Match Books

Look, I have a post that isn’t about quilts or books I have read or how cold it is (which I have been complaining about a lot lately because, oh my god, I am sick to death of this cold weather. But I am also boring myself with my complaints). Although I do also need to update about my upcoming holiday (Thailand! In two weeks! I will escape this evil freezing country) and my toe operation. There have been a few posts about my poor feet over the last year or so and I am hoping that this will be the last I have to say about it.

But, this is more interesting than all of that! Promise. It is still book related, because I love books. Please let me introduce Match Books. This is a new publishing company I am a part of. It was something I couldn’t say no to given the opportunity to work with awesome people and fiction. I have worked in publishing for around eight years now, but I work in academic publishing. It is very nice to have a break from that and see the other side.

So, if you’d like to, it would be nice if you could go like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And check out the awesome website and the pretty book covers. Oh, and if you know writers (or you are one) interested in fantasy and romance and a slightly different way of doing things, send them our way. We have two special calls right now, one for an Urban Legends anthology and another for Second Chances (romance).

It’s early days and there’s still lots to do, but I’m really happy to be part of it.

Annie’s Quilt

I made this quilt for my friend’s baby, and I definitely learned a lot while making it. For starters I didn’t use a pattern for this one (I know, get me, I made one other quilt and then thought I’d learned enough to just do what I liked. Not the case really). In future I think I will follow some sort of guide at least, but since this was just basic squares it seemed simple enough. And it was, I just should have paid more attention to my seam allowances. I ended up unpicking rows of squares a couple of times to make the lines match up better, but in the end they still weren’t right. Lesson learned. I like to think Annie won’t mind too much, and maybe even when she’s older she will like it all the more for its imperfections.

Anyway, here are some pics.

This is when it had been pieced together but no wadding etc. You can still see the masking tape along the sides to tell me which row went where. I did spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get the squares ‘just so’, to give it the best arrangement, but I don’t know if I managed it.

Artfully thrown over the chair.

Now with wadding! And pinned ready for quilting.

Quilted and trimmed. Another lesson learned: don’t sew too close to the ends, because when you trim you will cut off your nice tied ends and the thread will unravel, and you will have to sew it again. You would think this would be obvious, but not to me. D’oh.

Now quilted and binding done. I decided to do some little squares for the corners, for no real reason except I loved that fabric and wanted to use it, but I didn’t have enough left for a full sized square. I do think I will do a little square quilt one day, with my left over fabrics.

Finished!

And the back view. Again, if I had remotely thought it through, then those squares on the back would have been in line with the ones in front. Then the quilting lines would match. Ah well.

Still, I am quite proud of it, and happy to see the finished result. This quilt was done entirely by hand, but I have just bought a sewing machine, so it will be interesting to see how I feel about quilting when it’s done a bit speedier. I do like sitting in front of the tv happily sewing though, even if it is slow going.

Hey There 2013

2013 seems like an insane concept, so I am ignoring it and how old I am.

Am I making any resolutions? No, I don’t think so. There are things I would like from 2013, but then if I don’t get them I’ll probably just feel bad. Although I’ll probably feel bad anyway so…I’d like a new job. I would like a job where I look forward to going everyday instead of just getting through it so I can come home. And I am very lucky in some respects, especially with the people I work with, but it’s more than time I did something else. I have some possible projects brewing this year that make it more likely I’ll be doing something else by the time 2014 (oh god) rolls around, but there are no guarantees.

I’d like a really good holiday. I owe Max an adventure, so hopefully we’ll come up with something we can both enjoy.

I need to get creative with words and not just crafts, although I do intend to carry on quilting. I am going to buy a sewing machine to help with that, and my next project is a quilt for my niece. I also owe a post about my last quilt, and I’ll do that soon. But I really do need to spend more time writing, I’m trying to get back into that. Only by doing will I…well, do it, and will it feel easier to do it, so I’m trying. I should be doing that now but this sort of counts. Maybe.

Then there’s roller derby. I missed a lot of practice at the end of last year due to life and bad toes and other stuff, so I need to get back into a proper routine. I am not really feeling it at the moment though. This sort of slump happens when people move up to main league and I am left behind, it takes a while to feel right again (not helped by my absence, obviously). So I need to put some effort in and fall in love again. If for no other reason than I got five pairs of derby socks for Christmas! Also, new wheels, hurrah!

I also need to get a new laptop, since my current one is over six years old and you can get iPhones with more memory. It is very slow. I don’t need it for much, just internet use and Word. Oh and iTunes. So I don’t think I need to break the bank, I just need something that’s reliable. This one has been pretty good, given its age.

There you go, not really a plan or resolutions but just stuff that needs to get done.

 

Still Here, For Now

It’s been a while since I wrote anything here. I’m at that stage again of wondering whether to bother with this blog, seeing as I hardly ever update and when I do it’s about books (which I could do on Goodreads instead). I feel I am mostly sending words out into the void and what is the point? But until I make a decision about that, here’s a life update.

