Guest post: Kassy Paris

Kassy Paris joins us today. Kassy is a quilter and an author. Piecing fabric and piecing words are both passions for this busy woman. Enjoy this guest blog. Kassy Paris is an inspiration to all of us.

The Quilter and the Author: Kassy Paris

I’ve sewn since 1961, making clothes for myself, my sisters, and our mother. As I gained sewing experience, I began experimenting with fashioning my own patterns. I could look at a garment and be able to copy it without having to purchase a pattern. I saved my parents money, received compliments on my clothes, and felt good about both.

In 1993, I began quilting because I no longer needed to make all my own garments, and I missed the feel of fabric in my hands. Piecing was a breeze, hand-quilting came without too much trouble, but I learned a valuable lesson about where to begin the quilting process, especially when the piecing was mostly on the bias. Start in the middle, start in the middle.

After the learning curve smoothed out, I felt drawn to art quilts and allowed my creativity to explore in that direction. At some point, Christmas cards began arriving, and I thought some of them would make great quilts. The next year I decided to make wall hangings to give as Christmas gifts, modeling them on simple ideas that might be found on Christmas cards—Santa Claus and his gift bag, a stylized Christmas tree, snowmen, and angels. Then I realized there were other holidays, birthdays, etc. One day I showed my mother one I had just finished. I draped it on the arm of the couch and realized it was the perfect size to use as protection for the arms or cushion of a couch or chair for small dogs or cats to rest on and was washable.

Writing started for me when I was young as well. I’d watch TV and create my own episodes of my favorite shows. I couldn’t read in the car or I’d get sick, so I daydreamed a story when we traveled. In college I began writing my stories down.

I had dreamed of becoming published for decades. In 1997, my best friend and I stopped saying we could write books as good or better than those we were reading and began writing them. By the time we received our first contract for a short romance published by Heartsong Presents, a defunct division of Barbour, we were tired of writing and reading romance. We moved to romantic suspense.

I’m an analytical person, so I wondered why I loved quilting and writing suspense so much. One day I was working on a cryptogram, a puzzle where you figure out the message by discovering which letter has been substituted for the correct letter in the passage. I realized the connection between quilting and writing was putting the pieces together like jigsaw puzzles and ending up with a complete picture.

Quilting and writing both allow me to employ my creativity and leave me satisfied when I have a finished project—be it quilt or novel.

You can find out more about Kassy at her website: www.kassyparis.com