Three days in a quilt and novel life

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It's smaller now, all those quarter-inch edges sewn together.

This afternoon I.... Well, I didn't finish a quilt top but I completed a goal of attaching all the squares in each row, with many of the rows attached as well. This particular quilt, or the first couple of rows, was laid out on the design wall last fall. Then other items began muscling their way onto the wall and....

Something had to give. Initially I was going to take down the upper rows, but once I'd removed all on the bottom, I didn't have the heart to peel from the batting those squares which had laid claim for weeks, well, months. Slapping up the rest of the pre-cut prints, I made it my aim this week to get them attached in some manner so if nothing else, I wouldn't have to pull up the above photo and redo it again when squares fell from the batting.

My mornings have been pleasantly usurped by writing; I am having SO MUCH FUN with this new story, oh my goodness. My cup spillith over with words, with wanting to be in that world, with those people, telling their stories. This is why I write, because when it's ON, it infuses me with energy, lifts me from where I am, taking me far away (or not so far, as the current WIP may be) to where I'm not thinking about sewing or our cool-ish weather or anything other than crafting scenes, plotting twists, dissecting dialogue.

Post-lunch (or after the post-lunch coffee) has been dedicated to sewing; while I had planned a lot of hand stitching this year, instead I am happy to sit behind my machine, letting it do the heavy lifting. Or smooth sailing as a size twelve needle runs through various fabrics like nobody's business. Many Art Gallery prints are within this quilt, but other quilting cottons too. I like mixing up four and a half inch squares with eight and a half inch squares, makes for an entertaining variety of how to sew up row after row of patchwork. Sewing is a different kind of enjoyment than writing, less cerebral, more tangible. Guiding fabrics under the presser foot, all that's required is to (basically) follow a quarter-inch seam allowance. I don't have to worry about foreshadowing, no concern to character development, or too much tell and not enough show. As long as seams nest, crisp corners result, a pretty sweet deal.

Sixteen years of noveling, nine of sewing; whoa, NINE YEARS! While I had always wanted to write stories, I never pined to sew quilts. These differing pastimes fit perfectly into my world, one at times hogging the limelight, but right now they are meshing about fifty-fifty and I am reveling in the utter joy of expressing my favourite hobbies to just about their fullest potentials. And that is an amazing sensation, worthy of a few words.

Here's to the thrill of outlets for creative endeavors. May your weekends be brimming with personal fulfillment!

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