Cliffhangers, rotary cutters, etc...

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Current state of the design wall.

My BFF spent the holiday weekend with us; she's a treasure and we had a marvelous time. Went to lunch, a fabric store (she's also a crafter, hehehe), enjoyed frozen yogurt as well as soft serve ice cream, but not on the same day, LOL! Many long chats were interspersed with some Ted Lasso and the Bell Riots episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as this was the weekend for "Past Tense Parts 1 & 2". She's not a big Trek fan, but enjoyed it, as well as finding TL charming. A lovely interlude spent with a dearheart, and I'm exceeding grateful for her in my life.

Revisions move forward and fast; this weekend I completed what will be Book #8 of The Hawk while the BFF caught up on necessary sleep. And again this morning I plowed through four more chapters, reaching an important moment for the protagonist couple. I put Eric and Lynne together, because the novel is teeming with twosomes, easier to note that much occurs for both Snyders than to solely label Eric or Lynne as the main character. I hashed out what this tale means to me with my dearheart, who has followed my authorial journey with much love. Her listening ears gave my hubby a break, and now the story edges toward the conclusion, at least in reaching the last twenty percent of it. I still don't know when I'll release the first installment; the beginning of 2025 feels like the right time, though my goodness that looks odd in print! 2025, wow. Where has this year (or the century for that matter) gone?

We talked about time's swift passage as well, truly hard to fathom how long we've known each other, over forty years. She admires my ability with EPP and I marvel over her mastery of embroidery machines, receiving a couple new dishcloths from what she calls her sweatshop. While she took inventory of college football scores, I tried out a passel of recently purchased rotary blades for my 45 mm cutters; a pack of fifteen resulted in twelve sharp blades, can't complain too much about that, especially after the two-pack of Olfa blades I bought at the fabric store was a split decision, one good, one mediocre. She asked how often I go through a blade, and I hemmed and hawed, then said maybe I change them out every eight months, but I have two 45 mm cutters, as well as a 60 mm cutter, so there's definitely a rotation. Lots of cutting within Red Sky at Night, so new blades were a must!

There are lots within this life that can be brushed aside or piled on the sewing table for later. Yet vital elements of our existences require care and consideration, like friendships, tool maintenance, manuscript attention. I've spent this afternoon making sure one rotary cutter was up to speed, prepping fabrics for the next block in RSAN, Goose Tracks. I hadn't envisioned making yellow a main fabric, but it's two for two so far. The QAL starts in a little over a week, but yes, I'm getting a head start. I didn't plan on this project taking over my sewing brain, but now that the holiday weekend is nearly over, I'm also considering writing. Yes, starting a new book. Huh. I'm mentioning that in this post, is like that making the commitment? Maybe. Possibly. Wow. Suppose I should wrap this up, sew a row of the quilt on the wall, then find my notes and, well....

Writing is the etcetera. Sounds ominous. It's probably not. I guess tomorrow we'll see what happens.

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