The Quilt Quine

Making Up for Lost Time

2012-03-04T19:04:00.001Z

I resent the time that is wasted by being ill! At the start of the week I had a couple of days feeling under the weather and all of the good intentions on my Must Do List got scrapped. I wound myself back up to speed by winging it in almost every class in a school on a supply teaching day from story time with P1 to French conversation with P7. I was incensed by this week's caption on the front cover on the Times Educational Supplement for Scotland suggesting that "undesirable" teachers from England might cross the border and take up teaching posts. I wondered whether I might have missed the Referendum on Independence while I was ill! Of course, there was an explanatory article inside the magazine but as someone who gained a perfectly respectable B.Ed Hons. degree in England, I am still drafting my objection to such an inflammatory headline.

I gradually began to make up for lost time in my studio but instead of purposefully getting organised to take the Yurt to the looming "Stitch and Craft" show in London 15th – 18^th March, I cut and pieced Fergus's Christmas quilt, completed a small Norse carving, and worked on my quilted projector screen. I did eventually order 18 metres of pompom braid and I sorted out a new postcard order so apart from finding the door knobs for the Yurt that may have got lost and quilting the very, very last "Willowbay Herb" Yurt panel, I think everything is under control. Everything that is, apart from fitting in 3 teaching days, dreading the prospect of a 12 hour drive to London and trying not to worry about getting all of the teaching kits ready for "Pins & Needles" in Newcastle at the end of the month...

Exciting Packages

2012-02-26T19:54:00.001Z

I have been waiting impatiently for the Postie to deliver Christmas fabric for a couple of weeks; I expect it has been waylaid by HM Customs. I was feeling peeved as the week passed when the only item larger than a bill that came through the letterbox was my copy of the not-so-scintillating "Times Educational Supplement". However, a large package arrived on Thursday from Australia that I made myself save until I had done all of my chores and made a large jug of coffee.

It was such a treat to read a magazine from Down Under and drool over some new Aboriginal fabrics specially chosen by Christine – THANK YOU!! After I have got the two Yurt exhibitions out of the way I plan to complete Bewitched 2 and start a second large Australian quilt. Maybe I should even consider entering an Aussie show or two if I find time to make something worthwhile.

Another package that arrived contained the micro digital projector. I have just about managed to figure out how it works since all equipment these days comes without useful instructions. I have made a start on the quilted projector screen that I intend to hang inside the Yurt – it is white on one side and gold lame on the other so that it can sometimes be used to project images and when reversed it can simply be decorative. I think it might be fun to project movies onto it outside. Maybe if we wear LOTS of clothes and light a bonfire we could pretend to be at a drive-in movie.

The two Carols brought their Silent Movie Start quilt tops along for their first attempts at longarming. We loaded up both machines and I flitted between them all day changing bobbins and giving them quilting tips. They did really well and were both pleased with what they managed to achieve in 6 hours.

The metallic series is coming along nicely – I now have gold, silver and copper quilted. I am working on a pewter piece but the lines are not as smooth as I would like on this one so some embroidery stitches may have to be used to disguise the wobbles. The very shiny fabrics do not really absorb metallic fabric paints so I am unable to highlight areas as originally planned and I have no idea whether hotfix crystals will adhere properly. I have ordered some "silk lurex lame" that I hope will look like anodised titanium so perhaps that will satisfy my curiosity on what the oddest choice of fabrics for wholecloths might be...

Messing About

2012-02-19T20:12:00.001Z

I couldn't really go off quilting in the workshop all during half term; instead, I tackled long the overdue chore of clearing out the summerhouse. It had not been touched since last summer so I had to deal with deflated airbeds, two drum kits, dried up pots of glue& paint, cat biscuits and feathers. This led to a thorough airing of the garden yurt and a bonfire. I still need to get rid of a stack of 5+ year old editions of Country Living Magazine, a hostess trolley and two outdoor cane chairs that the crows have robbed of stuffing. It would be great to decorate the summerhouse just like a page from a magazine but I would have to get rid of everything else first and I quite like some of my odd collections of other people's junk. I really ought to sort out that 1950's kitchen cupboard that I rescued for restoration...

There was a knock on the door early one morning and a small incognito Ninja delivered a heart shaped cake to Freya as a Valentine Day treat. This was quite thrilling and we all enjoyed the scrumptious red velvet chocolate cake with yummy icing. There was actually rather a lot of cake in my house this week as I finally made the German apple cake that I had been nurturing from a sourdough starter mix for 10 days. It was also delicious so there was no effort made to diet!

