Soul Searching

The soul is made for action, and cannot rest till it be employed. Idleness is its rust. Unless it will up and think and taste and see, all is in vain. 

Thomas Traherne

I've been having some more fun cutting strips with my Accuquilt Studio Cutter.  They just come out so straight and fast.  I was working on teal and turquoise strips for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and in just three passes through the cutter I had a stack of strips about 4 inches high.  Here are the pieces I cut from them for another block in the Soul Searching Quilt.  You can see my previous blocks HERE AND HERE.

Even though I was able to draft the block from a picture back in January I bought the book this week.  I found it at JoAnn and it was 30% off plus I had another 20% off the total sale coupon to use.  There are several projects that I liked in it so it will be nice to have it in my collection of quilting books.  The photos are great to look at also.

These big blocks work up so quickly that I'm thinking of making another one using more prints.  The ones I'm using now are mostly tone on tone.  I was wondering today how it would look with black with white prints for the background instead of the white with black that I am using this time.  I should get the block together in a few days.

I didn't realize until I had the book in hand that this is where the Fractured Quilt is to be found also.  There was a large number of people doing a Quilt Along on it recently.  There are many ways it can be laid out and sewn together.

I like adding really good quilting books that have great photos and design ideas to my library. My bookcase is getting a little too full so I am picky about what I buy.  I bought another one that I will share with you latter.

I'm linking with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Let's Book It

Reading Challenges

Often while reading a book one feels that the author would have preferred to paint rather than write; one can sense the pleasure he derives from describing a landscape or a person, as if he were painting what he is saying, because deep in his heart he would have preferred to use brushes and colors. 

Pablo Picasso

As I have confessed previously here on my blog I am a serious bibliophile.  This obsession started as a child.  As I was reading one of my favorite blogs last week, I was reminded that there are blogging worlds out there that doesn't involve quilting.  Deb at A Simple Life was telling about the reading challenges that she has decided to participate in this year.  I think I may have stumbled over one of these before in the last couple of years but I didn't investigate it at the time.

After reading up a little on the subject of reading challenges on several blogs I have decided to participate in a couple of them.  I may decide to add more but I'm starting with just 2.  I have been making a list of all of the books that I read or listen to for the past 4 years.  This has been interesting.  Things really changed a couple of years ago when I got a Kindle for my birthday.  I have been listening to audio books for quite a few years while I quilt, sew and ride in the car.  The Kindle has changed the number of paper books I read.  I mainly read FREE books and have downloaded over 700 of them from Amazon.  FREE ebooks are a mixed bag of quality.  Some are self published and suffer from a lack of editing.  Some are free for a short period of time when a new one by the same author is being released.  I wouldn't say they are always great quality but I usually just download from the Top 100 List.

My local library has a great collection of audio books which I can select from.  I frequently pick up NEW books from there too.  I buy only a few books each year since I can get more than enough from the library to fill my needs.  The ones I buy are usually non-fiction.  Quilting books of course top this list but I buy a few other genres also.

So what Reading Challenges am I going to do this year? I decided to do the Monthly Mix Up Mania. This challenge you to read a book for each letter in the year. That's right, a title for the J in January and the A in January, etc.... 74 books total!

The other challenge that sounded like fun is Color Coded Reading Challenge. What quilter wouldn't want to play with color? This one will take some research and planning. Looking at my list from last year there were only 2 books that would have fit in.

As soon as I have the time to type it, I will be adding a page at the top of the blog that covers these challenges.  Since the first one started last year I have filled in the list from what I have read then.  I still have some work to do to finish it up and I will have to be on the look out for books that will fill in the missing letters.  Got any recommendations for it (E, J, N, R, U & Y) or the Color Challenge?

By the way I thought you might like to know how much I read last year.  Here's the breakdown and total.  Maybe if I didn't read so much I would get more quilting done but I mostly read (books or the Kindle) at night when DH wants me upstairs with him or when I can't sleep which happens way more than I would like.
2013 Total 121
Books:  25
Audio Books:  47
E-Books:  49

This doesn't include a number of Quilting Books that I bought and read.  I need to start tracking those too.

What I'm Reading

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors. 

Joseph Addison

Judy over at Patchwork Times is starting a new linky party on Tuesdays called Whatcha Reading.  I'm not sure that I have mentioned here what a Bibliophile I am.  I've been an avid reader since grammar school.  For many years of my life I read nearly a book a day (this might explain why I was not an all A's student).  I have worked at public libraries twice in my life which did much in putting more books in my hands.

I am always amazed by people who never read books.  I don't read as many as I once did because I spend a lot of time reading blogs... that is still reading.  I have a Kindle that I got a little over a year ago for my birthday.  I have been listening to more books than I have read in paper for several years now.  I can sew and quilt while doing this and I don't get as tired although sometimes I find myself just listening and not sewing when the story is really interesting.  It does make me move around to change the CD about once and hour too.  My husband and I both listen to books in the car also.  It really makes the miles speed by on long trips or when stuck in traffic.

Several years ago I began writing down the titles and authors of all the books I read, in whatever form, each year.  Here is my totals for last year:

Bound Books - 7

Audio Books - 34

Kindle Books - 57

This doesn't include the numerous magazines which I read either.  I try to record everything but if I missed just a couple that puts the total at 100.  I was a little shocked that the bound book total was so low.  I know for a long time I read between 10 - 25 books a month.  When do I find time to do so much reading?  Well, let's just say I've never been addicted to housework. LOL

I've been totally amazed at how many books I've read on the Kindle.  I've downloaded around 500 and only paid for a couple.  If you know where to look you can get a nice variety for FREE!  Amy over at Blogging with Amy had the link that I use on Amazon.  If you type in Free eBooks or Kindle books you can pull up a list of some but this is the best list.  It is updated hourly so if you are using it it can change and the ones you had just looked at may be moved around a bit.  You can also select best fiction, non fiction or genres.  Here is the link: 

http://www.amazon.com Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks

Now if you are thinking you don't have a Kindle, don't despair.  There is a free app that you can use on your computer and probably one for tablets, phones, etc.  Just look for it.  I try to go to the link about once a month.  This week I zapped about 50 new ones into my Kindle.

Now what have I been reading?  January has been a Reacher month for me and my husband.  We went to see the movie Jack Reacher.  We liked it although we agreed with the critics that Tom Cruise is about a foot short and a hundred pounds too light to be impressive as a fighter.

We both listened to 61 Hours and read the hardback Worth Dying For.  DH is about halfway through it and I read the whole thing Monday.  Did I mention I can read fast?  Lee Child is a prolific writer and holds your attention without boring you with details.  Some things are just left unexplained which adds to the mystery of who Reacher is.  If you like thrillers you will like his books but they may be a little too bloody for some.

Don't be thinking that I only read one genre, I enjoy many.  A few but not all of the genres I read are Fantasy, Sci Fi, Mystery, Love stories, and have found several Young Adult authors that I like.  One of them is Robin McKinley.  She, as well as several other authors, has been rewriting fairy tales.  This one is about Sleeping Beauty.  I've read a couple of her others too.  I'm just a few chapters into this one.  I'll have to let you know how I like it.

I also have about 4 or 5 that I'm reading on the Kindle.  Maybe I'll tell you about them next week.  There is a least one that I probably won't bother to finish.

So are you a reader?  What do you like and how do you read it?

I'll get back to quilting tomorrow.  I want to tell you about my January finishes.