In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

The short row of stitches directly under the lower safety pin are those done SLOWLY with my left hand. In sewing, book publishing, and everyday life.... I considered this post a few days ago when I was happily appliqueing by hand Lucy Boston (LB) blocks. Since then my right shoulder has asserted its right to be cranky, and I don't know for how long this will be the case. Hence, perseverance now applies to waiting out troublesome joints, being fully aware that what will be most certainly will be. Ahem. Anyways.... I pondered this post while hand-stitching a project I truly had no idea would come to fruition. Perhaps this entry is also about being faithful to one's inner spirit, or Spirit, depending on your beliefs. Either way, being faithful, obedient even (now there's an idea to spark blog post musings....) to what calls upon your heart is EXTREMELY VITAL. It's why I have books available for readers, why a Lucy Boston quilt in an altered form continues to evolve (as ear...

A heart quilt. Just finished Part One of On Being Brave. And other incidents of bravery, lol. Welp, as my eldest daughter sometimes exclaims, I finished the first part of my current noveling WIP. Should probably update my WIP page, I do believe. But first I wanted to write this entry, posting pics of the beautiful Mr. Carter hearts English paper piecing quilt. This pattern , from Tales of Cloth , was an easy and uplifting project I began late last year after my nation elected a president I do not find at all appealing. Cutting, basting, then stitching heart blocks was SO NECESSARY. There aren't enough exclamation points in existence to exemplify how imperative it was to construct those blocks, then begin to place them accordingly. So many gorgeous prints in heaps of beautiful colours! So, scattered within this post more to do with writing are shots of a quilt I am still missing in my evening repertoire. Not sure when I'll make another, but dang, one day I hope to! Yet, as today...

Home again and happy to be here! The roses above greeted us on the front porch; clouds were thick and we even received some drizzle last night, although night now depends on your mood. It was still light at well past half eight (8.30), the heavy mist reminding us that while we'd been in Nevada, now we were back along the North Coast. I wondered what the chickens would think of rose petals this time next year.... Lol! Chickens are still on my mind, but other items lurk in the gray matter, one of which *might* be the start of a novel. Maybe. Possibly. Really? I don't know for sure, but I am feeling like closing my eyes, allowing the muse to open the door where my writing hat lives. The muse could wander into that room, setting the cap gently atop its head, and maybe, MAYBE, I'll find myself writing another book. In the interim, there are chickens to consider, the garden in need of attention, some sewing to ponder, and bravery is necessary for it all. On Being Brave is the t...

My latest release, Brave the Skies: The Hawk Book Two certainly falls under that heading, as do some errant but fun EPP blocks that might or might not turn into more than shinies. Time will tell. When starting a novel, I allow the characters free rein. We plan to let our chickens free range, but that's months away, lol, yet a similar notion, although if not all the hens survive into winter, that is out of our hands. Birds of prey, as well as foxes and possums, roam our neck of Humboldt County, and while we'll do all we can to keep the flock safe, nature always triumphs. As an author, I have more control, at least of nature. What my cast muscles their ways into is another story. The Hawk began with humble aspirations; I had been writing short stories back in 2013, my goodness, that's a dozen years ago now! Anyway, I'd been penning, or typing, brief tales and wholeheartedly assumed Eric, Lynne, Sam, Renee, Stanford, Laurie and the rest would neatly tie up loose ends in a...

I've spent much of this day prepping my next novel for release. Brave the Skies: The Hawk Book Two has been published tonight! As it takes Smashwords/Draft2Digital several hours to get a newly published novel onto the Smashwords store, I have chosen to upload a new book in the evenings, Pacific Daylight (or Standard) Time, then happily find my story the following morning. Publishing novels isn't an earth-shattering experience, although writing a book and getting it to this stage takes much time, work, self-belief, and assistance from those who have been in my corner for the last thirteen years of indie publication, over seventeen years on my overall authorial journey. For seventeen years I have actively written/revised fiction, and despite the writing feeling a little thin recently, I have been heavy into edits both for The Hawk and The Enran Chronicles . Two series at one time is indeed a LOT of effort, taking away from time I'd love to craft a new story. After Brave the...

