More Book Editing

I am so excited to have received a closer view of my upcoming book! 

Yesterday I received a package full of pages, with pictures this time, to look over and edit anything that may or may not make sense to the reader.  This is such an interesting process to me and to have so many talented people all doing their part to make this a great book to have in your library.

I can't show too much as far as pictures, but let's see if I can show you the process of the last year, so far. (In the least amount of words)

  
When I was asked to submit a proposal for the book, it seemed like a fun project.  I was looking forward to getting some more of these designs out of my head!  So I submitted a rough idea, a table of contents, and my drawings of all the projects.

This was submitted to the board and they loved the idea and we were a go!  The first order of business was to try and breathe and get my stress under control.  All of a sudden it hit me of my pending and looming deadlines and would I be able to draw, write, and sew everything in time.  Wow! How much pressure do we put on ourselves.  So my solution was to break apart each task, write it down in my To-Do Journal, and as each little step was complete....check it off.  That worked wonders.

First deadline - write one project's complete instructions, audition fabrics, and sew the project up to give them an idea of what direction and flavor the book would take.    Done! 

Second deadline - write all the instruction and sew the projects.  Took a while, but Done!

Third deadline - visit with different editors, especially my technical editor, to insure everything makes sense and flows nicely.  I cannot  say enough wonderful things about the editors at Martingale & Company.  I felt as though I had control, but always someone willing to help make it sound better, less confusing, and fun.

This brings us to this deadline - next to the last editing, complete with pictures this time.  I loved seeing my drawn illustrations come to life by the hands of a graphic/computer person.  This is amazing to me!  We all have our special talents, don't we?  So this week, I will be going through all the pages and will be making any final notes for changes, etc..

In a month or two, I will get the final edit pages to review and approve, and then we'll be done.  The publisher will print it, hopefully all of you will love it and buy it, and I will start this process all over again.  I have another 12-14 projects drawn on paper - and thankfully out of my head - that with any luck, make it into another book.

Wow! What an exciting ride this has been so far.  I will post updates as the dates get closer and I hope I will be able to share some pictures soon.  I cannot wait for you to see the cover!

As always, Happy Stitching!

Kathleen

Simple Storage Solutions

I am always looking for simple, storage solutions for my quilt room and craft room.  I especially enjoy finding solutions that use things I already have around the house and just re-purposing them.  Of course they don't always work out, but other times it is a stroke of genius for whoever thought of it!

I have had several mug trees in the past and when I saw this idea I was excited.  You can always find your scissors and if you are like me, you have several pair you can grab at a moments notice. 

I am also very big on not always having storage solutions on my horizontal surfaces.  After a time, there is no place to work.  So having things hang above your workspace is a great idea.  The PVC in this great caddy for pencils, pens, paint brushes, colored pencils, etc. is easy to make and the PVC is inexpensive to buy at your local hardware or lumber store.  I think it would be cute to experiment with contact paper or paint to coordinate with your personality or your room.  This would also work great for the kids above their desk or homework/art area.

 And then there are all those templates and specialty acrylic rulers we have with no easy way to store them.  This quick idea I love because I have a cute longer hook I was wondering what I could use it for when BAM! I saw this idea.  The hangars (curtain rings) are in the curtain area in a store like JoAnn Fabrics or WalMart and run about $3-4 for 10 each to a dozen depending on the size ring you get.  Now I know where all my little rulers are.  I also keep the cardboard instructions all attached on one of the hangars at the back, just in case I need to refer to instructions.

I hope you enjoyed a few of these ideas.  If you have others, share them please.  You can always go to Pinterest and do a search for more ideas.  Let me  tell you it is very addicting.....I Love It!!

Happy Stitching!

Kathleen



 

Tip for appliqué

As I was doing a bit of appliqué yesterday, I thought I should repost a tip that I have used after reading it somewhere here in cyberspace.  You know I do alot of hand sewing and I am not crazy about using pins. I have to pin sometimes but, no matter what you do - your thread gets caught.  Although I know this will happen, anytime I can prevent it I'm all in!  In the photo, you can see the fix when doing some wool appliqué.   I wouldn't use the staples with your cotton fabrics in case it catches and pulls,  but stapling the wool works great.

Hope this little tip helps with some of your appliqué projects. 

Happy Stitching!

 Kathleen

Happy New Year!

Wow!  Can it really be 2015?  I don't know about you, but the time really seems to fly by for me anymore.  How about you?  My mother tells me it is because I have so many projects I want to do, designs I want to get out there, and too many fun things on my plate.  I really can't argue with her, she's right!

Living in Western Montana, the weather has finally turned to winter.  We even had about 5 inches of snow last week and then it turned cold....I mean cold, not just cold but, COLD.  Winter gives me some time to draw and sew, especially when the Grandchildren don't even want to go sledding.  I have been very creative this past month and can start sewing up my drawings to see how much I like them finished.  Should be fun and exciting.  I can't wait to share them with you.


Other exciting news around here is guess who has a book coming out this summer?  Yes, you guessed it, me!  It is a book with projects all using the Double Stitch and I hope you will love them.  More information will be released as soon as the photography is complete.  This has been such an amazing process.  I have so many more designs I would love to share with you in a second book.  Let's see how it goes.

Happy 2015!  
Remember to take care of yourself, mind-body-& creativity.

Happy Stitching,

Kathleen