Anna Scott Graham's Blog, page 18

Favourites

I only have a few holdovers from my eleven years lived in Yorkshire, England. The spelling of favourite is one, drinking British teas, and calling gas petrol. I used to employ the British pronunciation of tomato, but now tomato has the long A, yet it has been seventeen years since we left the United Kingdom.

I thought about favourites, not the spelling but the meaning, as I got up from my computer earlier today, taking a quick break from The Hawk, then passing the fabric stack pictured above. That swan, from Anna Maria Horner, makes me giddy, makes me want to include it in every EPP project I have currently underway, not to mention in machine-pieced shinies. Returning to my PC, I began a new post, typed the title, then went about whatever I was doing, probably reading The Hawk. What had been a couple of chapters a day has morphed into like five, perhaps more. I could look it up in my journal, but suffice to say, with just a couple dozen chapters left, I am ripping through that story, wanting to reach The End, even if I know what will happen. Because, as I've found in the last couple of days, I've forgotten some of the nuances, and OMG, I love what I did there.

Isn't that a funny notion, reading an old story and still being thrilled by it? Especially one you wrote yourself, LOL! I don't feel that way for all my novels, haha, but this one has grabbed my heart, and I can't help but keep reading. I've given up trying to write until I complete these revisions, there's only room within me at the moment for one novel. Okay, two, as I'm still editing the next Enran book, although I didn't get to that today. Tomorrow, sure! Tomorrow I'll read a few chapters of that tale, but my focus is on what's going to happen to Lynne and Eric! 

And will I manage to squeeze that adorable swan into yet one more EPP creation....

I wish I felt this in love with Red Sky at Night. I'm just not digging the small paper pieces of the EPP, sadly enough. I'm not even certain if I'll push through the rest of the paper-pieced blocks; perhaps I'll focus on those half-square triangles. The QAL begins tomorrow, not that I'm locked into the schedule, yet I've kind of mentally committed myself to it. It's not a fave, but then not everything I do stirs my heart at the same level. I'd be an emotionally overwrought mess if that was the case.

Favorites became FAVOURITES just a few years into living in England, a place so dear to my heart, a slice of time that continues to dwell within me, even if in small slivers. I'll probably not read The Hawk again once it's completely released, but I'm loving it now. And once I run out of Swanmore, by Anna Maria Horner, well, I'll drool over it in the snippets I'm placing hither and thither. Such is the way of things, because I only have two hands and so many active brain cells. And how many other priceless treasures are waiting to be discovered, prose and cotton-like in nature?

Many, I'm sure. New favourites will be embraced, once they find me.

Essential honesty

 

Today I gave away the quilt pictured above. Recently our postmistress went above and beyond the call of duty, and I wanted to gift her with a token of my deepest esteem. She was thrilled, mentioned that she LOVED quilts, and as autumn is slowly approaching here in Humboldt County, also said this comforter would get a lot of love. I'm so pleased she liked it, and now the quilt queue lessens, lol.

That's not what today's post is mostly about, other than explaining the photo. I started revisions on the last installment of The Hawk, ten outta ten books, DUDE! The other day, noting this to my husband, I remarked that despite this story being about a guy who actually turns into a hawk (with no superhero overtones), it's also a series steeped in real life. Later on faith in Christ becomes a main theme, but not at the beginning. In the beginning it's a slice of life between two married couples in the early 1960s dealing with infertility, PTSD, as well as one woman's agony as her husband takes off for days, then weeks at a time, trying to keep the truth of such an unreal occurrence under wraps. Essential honesty is absolutely necessary to balance the magical realism, but then faith in God could also be viewed as a questionable endeavor.

I smile in writing that last bit, because Christianity is another theme within the novel. Life on Earth is full of absolutes (death and taxes just to mention a couple), as well as being hedged by so many gray areas. This saga touches on lots of different notions; survivors of Nazi terrorism, Korean War veterans, LGBTQ rights. A few kitchen sinks too, in that no one has a dishwasher, so.... You get the drift, in that this tale was the gift of prose that kept on giving. And part of the reason why was making it real. 

