Piecing a book one paper at a time

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I grew up with irises so these remind me of my youth.

I thought about this last night while sewing basted paper shapes; I stitch a bunch together, then set them aside as blocks pile up, waiting for a good long while as I still need to sew a dozen more blocks, plus baste loads of four-inch squares. then sew all of that together BY HAND, ahem. Writing my current series needs to be considered in a similar labor of long-term love manner.

Assessing my fictional WIP in such a way was liberating, because I never berate how much time I put into a paper-pieced quilt; those projects always emerge through a lengthy lens, no way to sew by hand as fast as machine piecing. Each block is akin to a chapter, yet for this series, it's more like sewing a few EPP quilts, lol. I just need to write/revise a little bit most days and know there's a great ending waiting for me.

I actually did some writing today; I've come to the the part of this second book where much required alteration, so a half-chapter has been plumped to a nearly complete chapter, which I might or might not finish tomorrow. Past Me is chomping at the bit for this languid pace while Future Me nods in appreciation. Present Me takes a deep breath, then another, and another. Writing a series takes patience by the bucket load.

Today's photo is from our garden; talk about being patient! These irises came with the house, and our first spring one bloomed. That autumn I thinned them, then last year we had several, and this year almost two dozen! Yet by mid-June they will be spent, and for the next few months all they will be is greenery. Thankfully some beautiful gladiolas and dahlias share that space, along with poppies, like the one pictured below.

I planted mixed colours of poppies between the irises; this is the first to bloom!

That flowerbed is a mix of spring joy and summer flourish. By fall I'm sick of the ragged irises, eager to chop them back and this year I will again thin them out, planting the excess in a nearby concrete planter that is currently filled with weeds and some Sweet Williams that so far the deer have ignored. Deer (and other critters) seem to leave irises alone, although they do eat gladiolas. And this post originally about writing and sewing has trailed off into the state of my flowerbeds, huh.

Okay well, time for some dinner. And playoff basketball. And paper piecing. Which takes a long time, like writing. But the results are as stunning as the perennials in my garden, yay!

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