Torpor in Tavi

 

Whew - it has been hot this week in Devon although not as hot as London which reached 33 degrees! My first task at work each morning was to fling all of the windows open. I had a varied week, demonstrating the Q24, teaching an overlocker class, working on a customer quilt, reorganising the walk-in cupboard, and sorting out bolts of Grunge fabric. 

I did not venture far over the weekend, either staying in the shade or inside, just wilting. I tidied the shed and put together a shockingly flimsy shelving unit. When it cooled down I cleared the rubble out of the old pig shed, thinking it will be a handy place to storage my garden furniture over winter. Part of my brain thought that I should be sewing something outside in the garden but the other part said it was OK to just sit and read a book and check on my plants;)

On Hols with 3 Fs:)

 

I had a super week with all three of my children. They get along amazingly well with each other as young adults. We had outings to Hound Tor, Welcombe Beach, Polzeath, Looe and Exeter! The weather was mixed, the house fitted everyone in and we had a bonfire. I planted up some wee plants and herbs and put busy lizzies into my favourite green (15 year old) Docs which now have smooth soles and great big holes! It is very quiet here now that everyone has gone back to Glasgow and Norwich but they have promised to visit again soon:)

Some Visitors

Nella arrived on Monday evening and my other two children will arrive on Sunday so we will all be on holiday this coming week! I am hoping that it will be dry after an absolute deluge on Saturday where Nella and I binge-watched the latest series of “Outlander”.

Nessie had a cat visitor who won a staring contest before sauntering off on its way. 

On Friday we ventured to a Cornish village called Minions then walked up to see the weird geological rock formation, The Cheeswring. It was quite a calm day but it was blowing a hoodie at the top. 

At work I tested out the Bernina hoop frame with and without BSR. Personally I favour using it without. It was easy enough to set up but I do think people would get frustrated with the limited quilting space offered by a domestic machine and would prefer to mount a Q16 which has a more generous throat space and can accommodate ruler work. I have only set up a practice piece so far so it will be interesting to see if it is easy to deal with a much larger quilt, which would be a game changer for quilters short of space who wish to get into longarm quilting. 

Getting Stuck In

I really got stuck into things this week, maybe because I have visitors coming soon? I continued working on the strippy quilt top and got it finished so I could move the sewing machine out of the back bedroom. It is a bit galling that I will actually have to buy batting and backing for this project as I have 2 or 3 rolls in Scotland. I often dyed a sheet for the back of my quilts but I don’t have any dye or dare to use the washing machine here;) 

At work the new Bernina Hoop Frame arrived and was quickly assembled. I will need to get a quilt on it next week and put it through its paces. I think it will be great for people with limited space but I am not sure that I will be a big fan, having had the luxury of the Q24. We have set it up with a large domestic machine for now but that has a limited throat space and cannot do ruler work. It reminds me of how I got started with long-arming back when I got a Megaquilter. It would inevitably be a better option to put a Q16 on the frame. These are all things I intend to investigate. 

I had a quilt to do for a member of staff which needed to be finished in time for an Accuquilt retreat. The blocks and setting triangles were done using Qmatic but the speediest way of doing circles in the sashing was to use a circle ruler. I quilted like a maniac to finish on time. It is not perfect but it is DONE and Karen is very pleased with it;)

I was going to have a leisurely potter on my day off, working out how to gentrify my shed. Karen sent her husband round to help get the rest of the random boards off the inside walls and cut them up to fill gaps near the ceiling. He said I should try to get the ivy off the back and side to prevent damp and to stop it trying to get in. To get to the back I had to clear a pile of branches and brambles at the side. Once I did that I discovered that the damp was being caused by a whole old fence and shed leaning against the back of the shed. Three whole hours passed with me hacking undergrowth and shifting debris. 

I spent the rest of the weekend tidying, doing laundry, potting up some mini plug plants in a piece of guttering that I found, not going to a car boot sale because it was not where I thought it was and not going to a dog show for the same reason! And I made a very successful Choconana loaf without kitchen scales which I hope to replicate in a vegan version when my children visit:)

Sewing Actually!

 

Don’t be too shocked - I have done some actual sewing at last! At work I did a very nice Liberty star quilt for a customer and finally got to grips with the L890 project, “Bloom & Grow”. There were parts that I really liked on the project but others that I would probably change if I do it again or teach it as a Quilt-Along. Mainly, it is not super accurate but it is fast. The point of the project is to experience lots of techniques that the L890 excels at but sometimes I felt that it would have been better to simply use a sewing machine. I am not a fan of piecing with a chain stitch. The quilt finished at 48” x 78” which I consider weirdly skinny so I added a border using leftovers. I daresay I might add some overlocker piping and overstitched prairie points when I bind it. First it will have to be quilted…

After some prevarication, I ordered a Sewezi table for my wee cottage. I am so pleased with it as it means I can sew completely flat. For the first time in ages I wanted to sit down and sew together the strippy quilt that has been waiting for months. 

