An ending - and a beginning.

Two weeks since my last blog - apologies! Things have been rather busy Chez Squidge, and I've not had an awful lot to write about.

Today, I have.

Remember my rainbow quilt? Well...part of my busyness has been tied up with that.

Still hand quilting the last few squares - and
the cat's already laid claim to it!

Stitching the layers together right at the edge before I add the binding...

Binding all pinned in place to hand stitch...

And then, late on Thursday evening, the last stitch went in, the thread was cut, and IT WAS FINISHED! Straight onto the bed it went...

Ta-dah!

I think it'll look just as good even with the
back side up...

So that's the ending. Always a bitter sweet moment, when you come to the end of a creative project, I think - there's the satisfaction of a job well done, pride in learning a new skill, and the joy of having a new possession! Mind you, I don't think I'll be idle for long, as I've already started to make hexie flowers for a quilt to go on the spare bed. I've made 22 of the 40 flowers I need, from scraps including leftovers from the rainbow quilt and other fabrics I had in my stash, so that one might be ready later this year. J has also begun to make her patchwork duvet during study leave, so it's a good job I'm stitching by hand while she needs the sewing machine.

But this blog talked about and ending and a beginning. The beginning? Well.

I am delighted to say that on the 27th May, StarMark became available on Kindle. Look!

A second ta-dah! moment...

Here it is, on my own Kindle, because seeing my book cover among the other authors I enjoy reading is, if I'm honest, rather thrilling! I'm not sure yet when the paperbacks will be available for those who pre-ordered, but StarMark is OUT THERE! (I do know that BInk and IPG are working hard to resolve the issues which have caused the delays, so physical copies should be arriving soon...)

But this is it - a beginning. A different kind of publication experience to Granny Rainbow because anyone, anywhere in the English speaking world can order a copy of my book and tell the world what they think of it. I don't think I'm going to be checking for reviews or sales figures every two minutes - I probably won't dare look! - but of course I'll be interested in whether people enjoy my story or not. If you read it, please let me know what you thought by emailing me, posting on facebook or writing a review on Amazon or Goodreads if you feel so inclined.

So there you have it. An ending of one project, and a beginning - a new phase - for another. Here's hoping that StarMark's journey is far from over.