Kawandi coasters (and a little more book stuff)

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As I prep Lucy Boston blocks for a BIG Kawandi project, I'm wrapping up loose ends on Far Away from Home: The Enran Chronicles Book Three. Now that the novel is available in major online retailers, I've made a link for it on my books2read page. That I've released three novels since December, I'm remembering more easily how to update that site, lol. In addition to Smashwords, you can find it on Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Everand, and Angus & Robertson. And if I ever feel motivated to put it in print, I'll be sure to let you dear readers know!

In the meantime, I've made two Kawandi-inspired coasters, with another waiting patiently on the work table. They come together so quickly, and QUIETLY. No loud machine with a walking foot, no binding, just a bit of pressing the edges of the backing fabric inward, fitting in some batting, then adding fabric. The larger one below needs to be washed, and I'm curious how much it might shrink. The small one above decorates the coffee table where I stitch at night, and I'm extremely pleased with both!

What I've found in my brief Kawandi journey is how unnecessary bindings seem, although for traditional quilts they are indeed wholly necessary. Yet now I find all my table linens looking trapped within those bindings, all the work that went into them, especially on smaller pieces, feeling so, so.... So much like time wasted. Which sounds awful, it's not their fault! Which also sounds ridiculous, lol, like a quilt binding has feelings. Oh my goodness, this is not what I meant to get into today, but there it is. How many mug rugs or cup cozies have I made, placemats too, all with bindings. Kawandi has liberated me from that essential traditional quilting step, and I am EVER SO GRATEFUL!

Often I link quilt making and writing, but there is no direct comparison I've yet discovered between Kawandi and my style of fiction. Not even pantsing a draft is like Kawandi. It would be like writing the last book first, and writing it from end to beginning. And while I'm all for new methods of crafting, that's excessive. Although.... I still don't know what book of The Enran Chronicles I want to write next, so maybe it's not so wild. Could I actually write the last book next, maybe not from the end to the start, but....

Who knows? Eleven years into my quilting journey, I've landed on a way that's been around for hundreds of years yet is very new to me and has grabbed me so tightly, albeit lovingly, that I can't imagine sitting at my machine making a patchwork quilt top, or placemat, or coaster. I don't want to deal with binding strips, or figuring out the back as though it's an afterthought. Kawandi is like a gentle, necessary breeze drying icky sweat from my body, cooling my mood and easing my burdens.

And isn't that what life is about? I think so, insert smiley face here!

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