Quilting vs Writing

Buy Maggie's Secret Wish HERE

by Starla Kaye 

I have many favorite things in my life: family, friends, playing games with my family, reading, going to movies, traveling, watching pro football (yes, I’m one of “those” women), and the list could go on and on. What can I say? There are few things in life that I don’t enjoy in some manner.

But I wanted to talk a bit about one of my newest interests: quilting. No, I don’t make those big, beautiful quilts for beds. I don’t have that kind of patience. I make art quilts that I can complete in a reasonable period of time. And I particularly like creating my own patterns, including making ones based on photos of places I have been to and that then mean something to me. One of my first such quilts was based on a photo of my daughter and I visiting Blarney Castle in Ireland. It was completely designed from that photo…and, trust me, I learned a lot of what to do and more what NOT to do. But that mini quilt still means a lot to me.

I recently made two other quilts using a basic quilting pattern, but applying my own tastes in fabrics and the overall theme. For some ridiculous fun writing, I occasionally write short stories about a cow named Blossom and her bullfriend Ferdinand. In her honor, I made a cow-themed mini quilt. Blossom’s stories and some of my various quilt projects can be seen on my second website: www.starlacriser.com.

A second such “fun” mini quilt I created with cowboys in mind, since I write a lot of cowboy stories, including The CEO And The Cowboy (a non-series book with Decadent Publishing). Now that I’m thinking about this, I need to come up with a mini quilt in honor of Maggie and my Scottish hunk from Maggie’s Secret Wish. Hmmm.

Now, why did I label this blog “Quilting vs Writing”? They are both things I enjoy doing, both things that take a lot of thought and patience. Putting a quilt together is like putting together a puzzle. Which piece goes where? The entire process of writing a book of any size is also like working a puzzle. Does this scene go here? Or there?

When my quilt is finished, I sit back and enjoy looking at it. And I sigh in relief that it’s finished. When I complete a book, I sit back in relief and think about how I’m going to miss the characters, who have become my friends in a way.