These Is My Words

Just finished a wonderful book!  A work of fiction, but based on some of the author's real family members, 'These Is my Words:  The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine' was a slice-of-life book that kept me interested from cover to cover.  Not too gritty, but with plenty of real life challenges, the story opens with Sarah traveling with her family in a covered wagon.  The story follows her through the loss of family members, birth of her children and the most fun of all, her relationship with Captain Jack Elliot.  They are a complex couple with lots of twists and surprises in their relationship.  This book was a triple treat for me as I love history, stories about Arizona, and love stories.  This one has all three.  When I finished this book, I was delighted to discover that there are a couple of sequels.  I look forward to reading more about Sarah Prine Elliott!

Mother Nature

Just finished an interesting read.  Em Hansen is a geologist with a way of finding trouble.  A 'friend' gets her into quite a pickle when she recommends her for a new job.  Em learns that her gut instinct is much more valuable than following the rules.  She also gets a chance to become reacquainted with family members that have drifted apart.

Mother Nature is one of a series of books about Em.  I'm always glad to find a new series to read as it makes picking out the next book a bit easier.  I'm looking forward to joining Em Hansen for some more adventures!

There's Snow Business Like Snow Business

Finished another cuddle-size quilt yesterday.  I'm so happy with it.  It's cozy!

Peri and I tried it out last night watching 'Grimm' on tv.  The flannel/fleece combination is very cuddly.  Peri would like it to be a little bigger, so I'll need to factor that in next time.  The fabrics have snowmen and hot cocoa and polka dots.  It is the largest quilt that I have machine-stippled all in one piece.  The finished quilting is nowhere near perfect, but I learned a lot after doing so much quilting all at once.  I look forward to practicing this technique on future projects.

I was able to make a little bonus quilt from the leftover fabrics.

Ever since Zade developed arthritis, she likes to make a little nest with whatever cushion-y things she can find.  She likes to keep this quilt stuffed under my desk.  That way, she's both comfortable and gets a little peace from Peri.  lol.

Kill Alex Cross

I've read every Alex Cross book that James Patterson has written.  This one may be my last.  It has all the typical elements from an Alex Cross story...Nana Mama, Sampson, fun with the kids, a BIG case to solve.  But the whole book felt a bit flat as if the sparkle has simply fizzed out of the franchise.  Makes me a bit sad as this series is one that I've previously enjoyed, and it's also one that my mom and I used to read and discuss together.  Guess I'll wait to see the reviews of any future Alex Cross books before I make up my mind.

Black Thunder

Finished a great book this week!  I have read several books in this series and have enjoyed every one.  Ella Clah is a Navajo Tribal Police detective.  Each story features a case or two, but the main attraction for me is Ella's strong family ties.  Also featured is the tribe and the reservation itself.  I miss living close to the culture and lands of Arizona's Native American tribes.  These books are a way for me to reconnect.  As usual, I won't share much in the way of details so I don't spoil the surprises for any future readers.

The Language of Flowers

I finished this book over the weekend. Since I don't want to give much of anything away about the plot, I'm just going to say that I enjoyed it.  A lot.  Even though I almost quit reading it halfway through.  lol.  A gardening friend recommended it so I grabbed it thinking I knew what I was getting into.  Although the story was much different than I thought it would be, it really does have so much information about the meanings of flowers.  I learned a great deal and was also quite enthralled by the story.   I recommend it for anyone who likes "makes-you-think" books.

First Quilt of the Year

Merry Christmas! No, I'm not several weeks late. I'm really, really early with my preparations. I've finished another Christmas quilt, hoping to have enough of them done by the holidays for everyone to have one.

This is the "Li'l Twister" version of the funky pinwheel quilt I made before.  Whereas the original Twister pattern uses 10 inch squares to start, this version uses 5 inch charm squares.  Here's what the charm squares looked like, all put together...

I used two Christmas fabric charm packs that I had found on sale at Quilts Etc and then added more red fabrics from my stash. I really like the addition of blue to the traditional holiday green and red.  Most of the blue fabrics have snowmen on them.  After assembling the squares, the pattern calls for bordering them with strips of another fabric.  I found one that looks like tiny snowballs...

Then, the real fun begins!

With this smaller size of ruler, this second cutting step is the weirdest combination of fun and tedium.  Fun because the pattern begins to develop in the newly cut squares.  Tedium because I had to cut around that ruler 90 times!  Whew!  I've decided that I won't be making any big quilts with tiny pinwheels.  90 cuts is my limit.  Here are the newly cut squares ready to be reassembled....

As you can see in the finished picture above, I added another white border and then a deep red one to bring the quilt up to a usable size.  I quilted it simply as there was already so much going on in the design.

Zade decided that I needed a little extra help with this quilt.  While I as pinning the quilt together for machine quilting, she appropriated the leftover backing.  lol.

So, I have finished one of the three Christmas quilts I planned for this year.  Never too early to start getting ready for Christmas!

The Scottish Prisoner

I've finished my first book of the year (see Goals blogpost.)  The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon is a story from the Lord John Grey series that is a companion to the Outlander series.  I absolutely love the stories of Jamie Fraser and Clair Beauchamp from the Outlander stories, but up until now hadn't read any of the stories from the companion series.  There could, however, be only one 'Scottish Prisoner' so I knew that this story would feature Jamie himself.

My favorite motif from the Outlander series is the relationship between Jamie and Claire.  Alas, apart from a few of Jamie's fantasies and dreams, Claire makes no appearance in this story.  However, Jamie is prominent in the story, so it was worth reading to learn more about his time apart from Claire.

The Jacobite cause is also featured prominently here, and as with all things Jacobite, the plot is very convoluted.  There were several passages that I had to re-read to make sure I understood who was involved.  It was rather like untying a very complex Celtic knot.  Satisfying when finished, but a bit frustrating during the process.

Not surprisingly, the best part of the book was the excerpt from Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, the next novel in the Outlander series.  *sighs*  It should be available in 2013.

2012?!?

Yep.  It's really here -  the year that even the great Mayan scholars didn't know what to do with.  This is going to be a good year for me.  At least, I'm going to work very hard to make it so.  I've set a few goals to help me. 

Spiritual Goal - 

 I've been reading the Book of Mormon, trying to get it finished in 100 days.  I really enjoyed my hundred day read when both Josh and Sam were out on their missions, thought I'd do it again to celebrate Ben's mission.  In addition, I am going to keep up with the Sunday School class lessons even though I can't usually attend. 

Physical Goal - 

Last year, I set a goal to lose 25 pounds and then maintain for the rest of the year.  Worked great!  I'm going to do that again this year.  I plan to stick to my food plan prescribed by the dietician and diabetes educator.  I also plan to exercise at least 30 minutes five days per week.  This will be the really hard part as my arthritis rarely cooperates when it comes to exercise.

Intellectual Goal - 

Read, read, read.  I plan to read as often and as much as I can.  I've gotten a bit away from reading for fun and it's time to get back to it.  I plan to finish at least one book a month, hopefully many, many more.

Creative Goal - 

I've collected fabric for several quilts.  I'd like to get a bunch of them finished this year.  In addition to my "Free Block Class" quilt, I want to finish three more Christmas quilts and three other quilts.

I'm hoping to hold myself accountable for these goals here in my blog.  Haven't decide exactly how, but you'll be hearing more about my 2012 goals for sure!