March Madness 2012 - Round 3

We're in the middle of the schedule of preliminary trades.  Two players yet to be selected.  Today we are considering:
Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden
and
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

I haven't read either book, though I have read a different title by each author and have based my decision on those.  Here's the links to those reviews:

Lords of the Bow: The Epic Story of the Great Conqueror by Conn Iggulden   This is his third book that follows the life of Genghis Khan and his descendents.

The Favoured Child by Philippa Gregory  I read this before I started blogging, but did write a tiny review on Bookcrossing,

" It was a bit interesting, but it didn't keep me spellbound in my chair by any means, I did wander off to do cleaning and laundry.
As for Richard, stick a rusty knife in his heart and twist sharply. And Julia, get a backbone and keep it."

I voted for Bones of the Hills.

Now that you are familiar with the books, time to go to the HarperCollins Facebook page and vote.  Click here to go to the correct page, then click on the cover of the book you want to vote for, when it pops up, you must click 'like'.  By clicking 'like' you will be entered to win a copy of that book.

Final step is to leave me a comment telling me who you voted for.

For details on the earlier rounds of voting, be sure to check these post:
Round 1
Round 2

Needlework Tuesday - A Myriad of Possibilities

 Needlework Tuesday is open to all readers looking for inspiration, encouragement or who want to share their recent needlework project. Introduce yourself in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your current post. Feel free to grab the cute little mouse for your post.

Still knitting away on my cowl.  I am on my third ball of wool and am now using the 4.0 mm needles.  I have about 15 rows of pattern to complete, then a few rows of garter stitch and then it's the picot bind off on both ends.



This was a great week for machine quilting.  I put on my glass  gloves and away I go.  Glass gloves are almost the same as those fancy gloves you buy at the quilting store, with the exception that they cost a lot less.  I bought mine at Marks Work Warehouse.  I managed to get a bit of quilting in each day.  I tried to minimize stitch-in-the-ditch, but there were times when it was definitely needed.  I used to tissue paper trick in a few spots and lots of free motion in the background areas.

 It was a bit much stitching around all those tiny circles, but the effect is nice.  I stitched butterflies in the orange background triangles.  Depending on the space I did small fingernail size butterflies and in others about the size of a quarter.  The flower is traced from one of the fabrics.

 My local guild meeting was last evening.  We were learning to do 'cut work' applique.  This first photo shows the two layers basted together.  I have started cutting just outside the outer line.  Am using needle turn to fix down that edge.

This close-up shows it a little better.  Once I have the outer edge of the 'snowflake' stitched, then I have eight leaf shapes to reverse applique.  This block will then be donated back to the guild, where they will put together a quilt that will then be donated to the Mennonite Relief Sale to be auctioned off in May 2013 in New Hamburg.

What have you been stitching this week?

Linda at Scrapmaster has been working on some cute house blocks.

Rikki at Rikki's Teleidoscope has crafted a thrifty hat.

March Madness 2012 - Round 2

Late yesterday afternoon, after the close of daily trades, I received a coded message from a trusted insider informing me that there are actually eight unsigned players in the game.  That means 68 books, 60 selected by HarperCollins Canada staff, and 4 to be determined by readers. In my post yesterday, I told you about the first two unsigned players books.  I trust that you followed the links and voted for your favorite of the two.  Today I present you with the next choices.  These are non-fiction:

The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that Way by Bill Bryson and The Weather Makers: How We Are Changing the Planet and What it Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery.  


Now that you have checked out both books, click this link, it will take you to Facebook.  On that page, click the cover page of the book you want to win, and on the pop-up page, click 'like'.  By clicking 'like' you will be entered to win a copy of that book.

For me the choice today was a no brainer, I was an environmental studies/geography major at university, so I had to select The Weather Makers.


After you vote, leave me a comment and tell me who you voted for.


On Wednesday and Friday I'll be back with the next two positions up for grabs.

