2011 Book List

I know that there are lots of bloggers doing the same thing.  I decided that this was really my best route to keep my list and get some recommendations, sorry for the repeats.

As I said before, I love my Kindle and now I got 2 gift cards for Christmas that I am itching to use.  I still have 2 books that I mentioned before and I simply cannot get into them enough to finish them.  I hate forcing myself to finish something so I won't but I am going to keep them in mind to finish when my gift cards have run out.  Here's my plan for 2011 (not including pregnancy books)!

Hope in a Jar  by Beth Harbison	Mini Shopaholic  by Sophie Kinsella	Safe Haven  by Nicholas Sparks
Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisburger	Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisburger	The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson	The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson	The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen	My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult	The House on First Street by Julia Reed

That's my list!  I'm excited about it.  I've got one of the books in my bookshelf already and hopefully this weekend I'll go through and make a list of the books in my bookshelf that I haven't read.  I'd like to get those on a reading list as well.

Read any great books that you'd recommend?  Let me know!

2010 Book Wrap-Up

Remember how I recapped some of the books I read in 2010 and was working on several more?

Yeah, well, that fell by the wayside.  Disappointingly, I only finished 2 more books for the rest of the year.  I'm kind of disappointed in myself but I know that most of October/November I lost my desire to do anything.  I literally sat on the couch and did nothing, so I'll give myself a pass.

Firefly Lane

I absolutely loved this book.  I'm pretty sure that I sobbed at the end.  I could not put it down.  I would definitely recommend it to be on your reading list for 2011 if you haven't read it already!

Commencement

This was part of the bloggers book club, but I just couldn't get into it at first.  I ended up finishing it over the holidays.  I thought that it was ok.  For some reason it felt kind of 'choppy' to me or something, it just didn't flow.

I'm working on my reading list for 2011?  Did you have any successes in 2010 that you would recommend that I haven't read already?  Let me know, I'm working on publishing a list and my 2011 goals (late is better than never!).

2nd Sewing Project

My first project was the pillow I made while M was here.  I headed out to the store last weekend for some fabric to start another project or 2.  I have all the pieces cut to make the market tote, but I'm struggle (with making things the right size), so I decided to put it on the back burner for a little and try something smaller.

I opted for a book cover for my Kindle.  I'm using the same fabric as the tote, so don't be surprised when you see it down the road.  I followed this tutorial from Handmade Mommy.

 I started with these two fabrics and put the right sides together:

I traced around the edge of the Kindle cover that I have.

I cut about a 1/2" border around my cut lines

I missed taking pictures of the middle pieces, so head over to Handmade Mommy for those.  For instructions: I took the inner piece and cut it in half.  I folded it so that 1/3 of the 'front' was folded over and pinned it.  I then pinned them to the front piece.

I sewed along the lines that I had drawn on the fabric.

I'm a freak, so I ironed it out again.

I clipped the corners to make it easier to slide on and ironed the seams a little as well. After turning it inside out, it looked like this:

I slide it over the existing cover and this is what I got:

For a new project, I'm happy with the way that it turned out.  I did learn a few things in the process:

• When they tell you to stay away from stripes, they're serious.  I couldn't resist, I loved this fabric, but as you can tell it's not exactly straight.  Oh well.
• The fabric is a little see-through on my black cover, so I should have tried some interfacing or a heavier fabric for the top piece.

I can't wait to start go back and work on the tote.  Let me know if you have any other suggestions for a newbie sewer!

* All photos from personal collection.  Tutorial from Handmade Mommy.