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:)