Wrapped Up in Books

"This is a book for the servantless American cook who can be unconcerned on occasion with budgets, waistlines, time schedules, children's meals, the parent-chauffeur-den-mother syndrome, or anything else which might interfere with the enjoyment of producing something wonderful to eat..."

I think I'm the last person in Charlottesville to check out this book from the local library, which would explain why I've been the nth person on the HOLD list for Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Regardless, I am in possession of it until August something (I never know the date, but the library is kind enough to send me a reminder email before it's due.).  Now that I've got the book I'm wondering what to make first!

My hand is feeling much better, although the muscle below and in between my index finger and thumb still remains swollen.  My knitting has come to a halt for now.  I hope to resume in the next couple of weeks depending on the status of my hand, but for now the "knitter's elbow" has overcome my ability to knit and not cringe. Enough complaining.

I am looking into making my very own "real" quilt, you know, with a front, back, batting and binding, etc..  I probably left some major components out, which is why I checked out some more quilting books.  I need a plan, materials, time and Boom! it will happen.  All I need to know is how to go about enforcing the plan, which is why I have the following books: 

1.  Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gfits by Joelle Hoverson (per a friend's recommendation)

2.  Colorful, Casual, & Comfy Quilts edited by Karen Bolesta (I love the quilt on the front; this is yet another instance of me judging a book by its cover.)

3.  Fat Quarter Quilts by M'Liss Rae Hawley (I wonder if that's her real first name...)

Hopefully something fruitful will come of this researching endeavor.  I am really interested in the idea of quilting by hand, and though I think it's a wonderful idea, I don't know how long it would take me to build a quilt using this method.  Probably a lot longer than the attention I have to maintain an interest in doing so.  An awful lot of plans just got mentioned in this post...