At the end of October I tried out for the main league again. It was a much better experience this time, but I still didn’t make it in. I am not a stand out, although they said my skills were good. It is fine, and they are probably right that I am not ready, but it sucks to lose yet more of my buddies from rec league. Really proud of them, but wish I could still skate with them. We also had another rec league bout on the same day and my team lost by one point. Ugh. We did play really well though, and the standard overall was great.

November 11^th was Nin’s birthday, so we went as a family to Robin Hood’s Bay to scatter her ashes. We spent a lot of time there when we were kids and that’s what she wanted. We’d meant to do this in summer but that just didn’t happen. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day and we all enjoyed each other’s company, and I think Nin would have been happy with that.

I was also an extra in a film, for the company Max works for. I don’t know if I will actually end up in the final cut, or if, even if I do, you’ll be able to see me or tell it’s me, but it was fun. I felt like a right prat for a lot of it, since it was all done on green screen, but I did get to fall about on some crash mats and attempt to look scared. It’s a good job I don’t want to be an actress, because I am terrible.

I attempted to do NaNoWriMo for the first time this November, and I made it to 20,000 words or so before life got in the way. But that’s 20,000 more words than I had to begin with, and I did like that NaNo forced me to sit down and write and just get words on the page without over thinking it. Just get the first draft done and fix it later. Usually when I write things it is just notes and ideas, like I have to wait for inspiration to strike before I can do anything, and this just means I don’t really get anywhere. So for that it was a good experience and I hope to continue with my book. And I would definitely try NaNo again, maybe just when I am not as busy.

And then I went to Berlin for four days, with Max and a bunch of rollergirls. We did some touristy stuff and a day of watching roller derby, as it was a tournament weekend. Berlin is a wonderful city. I’d never been before but it’s really cool to wander around. We did an alternative tour, being guided around for three hours looking at graffiti and getting a bit of history about the city. It was very cold though, and we abandoned our attempt to see a broken down theme park. We intend to go back when it’s a bit warmer and see more stuff.

And I’ll end with babies, since there are now two new ones in the world. My niece Isla was born six weeks premature last week, but she’s doing really well, she’s just very small. Her middle name is Betty, after my grandmother. It’s perfect. I am going up to Yorkshire to see her tomorrow. And then, on the same day, my friend had Annie, who is not tiny at all. I look forward to many cuddles.

Life is good.

Rebel Heart

I read the first book in this trilogy, Blood Red Road, last year and really enjoyed it, but I’d sort of forgotten about it and didn’t immediately run out and buy this book. I should have, because I enjoyed it immensely (so much so I’ve gone back and read the first one again, which I probably should have done first. Oh well)

In Rebel Heart, Saba is separated from Jack as he goes to tell Molly about Ike. Saba is making her way west with Emmi, Lugh and Tommo when she meets up with Maeve of the Freehawks who has a message from Jack. She returns Saba’s heartstone and says Jack is with the Tonton. Saba does not believe this and deciphers his real message, leaving the others to go off to meet him. After learning that Jack has betrayed her, Saba does something unexpected that will hurt everyone she cares about.

I’m so in love with Saba, and these books. I love the way they are written, so clearly in Saba’s voice, and her dialect, which I thought initially would be hard to get into, is in fact just the opposite. It’s very lyrical, and it gives you such a clear idea of who Saba is.

Lugh drove me mad in this one. I just wanted him to be on Saba’s side for a change. I know she makes mistakes, she’s hot headed and often acts first, and selfishly, rather than thinking things through and doing what’s best for the group. But she’s his sister, she needs his support, and he’s just on at her all the time. And she did spend the entire previous book saving his ass. He could at least be grateful and concede that sometimes she does know what she’s doing.

I liked revisiting the characters we got to know in Blood Red Road and the new ones we met here. Young does a good job of making you wonder if they can be trusted or not. And I have no real clue how to think about DeMalo. He’s clearly doing horrible things, even if has an idea of a noble purpose, but I don’t know if I should hate him or not. Maybe I’m as confused as Saba.

And then there’s Jack. It’s a shame there wasn’t more of him in this book, but I think it served the story better that he wasn’t, and led to more conflict. I cannot wait for the next book to see how the story concludes. And I can’t recommend these enough.

Finished!

It’s only taken me about nine months, but I have finally finished my quilt! I am very pleased with it. OK, there’s some dodgy stitching going on in places, but overall it’s lovely and I think I’ve done a good job for my first try. Here are yet more iPhone photos:

It’s now on our bed, since it’s dropped cold these last few days. It doesn’t quite fit the king size bed, but it still looks very nice. So, a successful first attempt!

Derby Vid

Here’s a cool video Max did of the Rec League bout back in July.

London Roller Girls Rec League Bout: Pink vs Black from Max Rees on Vimeo.