Colorworks Concepts

Have you ever bought fabric that made you want to sit down at the sewing machine right that very instant?

I think it happens to me just a little TOO frequently. But this time, oh, was it ever difficult! I was in California to shoot the wedding of my niece, and this fabric (with a price even better than the colors) made me want to squeal with joy like a little kid at Christmas!

I even put off editing photos the first night I returned home just so I could dive into this new acquisition. Fabric like this shouldn't be on shelves at all. It should be beneath the presser foot, and RIGHT NOW!


Then came the moment of grim reality. I opened the package and pulled out the cut fabric. I'd resisted pulling it out of the package all the way home! As I prepared to slice off the selvedges (because I actually save selvedges and either craft with them or sell them on Etsy), I realized the drop-dead gorgeous panel that caused me to fall so head over heels wasn't printed with a seam allowance.

What the heck?!?


According to Northcott's website, "ColorWorks Concepts is a completely innovative program featuring colorful panels.... printed to look like complex piecing projects."

So here's this irresistible big piece of fabric that's supposed to make it easier for me to whip up a quilt for a kid, and the manufacturers forgot to include seam allowance?!? Or cut corners, or in this case, a quarter inch on each side of each panel, to cut costs?!?

Other panel connoisseurs might not have noticed. Still others might have caved and used the selvedge as the seam allowance. (I've done that in the past as a single parent when my budget was much tighter and I regarded every single inch on a scale equal to or greater than gold or even chocolate, and I was NOT happy with the finished results.) For me personally at this time in my life, I’ve worked very hard to improve my matching points and corners. It's a very big deal to me in every single project.

So how in the world could I make a quilt with this panel and expect a cousin, niece or nephew to drool over the imperfect points?


I stewed for a while and even considered incorporating the selvedges and making due with the teeny, scant 1/16th-inch-if-lucky seam allowance before realizing this quilt, when finished, will indeed be going to a kid, and therefor needs to be sturdily stitched. I decided to bite the thimble and cut the panel as planned, then make the planned quilt with unmatched points along the edges because most kids will not care, and some might not even notice.

Until they are adult quilters. Inspired by their doting aunt, whom they one day realize made an entire quilt with uneven points. And then spend the next week laughing because they'd grown up worshiping the skills of said aunt. "She used a panel! (Emphasis added to imply cooties) She didn't even bother to cut the sides accurately! What a cheater!"


I had to study the panel again for a while to remember why I initially was so drawn to it. Will it really be so awful to be seam up 1/4 inch all the way around and cause block points to be off? Will that really ruin this otherwise gorgeous fabric?

Yes, if I was entering it into a competition, but who in their right mind would enter a panel quilt into a competition?!? (I know, it does happen.) Yes, if it was going on my bed. But I wouldn't be making a panel quilt for my bed. I would piece the darned thing because I enjoy piecing, and I want it to be as perfect as possible. Perhaps no if the intended recipient cares more about video games, dance or piano recitals, fingernail polish or baseball games.

I need to be finished with 13 more kid quilts by Christmas (and the possibility of four more). I want the kids to love them, but I'm not so sure they are going to care about the seams as much as they care about the size, colors and designs. Especially after they spill hot chocolate all over it while telling ghost stories, let the dog use it, take it camping, and use it to wipe up the eggs, chili and ketchup they spilled on their Mom's brand new carpet because they were eating in the forbidden living room while she was shopping.

"It will be okay. It will be okay. It will be okay," I kept telling myself as I cut off the selvedges (which, by the way, are equally as gorgeous) and squared up the sides.


Once I began piecing the coordinating charm squares for an impromptu border, I thought about the mismatched panel corners only as I attached the sashing. I held the finished top up to get my husband's opinion. He'd heard tolerated me bellyache about the absence of seam allowance the entire time I was cutting and sewing. He would give me an honest opinion, and he would do it in a delicate way if he didn't like the edges.

"The kids will love it. They'll be fighting over it," he smirked.

Fighting over it... I hadn't considered inevitable tug-of-war battles as an additional reason the seams need to be trustworthy.


I pulled in some stash fabrics to spread the charm squares thinner, so in the end, I will need another panel to use up the rest of the charm squares. Yes, you guessed it. I ordered another one, a different one. Hopefully not as errant along the edges as this one, which I do still love as far as color and block placement.

I guess I need to piece my own bright rainbow-themed sampler with perfect points when I get done with all the kiddo quilts. If I can ever get done with all the cousin quilts and the rest of the next generation stops having babies! (Just teasing! I love all the new little bundles of joy in the family!)


And now, I have a little giveaway. I have anxiously bought each and every issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks for the last six years, as well as each and every issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. I've found the 100 Blocks special issues more and more difficult to find the day or even week of release for the last couple of years as bookstores have been closing right and left in my neck of the plains meet foothills. The most recent magazine volume, Issue 13, was released at the beginning of this month, and I STILL don't have a copy! I am Woman, Hear Me Whine!