March Madness 2012

HarperCollins Canada has once again hit the field running.  They have entered their vaults and selected 65 of their top competitors and are ready to hit the field.  What, 65, don't I mean 64 players books.  Actually, this year, you, the reader, gets to chose the final competitor.  Vying for the final position are Beastly by  Alex Flinn and Angus, thongs, and full frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison.  I haven't read either, so I went to the HC website and read up about these players.  Both sound interesting, but I would want Beastly on my team.  If you haven't read them, then click on the titles above, read about them and decide which player you want. 

Now go to HarperCollins Facebook page (you might have to 'like' HC to be able to vote) and in the upper left are the covers for both books.  Click on the cover of the book you like and the you need to 'like' that page for your vote to count.  By clicking 'like' you will be entered to win a copy of that book. 

Final step is to leave a comment telling me which player book you voted for.

Next Monday, HarperCollins will reveal the full slate of 64 books.  Be sure to vote then as the grand prize is a copy of each of those books.

Winner of Hot Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Thank-you to all who visited and read my review of Hot Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland. If you missed my review, be sure to click on the title and you'll be taken to that page.  As promised, one lucky commenter has won an ebook version of the novel.

I used Random.org to select the winner.  The first commenter selected was the host who organized the tour, so I drew a new winner.

Winner: Linda

I have sent her a private email.  

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Life has not shown a kind hand to Nailer.  As a teenage boy, he is lucky to be of slight build as that means he can still work the light salvage crew.  Every day he crawls through the small air ducts and passages on grounded oil tankers removing any wiring he can get his hands on.  It's a physically demanding job and the only people he can rely on are his crew.

Nailer has to make a choice when he discovers a wrecked clipper ship loaded with a kings wealth of salvage.  All of it could be his, if only he kills the lone survivor.

This book, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, was chosen as the February read for my local bookclub.  We are a group of women who enjoy science fiction.  This selection was a bit of a stretch for some of the members.  Foremost, few of them are readers of YA fiction.  They wanted more back ground information about how the world came to be the way it is and a wider world view of how it functions now.  These aren't things that concern teen readers that I know.  They seem to be content to accept the world as the author presents it; they want to get on with the plot.  We were all interested in the chasm between the extremely elite life of 'the survivor' and the day to day existance of Nailer and his crew.  Was it really possible that 'the survivor' could know so little of the real world that provides the raw resources for her business and lifestyle.

We all agreed that we wanted to know more about the half-man Tool and his kind.  How did they come into existance and why are they so loyal to their master.Several of us stated that we'd be looking forward to the companion book The Drowned Cities, due out spring 2012, which further explores these questions.

One of the members told us that at her daughter's school,  this book is very popular with middle teen boys.  Nailer is a good role model for teen boys, he has to make some difficult decisions and can't rely on his experiences with his brutal father for guidance.  He has to consider what he has learned from the various people who surround him, take the best and forge his own morals.

When can I get that Book?

A couple of weeks ago, I spent three days chasing all over the net to find the clues and answer the 50 plus questions about the hottest YA books to be hitting the shelves in the next few months.  If you are like me and can't pass up the opportunity to hear about some new reads, be sure to go visit The Apocalypsies.  Once there you'll find posts from dozens of authors and links to their sites.  Along with the major prize, many of the authors also hosted contests on their blogs.  I was fortunate to win two of these prizes.


Anita Howard, author of the upcoming Splintered, a darker Alice in Wonderland spinoff send me this cool book plate.  Now I am waiting to get that book, no library borrow for me.  You can also read an introduction to Anita at The Apocalypsies site.

The next day I received an envelope from author Gina Damico.  Inside I found this bookmark and book plate for her very soon to be released novel Croak.  An introduciton to Gina can be found at The Apocalypsies site.


Shopping list:

Splintered by Anita Howard
Croak by Gina Damico

Needlework Tuesday - Not Quite a Table Runner

Needlework Tuesday is open to all readers looking for inspiration, encouragement or who want to share their recent needlework project. Introduce yourself in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your current post. Feel free to grab the cute little mouse for your post.

I did sit down this morning to write this post, but blogger seemed to be be mis-behaving.  I waited, and waited, still the little spinning circle in the middle of the post area. Turns out blogger is not having problems, they have just stopped supporting my browser.  They suggested going to Google Chrome, but that doesn't work on my slightly ancient computer.  I loaded Firefox, latest version, but it still tells me that it doesn't support it, arg.  I will fumble along and see how it goes.  Back to the current Needlework post.

