Living The Life Of A Fabric-aholic by Sandy Gervais

 

Living The Life

Of A

Fabric-aholic

by

SANDY GERVAIS

This book is a little short story that is colorfully illustrated and meant to cheer up and poke fun at over spending on fabric.  Some quilters get carried away with their fabric purchases. It is easy to accumulate quite a bit and not realize what all you have.   A couple days after I got home from Cleveland Clinic a package arrived in the mail.  My brother and sister in law had sent it.  Included was a darling hand made pillow case in which the fabric had frogs wearing scrub suits and a Sandy Gervais's book, Living The Life Of A Fabric-aholic.  It took me less than thirty minutes to read the book and was good for several chuckles.  It is a thoughtful gift book to give to your quilter friends.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  The video is a bit long but is an interview of the author explaining how she develops her fabric lines.  

Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini

 

Circle of Quilters

by

Jennifer Chiaverini

When I arrived home from Cleveland Clinic following my open heart mitral valve surgery last week, a package was waiting on me.  A good friend since childhood had sent me a couple of books to read during my convalescence.  One of the books she sent was a novel named Circle of Quilters from a series by Jennifer Chiaverini called the Elm Creek quilts.  While it is a different genre than I normally read, I found it a very refreshing story.  Elm Creek Quilts is a fictional quilt retreat center outside of Pittsburgh where people come and stay and take classes.  Staying several days they gather and chat while they sew.  Ideas are exchanged and it is a popular spot for quilters.  In this particular novel of the series the quilt retreat is losing two staff members and the board is interviewing for their replacement.  The stories of five of the applicants are included in the book with each of the five sections concluding with their interview.  The last chapter reveals who was selected and why.  It was a fun read and a quick read.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun book. Please click on the author's name and book title above and enjoy the video that follows.  The video is about another book in the Elm Creek Quilts series but talks some about Chiaverini's writing in general.  

The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli

 

The Stolen Lady

by

Laura Morelli

I finished reading The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli late on the 14 of this month in a VRBO in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  It is now ten days later and I feel well enough to write the book review.  Open heart mitral valve surgery is accompanied by a substantial recovery period.  I am just beginning my convalescence after my 5/15 surgery. The Stolen Lady has three story lines, all of which are good reads.  One of the story lines is the story of Leonardo De Vinci during the time that he was painting Lisa.  I did not realize he was so unreliable.  He ended up leaving the painting to the king of France to hang in the royal bath house upon his death.  Lisa's husband, who hired Leonardo to paint her, never got to own the painting.  Another of the story lines followed the woman who was Lisa's personal maid. It was rooted in the political history of Florence during that time frame and some of the core religious beliefs related to those political powers.  Also included are the details of Lisa's depression which was rooted in her loss of two infants.  Although she did have other children who grew to adulthood, Lisa blamed the rich way her family lived for the loss of the two children which she lost.  Leonardo De Vinci worked hard to draw Lisa out of sadness and did manage to capture her eventual smile.  The third story line of the book takes place during WWII and follows the story of an archivist who works at the Louvre.  She travels with the Mona Lisa and other works of art throughout the war to hide the art in various places of the free zone.  Eventually she ends up working with the resistance.  I enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.