I wish I had a scullery in which to do all of my concocting, brewing and preserving. I have been culturing two more German cake mixtures but one met an untimely end and was discovered to have exploded all over the kitchen. I cannot say whether Blue Cat knocked it off or whether it spontaneously combusted but its pottery bowl was smashed to pieces. The gooey mixture that was as sticky as condensed milk was spread across the floor and dripping down the side of the cupboard.

I was persuaded to attend a WRI meeting to listen to a talk and slideshow given by a friend who lived in Singapore for a while. Somehow I allowed myself to be volunteered for a quiz team. I had not been listening attentively to the arrangements so I was aghast to discover that it would not be held in a pub and there would be no chips. In the end it was surprisingly fun – there were around 20 other teams whose members were considerably senior to ours and we managed to finish fourth thanks to our combination of general knowledge and remembering snippets of useless information. There may not have been chips but the sausage rolls and Viennese fingers at half time were excellent.

We finally had a light sprinkling of snow so I could attempt some snow dyeing. I scrabbled around scooping up a few bucketfuls and dribbled some strong solutions of procion dye onto the flannel sheets that had been treated with soda ash. It was quite exciting waiting to see what would happen. The steady thaw seemed ideal but I realised after a while that the dye was not penetrating into the middle part of the sheets and I didn't want large white areas. I don't think the snow was the right sort to give the crystalline effect. I turned them over and pushed the colourful slush back into the creases. The colours seemed very bright but after they had been rinsed much of this was lost so I am glad that I prepared strong dyes. They are nowhere near as intense as my Hungarian dyes so I am already wondering whether they would work better, applied directly to the snow as powder with salt. The trouble with snow is that it is cold and it has been hot water that has set my dyes so successfully in the past. I am keen to experiment again but perhaps I will have to wait a bit longer for the right kind of snow!

Wot, no Snow?

2012-02-12T19:54:00.001Z

Amazingly, we have had no lying snow so far this winter, despite significant amounts in the South for a change. I am not unduly upset at this as the schools have remained open and we have not been snowed in but I have now been waiting a year to try out snow dyeing. The sky looked quite threatening at one point so I rushed out and bought 3 flannel sheets to back my Christmas quilts and washed them in readiness but the weather got milder again. At least I will now be fully prepared – I have everything I need apart from snow. I would actually like just two days' worth, preferably over a weekend.

After two days of teaching I had a limited amount of time to work on the photo quilt with circles and lines. I became familiar with every picture by the time I had rolled the quilt up and down the frame a few times to complete the quilting designs. I was really pleased with the end result; Shona's choice of pale batiks was very complementary to the photos which she had printed using a fine cotton bed sheet treated with Bubble Jet Set.

My Christmas fabric drawer was almost empty so I felt justified in ordering a few half yards online. I am sorry to say that I have not been inspired by the selection of festive prints on sale in British online quilt shops so my new collection is coming from eQuilter: including scuba diving Santas, hunky men in Christmas underpants, elephants, owls and gaudy baubles. I have been so pleased with the Accuquilt Go-Cutter shapes that I also ordered a giant hexagon die so that I can have "fun" with fewer set-in seams. I am really enjoying these quick and relatively easy projects that I can just work away at in between customer quilts, teaching and the trickier metallic wholecloths that require greater concentration.

The children have almost a week off school for a mid-term break. Panicking at the prospect of catering, ferrying and supervising cake making endeavours, I frenziedly worked on several projects at the weekend. I painted a bedroom side table blue and orange for Fergus then quilted a mat made from scraps of his African quilt. I finished quilting the scratchy copper lurex Norse carving and drew out the helmet design onto a plain piece of backing fabric. I hope the reverse (which will actually be the front of the quilt in the end) will look spectacular in a hideous, thin super-shiny silver spandex. I have worked out two more designs for a pewter coloured piece of satin and I am trying to decide whether to do one more that looks aluminium or whether to source fabric that is iridescent like titanium? If I could source suitable materials then perhaps I should just work my way through the periodic table...

An Apple for the Teacher

2012-02-05T19:54:00.000Z

I taught three distinctly different types of pupil this week. One day I was a relief art teacher for 9-12 year olds, on another I taught part 3 of the Silent Movie Star Quilt, focusing on borders and edges and finally I spent a morning with Nursery children and I learned how to play "Sharks & Fishes".

