A New Year of Books

I got a pretty slow start on the reading this year.   I waited until April to start reading again....I have been a BIT busy=)  I finally decided...hmmmm...if I am gonna sit in a rocking chair and feed Kiddo for 24 hours per day (may be a high estimate), why not read while I am doing it???  Sometimes I read and sometimes I watch Gilmore Girls.  It is a rough life I live here!!! 

BOOK 1, The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould. 

Since a good part of my reading happens at 2, 3, 4, 5 in the morning, I needed something easy to follow and that did not take too much brain power.  No Crime and Punishment or Wuthering Heights for me these days.  This book was great.  The main character is an adopted child (now an adult), who wants to find her biological mother after her adoptive parents both pass away.  She is a midwife, and so she heads to Amish country to get the answers.  This book is a bit of a mystery.  You keep getting clues about her family until you are able to piece the whole puzzle of her past together.  I LOVE learning about the Amish culture.  I find it super interesting.  At one point she breaks up an underage drinking party where a bunch of Amish kids are throwing a bon fire...in there dresses and bonnets.  I love that.  I can just imagine driving a horse and carriage to a kegger.  FUNNY!!  Anyway.  This is a cute book.

Book 2---Wildflower Bride by Mary Connealy

My mom gave me this book to read.  It was a very typical Christian Western story.  Love and guns and horses OH MY!!!  Again...good for a non-thinking book.  The main character is a cowboy who is in love with a wild women.  She has been raised by Indians for most of her life and lives like a Native American.  They have a few mishaps in the book and have to fight against some cattle thieves/Indian killers.  Cute little happy love story.  Not gonna win the Pulitzer.

Book 3--Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

This book was labeled as a Christian book, but I think they got their stickers mixed up.  This was CLEARLY a fantasy book.  IF it is a Christian book, it must be a VERY deep metaphorical book that I did not understand.  Anyway.  After getting over the fact that it was about dragons and far away lands, I kinda loved this book.  It was TOTALLY different from what I normally read.  I am not really a Sci-Fi fantasy kinda gal---Yes I read Twilight.  BUT this one kept me hooked.  The main character is a Princess who is beginning to get suitors.  She is trying to find her true love when her kingdom is attacked by a DRAGON.  You heard me...a dragon.  It all goes Fantasy-ey after that=)  I liked everything about this book EXCEPT...the last page which read....THE STORY HAS JUST BEGUN....Coming soon....

ARGHHH a series.  And lucky me...this one was just put out, which means the next one is probably  a year away from coming out.   Darn those dragons!!

Anyway.  I may have started of slow, but then 3 in about a week.  NOT TOO SHABBY!!!

2010 Book Review

I am still alive.  some days I do not feel like it...but alive I am!!!  I have spent VERY little time in my craft room and almost zero time sewing or doing ANYthing very productive.  BUT the last couple of weeks I have FINALLY gotten back to reading.  I REALLY like looking back at what I have read in 2010, so I want to make another list for 2011.  BUT I need to finish off last year FIRST. 

The last two books I read in 2010 were from the same series, THE KINGDOM AND THE CROWN.  I read the 1st book a while back and decided to continue on.  These books are FICTIONal accounts of the life and times of Jesus Christ.  Book 2 followed many fictional characters as they accepted Jesus as their Savior and began to join him.  Jesus is a character in the book, along with the 12 Apostles.  It is great to read the events of the New Testament (healings, miracles, teachings, etc), in an easy to read manner.  It combines all of the gospels too, making the timeline flow in a way I had never known. 

Book 2, BEHOLD THE MAN, is not as easy to read.  This book continues to story of ALL of the characters, but it focus on the last days of Christ and the death of Jesus.  Even though it was a great experience to read through these events and learn more about the Savior, it was hard to take at some times.  Sometimes I had to put the book in time out and take an emotional break.  It may have just been been because I was pregnant though =)  If you are a Christian, these books are amazing.  I would recommend them to anyone.  I think we can all stand to learn more about Jesus, and these books help make it easier. 

SOOO the grand total for the year, 39 books.  Not bad!!!  Here is the final list. 

