received credit) and they went so far as to ask me to bring it to Philadelphia last weekend for our annual meeting. Ouch. That meant I had a deadline. I worked like a dog for 6 weeks from Easter through the first week of June to finish it. Here is the finished quilt. You can see that I tweaked the design...

This month's TBR theme is "fairy tales." I was pawing through my TBR pile and I couldn't find anything that would match the theme. So I went with this very early Barbara Metzger book (her 4th I believe) that I have wanted to read for some time. So, according to this entry at Wikipedia, the title of the book refers to kisses that are given in order to receive a reward. It's an apt title as the book is a farce featuring a series of misunderstandings where the heroine is mistaken for a courtesan. Cristabel Swann is a well-bred orphan who has spent the last several years teaching at a school near Bath. She learns that her uncle has died and she goes to London expecting to claim an inheritance that would allow her to live independently. Meanwhile, before his death her uncle had lost everything he owns to Captain Kenley Chase, a naval hero who has recently returned home to step into a Viscountancy (is that the right word?) that he inherited when his older brother di...

I've been a bad blogger the last few months. I have plenty of excuses. One of them is this purse that I just finished making. Technically, it's not quilted. Fabric is wrapped around stiff weaving strips and sewn in place. It took me about 2 weeks to make it in my spare time. The pattern is called Breezy Weave Bag by Aunties Two of Portland, ME. If you like totes, bags, purses, and baskets, check out their website. They have some very cool stuff. I'm going to go read a book now. Maybe I'll blog about it some day.