Quilting Fun

Just yesterday, as I was quilting with friends at the Granary, a local shop, a customer/fan asked me why I wasn't home writing. She's eager for a new book. I told her I'd written that morning and was doing my job, just hanging out with quilters. She was skeptical, but think about it. Where else would I get material for my novels? We gossip about friends and family and the tales are always hairy or charming or frightening. The store clerk was telling us about fielding phone calls. Her most interesting one was from a fellow needing to buy muslin for coffin covers. How could I make something like that up?

I have no problem keeping up with quilting. I read magazines (Quilting Arts, Quilter's Newsletter are two favorites). I'm friends with hundreds of quilters on Facebook and follow their lives (and their links) closely. Most are generous with tips and pictures of their work.

I look to books for inspiration and have shelves of quilting and stamping books.

I attend as many shows as I can. Not just big shows like PIQF, but small guild shows like the Pajaro Valley Quilt Show and the Monterey Peninsula Quilt Guild show. This is an excellent place to see the work of locals and to shop the vendors, checking out the newest products. In May, I was lucky enough to sign books at the first annual Niles Quilt and Wildflower Show. I met many old friends, and made new ones as the quilters came into the storefront I was in to look at the challenge quilts.

Writing books about quilting is a great excuse for me to go to events. When Ricky Tims' Super Quilt Seminar came to the area, attending was a no-brainer. Yes, it was tons of fun and yes, I learned plenty, but it was work. It's my job to stay up on the latest techniques and classes. Tough work, I know.

Writing about something you love is the joy of writing craft mysteries. Keeping up isn't work at all.