I've been continuing to catch up with stitching Grandmother's Choice blocks from Barbara Brackman's latest BOW. I'm happy to report I'm now caught up and have finished the most recent block - Nonsense (lower left). The top star block - a seven pointed star in honor of Australia (who granted women the right to vote before England and the US) - is still in the process of being appliqued, but that will soon be complete.
If you're following the Grandmother's Choice BOW, you may notice I added a block that is not part of Ms. Brackman's scheme. I substituted a block called Miller's Daughter for the Sunbonnet Sue block. I've never been a fan of Sue and could not bring myself to have her in my quilt, despite the wonderful story accompanying the Sunbonnet block. I chose the Miller's Daughter block primarily for its visual appeal, not because it had any particular link to women's suffrage. If you're interested, I used the piecing instructions from Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache.
Coincidentally, I just finished Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, historical fiction about Europe prior to and during World War I. The book touches on the suffragette movement in England, but really encompasses the all social and political tides that brought about the war. I listened to the AudioBooks version (so I can sew and "read" at the same time!) and really enjoyed it. Highly recommended - and it's the first book of a trilogy, so there are 2 more installments to follow. The second book of the trilogy is about World War II (Winter of the World) and the third (yet to be published) will be about the Cold War.