I decided to go ahead and sign up for the auto ship subscription for the special issues only. I expected to have the newest version of 100 Blocks by now. Imagine my surprise when the magazine finally arrived in the mail yesterday, and it's NOT 100 Blocks! Instead, it's another copy of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, which I already have.

I have the option of returning it, but I thought I might as well give it away to someone who'd love to have it and continue to sit and wait patiently for my 100 Blocks to arrive. Fingers crossed it will eventually arrive and not take three months...

So, if you'd like to take this extra magazine off my hands, please leave a humorous quilting-related anecdote in the comments below, and a winner will be randomly selected. US recipients only, please, because I'm footing the bill for postage. I'll announce the winner and ask for delivery information next Thursday, May 26, 2016.


Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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Collecting Smiles

Before I announce the results of my review challenge last month, I am very excited to launch another challenge!

"Collecting Smiles" by Melody Burris caught my heart in ways I didn't imagine. It sometimes takes me so long to read the books I get because life gets in the way, I forget why I was attracted to them in the first place.

For the first 30 or so pages, I thought this book was going to be a fun little foray into college dating, a stage I missed altogether. I'm not exactly a romance novel aficionado, but I thought at least the story would be clean. After all, most of the story takes place on the campus of BYU.

Now, I'd heard stories and rumors about the rush to get married at Brigham Young University. Some students, I'd heard, are more interested in finding a mate than earning a degree, which seems sort of criminal to me, given the price of education. But this book isn't truly about dating. It's got dating stuff in there, but it's more about childlessness and the way a young woman can feel when she believes no guy is going to want to marry a sterile woman.

See why it grabbed me and wrapped its way around my heart? This is the way I felt for many lonely moons.

Today's book is a little longer than the first adoption fiction story I reviewed, at 127 pages, and this book also is free, so no financial commitment required to participate in this fun little contest. Author Melody Burris is very fortunate to have several great reviews on Amazon, where the book is not free. Unfortunately, there also are a couple of discouraging reviews by readers who were upset because in their view, the book is pushing the LDS or Mormon religion. "Collecting Smiles" didn't seem to be preaching or pushing religion to me at all. It's a story about sophomores attending BYU.

So, if the mention of LDS buzzwords bothers you, don't bother with this book. I guess this would be a good time to disclose my books also have LDS buzzwords because I'm LDS. I'm not a missionary; I didn't even grow up actively participating in church. But God is a very serious part of my life, and I can't imagine trying to survive the bumps, hiccups and tragedies without Him, so He's in all my books. I don't preach. I just tell stories. Just like here on my blog. So again, if the mention of LDS or Mormon buzzwords bothers you, don't bother with my books either.

Hopefully, in this age of what hopefully is the beginning of seeds of true tolerance, most readers won't be offended by any story just because main characters have beliefs or faith. Perhaps it's time for a remake of "Oh, God"... But only if they can do it as well as George Burns and John Denver, or George Burns and Louanne Sirota in "Oh God, Book II". (Trivia: Did you know some churches, supposedly even my own, counseled their members NOT to watch "Oh, God" when it was first released?!? Holy frijole!)

Okay, so now that I've gone off track enough to totally lose the whole point of this blog post, how about I get back to reviewing "Collecting Smiles"?


There are passages in this book that made me feel, for the first time ever in my life of reading fiction, that someone else in the world understood how it feels to not be able to have a child, to feel unworthy of marriage, especially in a church where family is the number one priority, because of an inability to give birth.

The Sunday school classes and Relief Society classes (women's classes) where child-raising routinely is a featured topic... oh, man, I can't even tell you how many of those classes I've endured and even ditched. And Mother's Day?!? Forget it.

I don't know the book's author's circumstances (she apparently hasn't written any other books), but somehow, she knows enough to totally nail that whole childlessness thing. I'd have been in tears if it wasn't for the fact I felt as if I was reading pages from my own journal. Just none of my journals take place in a BYU setting...

College sophomore Megan encounters the ultimate rejection because she can't have children... I cried, and yet, deep down inside, because of my own experiences, a flame was burning the phrase my mom used to say back into my soul: "Better fish will come along." It happened for me in real life! I hoped it would happen for Megan, too.

One thing about this story that bugged me is the typos. If I wasn't so over-committed as it is, I'd print out another copy of the book, proofread and mark it (because that's what I have done in real life for most of my career, just not for world-famous authors, unfortunately), and send it to Melody Burris in the hope she might polish up her little gem and perhaps even one day write a sequel, which many of her Amazon reviews request. I'd proof that one for her, too, if she did write it, even if it means staying off my bike for a weekend. Hope that shows you how much I enjoyed reading her book, mistakes and all.