Last week I was telling you about a table runner that I was making for my mom.   She doesn't have a coffee table, so she doesn't need a table runner.  I decided on a table cloth size quilt.  Once I had the blocks done, I needed to play with a design.  This first photo shows the table runner that my mom made for me.  Mine should look kind of similar, however, I got distracted and went in a total different direction.  Following are several different designs that I tried out.

Keeping with the square motif. 

 Fun, but wouldn't work flat on a table.

 Could have been done with straight strips instead of all that piecing.

 Getting there, but daughter said it was too square.

 Still too square and she didn't like the pinwheel in the middle.

I was told to try something off centre.

Compare this to the table runner, majorly different.  Hope my mom likes this.  I will put a  rod pocket in case she decides to hang it on the wall.  Measures approximately 44 1/2 inches square. Very purple and green. 

I'll get to quilting it once I finish the bright pink piece that I showed you last week.

I spent a bit of time knitting this week.  It's going very well.  Onto my second ball of wool and moved to the 3.75 mm needles.  Not sure if you can tell that the tension is a bit tighter at the bottom of the photo, it's supposed to be that way.

I hope that my readers found some time for their needlework projects.  We haven't been having typical winter weather, so snow activities are out, but at the same time, it's a bit chilly for spring ones.  Lucky me, I can stay inside and work on my quilts.

I'd like to hear what you've been up to, or better yet, send me links to your current needlework post.

Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin and illustrated by Lisa Brown

The years of the American Civil War (1861-1865) were a time of much turmoil in the country.  North against the South, neighbour against neighbour even brother against brother.  It was also a time of limited communications.  Written letters could take weeks if not months for delivery, if they made it to their destination at all.    Those waiting at home for their loved ones might never know details of their fate. 

Sixteen year old Jennie Lovell has not yet accepted the death of her brother Tobias, and now she is confronted with the death of her cousin and fiance Will.  While she knows that Toby died from an illness, she has no clue as to why Will won't be coming home to marry her.  She hopes that when cousin Quinn recovers from his wounds, he will be willing and able to answer her questions.

Quinn has returned home seriously wounded and reluctant to talk about his experiences.  Jennie senses that there is something he is not telling her.  She also thinks that the ghosts of her brother and fiance have returned home to comfort her. or are they trying to tell her something. 

From the first pages, I found this a very enticing book.  The events have already happened and we follow along with Jennie, finding the clues to uncover the truth.  Author Adele Griffin made me feel as though I was truly reading words written by a 16 year old girl who had been brought up in a very sheltered existence.  She was not worldly and had very little idea of how war could change men, that nice, civil men could lie, cheat, steal and even murder when their survival was threatened.  Picture the Dead does talk about the Civil War, but it is not about the war, rather it is about it's impact on one particular group of young men.  It also explores the practice of spirit photography.  From approximately 1860 til 1930, there was a belief that the image of ghosts could be captured in photographs.  Jennie must ask herself whether these ghosts are trying to pass her a message or are they there to comfort her in her grief.


Additional Reviews for Picture the Dead:

Darla at Books & other thoughts


Artist Lisa Brown has done wonderful job of bringing Jennie and her family to life or death as it may be.

Check out the website dedicated to Picture the Dead.

Do you enjoy reading and talking about YA books, join Teen Fire

Thanks to Sourcebook Fire for use of the cover image and for my review copy.

Are you intrigued by the Spiritualist Movement, be sure to check out my earlier review of Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey.

Weekend Cooking: Esther's Mulligatawny Soup

Lately I have been wanting a hot and spicy bowl of Mulligatawny Soup.  I know I have a god one here somewhere, but which one.  This week I tried the one that was stuck with a magnet on my fridge.  It turned out a very nice bowl of soup, but no, it wasn't the one that I was tasting in my imagination.  This is a very hearty, meal in a bowl. 

