6 & 7 of 13 in 13 Challenge

Well Little White dove updated her challenge stats the other day and in pushed me into getting a book out.

As I have two (or is it three) non fiction books on the go at the moment I decided to pick up a fiction.  While waiting for Jot in the library the other day I was browsing the librarian picks and saw this.  Needless to say I picked it up an devoured it in only 2 days.

The Giving Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

The great thing about the Elm Creek Quilt novels is you always know what you are going to get and this is no exception.  You are taken into a world of old friends and new friends and often finish the book wondering where the characters are going to end up.  I will admit that our library does not have the whole series so I have been reading them a bit haphazardly and out of order but what threw me completely is that the babies that were just conceived in the last book I read were 4 in this one.

I enjoyed it like I enjoy all of the Elm Creek Quilt series and hope to read the rest in the near future.

Book 7 is a complete opposite as it is non fiction and in no way is it light reading.

Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

At one of my trainings recently this book was for sale and as I had heard about it in the past I decided to buy it.  It is an amazing book yet I have no idea how to review it for you here.  I guess I am still sorting through a lot of the information.

This book is in two parts, the first is a very matter of fact personal account of life in the concentration camps of WW2 including Auschwitz.  He points out how and why some men survived and how fate intervened on occasion.  The reason he wrote this is to highlight the second part of the book which is about this theory of Logotherapy.  This is his theory that every man is responsible for how he chooses to view the world and the suffering it holds.

As I said it has a lot of information in it and I found the first half of the book to be incredibly well written and a very factual account with what seemed like no emotion attachment.  It is a book I will be using when it comes to teach my kids about WW2 and the atrocities it produced as it shows how some men just refused to let it over power them.  Those are the real heroes, those that lived to tell the tale and make sure no one ever forgets.

Hello

Yes I know that over a month has past since my last post.  I did warn you all that with study and the new business this blog would probably get a little neglected :)

So what have I need up to in the crafty arena.  The answer is unfortunately not much.

The big finish in time for winter (just) was the Mondrian Quilt.  This was part of a quilt bee (run by MMQG) that I took part in in 2011 and has taken me two years to complete.  I can safely say it was worth the wait.  I absolutely love it and it keeps us very warm on the couch each night.  I ended up hand quilting each colour block in coordinating thread.  This has depicted a lovely pattern on the back.

I also whipped up this quilt top for a family who are going through a tough time with a sick baby right now and I am in the middle of hand quilting this with flowers and the families names so they are all included.  It is taking some time but I have plenty of study dvds to watch while I quilt.

I must quilt Jot cousins quilt in the next two weeks as well but this one I am going to do by machine.

Oh and I need to find time to whip up a couple of birthday presents as well.  I just wish I knew what I was going to make :)

I need to go now and get working on an assessment but this evening I will be back with the hand quilting.  Its a great way to wind down after the day.

Time Flying but I got to sew

Is anyone else wondering where this year is heading?  I am finding it is flying by, which is OK really.

SO it is already May and I haven't done all the sewing stuff I had hoped to by now.  This is actually OK as I have been filling my time with study and setting up the business and really enjoying the process.  I do miss the creativity a bit especially as at the moment my sewing room is doubling as an office as it is the only room that I can get peace and quiet in.  This of course means I see my sewing machine and UFO every time I do any work or study.  I'm amazed I have only been side tracked once or twice in the past 3 months.

Anyway, I did make time to sew in April, mainly it was dresses for Jot but it is still sewing.  I mentioned the cool mermaid fabric I found a couple of  months ago in one of my previous posts.  It sat on my table for a while until Jot decided she wanted a mermaid dress.  Not what I would have made with it if I had the choice but who am I to argue with a 4yo.  While looking for my go to dress pattern Molly by Sis Boom I found two dresses I had already cut out ready to sew together so I did all three.  One of which proved to be rather old as when I put the pieces up against the pattern they are a size 2.  Please excuse the pictures of the children, it was a long day for them.

In addition I have finished the hand quilting of the Mondrian, just sewing down the binding and that will be finished.  I got my blocks in May 2011 and am finishing it in May 2013 it seems 2 years is my longest time to finish a quilt (so far).  Photos of that will follow once it is complete and in use.