The only other thing that bothered me about this story was the sudden absence of the title flavor in the final couple of chapters. In my opinion, and maybe because I've spent too many years dotting teas and crossing eyes (yes I intended to write it that way), I felt the ending was rushed because at least one more smile count was not included. (I could see about four places the smile counts would have fit in beautifully and added to the story as well.) The ending almost felt rushed because of that simple omission or oversight. Potential final paragraphs were dancing in my head as I read the last few pages, just knowing smile collecting was going to make a grand return at the end, but it never did. That was sort of a letdown, given the importance the game played in the first two-thirds of the book.

Now it's your turn, Dear Reader. I will award a free autographed paperback copy of "Heart Strings" on May 24, 2016, to a random reviewer of this book on Smashwords here. I will announce the winner here on my blog, assuming anyone participates, and I'll have another challenge then with a completely different genre of book. (Pat, I hope that piques your curiosity!)

I am not receiving any compensation for doing this, and I have no connection to the author. I just want to try to make a total stranger's day and help readers find good, clean fiction about a topic that envelopes my life.

And now, for the results of the "Are You My Sister?" contest: No reviews were submitted to Smashwords, so last month's challenge prize will be added to this challenge. I'll give away TWO autographed copies of "Heart Strings" on May 24, 2016. Your chances of winning just doubled!

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Are You My Sister?

How would you like to help launch another author? Doesn't that sound fun?!?

I recently staged my first book-signing, and I'm very happy to announce I sold seven copies of Heart Strings! I'm well on my way to becoming a rich and famous author, and just think, you were here at the very beginning! Ha ha ha ha!

Okay, humor aside, I'd bought 30 copies of my book for the signing, and I worried I might run out. Now I get to have another signing. And perhaps another... And then one more...

I'm not discouraged at all, but I began wondering what other adoption novels are out there on the market and if anyone is reading them. It occurred to me perhaps people just don't want to read about adoptions.

So I did an adoption search on Smashwords and immediately bought three more books. I read the first one that very same day. It was interesting, but also a little weird. It definitely answered my question about what else is out there. I'd thought since the day I began "Heart Strings" back in 2002 my novel was ground-breaking because I'd never read anything else tackling adoption quite the way I did.

The first of the three stories I bought from Smashwords made me realize there is more to adoption than just childless parents adopting an unwanted child or a young, unmarried woman giving up a child because she doesn't believe she can do the parenting thing alone. There's a whole world of different adoption scenarios out there!

The second novel really hit me. The story was engaging, and the author did a great job, in my opinion. When I finished the book, I immediately logged back onto Smashwords to write a review, and I noticed for the first time, this particular book had no reviews. (Her book does have mostly favorable reviews on Barnes & Noble, but there are spoilers.)

Not only that, the author hasn't published any more books.

That made me sad because I wondered if the author decided writing just isn't worth it. It takes a lot of time to write a book, and it sometimes takes even longer to polish it. Trying to get published in the traditional way can feel as heartbreaking as being told a child or family member is not good enough. Once you've put your heart into writing, editing and trying to sell a book, the finished product feels almost like a baby or child you've created.

To self-publish such a work takes a ton of courage. When you give your book away for free, you open yourself to crackpots who just want to say something mean. You almost have to have an extensive background in marketing to know how to help people who might truly be interested in what you have to say actually find your book.

To go through either publishing process and receive no feedback can be so extremely discouraging.

So I decided to have another little giveaway to perhaps make a writer's day.


I do not know this author, and I am receiving no compensation for what I'm about to do. I'm just trying to help another writer feel good about what she's produced.

Kathy Parsons Williams has created a believable, fun, heart-rending and satisfying story about teenage sisters who discover they have an older sister just as their family is about to experience a life-changing event. Written from the viewpoint of 14-year-old Sally Robeson (a few years after the story takes place), "Are You My Sister?" delights with realistic interactions between Sally, her 12-year-old sister Holly and her best friend Jen. Not one portion of this free 46-page PDF booklet feels contrived or unplanned. I enjoyed it from cover to cover, relishing in the tears and the smiles it brought during the two to three hours it took to read it (while multi-tasking). At the end, I had to put everything else on hold because I couldn't wait to discover the conclusion and could no longer tolerate interruptions stealing my attention away from the book. The ending did not disappoint.

The book is classified as young adult fiction; it contains no offensive language, and in my opinion, it's a wonderful tale suitable for the entire family.

I don't want to reveal any spoilers, so I'm going to leave my review here at that and invite you, Dear Reader, to join me for an afternoon of warm fuzzies by downloading this free book in whatever form suits your reading style, devouring the words and then writing a review on Smashwords here. You have to join Smashwords to leave a review, but joining is free.

On Tuesday, May 10, 2016, I will give away a free autographed paperback copy of my book, "Heart Strings", to the author of a random review on "Are You My Sister?" I'll announce the winner here on my blog, and at that time, I'll ask the winner to contact me with shipping information.

I'd love to see Kathy Parsons Williams write more, but mostly, I'd love knowing you and I, together, made a day brighter for a total stranger.

Thanks for reading!

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