I attended our local April 5th Hands Off protest this afternoon, an AMAZING turnout on a beautifully sunny and warm day. My knee cooperated, especially as I kept moving, saying howdy to those I've met at previous rallies, also noting that I hoped to not run into them again. Their knowing smiles spoke the same. During this Lenten season, I've been able to maintain my PMA via prayer, reading, meditation on said texts, revising Brave the Skies for a Monday release and of course sewing. Lots of sewing on loads of projects, lol. I wonder if my copious collection of both EPP and Kawandi-style items makes up for scattered thoughts, probably. I've fashioned a few coasters with orphan English paper pieced blocks; they come together easily, actually more quickly than I thought they would. I like having timely finishes, makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. Protesting relieves my heart, but for now, not much emerges from it other than personal peace. Small and large bloc...

How can I NOT finish this quilt? Mandolin musings.... So a couple days ago, probably right after I wrote the previous entry, I considered using six-point diamond papers from my Mandolin pattern for Alexandria, which is in desperate need of diamonds. I've been pondering the Mandolin EPP quilt-in-progress, as well as the Myrtle design, Lavender, Ice Cream Soda, ummm... Lots of English paper piecing WIPs, and sometimes I rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak, to keep them all supplied as I don't have exact kits for each. The Mandolin quilt, blocks pictured above, is my second version of this pattern, and the first one I actually use the proper kit to construct, lol. Why not steal some diamonds for Alexandria, then get to work on that, I blithely considered. Until I found I had finished eight Mandolin blocks! I thought I had maybe five, six tops. But eight, out of the dozen I had planned, wow! Slight guilt crept over me as I examined them, all made from autumnal Art Gallery fabrics, ...

The last Lucy Boston block DONE! The inner honeycombs are from the Maine fabric store, some not bad fussy cutting if I do say so myself, hehehe. Sometimes things you don't think you're going to finish get completed. Quilts, books, um.... Well, for me quilts and books are what I enjoy most as pastimes, and washing dishes and doing laundry are in a constant cycle of gathering, then getting sorted, so books and quilts it is. Okay, rainy weather too. We have had HEAPS and GOBS of rain this month, which is already on the twenty-third day, how the heck did that happen? Where has March gone, or is going, and am I actually going to put thirty Lucy Boston blocks to use and close that quilty-EPP chapter of my life? Yes, I believe I am. Dang, that's a weird, unpredicted aspect of this year! Okay, just a little bit of backstory on my Lucy Boston experience. In 2018, when I started English paper piecing, I bought 1.5" Dritz hexagons from Joann, stiff and easy to baste but a bear to...

I wanted to continue these revisions, but the entry below came first. Heads-up: Bleak post but with strength at the end. Ups and downs; perhaps that's what it's like living under a repressive regime. Not the most uplifting manner in which to begin a post, but at this moment in time it's how I feel. And being honest with oneself is imperative to keeping a grip on sanity, if reality is an effed up kettle of rotten fish. Maybe I should have called my senators already. I could contact my rep, Jared Huffman, because aides do answer those calls. But I'm not steeled enough mentally or emotionally to delve into that arena. This day, I'm barely able to note my name. How do repressed peoples manage during such bleak days? They've been doing it a long damn time, and if that's how my nation ends up, I'll be doing it too. Life goes on; sports and Valentine's Day and whatever else the Big Eastern Syndicate requires. Big Eastern Syndicate is not of my creation; it...

Top and bottom of Red Sky at Night . I love all that colour! To stand, to breathe, to craft, to make my voice heard. I need to pace myself; it's going to be a long four years. I spent an hour this afternoon sewing on Red Sky at Night . It's funny writing that, because it's not the quilt I thought it was going to be. 2025 isn't the year I assumed before the election, nor could I have conjured the cruelty, backstabbing, and hopelessness that has emerged. Yet I remain making myself heard, sewing and editing and doing dishes. Life must go on. My eldest grandchild will be ten years old soon, where has that decade gone? What will the world be like in 2035? I couldn't have conjured the path America has taken in 2015, but maybe some things are better left unknown. We'll be celebrating with family this weekend, perhaps a bigger deal for us adults than the one turning ten. Probably good to get away for a few days, not that my location will preclude further insults and in...

Upsized, non-diagonal crazy quilt. Uh, sure.... After a book release, some necessary non-writing days are required. So yeah. I haven't done more with the novel-gig than read a few chapters of A Love Story , which actually does need to happen, as I'm planning to publish Book 3 of The Enran Chronicles in March. Have to remind myself of the plot, lol, although losing the plot seems to be America's current theme, however Bishop Mariann Budde is a Christian ROCK STAR, not meaning to belittle her bravery. Sometimes rock stars don't wield guitars or drum sticks you know. Sometimes it's all about the heart. My heart has required non-noveling pastimes, like throwing an obnoxious quilt onto the wall, pictured above. A bunch of smallish cuts I recently acquired hashed/clashed out with solids from my scraps stash, to be embellished with HEARTS! Dangit, why can't anyone in the new administration think with their heart right now? Ahem, Future Me huffs, giving me a slightly u...

