10 & 11 in 13 in 13 challenge

I really didn't think I would have a chance to blog again this week (there is so much going on right now) that I am pleasantly surprised to be able to blog the next 2 books for my attempt at the 13 in 13 challenge.  The best bit is that now the end is in sight I really think I can do this.

I seem to have mentioned that Terry Goodkind is one of my favourite authors and I was delighted to find that he had a new book out.  I was even more excited to discover that it was the second in a series and I had somehow missed the first of the series when it came out in 2011.  I have got no idea how it happened but  it meant I got to read the first two books of this new Richard and Kahlan story together.  I do have to admit to choosing these books over some prep work I had to do which I am now going to cram into tomorrow morning instead.  It was worth it.

Book 10 - The Omen Machine, Terry Goodkind & Book 11 - The Third Kingdom, Terry Goodkind

These books follow on from The original Sword of Truth series of 12 books.  The story picks up again about a year (give or take) after the end of Book 12.  It is about a threat to the people of D'Hara in the form of Prophecy and of a machine (the Omen Machine) that is discovered that seems to be creating the prophecy.  And a threat to Richard and Kahlan personally in the form of a Hedge Maid called Jit.  That book ends with Richard killing Jit to save Kahlan and them both suffering ill effects of the way that was done.

What I loved about the book was that all the characters were there.  All the people I grew to love in the Sword of Truth series were there and as opinionated as ever.  It left us with a cliff hanger that of course we knew was going to be solved in book 2 (spoiler: it wasn't)

What I didn't like about the book was that he seems to have got even more wordy.  None of his book could be called short and that is great, however I found in this one that I struggled with some of the lengthy explanation stuff.

So onto The Third Kingdom.  I got terribly confused at the start of this as it did not pick up where the first book left off (and there was a reason for this) which was highly annoying but did make me turn the pages faster to discover why that was the case.

This book continues the story in a somewhat round about way (and I was glad to have had read the First Confessor as that really lays the foundation for this story) which Richard and Kahlan (having been saved by their friends currently about to be eaten by cannibals with their friends no where in sight.  Needless to say as the book unfolds we discover what happened to the friends and are eventually (like in the last 10 pages) reunited with them.

I loved this book because of its twists and turn including the confusing one at the start, I loved the way it ties in the stories of the Word of Truth and the First Confessor very well.

What I didn't like about this book was the way he could without warning kill off one of my favourite characters (poor brass buttons) and then send one of the three main characters (who have in some form or other been together through 11 of the first 12 books) off on her own.  I am hoping that we will see her again soon.

So now I need to sit back and wait for another two years before book 3 comes out and hope he ties up some weird loose ends cause this guy is good.

I am also trying to decide if I want to purchase them all for my kindle or whether I buy the actual books.  I love the paper books but I also love the fact that with these big books the kindle makes them portable.  No way I would take these on holiday for example in their paper format but on a kindle, well that's another story.

Jot Turns 5

Well next week she does and she has turned into the most bossy person I know (and that is saying something!).

A couple of weeks ago when discussing her Birthday Party she decreed that the cake had to be a princess unicorn fairy garden cake!  Specific much?  Anyway I headed over to Pinterest and discovered that danger lurks behind every image. 

I found this one (from createwithyourhands.blogspot.com )

Which looks amazing

And this one (from piccsy.com)

I am not going to even post some of the other totally amazing and way out of my skillset cakes there were out there.  Besides which I got distracted (as you can on Pinterest) and discovered this beauty for my birthday in December.

Image from cakesdecor.com

I will post a party round up over the next few weeks so stay tuned to see how my cake measured up :)

8 & 9 of 13 in 13 Challenge

Where have I been?  Well not reading that's for sure.  I think it is pathetic that I have only read two books in the 6 weeks.  Hopefully I will catch up when I am on holiday in October.

The Golden Louise Hay Collection by Louise Hay

I'm actually wondering if I can count this as three books as it does contain three of her best sellers.  You can Heal your Life, You can Heal your Body and The Power is Within You.  I truly enjoyed this book and it really resonated with me.  In fact I have now bought a copy for my book shelf.

While reading it it prompted me to make a couple of changes in my life and that is a good thing.  All three books talk about how you can make a difference to your life and health by changing your thinking and letting go of the past when it is holding you back.  It is a little controversial for some people as she claims you can cure yourself of any disease including Cancer if you are willing to change your thinking.  I personally loved it and there is a lot in there that is just common sense.

I did get the most out of the third book in the collection The Power is Within You and most of those little tabs you see are in that section.  I am hoping my personal copy arrives before this on has to go back to the library so I can transfer all the sticky tabs.

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason

This is a great little book (be warned the writing is tiny) that gives you some incredibly sensible and easy steps to building your wealth.  It is NOT a get rich quick book but gives practical advice for growing your wealth over time.  I love the first step which is to always pay yourself first by putting aside 10% of all your income to start building your wealth.  Guess who is putting that into practice right now.

Only four books to go and 4 months to do it in.  I still feel I might complete this challenge which I think will be the first one I have ever managed to complete.

In other news I am behind on my sewing this year but steaming ahead with the new business and absolutely loving it. I won't bore you all with it here except to say that the only downside to loving what you do is that it is hard to put it aside for long enough to do the other things you love like quilting.

I have a quilt for Jot to finish in the next 4 weeks for her birthday and then one for my nephew for his birthday in January (and have no idea yet what I am going to do with that one) as well as whip up two quilts for childcare workers for Christmas and a number of other childcare worker gifts.  I can see myself having to put time in the diary to sew or I will never get to it :)

Quilting - Finally

I have finally been at the machine again and in fact now that both quilts have been received I can even show pictures.

This one was for my nieces 6th birthday.  The plan was to give all my nieces and nephews a quilt for their fifth birthday but I got completely confused last year and missed one.  Whoops.  Never mind she has it now and loves it.  It is rather too hot in the UK right now for it to get much use but I am pretty sure it will be used a fair bit in the winter.

The second one is for a gorgeous family who I know online through my mothers group with CT and who have a lovely little girl who is rather sick at the moment.  I made the quilt big enough for at least 2 people at any one time so they know that their friends are thinking of them.

Apologies for the picture quality.  They didn't look as dark on the camera and I am not in the mood to fiddle with them right now.

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.