I had to bribe Jot the other day as I needed to go to Spotlight for elastic for her dresses but she was driving me nuts so I said if she behaved I would make her a purple kitten cushion.  Personally it freaks me out but she loves it and is currently using it as her pillow.  I have the fleece to do a dog one for CT but I am thinking I might line the ears etc with quilters cotton to reduce the bulk I spent a lot of time forcing the multi layers of fleece through the machine.

I haven't managed to finish any other books for the 13 in 13 challenge but I am very pleased to say I found my copy of Awaken the Giant within and am now a few chapters further on.  I need to finish this book as part of my assessment so I am doing a couple of chapters a month.  It is a great book and very thought provoking I have a companion work book that I am carrying around with it now as there are so many exercises Tony Robbins asks you to do to get the most out of the book.  I am learning a lot (not all of it something I really want to admit to) and I would recommend the book to anyone looking to develop themselves.

I am planning not to leave it a month between posts this month, well I know I wont as once the binding is on the Mondrian I am going to want to show it off.  Until then.  Have a good one.

5 of 13 in 13 Challenge

I really wanted book 5 to be the Tony Robbins Book that I started a number of weeks ago but I still can't find it.  So instead Book 5 is another Fiction book.  If it helps I do have  3 other books on the go at the moment none of which are fiction.

Book 5 - THE FIRST CONFESSOR: The Legend of Magda Searus - Terry Goodkind (ebook exclusive)

Image taken from Amazon.com

This book is another on my original list and I am really glad I have read it.  I hadn't used my kindle much in the past few months mainly cause I love the feel of turning pages but I dusted it off for this ebook exclusive by Terry Goodkind and I am so glad I did.

This book takes up the story from hints and mentions in throughout the whole of the Sword of Truth series.  It has to be my favourite Fantasy series of all time and I love the introduction to all the aspects of that series that are explained and developed in this book.

For those of you who have read the series, this book is about the creation of not only the Sword of Truth itself (and how it got its name) but also of the Confessors, the Book of Counted Shadows, the Rahl Bond and a couple of others items as well. 

For those of you who haven't read the series it is a great stand alone story to introduce you to the History behind the original books (of which I think there are 9).

The ending of the book left me hoping that there will be another dealing with Magda and Merrick as well as the various other characters that we have heard about in the original books.  I did miss turning the pages but it being an ebook did enable me to read it on the train (the paperbacks of the Sword of Truth series are too heavy to live in my handbag so rarely leave teh house) and so I got through it in record time.  

I am really tempted now to pick up the Wizards First Rule again and start the series from scratch.  I think that will be a reward for me once I find and finish Tony Robbins and the two assignments I have allocated to this month.

I'm feeling pretty good now that if I read at least one book a month now I will actually complete this challenge (although I do intend to read more than one a month).

3 & 4 of 13 in 13 Challenge

Guess what?  I got to read.

I have been very focused recently on the kids.  I really wanted to say the business but at this time it has been the kids that have taken up the time and effort recently.  Sick kids take up a lot of time.  I had forgotten that this time of year usually means we will be sick in rotation.  Hopefully we will get over it fairly soon.

Anyway I got to read in fact I finished book 3 at the beginning of February but have kept forgetting to blog about it.  Book 4 was finished today and I decided I had to post it tonight to make sure I didn't forget this one as well.

Book 3 - 7 Habits for Highly Effective Families - Stephen Covey

I loved this book.  It is basically his 7 Habits for Highly Effective People that he has adapted specifically for families.  It is fantastic and very thought provoking.  It highlighted a number of areas that we can work on as a family and has prompted me to read the original 7 Habits book and I am really looking forward to that.  I forgot to take a photo of this one - whoops

It prompted me to pick up 7 Habits of Happy Kids for Jot (written by Sean Covey - Stephens son).  It contains 7 stories, 1 for each habit and they are really cool little stories which Jot loves.  OK I know this challenge isn't about kids books but I had to tell you about that one :)

Book 4 - The law of Nines - Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind is one of my all time favourite authors.  I have long since been deeply involved in his Sword of Truth Series (and was quite gutted when the final official book came out) and really wanted to read this when I saw it in the Library.  I am usually disappointed by the books not in the series that I love but this time I wasn't.  It is sent in our world rather than a fantasy one and is very well tied in to the Sword of Truth series but you do not need to have read the series as it stands very well on its own.  In fact I kinda liked it because it was only loosely linked.

