my first book - off to the publisher!

This is me, sending my first manuscript off to the publisher. It's the real deal, with a major publishing firm.

368 days ago, I used to work here. (But who's counting?) My boss was a big shot who made millions. He never said good morning.

These days, I work here.

And here.

My boss now is a big, bad-ass Bernina. She greets me every morning with a wonderful little sound.

And unlike my old boss, she comes equipped with the tools to deal with mistakes!

A year ago, "dress for success" was a big deal for me. Here's how I used to dress every single day!

Now, I dress for success with my Bernina. She likes my choices... and she doesn't judge.

After my corporate gig ended, I set my sights on following my passion: writing, blogging, quilting... and finishing my first book.  To say that the last year has been transformative is an understatement. It has been fun, scary, thrilling, independent... and most every emotion in between.

Along with the book... I also made big strides in my journey from traditional quilting to making art quilts. That's also been fun, scary, frustrating and thrilling!

In fact, I recently entered my very first art quilt in a major, international competition. We'll find out next month if it gets in. If so, I'll be so excited! Being accepted would mean I would have two humongous accomplishments from the past year - a book and a major, "competition quality" work of art! If not, well you can't say I didn't try.

Pretty cool! I'm ready for my next book and my next big art quilt! In the meantime, you'll find me splitting my time between the keyboard and my bad-ass Bernina, and I'll be dressed for success for sure!