Esther's Mulligatawny Soup

1 1/2 pound chicken with bone
1 small onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 large piece ginger, minced
2 large celery sticks, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large potato , peeled and cubed
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
pinch dried red chili
1 cup tomato paste (I used a 19 oz can of diced tomato)
4 tbsp dry basmatai rice
4 tbsp dry red lentils
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice (I used slices of lime)
Chopped parsley, for garnish

• In a stock pot, place chicken and add enough water just to cover.  Bring to a boil for 15 minutes and then simmer until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool.  Strain broth and remove fat using a paper towel.
• To broth, add onion, garlic, ginger, celery, carrot, potato, bay leaf, curry, cumin, coriander, pepper, red chili, and tomato paste.  Bring to a boil and boil until vegetables are half cooked.  Add basmati rice and let it boil until rice is cooked.  Add lentils and cook well. (I added the rice and lentils at the same time).
• Once chicken is cool enough to handle, separate meat from bone and chop finely, add to soup with lemon juice and parseley and heat through.  Alternately, use slices of lime or lemon and allow each diner to squeeze fresh juice onto their soup.

Makes 6 servings.  Recipe by Esther Joseph.  This recipe is from an article printed in The Record, (my local paper), follow this link to an article about Esther in the Peterborough Examiner.  It includes recipes for this soup as well as for "Aromatic Parsnip Soup" and "Sweet Potato Soup with Maple Syrup".

For more foodie fun, be sure to visit Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking Post.  You are invited to add a link to your recent food related post.

Needlework Tuesday - The Stitches are Flying

Needlework Tuesday is open to all readers looking for inspiration, encouragement or who want to share their recent needlework project. Introduce yourself in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your current post. Feel free to grab the cute little mouse for your post.


Last week I had a mini contest for all readers who left a comment.  There were three commenters, and I have decided that they are all winners.  I'll be mailing each of you a lovely printed quilty postcard.  Congratulations to Linda, Sherrie and Elly.

I spent time working on my 'snowball and nine patch' quilt.  The back is now ready to go, and I have the batting.  What I need, is inspiration for the actual quilting.  I will continue to muse on that.  In the mean time, I have been working on the Block of the Month for my local guild.  I don't know where they acquired the pattern, nor do I know the designer.  Will let you know should I find out.

 I'm a month ahead.  The pattern for the little sailboat will be in next month's newsletter, but I need to finish the quilt this month.  I bought the fabric in a bundle from Sew Sisters, and they are having a contest for the subscribers to their 'Fabric lovers' bundle of the month. 

I have to tell you a bit about my local guild.  They are a very conservative lot.  When the guild started 10 years ago, they did a Block of the Month.  I chose some lovely orange fabrics.  Each month we brought our blocks and displayed them.  I was standing behind some ladies, and they were talking about my block, to paraphrase them "She did a lovely job of the sewing, but a shame that she used that orange fabric".  I was shocked.  What's wrong with orange.  My thought about their blocks was "a shame they used those boring florals".  To this day, I rarely use florals and try and include orange in every quilt.  The more orange the better.

Last evening I sewed my blocks together and pinned it on the wall.  Even I had to admit that perhaps I got a little carried away.  It was just to darn busy.

I thought about it overnight and decided sashing would be required even though the pattern didn't call for it.  I had to use a variety of widths to keep the balance.  Three blocks in the top half and four in the bottom.  Much calmer now.  The house stands out more.  The sailboat in the bottom right is a bit hard to see through my lap shade.  Still needs two borders and then I am on to some fun quilting.

Last Friday was a quite day at home.  I really didn't intend to start a new project, it just sort of happened.  I though perhaps I would just cut the strips and put them aside till next week or so.  These are fabrics that my mom challenged me to use together.  She made a runner for my sister and sent me the rest.  Okay, I am game for a challenge.  In return I challenged her to make the mystery pattern from our online guild.  She made me a lovely table runner.  I said I would make the same for her from these fabrics.

Once I had the strips cut, I figured it wouldn't take long to sew the 2 1/2 inch strips together.  Sewn and pressed, they looked good.  I still had a bit of time before daughter came home, time to sew the double strip on top of the wider strip.  