There were some bits that I wish had been slightly better explained and I would love to hear the story from the other side.  Overall I really enjoyed this and in fact was late picking the kids up from childcare cause I wanted to get to the end.

Whats next?

I am reading Awaken the Giant within by Tony Robbins and I have managed to misplace it.  I am pretty sure I took it to the library the other day but now I can't find it :).  I am going to search for it properly this weekend as I will be mightily bummed if I have lost it as I had been highlighting and flagging bits in it.

I also bought Hot Confidence by Nadine Love the other day and was terribly excited when it arrived on my doorstep today.  I was just waiting for the kids to get into bed (and be asleep) before digging into it.  You can find more about it HERE.  I met Nadine at the Coaching Institute at the beginning of February and have been wanting her book since then.  I finally got off my procrastinating butt and bought it now it is here and it is calling my name so I am going to finish up here and get stuck into it.

See you later

I got to sew :)

I love it when a plan comes together :)

Jot was invited to a Superhero party this weekend and declared last weekend that she needed a superhero cape to go to the party.  So a quick trip to Spotlight on Wednesday netted me some plain homespun in teh specified colours and on Friday I got to play. 

I don't have a cape pattern or at least not one I liked and I wanted to make it a little bit girly so I grabbed a poncho pattern I have an extended it to cape length.  I then added stripes on the side and the obligatory super hero letter.  Finally I added a ribbon to the neckline.  It is a grossgrain ribbon which means that once it is done up it doesn't get progressively tighter (good idea for her).  She rocked it at the party but wouldn't stand still for a picture.  

On that same trip to Spotlight I stumbled on this gorgeous mermaid fabric.  Jot has been completely obsessed by mermaids recently even going to far as to ask if she could become one (Thanks Walt Disney) so I thought she would like a nightie for Easter.  I'm quite proud to say I got the mermaids the right way up this time :)

Today we had to go back to Spotlight to pick up some stuff to mend one of Jots necklaces and I thought I would see if there was anymore.  Couldn't find any in the pink but did find the green which you can see in the  corner of this next shot.  I got the remainder of the bolt which was only 2m so I am planning a pair of pjs and if there is enough left a small book sling.  I will keep my eye out for more to make a reasonable sized book sling for her cousin too.

Todays other purchase was the thread to hand quilt my Mondrian yes I know It is nearly two years since I got the blocks but I am determined that it will be finished in time for winter to hit.  I have been promising it to R for our sofa for a while.

I also have managed to cut out two pairs of pjs for Jot which I am hoping to be able to sew together over the next few days depending on the kids. 

Now though I am going to watch Indiana Jones and see if I can find something to eat :)

  

February Round up

I am going to use the excuse that February is a short month which is why I didn't get much sewing done BUT to be honest I was just caught up doing other things.  Mostly launching my new coaching business.  Pretty exciting times but I did get some things done.

Firstly I made myself a new peg bag (no pictures) which is a little too big but I am enjoying using it.

Next I made Jot a new dress.  Excuse the photos she was not in a good mood when she tried it on.  I adapted the Little Explorer pattern that I made up for CT in January (you can read more about it here).  I obviously wasn't concentrating too hard though as I seem to have an extra couple of inches in the waist which means it is rather baggy at the back.  She says she likes it but has yet to wear it so not sure on that one :).  I will make it again though but will have to work on some measurements first.

I also got the Swoon quilt back from the wonderful Anita who now does my quilting on her long arm machine.  I attached 8m of binding by hand in about 3 evenings which gave me time to wash and dry it before my parents arrived from the UK.  If you remember back to when I first started this quilt in way back in March last year it was always intended as a Ruby wedding anniversary gift for my parents.  I did get the year wrong though and their Ruby wedding was actually in 2010 but it is the thought that counts.

Anyway they arrived on 23 Feb and Jot was bursting to give them their gift.  They loved it and I was delighted to nip into their room on the Sunday to find it already in use.  I love seeing my quilts in action :)

Most of the end of February was spent dealing with a sick little boy.  We have had the dreaded Gastro in our house and on top of that he had Tonsilitis and 8 new teeth.  Yup you guessed it he has been one mighty unhappy little chap.

Thankfully he is well on the mend although some of the teeth aren't still completely through he is well enough to return to childcare and I got to return to my machine today for a secret squirrel project I am part of.  No photos of that :)

Now though I am back to work and designing business cards :)