A guy might turn into a hawk, but his wife still works for a living.

And now I'm approaching THE END. The conclusion of over eight months' worth of edits, probably wrapping it up by the end of this month. I'm still undecided when to start releasing these books, as I thought by now my Smashwords account would have been migrated to Draft2Digital. However, that has yet to occur. In the meantime, I'm still plugging away on the LAST MINUTE TOUCHES of The Enran Chronicles Book 2, so there's plenty of authorial stuff happening. Not any writing, ahem, but now I'm of the mood to conclude The Hawk, then start another Enran novel. Yeah, that's a good plan!

Because when I am done reading The Hawk, my heart is going to need something to distract it from a cast that has been with me for over a decade, easing my entrance into grandmotherhood as well as saying goodbye to both of my parents. That's some magical realism if I ever I heard it!

I want to tell a story...

 

Glimpses of a quilt-in-progress....

Taking a break this morning from reading The Hawk, although I have been racing through it, thoroughly caught up in the drama. Some chapters receive a minor tinkering, some are left nearly as is. At my current rate of more than two chapters a day, I might *finish* these edits by the end of month, whoa!

Yet that is a story I wrote years ago. Nice that I still enjoy it, don't misconstrue, but what I am now longing to write is the continuation of my current series, and not merely one book. Inspiration has been flying through my mind as I hand-quilt the fabric WIP, which is coming along well. Binding is wholly attached, another round of hand-stitches to confirm the entire kit'n'kaboodle will stay as one remains. Yet in that repetitive work, my gray matter fashions plots, characterizations, people's hopes and dreams. These folks aren't real, although who is to say what constitutes the manner in which we live.

Not to be overly ethereal this early on a Sunday, but.... These characters are VERY REAL to me, as are those in The Hawk. In rereading it, I have been reminded that I like a large cast, maybe making up for the family I embraced as a kid, being the youngest of many cousins, or am I using these fictional identities to take away the sting of living far from my own clan. Either way, it's a staple of my books to have people coming outta the woodwork, just how I operate. And now that a couple of paths are illuminated, oh my goodness am I ready to trek down those roads.

Ironically, in piecing together a later installment, I have a firm grasp of a quarter of what will be the actual next part of the overall tale, hah! Yet that book is theoretically a collection of four stories, hence the Four Corners moniker I've bandied about in previous posts. At this juncture, I don't know which book/story I'll write next, but notes have been made for each, timelines coming together at least in my head. Sewing has usurped many of my recent waking hours, but as I said, that quilt is on the home stretch, and despite a trip to my dentist this week to affix a crown, not much stands in the way of me sitting at my computer, opening a new document, then.... One way or another some bunch of lives will begin to breathe through the prose and dialogues, enabling me to inhale the marvelous sense of creative meandering that I've been graced to realize for eighteen years! Maybe it's the season, September in full swing, leading to October, then comes November.... I haven't participated in National Novel Writing Month in ages, but autumn hearkens to being indoors, telling tall tales.

Tacking on the back of the binding yesterday during tennis; Jessica Pegula lost, but she fought hard while on the court. Today's men's final will be my auditory entertainment as the hand-quilting continues.

My writing heart beats fast, fingers itching to produce more than these entries. My head needs a good clear-out of all those hopes and dreams, which I guess are also mine in some manner, lol. This is why I write, why I create, because no choice remains. Soon, I tell myself, finding Future Me nodding enthusiastically. Some story is waiting its turn in the novel queue....

Sleep, eat, breathe, quilt (etcetera)

 

The weather was gorgeous, so out on the line went the finished quilt top!

A quilt deadline next Tuesday afternoon has kept me BUSY! I thought I might have the rest of the month; instead I'll be spending my weekend hand-quilting, a little machine quilting thrown in for speed. Today I finished the backing, tomorrow I'll get to the basting and making the binding. As I sew, I've listened to tunes that are shaping the next novel. While I haven't started writing, lol, I have given HEAPS of thought toward said book, which might not be the exact next story in my current series, but then this series didn't start off in a streamlined manner.