This did not leave much time for quilting but I started on a terrific customer quilt featuring printed photos set into pale coloured batiks. The planning of three-quarter circles and lines took me ages and it has to be completed by Thursday at the latest as it is being taken abroad as a gift so I will be busy with that AND teaching in schools for the next few days.

I took my Featherweight machine into the house and pieced the Christmassy apple core blocks in between nagging about homework and ferrying children to extra-curricular activities. I am really pleased at how the "curvemaster" foot helped me to ease these tricky curved shapes together without using pins. The idea is to make each of my children a Christmas quilt well before next December using as much fabric from my existing stash as possible and a token piece of festive print every now and then. I think I will use a large tumbler block with some blue and green Asian prints and add in some small pieces of Christmas fabrics. I am now coveting the accuquilt 9" hexagon cutting die that is currently only available in the USA. The third quilt will feature Amy Butler, Valori Wells and some others that are not obviously Christmassy but have an overall festive effect.

I hope to finish the quilting of a Norse carving onto a piece of hideous copper lurex. I traced the design onto the cotton backing fabric so that I could see what I was doing. The quilt is technically being worked on the frame "upside down" – there will be lots of threads to trim later, possibly some paint to add and perhaps some embroidery stitches to hide any iffy bits. I hope to try silver tissue-lame again using this method and Mo has given me an offcut of pewter coloured satin. These metallic projects seem to have become an accidental mini series!

Discombobulated

2012-01-29T17:26:00.001Z

For some reason I have had the word "discombobulated", meaning confused or muddled, stuck in my head and it seems an appropriate description of my week. I went to see the magnificently moving film, "Warhorse", with its stark reminder of the tragedy of war which was what probably led to me having one of my "What is the meaning of Life?" moments.

I wondered whether to consider working towards a PhD. I even looked up the requirements on the Open University website where I was informed that a full time student would have to study for 16 hours per week. Surely I could fit that into my schedule? I could not actually understand any of the thesis titles so I decided that pursuing some kind of discourse on blogging and patchwork might be considered lightweight. Really, it would be better to be awarded an honorary professorship or just get on with the research required to finish off my Yurt book!

I attended an interview for a two day a week local teaching job and felt that I presented myself well so I was affronted to be informed that I had not been successful in securing the job. Apparently I had not given enough examples of the methods of formative assessment that I would use in the classroom. I sulked for a full two days as I was unable to accept that I might not have been the best candidate.

I eventually cheered myself up on one of my supply teaching days as I spontaneously planned 7 activities based on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table for a class of more than thirty 9-10 year olds whom I had never met before. I kept them entertained and under control and decided that was a pretty good outcome.

I felt obliged to prove to myself that I had worthy IT skills and determined to solve two tasks that have had me puzzled for ages. Inspired by the endeavours of a couple of tech-savvy fellow bloggers, Kay and Kathy, I finally figured out how to create a colour palette from a photo and I managed to "slurp" part of my blog so that it could be published as a hard copy.

I quilted and bound a vibrant maple leaf quilt for Shona in simple swirls, put the main part of Silent Movie Star 2 together then gave myself permission to start another metallic wholecloth quilt. The Norse helmet carving started off well but the slippery silver tissue lame had been very difficult to mark clearly and the lights from the quilting machine caused such a glare that I felt like I had snow blindness. I reluctantly decided that there were too many wobbly areas and the tension was not at all good so it would actually be quicker to start again with a new piece of lame than fix the issues. I have drawn up the copper carving now but this time I have marked the design onto the cotton back of the quilt instead of wrestling with the lurex that I will be using. Thus, the back of quilt will be what I can see and the temperamental fabric will be underneath. I think it will be challenging...

Taxing

2012-01-22T19:53:00.001Z

It took me a whole day to do all of the sums required to complete the tax return that I could have done months ago. In theory a spreadsheet would work it all out for me... I bungled my way through the online questions and almost submitted a healthy profit until I found out how to put in the expenses. It was sobering to see my deficit in black and white. After clicking "submit" I felt pleased with my efforts for about 5 minutes until it dawned on me that I had gone beyond April up to September with my accounting, confusing the tax year end with my company's year end! I daresay I will eventually be contacted by a representative from the Tax Department; they will demand to know why such an idiot can possibly hope to run a small business and recommend that I find a full time job instead.