* = a book I would recommend

*39.  Behold The Man---Gerald Lund

*38.  Come Unto Me---Gerald Lund

*37. Simply Sara--Hillary Manton Lodge

*36. Somewhere a Song---Judith Pella

*35. She Walks in Beauty--Siri Mitchell

34. Sixteen Brides---Stephanie Grace Whitson

*33. Written on the Wind--Judith Pella

32. Morning's Refrain--Tracie Peterson

31. Dawn's Prelude---Tracie Peterson

*30. Plain Jayne---Hillary Manton Lodge

*29. Bound----Sally Gunning

28. Lavender Morning---Jude Devereaux

27. The Best Of Times---Anita Stanfield

26. Angels Fall---Nora Roberts

25. Honest Illusions---Nora Roberts

*24. Splendor---Anna Godbersen

*23. Envy---Anna Godbersen

*22. Rumors---Anna Godbersen

*21. The Luxe----Anna Godbersen


*20. Sarah's Key---Tatiana De Rosney

19. The Queen's Governess---Karen Harper

18. The House at Riverton---Kate Morton

17. Twilight of a Queen--Susan Carroll

16. The King's Grace--Anne Easter Smith

15. Days of Gold---Jude Devereux

14. Crocodile on the Sandbank---Elizabeth Peters

*13. Graceling--Kristin Cashore

12. The Heiress--Jude Devereux

11. A Knight In Shining Armor--Jude Devereux

10. North by Northanger----Carrie Bebris

9. Mistress of the Sun---Sandra Gulland

*8. I Heard That Song Before--Mary Higgins Clark

7. Plum Lucky--Janet Evanovich

6. Plum Lovin'--Janet Evanovich

5. Key of Valor--Nora Roberts

4. Key of Knowledge--Nora Roberts

3. Key of Light--Nora Roberts

2. No Place Like Home---Mary Higgins Clark

*1.The Writing On The Wall----Dean Hughes

New Creations

I made something SUPER cute this week....

No tutorial though:)



Another finished quilt....pretty much in love with this one:)

I SOMEHOW managed to finish another quilt....I was on a bit of a time crunch.  This one is for Pink A Night To Remember, which is an auction for Breast Cancer that my Aunt helps put on.  I donated 2 quilts last year, but only managed one baby quilt this year.  Actually I tried to work on a different bigger quilt, but I kinda ruined it....so this is what they got this year.  ANYWAY...

The fabric is one of my favorites, Riley Blake, but I am not sure what it is called.....Delicious is what I call it:)  Is it not super cute boy fabric????  Love it!!!

I grid quilted it....I promise to try free motion again someday.  I did do something a little different this time though.  NO TAPE...I used the little extension do-hickey that goes on my walking foot.  Worked like a charm. 

The backing is my favorite...I pretty much love the stars!!!

It matches baby E's room pretty well....too bad it can't stay there:)  I promise the A is coming soon....it is on order. 

The pattern is from THIS book.  Thanks Marcie!!!  This is the same pattern I used for Baby E's quilt...different fabric though.   If I EVER actually finish it I will share a picture.

This might be my last accomplishment for a while, so I am sitting here enjoying the finish....kinda like I just won a state championship....small things:)

First quilt of 2011

SOOOO.... my computer has been out of commission for a few weeks...YES WEEKS!!! and I have not been able to post, or look at blogs, or even access many of my patterns.  YUCK!!!  But a while back I finished 2011's very first finished quilt.

I made this quilt out of some of the scraps from my vintage linens from THE SHOP.  I really liked some of the colors and patterns in the linens that I had, so I decided to try it out.  I kinda LOVE the way these linens are in a quilt.  Because they are used and washed multiple times, the quilt is THE SOFTEST thing I have ever made.  It is so snuggly and soft. Seriously!!!  

ANYWAY...I used THIS pattern from the Moda Bake Shop.  

I quilted it using masking tape and grid quilting (nothing new there).  Seriously in 2011 I am going to perfect my free motion quilting.  SERIOUSLY!!!! 

The backing fabric is my favorite.  It is SOOO soft.  There is also a strip of "stacked coins" pieced into the back.  I don't usually piece the back, but I liked that little addition. 

Since it is not really a "manly boy" quilt, I didn't think it was quite right for Little Baby E (who will arrive in less than 2 weeks).  SOOO I put it in the Etsy shop.  We shall see if anyone loves it as much as I do:)  I have a few more finished projects to share and a couple little cuties in the works, but I am still getting back into this century and need to go get caught up on some more important computer stuff.....like blog stalking and online shopping:)