I'm not (overly) bothered by this notion, in that I've not felt certain about the exact timeline or what happens to the characters. Yet music is once again clearing my head, feeding my creative soul, and proffering plot lines. When I start to feel tunefully inspired, WOO HOO!

While I had (loosely) planned to start writing this week, I'm grateful for a quilt muscling onto the docket. Perhaps finishing this quilt will be an impetus so I can start crafting a first draft! And where this draft fits into the series scheme.... I can't ponder that deeply. What matters most is WANTING TO WRITE. The book's eventual destination needs to be ignored.

In the meantime, more plot details can gather in my gray matter as stitches accumulate. I'm thankful for creative outlets, as well as unexpected projects, which keep life fresh. Now to enjoy some Red Sky at Night EPP this evening. The next few nights will be quilt-deadline related, also US Open Tennis-filled. Maybe more about that in a future post....

Cliffhangers, rotary cutters, etc...

 

Current state of the design wall.

My BFF spent the holiday weekend with us; she's a treasure and we had a marvelous time. Went to lunch, a fabric store (she's also a crafter, hehehe), enjoyed frozen yogurt as well as soft serve ice cream, but not on the same day, LOL! Many long chats were interspersed with some Ted Lasso and the Bell Riots episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as this was the weekend for "Past Tense Parts 1 & 2". She's not a big Trek fan, but enjoyed it, as well as finding TL charming. A lovely interlude spent with a dearheart, and I'm exceeding grateful for her in my life.

Revisions move forward and fast; this weekend I completed what will be Book #8 of The Hawk while the BFF caught up on necessary sleep. And again this morning I plowed through four more chapters, reaching an important moment for the protagonist couple. I put Eric and Lynne together, because the novel is teeming with twosomes, easier to note that much occurs for both Snyders than to solely label Eric or Lynne as the main character. I hashed out what this tale means to me with my dearheart, who has followed my authorial journey with much love. Her listening ears gave my hubby a break, and now the story edges toward the conclusion, at least in reaching the last twenty percent of it. I still don't know when I'll release the first installment; the beginning of 2025 feels like the right time, though my goodness that looks odd in print! 2025, wow. Where has this year (or the century for that matter) gone?

We talked about time's swift passage as well, truly hard to fathom how long we've known each other, over forty years. She admires my ability with EPP and I marvel over her mastery of embroidery machines, receiving a couple new dishcloths from what she calls her sweatshop. While she took inventory of college football scores, I tried out a passel of recently purchased rotary blades for my 45 mm cutters; a pack of fifteen resulted in twelve sharp blades, can't complain too much about that, especially after the two-pack of Olfa blades I bought at the fabric store was a split decision, one good, one mediocre. She asked how often I go through a blade, and I hemmed and hawed, then said maybe I change them out every eight months, but I have two 45 mm cutters, as well as a 60 mm cutter, so there's definitely a rotation. Lots of cutting within Red Sky at Night, so new blades were a must!

There are lots within this life that can be brushed aside or piled on the sewing table for later. Yet vital elements of our existences require care and consideration, like friendships, tool maintenance, manuscript attention. I've spent this afternoon making sure one rotary cutter was up to speed, prepping fabrics for the next block in RSAN, Goose Tracks. I hadn't envisioned making yellow a main fabric, but it's two for two so far. The QAL starts in a little over a week, but yes, I'm getting a head start. I didn't plan on this project taking over my sewing brain, but now that the holiday weekend is nearly over, I'm also considering writing. Yes, starting a new book. Huh. I'm mentioning that in this post, is like that making the commitment? Maybe. Possibly. Wow. Suppose I should wrap this up, sew a row of the quilt on the wall, then find my notes and, well....

Writing is the etcetera. Sounds ominous. It's probably not. I guess tomorrow we'll see what happens.

Surprise autumn sewing

 

Paper pieces in the box along with all the fabrics, etc. Going to be so much fun!