I had a spiky visitor in my garden which is good news as hedgehogs eat slugs. Also in the garden, I have decided to give the shed some TLC. It is just a basic shed but it has lots of gaps where ivy is poking in. My plan is to try and remove more ivy and fill the gaps so it is less “creepy” and spider free. Essentially, it is a storage shed but it could do with some proper shelving and who knows, maybe even a second hand sofa bed?!

Wall to Wall Sunshine

I am blogging in my garden! While farmers are no doubt worrying about potential drought conditions, I am basking in sunshine. I got my plant troughs filled which has created another chore for me keeping them watered. I had to take down one of my window boxes because it was dribbling mud all down the wall. Having been warned that removing the dangling wires would cause certain death by electrocution, I decided to disguise them with fake wisteria. It does need more strands to bulk it out but I think it looks jolly. 

At work I have cracked on with a project done on the L890 overlocker machine. It is designed to show off the capabilities and functions of the machine but I am not sure I love the look of the exposed seams so far. I want to carry on with the quilt I started at home last week but that means working indoors so I might get out the long unfinished quilted jacket to stitch in the garden and see if I can finish it this year. 

I had a lovely trip to Looe and caught up with old friends from Aberdeenshire. Mel donated a picture for my Victorian “gallery”. The wall where I wanted to hang it was made of solid concrete so I improvised by drilling as far as I could, cut a rawl plug short, stuffed the hole with no-nails glue and hung it on that. It has not fallen down yet. 

I did a talk for Exeter Quilters which was great fun. They were very complimentary about my work and one told me that I must be “as mad a a box of frogs”. It gave me a much needed confidence boost and reminded me that I am actually a quilter with creative potential;)

Some Stitching and Gardening

It is funny how a week with a Bank Holiday can seem longer than normal. I could not stop thinking about a solar candle lantern that I had seen in Aldi at Bodmin but left behind so I drove to another store in Plymouth to get one. I love how it flickers at dusk on my back doorstep. 

I had to deal with several cabbages and a pile of runner beans that I got in a veg box so I blanched and froze them. I just have to remember to eat them;)

Since I am renting my cottage, I don’t want to spend a fortune on garden plants. I drove around until I found some plastic troughs, some flimsy trellis to stop Nessie from destroying everything with her football and some compost. The only thing I need now is plants!

I stitched a couple of flowers on an embroidery kit that I have had for some time. It was an excuse to sit in the garden but I soon got bored and had to go and play with my fire pit beside the river.

I have actually started a quilt! It is going to be a very simple quilt with a 20” chequerboard in the centre then pairs of strips surrounding that. I am really missing my flat sewing table in my spacious workshop. The fabric selection is jolly so hopefully I will keep going with it. 

After several dry weeks it has been a rainy day so far which has allowed me to catch up, checking my slideshows in preparation for a talk for Exeter Quilters next week. I have also got an epic veg curry in the slow cooker which could probably feed 20 people!

Blooming Lovely

Late April into May has been like High Summer as far as I am concerned. Far too hot to be inside! I trawled through my photos to find images of quilt binding for a class that I was teaching. There were a lot - many with prairie points, would you believe?! My class was about how I almost always attach binding to the reverse of a quilt then machine stitch it down on the front. We also discussed trims, piping and how to make bias binding.

I visited Pencarrow House in Cornwall with my friend, Mel who had a 2 for 1 ticket offer from Gardener’s World Magazine. The rhododendrons and azaleas were in full bloom in many different colours. It was also peak time to see bluebells and wild garlic. Two of the most gorgeous wisterias were cascading down a red brick wall. Obviously, a cream tea was also consumed;)

I painted the rest of my garden fence black so now it looks smart rather than rotten. I confiscated Nessie’s football as she insisted on crashing into the paint bucket or the most recently painted slats. 

I commissioned Mel to collect an old chest of drawers in Looe for my back bedroom. Unsurprisingly, it did not fit in my car so I took the drawers and she will have to bring the carcass when she next visits. Two handles were damaged so I plaited some string to make them functional. Visitors will be able to put their belongings in the drawers instead of having to spread them out across the floor.

It is my intention to reacquaint myself with a sewing machine this long weekend, even if it only means fixing the dungarees that got torn on a door handle. Apart from that, I should get out a hand sewing project that I could even do outside!

Feels Like Abroad

I had a couple more days off with Nella this week and we explored a remote beach on the North Devon coast which could easily have been somewhere like Portugal. It’s a pity it takes about 1.5 hours to get there. 

It was ridiculous that with water running down my wall in heavy rain, most of the town had no water due to a burst pipe. There is no doubt that I am experiencing a totally different climate to Scotland as Sunday was like high summer and I spent all day in my garden, grass cutting, potting up fuchsias, clearing more brambles and painting my fence to make it look less rotten. 

I have a binding class coming up this week and I had fully intended to work on the handouts except that the sun was out and it seemed a shame to stay indoors. I know what I am doing - just need to write it all down;)