Posted by Kelly Smith on March 1, 2010
Goal Posts update for February
Last month I blew my writing goal out of the water! My goal was 16,000 words. I actually wrote 20,078. Sponsors! Do your thing and donate to First Book!
I have taken on some new writing assignments, so here is how it all breaks down:
- 5516 on my historical novel
- 6883 on quilt patterns
- 7679 on a new non-fiction book
Quilt Patterns
The quilt patterns are for QuiltingWeekly.com. They are a series of twelve block of the month / mystery patterns. Each pattern will have a pieced block, an appliqué block, and a bonus pattern showing you how to use the block in a small project if you don’t want to wait until the end of the year to assemble the final big quilt. You can do both, of course, and I hope you do! So far the bonus patterns include a table runner, two styles of wall hanging, a pillow, and a set of place mats. Upcoming bonus patterns will include a tote bag, apron, clutch purse, and whatever else I can think up. The first pattern will go up for sale on the Quilting Weekly site at the end of March.
New Book
The non-fiction book is called How to Build, Maintain and Use a Compost System. The deadline for the book is near the end of April so you won’t see many posts from me for a while. I need to get that beast written so I have some sort of income. If you are a composter (amateur or pro) please contact me. I would love to interview you for the book.
Guest Blog
In other news, our Tuesday night writing practicum has been working on queries. None of us are at the stage to actually *make* queries yet, but we are fine tuning them and critiquing each others work. As part of the exercise, I read through nearly three years worth of queries on Query Shark, the blog of literary agent Janet Reid. I gleaned from there (and from other sources) a general list of dos and don’ts for authors writing queries. I shared it with the practicum last week and after a little editing, sent it to Ami to post on her MuseInks blog. If you’re planning to query an agent, go take a look. I hope it’s helpful!
Posted by Kelly Smith on February 22, 2010
Last week I signed on to write another book – this one on composting. It will be titled: How to Build, Maintain and Use a Compost System: Secrets and Techniques You Need to Know to Grow the Best Vegetables.
My husband and I have been composting for a few years and it’s a very interesting subject, so I’m looking forward to writing this book.
I am looking for composting experts, so – if you know anyone in that field, please have them contact me! If I can interview them for the book they’ll get a free copy and be able to promote their business in it.
And if they are not a professional composter, that’s ok too. I am also looking to talk to people who keep their own compost bins, piles, whatevers. Please send them my way!
How to Build, Maintain and Use a Compost System: Secrets and Techniques You Need to Know to Grow the Best Vegetables
Posted by Kelly Smith on February 15, 2010
I’m preparing a new class for Quilting Weekly that should be starting near the end of March/beginning of April.
This will be a combination block-of-the-month / mystery quilt and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with you all.
Check out my teacher’s page over there for more information and keep an eye out for clues here as they become available.
Posted by Kelly Smith on February 6, 2010
I invented this soup in January 2009 and posted it on my Facebook page. Since then I’ve made it again and again, refining the recipe as I go. It’s delicious every time no matter how I tweak it. It would be great with crusty bread and sprinkled with cheese.
If you make it, tell me how you like it! (And it goes without saying, please don’t publish this anywhere else.)
Italian Sausage Soup
1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or hot), sliced into 1/4″ to 1/2″ medallions
1 onion, diced
2 – 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
1 green pepper coarsely diced
1/2 red pepper finely diced
2 – 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup peas
salt, pepper
hot pepper flakes
oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary
32 oz beef broth
1 or 2 14-15oz cans petite diced tomatoes (with the juice)
1 14-15oz can northern beans, drained and rinsed
Slice the sausages and cook in soup pot over medium-high heat. Drain sausage on paper towels, reserve oil.
Lower heat and slowly cook onion and garlic in remaining oil, until onion is softens. Scrape up cooked bits of sausage but if some sticks, don’t worry.
Add other vegetables and season to taste.
Add broth, tomatoes and beans.
Heat to boiling then lower heat and simmer slowly for 30 minutes if you can wait that long.
Notes:
- It’s easier to slice the sausage if they are slightly frozen. The slices turn into little meatballs as they cook.
- You can use fresh or frozen veggies and fresh or dried herbs.
- I’ve often added sliced mushrooms, diced zucchini, or whatever I had that would be good and I’ve never had a bad batch.
- You can use plain tomatoes or the kind with Italian seasonings already added.
- This makes a lot, but you can stretch it by adding more broth.
- This soup is much better if it simmers for a long time, or sits overnight.
Posted by Kelly Smith on February 5, 2010
My guest post “Ten tips for teaching new quilters” was just published over on Caron Mosey’s Michigan Quilts blog. Go take a look!
Posted by Kelly Smith on February 3, 2010
There are only a few days left to register for the beginning quilting class at the Box Factory in St. Joseph, MI. Check out this blog post for details.
Here are some pictures of the table runner we’ll be making.
Posted by Kelly Smith on January 31, 2010
I made my goal for January!