Needless to say, I just couldn't maintain myself, I had to keep sewing.  Before I knew it, I had finished sewing the strips and had cut it into blocks.  Daughter came home and saw the blocks and asked what it would make.  I really did intend to make the table runner for mom, honest.  Then I recalled that mom doesn't have a coffee table.  I should make her a square table mat.  By the end of the evening, I had finished the middle of the top and was auditioning fabrics for the borders.  The completed top is sitting waiting for me to show it to mom.  I can't show you first, you'll have to wait until I show it to her.  You're gonna love how this table runner transformed into ....

Somewhere in the midst of all this sewing my fingers were getting itchy for a knitting project.  First I had to finish casting off this cowl that my niece knit.  It is from a pattern: Birds Nest Smoke Ring by Shui Kuen Kozinski .

I am using a much darker yarn.  The yarn is Peruvian Baby Silk  (20% baby alpaca and 20% silk) from Elann.com.  It uses four balls of yarn and you change to a large size needle two times.  This is my first project using a provisional cast on.  Notice the white/black wool at the bottom of the photo.  IN this photo I have completed more than one repeat of the pattern . Need to do a total of four repeats plus twenty rows. (almost five repeats).  I hadn't thought I would get so much completed, but each time I picked it up, I didn't want to stitch just one row.

What have you been stitching this week?  Did you get carried away by any of your projects?

Hot Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland - Giveaway

There are times in life when only a serving of comfort food will cure what ever ails you.  When these time strike, sisters Madge, Lila Mae and Dorothea, as heirs to the Alcott Chocolates Company, find themselves turning to steaming cups of hot chocolate topped with generous dollops of marshmallow fluff.  The main reason for consuming such quantities of that dark nectar is the ongoing care of their 92 year old father, Bernie, or rather the termination of the employment of his voluptuous day nurse, Bambi.

Things heat up a further notch when Bambi's husband, Jimmy Ray determines that she was unfairly terminated and sues the sisters for an outrageous sum. Jimmy Ray is not a lovable person, though the sister's have to admit that he has done a great job revamping the local bowling alley. 

Author Dawn Greenfield Ireland has created a very comfortable group of characters that I would immediately feel at home with, should I happen to be in Houston.  Even though the sisters are extremely wealthy, they are not pretentious in any way.  Lila Mae starts each day by making and eating breakfast with Amelia, her cook.  Dorothea treats her staff, Maria and Joseph as though they are family. Ms. Ireland even managed to make me feel bad for the way Jimmy Ray is treated.

This book was fun to read and each time I thought I knew who did it, Dawn would add a new twist or reveal an unknown connection and I would be back to the beginning.   Some of these twists include Lila Mae's boyfriend, Detective Chance Walker, Uncle Tito, who is some sort of Mexican shaman, and  popping up at critical moments, is the astrologer Robert.  These very diverse characters combine  to make a memorable 'family' who I'd like to read more about.

After you finish the story, continue reading and enjoy several recipes for the delicious food that appeared in the novel.

What I want to know is how the sisters got the marshmallow fluff to melt in their hot chocolate?  Mine just sat on the top in an un-appetizing blob.  I'll stick with my marshmallows; don't you love the giant ones, though they are way too large for my mug.

For a chance to win an ebook (PDF available for those preferring to read on a laptop) of this novel, leave a comment telling me your favourite comfort food and why.  Include your email so I can contact the winner.  International entrants welcome.  You do not have to be a follower of Books and Quilts to win, but it would be nice if you were. Winner to be drawn February 17, 2012.  For additional chances to win, visit Dawn's site for a list of stops on this tour.

Thank-you to Virtual Authors Book Tours and author Dawn Greenfield Ireland for my review copy.

Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver

For months now, Liesl has sat at her attic window gazing out upon the town.  Usually she sits and draws the world that she no longer enters.  Months ago her stepmother told her that the world was too dangerous for her and that she must remain inside where it is safe.  After her father passed away, Liesl was even restricted from leaving her tiny room.

