Quilts and Books

Silver Linings by Jayne Ann Krentz . I saw a reference to this a while back (on Smart Bitches ?) and was able to read it because my local library has a fine collection of older Krentz titles in large print. Hugh was once engaged to Mattie's sister, Ariel. When Hugh and Ariel broke up, Mattie threw herself at Hugh, but Hugh turned her down. Shortly after that, Hugh realized his mistake, but Mattie won't have anything to do with him. Finally they reunite--over a dead body. Hugh rescues Mattie and manages to insinuate himself back into her life. This is a campy, fun story. Originally published in 1991, it's quite dated to those of us now accustomed to daily use of the internet and cell phones. Still, Mattie makes a great foil for Hugh who is typically alpha and sometimes quite clueless. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Heart Search by Robin D. Owens . Owens' "Heart" series is for people who are fond of fated mates and cats. As I've said before, I love the world o...

In the United States, today is Thanksgiving Day. Last year for Thanksgiving I wrote this post where I listed 53 things for which I am grateful . As I said then, a healthy percentage of us will spend the day with family and/or friends. We'll eat too much, watch some TV (football!), and hopefully even spend some time counting our blessings. In what has now become tradition, tomorrow, Friday, another healthy percentage of us will run out the door at some freakishly early hour to spend tons of money. Because despite how grateful we may be today, apparently we still don't have enough stuff. I hate shopping (unless it's for fabric!) and I hate crowds. I'll be hibernating at my parents' house. Last year, since I was 53 years old, I decided to list 53 things for which I was grateful. This year I've edited the list a little to reflect some of the changes in my life. And I added one since I'm a year older. In the order in which they occurred to me: My husband. ...

I'm trying to remember what the heck I was doing in September that kept me so busy. Because apparently I only read 8 books and a small collection of 4 very short stories. Weird. Because all it did was rain. It's not as if I went outside and did something active or useful. I didn't finish a quilt either. Oh well. But that leaves me with only 4 books that I want to talk about this month. And they are: 4.  The Unmentionables  by Karen Ranney . Here is the product description from Amazon:  The Unmentionables is a collection of short stories told by Victorian undergarments, from the under appreciated pair of drawers belonging to a countess, to the corset owned by a young miss, to a pair of enthusiastic stockings, and finally to a maid's shift.   This collection of very short stories barely took me 30 minutes to read--about 5-10 minutes per story. It's a fine piece of whimsy that was both romantic and interesting as I considered how different the Victorian clothing was ...

No, sorry, I'm not referring to this month's TBR challenge . I even started a Barry Eisler John Rain book (which I am enjoying). But I put it on the back burner because my sewing machine came home from the hospital and I got an itch to make up for lost time (my baby was gone for a whole month!). So, no TBR book for me this month. Instead, I've been working on a mystery quilt! It's a mystery because I have no idea what I'm making. I just follow the instructions handed out once a week by AQS and see where they take me. Here's where I started with Block Buffet, a 6-week mystery challenge designed by Linda Hahn . You can see the color chart on the left. Since I am making this totally from my stash, there are some colors where I'm having to use 2 or 3 fabrics. Hopefully this will add a nice slightly scrappy look to my quilt. Based on all of the pieces I cut out, this quilt will be a very bright, colorful piece. I'm excited to see the end result...

Just popping in to show off another table runner made from the Waffle Time pattern by Atkinson Designs . This makes at least 3 of these I've made now. I do love this pattern. Projects like this help me practice my machine quilting and even play around with some slightly different motifs. Best of all, it looks nice on my kitchen table!

I'm catching up!! 5. Swept Away by Karen Templeton . Someone must have mentioned this book in their blog back at the beginning of the summer (probably for TBR day). I wish I could remember who so I could say thank you. Anyhow, I'm glad they did as this was a nice inexpensive download for my Kindle that I really enjoyed. Carly Stewart is a retired ballerina who is traveling through little Haven, OK with her recently bereaved father when their RV breaks down. What starts out as a brief stay grows into something more when Carly finds herself attracted to rancher Sam Frazier--widower and father of 6 kids, including a 15yo teenage girl with an attitude. Carly is an atypical heroine. She's not the mothering type and she is truly struggling over the loss of her career. Sam had married his high school sweetheart and never figured he'd fall for someone like Carly who is independent, tough, and a little prickly. This short category romance is an example of the genre done right...