Okay, it's not a total surprise because for the last few posts I've been going on about the Red Sky at Night sampler quilt. I've received the papers for the this project, have already started sewing an EPP block, lol! I'm super excited about making some version of Jodi's pattern; definitely a mix of machine and hand-sewn blocks, but no idea how many of each. The surprise I'm referring to is how suddenly the next few/several months will be full of traditional blocks that previously I had no desire to stitch.

Not that I had some grand plan for fall in the quilt department, in fact I'm busy with another quilt that will fit itself into the schedule. But after a VERY QUIET MACHINE SEWING SUMMER, autumn is looking to be chock-full of me seated at my machine, even if I'm finding how my tinnitus isn't really keen on all that noise.

(I wear earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones when I use my machine, and still my ears are buzzing, sigh....)

I have decided that for the most part, machine-quilting is my past, other than attaching bindings, or one side of bindings. Embracing English paper piecing even more than before will help with ringing ears. Maybe sewing slowly so the sound is quieter will help. Or using my machine every few days. I will definitely experiment with it, because as I type this post, my hearing is compromised. I never should have cranked my headphones to 11 when I was younger.

One of the RSAN blocks, which I began last night.

Anyway.... So yeah, I'm pretty stoked about making this beautiful design! This process reminds me of sewing The Seedlings Quilt, another Jodi sampler, which I completed in spring of 2020, having started it the previous fall. It's nice to be among others working on the same pattern, but RSAN permits far more freedom; blocks can be placed wherever one pleases, blocks can be a mix of machine sewing or EPP, and the size is up to the crafter. I still don't know how little or large my quilt will be; more important is falling in love with half-square triangles, etc, as well as delving into small paper shapes. Perhaps the best part is how unlike my usual sewing this project is. Kind of like how my current novel series has all this sci-fi rolling around the plot, hehehe.

Mixing up the routine is a great way to keep life fresh. And I'm especially pleased that trying something new isn't beyond my wheelhouse. Maybe this quilt will give me the confidence to start writing Book 5 of The Enran Chronicles; that installment will be steeped in science fictional elements. If I can eagerly sew HSTs, many other notions are certainly possible!

Pieces that make up the bigger picture

 

Small, futzy blocks aren't usually my speed, but the units above have been rockin' my world since receiving Jodi Godfrey's pattern for Red Sky at Night.

From top left going clockwise we have Square in a Square, Hourglass, House, Flying Geese, Pinwheel, and Half-Square Triangles. These are not blocks in themselves; Jodi refers to them as units. I capitalized them because, well, at three and a half inches square, with the exception of the Geese, measuring 3.5" X 2", these units have stretched my machine sewing muscles like no others. The Honeycomb Squares quilt was a lotta work, but nothing compared to what RSAN will be.

Previously if I wanted complicated, English paper piecing sufficed. It still does, and certainly will with this pattern because some of the paper pieces are pretty dang little. My idea of enjoyable futziness is basting papers, then sewing them by hand; give me all the angles you want, lol! Using my machine, and loads of scant-quarter-inch seams, DUDE! A little mind blowing initially, now more like skill-expanding. And that's GREAT. Really. I wouldn't have finished the Pinwheel if I wasn't having fun.

Having said that, I won't make another pinwheel, in part that while I had cut and sewn enough pieces for two practice units, when trimming them I messed up one, leaving three 2" half-square triangles without the necessary fourth for the pinwheel. And while it would be nice to have another pinwheel, going to all the trouble isn't worth the effort. There are forty-eight machine blocks in this quilt, another thirteen EPP blocks. I'd have to make four pinwheels if I wanted to truly go the pinwheel block route, but a Double Windmill block only requires a single pinwheel, and I won't even make a new one, merely use the practice unit. I know, lots of details in this post that probably don't matter much to anyone but me. But this quilt is for myself, and in writing all this here, I am recalling how much of a noob I am at this kind of sewing, and that despite being twenty-nine times two, I can still wrap my head around something previously avoided like the plague.

