Quilts and Books

I've actually finished a few things recently. Two of them are lap-sized and all I need to do is get some photos taken so I can post them here soon. I also whipped out this little wall hanging that I gave to my husband yesterday for Father's Day. This is called Moonlight Moose  and it's from a kit by On the Trail Creations  that I bought through Keepsake Quilting (they have the BEST catalog). It's pretty small, about 11"x 16". It only took me 4 days to finish, but I worked on it for several long stretches during those 4 days. There's a lot of stitching and I had to keep changing thread colors and presser feet. It was well worth the effort, though. So here's the finished project: And next, here is an interesting view of the background, raw edges and all, before the applique pieces were added. This is a close-up of the stitching. I used some of my machine's decorative stitches, which is something I rarely get a chance to do. The ra...

I love history. Since tomorrow marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo , it seemed fitting to mark the occasion by reading this book. Now, I have to admit, it was only in my TBR e-pile about 12 hours before I began reading it, because it was just published yesterday. But I do have a couple other books by Lynne Connolly  waiting to be read, so this does meet this month's theme of "More than One [author]." With barely more than a day to read the book and write this review, it's a good thing it was relatively short. This book is aptly named. It opens during the infamous ball given by the Duchess of Richmond the evening of June 15. Hostilities would begin the next day, culminating in the final battle at Waterloo on the 18th. Amelia Hartwell is the daughter of a British officer. She's minor gentry; she and her family have been following her father ("following the drum") for several years. She knows Dr. Will Kennaway, an army surgeon, as s...