  Minus the four missing blocks, it already takes up most of a queen bed. Gathered the gumption to again lay my Alexandria quilt on a flat surface to assess its current form. Which is a stitched center surrounded by a plethora of hexagon blocks in varying states of readiness, four more required to reach one stage of.... Not completion, but to where I can set aside a big medallion, then begin the next stage. Which sounds like a hop, skip, and a mere jump from what lies on the guest bed. Few things could be further from the truth. The basis of which is do I have the guts (and gumption) to handsew blue and yellow blocks to an already sizeable center, then add pink and green blocks. (I think I can, I think I can....) So the honest truth to this quilt is that I upsized it from Jodi Godfrey's original design. Her 1.5" shapes became two inches, although that is the size she used when first making this quilt years ago. When she turned it into a pattern for her club, she shrunk the sha...

What a colourful little quilt this shall be! I'm nearly halfway done with the above quilt top; three and a half inch squares are futzy, also mindless. Six rows are currently stitched together, another two waiting to be attached, that leaves nine left, which I'll tackle this weekend. But I am taking special care while ironing the seams open, spritzing them with my spray bottle to make sure they lay as flat as possible. That's a plentiful amount of open seams for the back, and smoother is better when I make that quilt sandwich. Yesterday as I stood at my ironing board, pressing and pressing and pressing, I considered how so much time is spent standing there as opposed to sitting at my machine. If I'd been told that when I first started quilting, I'm not sure I would have believed it, lol. Then I pondered how writing is similar, at least for me, in that a first draft spills from my brain onto the keyboard, but much effort remains to shape it into something I'm comf...

  So I'm still looking for those five missing squares. Above is how the quilt looks now, draped over the bed, another quilt underneath it, kind of obscuring the essence, but you get the idea. I basted a bunch of triangles for the borders, still plenty left to do. This Cornflower Quilt is coming together on its own time, and I'm not going to argue with it, missing squares be darned. Last night I read three chapters of The Hawk . My goodness I am enjoying this tale! But all that reading cuts into my evening sewing time, as well as a fantastic episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . "By the Pale Moonlight" takes place in season six, well into the Dominion War, and if you are keen on great drama and magnificent performances, have a gander at what Avery Brooks and Andrew Robinson produced, truly stunning television. But awesome distractions aside, I've started hand-sewing in the mornings while my hubby has breakfast. I've already eaten, because I'm on day nine ...

A heap on the sofa, where I'm current sitting. This blanket, in need of the binding attached, is the quilt equivalent of my current computer headache. My husband and I joke that I am actually the techie sort, self-publishing novels for over a dozen years now. I don't think of myself as a techie gal, preferring the artistic side of noveling, quilting too. But someone has to format and upload manuscripts, post blog entries, etc, etc, etc. That someone is me. Past Me, Future Me, and little old Present Me, lol. I don't know how long I'll be in this indie author gig, in that I'm happy writing my stories. Full disclosure is necessary here: I queried my latest series, got no takers. I'm fine with that, in fact I'm somewhat relieved. Maybe it's liberating in the consideration of these novels being what they truly are, my heart and soul. I could wax a whole lot more lyrically about it, but suffice to say, I'm grateful for the opportunity to write a book, then...

Photo courtesy of my better half, snapped this morning on his walk. After guests leave, I always want to jump right back into my routine. I LOVE my routine; mornings spent writing, afternoons dabbling with fabrics or enjoying the outdoors. Recently we've had some rain, which curtails the outside activities, but I have plenty of sewing to do, so it's not like I'm bored. Yet this afternoon we discovered our kitchen ceiling was dripping water, um.... Hastily my husband inspected the crawl space on the floor above and sure enough there's a leak. SHOOT! My quilt design wall is in the room with the crawl space, so as we wait for the plumber to arrive, I thought I'd write a post about being in between projects while catching up with this blog. It's not merely the sewing that is on the back burner, but at least with the noveling, I am engaged, although not actually writing. Yet edits are meaningful, and I *think* after I finish this round, I will indeed start the next b...