In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

Nine of twenty rows of my Mr. Carter quilt stitched together. Another six rows were laid out last night, waiting in bags to be sewn, then added. Today begins Lent. I've been reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, started last night How We Learn to Be Brave by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, then cracked open this morning Letters & Papers From Prison , also by Bonhoeffer. I keep two bookmarks in Letters & Papers , as plentiful notes for each chapter demand quick access. Right now I'm using the dust jacket as my bookmark in How We Learn ; perhaps I'll find a better solution, then that marker will forever dwell within that book as it happens for all my favourite tomes. Yesterday was difficult; the trade wars with Canada, Mexico, and China are hard to digest, yet those aren't the only wrenches thrown by the president. Disabling as much governmental infrastructure as is possible compounds the chaos, as well as my lamentations. By evening's end, de...

All the hand-quilty crinkliness I could want without having to sew together the top separately! Been working on the Kawandi project lately, as well as another flag, which I'll post about soon. More to my heart is this hand-sewn eclectic lap blanket that could very well change the way I make quilts for the rest of my stitching days. Sometimes life is like that, kind of how quilting took precedence over eleven years ago. Last year I was going to make a big deal about my decade behind the sewing machine; that never really happened. In another decade, will I wax lyrically about how for the first ten years I employed technology, then reverted to the less complicated method of needle and thread? All I know is plotting out this quilt on my work table, then sewing it by hand has been EXHILARATING! I *might* even like it more than English paper piecing, LOL. Hmmm, another post for later methinks. For now, other than a slightly sore right hand at the base of my thumb, the joy to emerge from ...

My last flag? Time will tell.... I dreamed last night I could squat. Not that I could do them, like an exercise, although subsequently in the dream I did do them repeatedly, but initially it was that I merely COULD do one. One squat turned into maybe ten? And I was so surprised/thrilled/curious. How in the world did my measly daily stretches allow for SQUATS? (And what exactly does this have to do with the step count?) [And the more pertinent question: Why am I pulling the plug, perhaps only temporarily, on my seemingly thorough dedication to raising as much joyful hell as possible?] I've been sleeping poorly, until last night. This past night I got nearly NINE HOURS of slumber, badly needed and gratefully received. Why did I rest so decently, other than eventually sleep wins? Maybe because last night I made the executive decision to unplug from Bluesky during Lent. Actually, I'm going to begin that Lenten fast a little early; I'll be done tomorrow after posting the last Bl...

Flags, courage, gardening, and staying the course.... Future Me was hanging around over the weekend, especially on Saturday as I finished my Pride in the Flag flag. She has been conspicuously ABSENT for a good while, since Breathing space . I don't blame her in a way. I've certainly wanted to abscond to distant lands. I do not have the luxury of time travel. She, however, possesses fairy-godlike abilities, usually for which I am grateful. This weekend her presence was minimal, yet soothing, as though she kept the rain from falling until I could photograph Pride on the laundry line. She didn't say much, perhaps our conversations are mostly of an ethereal nature, absorbed like breathing. Sometimes her voice wafts softly, often she snorts sharply. She does a lot of snorting, smirking, eye rolling, as though I'm a truculent child in constant need of being upbraided. Or maybe she's weary of this on-off-on again existence, wishing she could retire to sew or write or garde...

I really LOVE how vibrant are these colours! I just finished my second flag. I don't know how many I'll make, but I sure enjoy creating them. I learned A LOT in sewing the first one, which I have belatedly titled, 'Stars and Swans-Reclaiming the Flag'. I learned that 1) Flags aren't hard to make, but unless you follow a well-written tutorial, best assume your efforts will be improv. 2) My flags are art as well as defiance tools. I want them to be pretty as well as functional. And 3) Just when I thought with Kawandi-inspired quilting that I was ready to give up my sewing machine, I was wrong. First off, here are the measurements, all pre-sewing: Union rectangle measured seventeen by twenty-four inches. Short stripes were three inches wide, thirty-five inches long. Long stripes were three inches wide and fifty-nine inches long. I sewed some test strips to made sure the stripes were the correct width, and I could have increased the stripe width to maybe three and an e...

The colours in this shot are referred to within my book. The birds aren't, but they are a nice touch. Photo from July 2024, taken at Humboldt Bay, California. Okay, so this is MOSTLY novel chatter, but a heads-up: my latest fictional WIP, written in late summer 2023, seems to possess much ado concerning our current political climate. I can't escape that as I read over three chapters each morning, making me wonder if I should release it sooner than I had planned. Current launch date is for March seventeenth. Maybe writing this post will clarify that decision. Or make known to me something other than outside noise; I've been trying to engage in beloved pastimes. With writing, all I can manage are revisions, which is as necessary as the drafting of said manuscripts. And I am TRULY GRATEFUL to have books at which to poke, not merely for the distraction, which isn't how I usually approach my writing. It's never previously resembled a distraction; for years (nineteen of t...

My vision of the American flag; she's weary after hours of being waved, but merely needs a good pressing for further activity. Like I'm limping along with the revisions, but everything is currently meted out in what I am able to accomplish.... A little bit of this, a smidgen of that... Thus is not merely my day-to-day, which helps in knowing I'm not alone in feeling.... How am I feeling this morning? From yesterday's protest in Eureka, California. Good. I've read three chapters of the next Enran Chronicles book, which I am LOVIN'! Can't wait to publish it next month! (It has a timely message that I didn't foresee when I wrote it in late summer 2023, but I'm still aiming for a St. Patrick's Day release.) I slept well last night; might be due to participating in a No Kings protest at the Humboldt County Courthouse, WOO HOO! (Though I wish said protest wasn't necessary, WHATEVER!) Being surrounded by so many patriotic folks was a balm on my par...