Those of you who have been following my blog for the past couple of weeks know that I have been trying to accomplish two goals:
- Complete the draft of my historical novel
- Make a meaningful contribution to a good cause
Happily, I can say that I have met my word-count goal for January!
I have written at least 4000 words in each of the past two weeks. (I started tracking around January 14.) If I can maintain that pace in the months between now and May I should have a manuscript of about 100,000 words ready to be edited, torn apart, re-written, and otherwise improved upon. (With the help of my amazing friends at the Tuesday Night Writer’s Practicum that is.)
I also have three sponsors now, (Hi Ami! Hi Gene! Hi Wilma!) but I would really love to have several more. The money you pledge will go to First Book, a charity that provides new books for children to help them learn to read. If I fail to make my monthly goal, then I have to make the donation instead of you, so either way, the charity wins.
By the way, First Book is given a top rating of four-stars by Charity Navigator, with more than 92% of donations going directly to their programs and less than 8% going to overhead like administrative costs etc.
Will you pledge to sponsor me and help children learn to read?
Posted by Kelly Smith on January 29, 2010
As all NaNoWriMo participants know, a great way to get motivated is to write with a bunch of other people.
The Editorial @ss has proposed Write Your @ss Off Day.You can check out her blog for more details.
I’ve chosen Saturday, Feb. 6 as my day. Pick yours and set a marker on the map so we can all see just how many of us are participating!
Posted by Kelly Smith on January 25, 2010
Beginning Quilting: table runner class
I’ll be teaching my first “official” quilting class on Wednesdays February 10 through March 3, from 6 to 8 pm at The Box Factory for The Arts in St. Joseph, MI.
I say “official” because until now I’ve only taught friends and family for free. It will be interesting (and I hope fun!) to teach strangers.
Fee: $40 for Box Factory members/ $50 for non-members
In this class students will learn cutting, machine piecing, machine appliqué, quilting and finishing techniques to create a simple table runner consisting of two pieced blocks and one appliqué block. That’s it pictured on the right.
A $20 kit may be purchased from the instructor (that’s me!) or a list of supplies is available. (See supply list below.)
The class can only accommodate up to six people, so if you have never quilted before and would like to try it, contact The Box Factory soon.
You can see the full rundown of classes on The Box Factory’s Facebook page.
Supply list
Supplies:
- Sewing machine in good working order (you’ll need to do straight and zigzag stitches)
- Rotary cutter, cutting mat and acrylic ruler
- Scissors, seam ripper, bobbins, measuring tape, masking tape, spare sewing machine needles
- Iron and ironing surface or ironing board
- Neutral thread for piecing, coordinating thread for quilting, matching or contrasting thread for appliqué
- 1 light and 1 dark fat quarter for pieced blocks
- 1 fat quarter background fabric for appliqué block
- Scraps for petals (at least 4″ x 4″)
- 1 fat quarter or large scrap for flower center (at least 5″ across)
- ½ yard fabric for inner border
- ½ yard fabric for outer border
- ½ yard fabric for the binding (may be able to cut this from the inner border fabric if you want the same color)
- 1 package Steam-a-Seam 2 for appliqué
- Batting (18″ x 37″)
- Backing fabric of your choice (18″ x 37″)
- Safety pins or quilt basting spray
- Materials to create the label will be provided (If you have fabric markers, bring them to the last class.)
- Extension cord or power strip would be helpful
- Ott light or similar would be helpful
I will provide an ironing board, 2 irons, masking tape and some spray adhesive, but if you have your own it would be best to bring it so that we don’t run out.
Supply kits
Supply kits will be available for $20 / each and will consist of the necessary fabric and a sheet of Steam-a-Seam 2. You can specify a color-scheme when you register for the class. You must provide your own thread and other supplies as listed above.
Posted by Kelly Smith on January 24, 2010
It’s the end of the third full week of the year. My progress on my historical novel has been a little slower than I’d like, but I’ve been doing other things such as writing magazine articles, designing a quilt, preparing to teach a quilting class, and collaborating with friends on what will be an amazing new project. (More to come on that very soon!)
For those of you who have not been following along, I am asking for sponsors to donate to a literacy charity each time I achieve my monthly writing goal. If I don’t meet the goal, then I am responsible for making the donation instead of you.
So far I only have one sponsor, and I started this on January 14, mid-way through the month. She told me not to worry about the first two weeks of the year, since I wasn’t in full swing yet, so for January I theoretically only have to produce 8000 words, not 16,000. I will try to do better than that though!
My stats so far
Starting word count – 19,464 (edited: I originally started with 22,213 words, but had to delete a lot which pushed back my starting count)
Week 1 count – 467
Week 2 count – 2369
Week 3 count – 5281
So far for the month I’ve written 8117 words, so technically I’ve surpassed my goal of 4000 words per week! Yay me!
I do intend to keep writing this week though.
If you’d like to sponsor me by contributing to First Book, just check out my Jan. 14 blog post for info on how.
Goal Posts update and a guest blog
