Progress on Carol's Quilt

Progress on the quilt for Carol & Dan's wee baby nerdlet!  I have cut all the strips, sewed the 4-patch strips, and recut them to be assembled into blocks.  Hopefully I can get those sewn this afternoon and this evening.

Parasol Protectorate Charm Bracelet - Now with better pictures!

I have been eagerly awaiting/deeply dreading the upcoming fifth installment of the Parasol Protectorate book series (aka the Soulless series by Gail Carriger).  Eagerly awaiting because Miss Carriger's books are BRILLIANT fun, but deeply dreading as it will be the end of the series, and I don't wish to see it go.  In a spirit of holding on, I created a new charm bracelet based on her Steampunky stories of tea, dirigibles, and werewolves.

The bracelet contains 19 pewter charms, and a plethora of beautiful beads including river shell, agate, dyed jade, moonstone, Czech glass, and crystal in shades of black, white, clear, and bright pink.  The color scheme comes directly from the cover of the first book in the series (Soulless), and the charms were chosen to correspond to all the main characters and events in the book.


The clasp is a pewter Victorian style toggle clasp which I found on Chubby Chico Charms.

The charms include (in order)
Parasol - for Alexia Tarabotti, our tea-loving, skull-cracking heroine
Teacup - as Alexia is *always* in the mood for a good cup of tea
Wolf - for her love, Conal Maccon, Alpha Werewolf of the Woolsey Pack
Gears - for all the fun Steampunk contraptions mentioned in the series
Book - for Prof. Lyall, Lord Maccon's rather scholarly Beta
Ladybug - a memorable adversary of dear Alexia's

Ankh - Egyptian symbol of everlasting life
Thistle - symbol of Scotland, Lord Maccon's home, and setting of Changeless (Book 2)
Handlebar Mustache - for Madame Lefoux, inventor-for-hire
Top Hat - an accessory that a proper gentleman should never be without
Gloves - an accessory that a proper lady should never be without
Full Moon - which incapacitates Alexia's husband all too often
Comedy & Tragedy - for Tunstell, Ivy's forbidden love & Conal's thespian clavinger
Hat - for Ivy Hisslepenny, Alexia's best friend, who has rather awful taste in hats

Manacles - made of silver, to keep the Wolves at bay
Crown - for Queen Victoria and her Shadow Council
Octopus - for the Order of the Brass Octopus
Fangs - for Lord Akeldama, Alexia's very dear friend and source of all gossip in London
Mummy - brought back from Egypt by the Kingair Wolf Pack, which has unforseen effects on the Supernatural set