Insert laughing emoji RIGHT HERE! Or maybe a facepalm; again EPP is my go-to when I'm in the mood for concentrating hard. And I have pondered the possibility that I'll enjoy the machine sewing aspect of Red Sky at Night more than the EPP if the pieces are as small as they seem, according to the pattern. Now, that's a pretty unlikely scenario, but I won't discount anything because I am having so much fun making HSTs and the rest of the units. Okay, I'm not keen on the Flying Geese. They're hard to trim and require a lot of steps and the notion of making an entire quilt out of them.... Uggg, not my cuppa tea. Yet I'm sure lots of folks who sew might consider my obsession with hand-stitching equally bizarre. Good to keep perspective at a time of great leaps of faith.

In the meantime, above is a block I fashioned on my own yesterday, an alternative from one needing House units. I swapped out the corner solid blocks for HSTs and made a definitive X, hah! Below is the actual block.

I adore the swans, courtesy of Anna Maria Horner. Center block is Kaffe Fassett. Houses are a print from Joann Fabrics that while extremely pretty, the actual fabric is stiff and not conducive to hand-sewing. However it's great under a presser foot, and handy when I needed something bright upon which to learn the necessary techniques. Still much to learn, but in trying new things, not only do I weed out what is more work than they're worth, but I embrace what previously made me cringe and now elicits deep satisfaction and the desire to make more. Future Me smiles while Past Me smirks. It's okay, I tell Past Me: One day you'll LOVE it.

More sewing joy

 

My eldest called it the sunflower quilt, maybe that name will stick.

I meant to write about this quilt top yesterday, but those HSTs muscled their way to the top of my brain. Yet, this quilt-in-the-making needs some blog love.

I started it ages ago, slapping it on the design wall back in April, whoa! That was before summer started, before I got Covid, before, well, before. Sometimes before is recent and sometimes it's ages ago. Right now it feels like far longer than April, maybe for all that's happened in the last four months, not only Covid but twenty-nine times two and a Red Sky at Night, and oh yeah, those half-square triangles which I am ACHING to return to, but first I need to finish this post. Because completing that little quilt top, quite bright and a wee bit busy, has been the catalyst for me returning to sewing.

Not that I haven't been stitching; loads of hand-sewing has occurred, including hand-quilting placemats that I assumed I would run under my machine's presser foot. Instead I'm tackling one every other night, three left to go. But my machine had remained under cover even after I felt better, as well as after the grandsons left. It was considering Red Sky at Night (RSAN) that made me remove the cover, dust off the machine, but first I HAD TO FINISH this bright quilt, what I'm currently calling my Covid quilt, mostly because I don't have a better name for it. It languished because I had Covid, but it's now alight with shimmery goodness, having had its moment in the laundry-line sun.

Now, it's not DONE. Still needs a backing, binding, basting, then.... Not sure if I'll machine or hand quilt it. Once the RSAN papers arrive, I'll be up to my armpits in choosing fabrics, basting papers, stitching various quilt blocks. The Covid quilt might live on the design wall, along with emerging machine-pieced sampler blocks. Yet, the rows of the Covid quilt no longer hang over my drying rack or take up space in my heart. They are attached, if not part of a quilt sandwich, which truly gives me peace of mind.

Shoo Fly block, which I had to include because the HSTs would kick my backside if they didn't receive more attention, lol!

Peace of mind.... How precious is that? Pretty damned important and necessary and meaningful. Peace of mind is one reason I sew and write, allowing myself these moments of creative spark that end up as novels and comforters. The books are quiet, but the quilts are flashy, especially this one, made with some of my current favourite fabrics. I can't even remember why I made it, although I could cheat and read the corresponding post, but there are half-square triangles screaming in the background for my attention. So despite writing yesterday, here's another entry. I love blogging too, lol, but there are only so many hours in one's day....

Wrangling HST's

HST stands for half-square triangles, which in my decade of sewing have remain conspicuously absent from the routine. I don't like sewing triangles; I can't control them. They have their own agendas and.... Anyway, in Jodi Godfrey's latest delightful pattern, HSTs and other angular manners of machine sewing figure heavily. I was reading over the clearly written instructions yesterday, when suddenly I found myself cutting squares, drawing a line down the centers of the light fabrics, then....

