I participate in a quilt retreat which meets yearly in the spring at a peaceful, wooded camp in the West Virginia foothills. In addition to our incredible weekend together, we often choose to do a special project during the intervening year. This year we were randomly given a quilt type and two colors and told to make a small quilt (no larger than 36″ square) but something that is ‘outside the box’ for each of us.
(more…)Tag Archives: aging
A New Year of Quilting is Right Around the Corner
What new quilt patterns will the new year bring? What beautiful fabrics will we be adding to our stash? How many UFOs will we complete?
(more…)AND THE FUN CONTINUES FOR SARAH AND SOPHIE…
Another book, The Rescue Quilt, Book #7 in The Quilting Cozy series by Carol Dean Jones will be released by C&T Publishing on December 5th. The Rescue Quilt, currently available for pre-order, will be available at C&T Publishing, on Amazon (print and Kindle format), and in bookstores and fabric shops nationwide. This second edition includes (more…)
Book Signing and More
As C&T Publishing was preparing to release Stitched Together and Moon over the Mountain, the fifth and sixth books in my Quilting Cozy series, I was introducing the first two books, Tie Died and Running Stitches, to my local community.
Our public library invited seven local authors (more…)
Another book?
Well, my dear readers, we now have most of a cover quilt completed.
We have a title: Beneath Missouri Stars
We have a country music singer named Austin Bailey (Sophie’s heartthrob)
And we have a song that he wrote while strumming his guitar in the pasture behind his grandmother’s farmhouse
Do you suppose Book #11 is moving right along?
In the meantime, if you haven’t read the quilting cozy series, it’s time to get started so you’ll be ready when #11 comes out.
Begin with Tie Died: a quilting cozy available at C&T Publishing
And follow with Running Stitches, Book #2 in a quilting cozy series, also available from C&T Publishing
Both are available in print and ebook formats. Both can also be found on Amazon.
Cover Quilts – Tie Died
One of the first decisions I made regarding the first book in my quilting cozy series was to design a quilt for the cover and have my characters create the same quilt in the story.
Sarah, a widow and the main character of my book, having recently moved to a retirement village, decided she wanted to learn to quilt in order to preserve her husband’s ties. No problem for the story quilt, but what about the cover? I didn’t own any ties.
Okay, so I started with the family, and they agreed to share what they could. Then I hit the consignment shops and Goodwill. (I was surprised at the prices for used ties. New ties must have increased dramatically in price since I last bought new ones some twenty-five years ago!)
While shopping at Goodwill, I was noticing the many food stains on the ties and muttered to myself, “Are men using these things as bibs?” A male shopper nearby frowned and walked away. I guess he felt personally insulted. My mistake.
I ultimately collected enough ties to make my first cover quilt.
When one of my relatives, a retired policeman, saw the quilt he exclaimed, “My Department Ties! How did they get in your quilt?” I guess he wasn’t consulted. To make up for it, he is now the proud owner of that quilt. (He got his ties back!)
I had no idea that TIE DIED would be the beginning of a series, but within a few months of finishing it and getting it up on Amazon (I was self-publishing at that point), I found Sarah and Sophie nudging me to write one more – and then another. We now have ten books and ten cover quilts.
Will they keep nudging?
NOTE: The series is now being published by C&T Publishing and are due for re-release (Second Edition) on September 5, 2018 beginning with Tie Died. The new edition will include the pattern for the cover quilt in each book.
A few words about the series
If you’ve read any of the books in my Quilting Cozy series, you already know that each book centers around a group of friends living in a retirement community in the Midwest. The stories focus on their friendships, their shared hobby (quilting), and each book includes a mystery to be solved.
These books are cozies – light mysteries without explicit sex or violence. Crimes occur ‘off stage’ and are ultimately solved by the group of friends, usually to the chagrin of the local police department.
What makes this series unique is that I, as a retired geriatric social worker, have subtly intertwined issues of aging into each book so that the reader will see the characters facing these issues in a variety of ways. My goal is to show the characters making choices which enable them to make the most of their retirement years. I show the importance of friendship, an active lifestyle, exposure to new experiences, and being open to learning new things.
As I said earlier, I keep it subtle – no preaching. I just allow my characters to teach by example. You’ll get to know Sophie whose sense of humor camouflages her struggles, Sarah’s hesitancy to become romantically involved after years as a widow, and you’ll get to know Charles, the reluctantly retired police detective struggling to accept his changed role in life.
You can’t miss the fact that I’ve woven a few social issues close to my heart such as homelessness, dementia, and animal rescue. But, at the same time, these books are intended to be fun. There are grandchildren and pets, family and adventures. In Moon over the Mountain, Sarah attends a quilt retreat in the mountains of Tennessee, and in Sea Bound her retreat takes place on an island cruise. Sophie volunteers to transport rescued dogs to their forever homes and ends up rescuing one herself.
So whatever your age, I hope you find something about this series that touches your life. I’d love to hear from you either by leaving a message below under ‘comments,’ using the CONTACT ME page, or simply by sending me an email at quiltingcozy@gmail.com. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
My very best wishes,
Carol
