NaNoWriMo

To kick start off me getting back into writing I signed up to participate in this years NaNoWriMo.

For those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is about well...

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. In 2007, we had over 100,000 participants. More than 15,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

www.nanowrimo.org

So I've started planning what I want to write about... I'm going to do a historical novel, history has always inspired me and so has a painting that I visit everytime I go anywhere near the Modern Art Gallery in Edinburgh... its called Rabbi with Cat, and I've always wondered about the story behind the painting. Doing my initial research I discovered that its based around the Russian Jewish pograms of the early 20th Century. So my plan is to tell the story of the Rabbi in this painting, as he fleas his native Russia for a better life in America. I'm unsure as yet of whether he says goodbye to his beloved pet cat in Russia or whether he attempts to smuggle the cat onto the boat and into America wrapped in a baby's blanket!!

Robin Cushions - Embroidery & Patchwork

A while ago I asked Claire (Design by Claire) to embroider me two of her little top hat wearing robins with the aim of eventually making them into patchwork cushions. This week I decided it was time to complete that particular craft project. I stumbled at the first hurdle as I discoverd my sewing machine is now missing a part, the foot had gone AWOL since the house move and I fear that it maybe lost in the boot of someone's car or van!! So i decided that my only option was to hand-sew these little cushions. I think (if I remeber what my Mum taught me about patchwork - there was no craft that this woman was capable of mastering!!) the pattern I've used is called 'log cabin'. Fabrics used are a red floral print cotton bought from my local fabric shop and a blue and white print fabric off-cut that I got in Ikea a number of years ago. So, one cushion is finished and the other is on progress. They are going to sit on my bed to complement the big purple cushions I made last year.