Post Quilt Show Recovery

It takes a while to settle back down to “normal” after an event like FOQ. It was almost a week of activity, excitement, late nights and early mornings. I stayed with Kay in the Scottish Borders overnight on Monday so did not make it home until Tuesday afternoon. It took me all of Wednesday to return everything to its place in my workshop and have decided that a ruthless cull is looming. I feel that I am running out of space for show quilts and dress dummies that can’t stand up by themselves due to an accident involving  a giant roll of corrugated cardboard. When my work area is annoying me I just cannot do anything until it has been sorted out - obviously due to a severe case of procrastination.

Despite having an extensive list of projects that need to be done, I filled my time with catching up with emails, making trips into town to get school supplies, paying bills and fixing the tumble dryer.

I had an afternoon off to do a gelli-printing course with Lucy Brydon at Tangletree Studio in Aboyne. The studio/shop is well situated on the town square and is a great, light space offering a range of workshops and selling artisan crafts. Apparently I own several gel plates that I have obviously bought, thinking they would prove useful but are still pristine in their packaging. We explored texture, layering, stencils, colour mixing during an afternoon that flew by. I signed up for the class because I thought the techniques might come in handy when I start the Printed Textiles foundation evening course at Grays School of Art in the autumn. You never know, maybe one day I will actually produce something that is commercially viable;)

Having decided that quilting will not happen until I have reorganised my studio, I decided to have a go at making a nice, easy pair of trousers. Let’s just say that it was not a relaxing or fun experience. The so-called “Easy” pattern was awful. The pattern pieces did not match the sparse diagrams, there were virtually no actual instructions and it’s a good job my fabric was a batik that was the same on both sides. I persevered and learned a lot, such as, I like the idea of dress-making but hate the frustrating experience of not having a clue what I am doing. Someone needs to come up with patterns that actually explain what to do and don’t assume you are already an accomplished couturier! There’s another goal for me - write about dress-making for the of us who are Instructionally Challenged.