Well, those pictured above are what I curated before it was time to eat dinner. I spent a good while rummaging through my stash for appropriately unbusy low volume fabrics, of which I don't have many. Then it was a matter of choosing darker prints, then chain-piecing, pressing, and finally trimming to size. The trimming was the biggest hassle, well, right after finding low volume scraps. A few times I nearly walked away, then I'd gaze at my monitor, where the pattern waited, teased, inspired! Yes, I could sew triangles, they're not scary, nor are they so unwieldy I can't tame them. I'll make a few blocks where points aren't required to be precise, allowing for a blurring of edges that in the long run no one will notice but me.

Isn't it funny what bugs each of us? Triangles literately are the bane of my sewing existence, unless they are EPP'ed, in which case I'll hand-stitch angles all day long, or until my shoulder hollers uncle. Improv triangles are fine, floating around a design that doesn't care if corners meet correctly. Last year I bought into an online class wholly concerned with sewing triangles. I collected each lesson, filed them away, then acted as though another part of myself had considered such a ridiculous notion. I don't even know what to call that element of myself; Wishful Thinking Me. Wishful Thinking Me really wanted to learn how to master sewing triangles. The rest of me said, "NO THANKS!"

Both Future and Past Me chortle. I'm not going to analyze their humor, merely give thanks that some brave portion of my soul has decided to stop being a freaking chicken about this. Triangles are just, well, three-sided shapes. A Churn Dash or Greek Cross block is highly possible, likely even? A Shoo Fly block maybe.... So many machine-pieced, triangle-happy vintage blocks make up Jodi's gorgeous design, and while five are triangle-free, maybe I'll add a few more to my interpretation. Perhaps I'll find the small papers in the EPP blocks too diminutive for my liking. Until I receive the papers, all I can do is play around with the machine-pieced blocks, and, well....

Triangles aren't my best friends, but at least now they're not so overwhelming. Thanks be to God for that, amen!

Sitting at my sewing machine

 

Stacked on many sewing projects (as well as a ruler) are these rows which I am FINALLY stitching together, whew!

So today I used my machine. I had to dust it off; despite the cover, two months is long enough for particles to accumulate. It needed to be threaded, and to my slight horror and acute embarrassment, I had to look up which way the bobbin thread needed to go. I also oiled it after sewing two rows together, a strange noise that maybe is how it does sound, or perhaps I need to get it properly cleaned. I pressed open seams while the oil seeped into crevices, then still felt like the clunking remained. We'll see if I take it to a local shop for cleaning.

I had started this quilt a few months back, sewing squares into rows because someone was visiting, maybe the grandsons back in March? Now it's mid-August, but I'm not going to ask where has the time gone. I've also cracked open Book 2 of The Enran Chronicles, getting through eleven chapters in the last couple of days, finding a few typos, clearing out some deadwood. There's always change to affect, just the nature of the revising a novel beast.

With these pastimes underway, I'm starting to feel like I'm back in the routine, although not being sure which way the bobbin was supposed to go was unnerving. How long has it been since I last machine-sewed something? Weeks yes, but jeez Louise! I've ordered Jodi Godfrey's latest design, and while waiting for the paper pieces to arrive, I'm studying the pattern, a mix of EPP and machine sewn blocks adding up to what I think will be a beautiful sampler quilt. Called Red Sky at Night, mine will be various primary-type colours, with Kona Snow for the sashing, the light hues still to be decided.

And this morning I completed revisions for Book 7 of The Hawk, finding I'd left the end as a cliffhanger, HAH! Thank goodness I can read more tomorrow, hehehe. Months ago I broke the entire story into installments, so I truly had no idea how that section would conclude.

Meanwhile the San Francisco Giants are struggling to stay above .500, praying for a miracle so they can reach the playoffs. I have no illusions about them, ahem, but in the evenings it's nice to listen to announcers call the games, hoping beyond near hope for further baseball adventures in October. Next week is the start of the US Open Tennis tournament, and I will listen to evening matches as I stitch. We're not watching the Democratic National Convention because, well, our votes are already aligned to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

It's Tuesday, the twentieth of August, 2024. That's about all the news fit to print.