A BIG Week

I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to throw together a quilt for FoQ at the last minute - not for the competition, just for the Bernina UK longarm stand. I had to get it done by the weekend, with 2 days away in Glasgow, so that meant putting in 11ish hours quilting on each free day. I did eventually get it done in 51 hours!

I had pieced the butterfly quilt accurately and loaded, pinned and basted it well BUT there was so much quilting that everything shrank in and it was difficult to get the background areas to fit, I signed up for a Quiltalong Facebook group but I did not have time to watch 3+ hour live videos to get the tips that I wanted so I just bashed on regardless. I think it might have been “better” if I had opted to do the background first but ultimately it would have been better to have allowed more time;)

Anyway, I have bound it, still have a million threads to trim on the back where I opted for jump stitches.  As long as nobody scrutinises the circles which I did without the computer in the end - it looks pretty good.

Fergus and his pals, Joe and Connor aka “Ample House” had their debut gig in Glasgow at the iconic venue, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. The turnout, sound, vibe were great and they were fantastic. I hope it will lead to other successful gigs and build up a loyal fan base.

Who Wants to Buy My Stuff?

I am trying to sell all sorts of things on Facebook Marketplace. After some to-ing and fro-ing I have at least sold my caravan. This is both sad and a relief. I spent a lot of time and money doing it up but I have not used it at all this year and would only have gone on solo expeditions which I don’t think is as fun. The new owners want to go on occasional trips but mainly use it as a nail salon.

My second longarm machine is also up for sale because I don’t use really use it and could do with some extra space. The same goes for the electric piano! This house and my workshop is full of stuff that nobody uses and if I can make a little money from sales that would be a bonus. Except that nobody seems to be interested in any of my listings. 

Summer is going by in a bit of a grey blur with the occasional sunny day. I decided that I would try to finish the Tula Pink butterfly quilt to display on the Bernina longarm stand at FoQ but that means I have a week and a bit to quilt and bind it and I will have 2 days out of that in Glasgow this week as Fergus has his debut gig at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.

I have basted the butterfly quilt on the frame, ready to start the complex digital quilting on Monday. I just hope everything fits correctly and fingers crossed, if necessary I can morph the designs to fit. 

Not Summer in Norfolk

 

                                                 Late Summer in Norfolk, Sunlight After Rain - Ian Houston 1934-2021

I spent just over a week with family in Norfolk with very non summery weather. We did not do very much at all - we did not even go to the seaside! It was nice to see them but quite dull really;) I did not take a single photo or even make any amazing junk shop buys. The highlight of my week was attending a virtual speed awareness course after being caught on camera on my last trip, exceeding the motorway limit briefly. I decided not to drive all the way back North in one day so Nella and I stayed overnight with Fergus in Glasgow where it was far sunnier. It was nice to break the journey but because we arrived late on Monday night, I did not unpack the car or sort anything out so my working week won’t start until Wednesday and I will feel a bit short of time for the rest of the week until I “catch up”.

I probably will NOT get a job as a Van Driver;)

 

For 2 days I drove a big van around Glasgow helping Fergus and his pals move all of their belongings from the East End to the Southside. They were still shifting their beds from one top floor flat to another top floor flat after midnight. There was a fridge pickup in the middle of the evening after refuelling with a takeaway curry. The boys are delighted with the new digs which have been recently redecorated. Luckily, they are all respectful lads and will make an effort to keep it nice. I thought I was was a great van driver but would be unlikely to be employed in that role as I did not help move any furniture and had to get Fergus to do the parking;)

I did a little more piecing on the Tula Pink butterfly but most of my week was taken up with teaching longarm quilting in person and online. 

Freya came home to bring her tortoise on holiday so she can go trekking in Slovakia and inter-rail /backpack to a few European cities on the way. 

Nella and I have come down to Norfolk for the week which looks like it may be damp. I am regretting leaving Nessie’s raincoat behind. It took 11.5 hours which is longer than usual. It is really better to start off the journey in Glasgow but then it becomes a 2 day trip. I did not bring any craft projects with me - perhaps I will just watch some Youtube tutorials this week instead;)