Will, the alchemist's apprentice, has been watching that girl in her window and he wonders what she is doing up there every evening.  He has this sense that he must watch her and protect her when needed.  He doesn't realize that he will be the cause of their ultimate meeting.

The third party involved with this young girl is Po, he is also attracted to Liesl, or rather he is attracted to her drawing.  It isn't until she stops drawing, that Po shows himself.  Po is a ghost.

This story has all the elements that make me want to keep reading: a very likable heroine, magic, and unlikely hero and an element or two of menace. I found Po to be a most unique character, he or she didn't recall anything about himself or is it herself.  All we know it that it is a caring soul.  Compare that to the treachery of the adults and Po becomes even more lovable.

I want to tell you more about this story, but I'd give away too much.  It is lovely though might be a bit scary for a young reader (under 10).  Would be perfect to read together snuggled in a big chair.  After reading a chapter or two, you might want to sit together with a sketch book and draw your own interpretation of Liesl's artworks.  This book is filled with the most wonderful illustrations by artist Kei Acedera.  I read an e version of the book, but you will want a paper copy to get the full impact of the images that spread over two facing pages.
Why I say it might be scary: there is the evil step-mother and the death of the father.  While Po is not a scary ghost, he is still a ghost.

Author Lauren Oliver
Illustrated by Kei Acedera

Browse Inside Liesl and Po
Thanks to Lauren Oliver  for use of the cover image.

Needlework Tuesday - Snowballs in Vegas

 Needlework Tuesday is open to all readers looking for inspiration, encouragement or who want to share their recent needlework project. Introduce yourself in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your current post. Feel free to grab the cute little mouse for your post.

Be sure to read to the bottom of the post for my contest.







Last week I shared photos of the snowball and nine patch blocks.   I don't think I mentioned that the blocks are all 6 inches.  They were from a swap that I did with 7 other members from an online group.  Good thing I wrote this up or I would have forgotten that I have siggies (3 1/2 inch signature blocks from the participants) and I want to include them on the back.  In this first photo I have added 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches light sashing strips and 2 1/2 inch square medium cornerstones.

I wanted the quilt to look like it had a border, so the next round of sashing, I choose dark strips and even darker cornerstones.  Very effective.

To finish up I added some medium sashing strips between the nine patch blocks.  I remembered to add some pink so that the 'pink' autumn blocks wouldn't stand out too much.  At this point, none of the sashing or cornerstones are sewn, I left that for one big process. 

Voila, the finished and pressed top.  It measures approximately 48 inches square.  This morning I bought some Hobbs 80/20 quilt batt (80 % cotton 20% poly) but want to pre-wash it first to reduce shrinkage after quilting.  I have something special in mind for the backing to go along with the signature blocks. I'll show you that next week and then you'll understand why I am calling this quilt Snowballs in Vegas.   As soon as I figure out how I want to quilt this, I'll be right at it.  Then to find an interesting piece of fabric for the binding, I'm thinking stripes....  This is an original design. 

Last week I told you that Mom and I bought pieces of this fabric and have challenged each other to try a specific technique.  Well, I thought about it and went back to the store and bought a piece for a friend.  She doesn't know it yet, but she is going to join us in the challenge. 

I love when I hear from my readers that they are enjoying my projects and also that they have been working on theirs.  Be sure to leave a comment this week, as I will be selecting one reader  commenter to receive a postcard with the image of a quilt.  This is a printed card, not one that I have made. Remember to include your email so that I can contact you should your name be drawn.

Valentine Postcard Book

Tomorrow I will start mailing out my Valentines Postcards.  Yes, postcards, not those flimsy creations that come in a pack to give out in class, but high quality, full colour, card stock printed postcards.    These are adorable cards, some a bit 'mushy' (as my kids said) but then again, Valentines is for being all 'mushy' and sweet.  You'll want to send one to your love, another to your mother, grandmother... everyone.  I have permission to put a few images on my postcard blog, so check there next week for a peek inside this gorgeous book.

This book of 30 cards is  from Darling & Company,  also known as The Laughing Elephant , same company that published the Halloween Postcard book that I reviewed in October.  ISBN 13 978-1-59583-007-4