I actually started the week as a stand-in specialist science teacher. I taught 5 classes of 11 and 12 year olds a lesson about solids, liquids, and gases including messing about with a non-Newtonian liquid made from cornflour and water. I mentioned molecules, alchemy and mercury induced madness in passing and a few students told me that it was "The coolest ever science lesson!" I must admit that it is really nice to hear comments like that from time to time, especially when so many pupils think that "Now, stop and listen..." does not apply to them thus wasting valuable lesson time. It is not the done thing to throw chalk at children in the 21^st century – besides there isn't any chalk anyway ;)

I was in school for three days this week so I was suffering withdrawal symptoms from my workshop. I made a few more apple core units for one of the scrappy Christmas quilts and I am going to smuggle a very small sewing machine back into the house to see if I can get a few more done each evening. In the depths of winter I spend most evenings on the computer, not necessarily working on my book (although this week I managed to get a few more paragraphs written - in case Ellen is reading this to check up on my progress with that project!)

I made a start on the first of my 3 planned metallic wholecloth pieces based on Norse carvings. The first one is in shiny gold lame and the definition created by the quilting is fantastic. There are a couple of slightly iffy areas of tension on the back because the combination of lame and cheap IKEA cotton is not ideal. I may have to paint over the offending areas on the back if I decide to enter it into a competition. I am not sure yet whether to give the quilt a rustic looking edge like a slab of broken metal or whether to take the easy way out and keep it straight. The next two may be more challenging since I have not got silver and copper in the same fabric and I have had to settle for lurex instead. These fabrics are very difficult to mark and every wobbly pen line is there forever. I will do a bit of cosmetic stitching to finish off the gold panel then see if I manage to complete the set. Hopefully I will allow myself more sewing time in the coming week to work on those and get the next part of SMS2 done before the final class. I also need to schedule kit making time for my classes in Newcastle and continue with "that other previously mentioned project" which seems to be taking rather a long time!

Teaching

2012-01-15T18:17:00.001Z

The week got the off to a gentle start when the children returned to school without a single flake of snow scuppering my plans but I stocked up on sacks of dog and chicken food just in case. It gave me time to consider a much needed new TO DO list. The WRI ladies came for an outing to my workshop where I gave them a talk and showed them some of my quilts. I had the delicious honour of judging the Shortbread Competition which was hard as their standard of baking was so high. It reminded me that a couple of my Yurt Book recipes need tweaking – I have to decide whether to recommend serving the venison casserole with mash or a concoction of pearl barley.

I chose Norse and Celtic designs to enlarge at the photocopy shop for a set of 3 metallic wholecloths. I had enough gold lame and a piece of shredding tissue lame in silver but I had to send away to an American pageant shop to find shiny copper spandex. It will either be a quite interesting miniseries of pieces that look like carved metal-work or simply a disaster in lurex...

On Wednesday I was kept busy teaching a class that involves free motion quilting into small sections of a pre-quilted Celtic spiro. It is interesting working with beginners; I can remember clearly the frustrations of being a novice. There are students who get rather annoyed with themselves if they don't produce flowing designs straight away and I remind them gently that it is a bit like learning how to write – you would not expect beautifully flowing cursive script on the first day at school. It is always interesting that thread choices and the individual style of each student leads to entirely different looking projects that started off from exactly the same point. While they worked away on their fillers I polished the flute that had arrived from Ebay. It was a little more "vintage" and grubbier than expected but it soon polished up and Freya managed to get all of the keys to work so it will do until she decides whether to resume lessons or not.

I made a start on the first of 3 Christmas quilts that I plan to make for each of my children. I thought I had far more Christmas fabric in my stash so I ended up rummaging around pulling out what might pass for Christmassy colours instead. I used the Go Cutter to cut out apple core shapes then had to work out how to sew them without having a trauma about using PINS. I had bought a Curvemaster sewing machine foot which worked reasonably well at easing the fabric in from one curve to another but despite watching a YouTube video I don't think I quite had the hang of it. I came across a blog where it was suggested that the middles and outer edges should be stuck in place with a tiny dab of Sewline fabric glue. This seemed to work a treat so I have made a good start. There was a time when I would never have attempted anything as tricky as curved seams but I seem to have overcome my fears and I think the blocks I have made so far look really fun.

I made a tentative start on the Norse gold lame wholecloth and so far it seems to be going accordingly to plan. I have not yet worked out what I want in the background. The easy option would be swirls and plumes but I think it needs some tricky lines.

I taught a class of lively 6 year olds on Friday and I managed to keep them fairly under control for the day but I did pour myself a large sherry when I got home ;) My next assignment is teaching Science classes for a day so I have been trying to think of cool experiments that will grab their attention and keep them engaged for a whole hour.

During the evenings after supervising homework I have been on the internet looking at Hebridean holiday cottages, trying to find accommodation and parking for the Landy in central London, figuring out the logistics of being a tour guide for the 2012 Irish International Quilting Festival, and learning how to tune up a banjo and ukulele from a YouTube clip. I finally succeeded in submitting the winning bid on a Le Creuset fondue set so I am now looking forward to the next time I have a surplus of cheese or chocolate!

Flute & Fondues

2012-01-08T17:39:00.001Z

Despite my good intentions, things are not yet back to "normal" after the festive season. It has been all too easy to get up late, pootle around, drink sherry (even though I optimistically bought vegetable juice) and read a book in the afternoon. Nevertheless, I achieved a reasonable amount in the workshop. Because I had a deadline, I had to make 3 class sample journal quilts and photograph them. I also agreed to take the Yurt down to a large show in London in March so IF I get offered any part-time teaching interviews I will tell them that they will have to let me go off on my travels...

I had to construct the other corner blocks for Silent Movie Star 2 since part two of that class is next week and I gave some serious thought to a possible set of three Celtic wholecloths. I have a notion to make each of my 3 children a simple Christmas bed quilt for next year so I may have to order festive fabrics since my Christmas stash has run right down.

One afternoon I decided that as the log pile was depleted I would have a go at slicing up a seasoned fallen tree that I have had my eye on for some time. I don't have a chainsaw so I used a big bow saw and discovered that it was really good exercise. I soon had a reasonable pile of rowan logs. Since I don't have a Highland pony to help me drag branches I will attempt to attach the ropey trailer and use my Landy to transport my firewood. I carried one impressive log back but it refused to burn so I daresay I will have to order a load from a local forester - after all, my small damp tree won't provide much worthy fuel.

I have to admit that I became a little obsessed with Ebay auctions this week. I had decided that I wanted to acquire a Le Creuset fondue set following the success of borrowing Tania's to try and use up some of the Christmas chocolate and cheese. My other quest was to find Freya a second-hand flute as she had expressed regret that she had returned her school owned instrument when she gave up having lessons. I didn't want to spend too much but also did not want one that was so cheap that it failed to function correctly. It is really annoying to be beaten in the last moments of an auction by £1. We successfully bid for an Italian flute without a case so we will have to wait and see whether it is any good or not. I am already sketching ideas for a quilted flute bag – maybe it could have sections like a cosmetic bag or be one long thin tube with a carry strap...

The internet was down for a couple of days locally causing much frustration. I was obsessed with the thought that I might be missing important emails and Facebook gossip but very little had actually happened in the virtual world by the time it was restored. In fact, something happened this week that served to remind me that even here the real world can affect my rural sanctuary and I should never presume to take my idyllic country life for granted.

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-01T19:52:00.001Z

Starting a New Year feels rather like the end of a party; there is a certain amount of tidying up to do before gearing up to new projects. I will have to sort out paperwork, clear out my wardrobe and refold all of my fabric before I feel ready to decide what to work on next.

I managed to find time to finish Fergus's blue and orange African quilt and I was really pleased with the formal wavy lines that I quilted using a curved ruler. The back of the quilt is also rather nice as I used up odd pieces of African-ish fabrics instead of buying something new. It was difficult to get the light right for clear photographs that showed the strong colours and texture properly.

My rattling sewing machine managed to sew decorative stitches in some of the long seam "ditches": now I want a machine manufacturer to develop an open-toed walking foot to improve accuracy and make it easier to steer straight. The quilt ended up slightly smaller than I planned, mostly because I didn't have a plan at the outset as usual, simply sewing pieces together until I ran out of fabric.

As a consequence I bought a vintage Welsh tapestry blanket in a vibrant combination of mustard, royal blue and magenta on Ebay that could go underneath the short quilt. It arrived in pristine condition but it proved to be far too big for a single bed so now I have a rather wacky blanket on my bed. Fortunately, it is mostly hidden under the Christmas quilt. Maybe I will have to embrace its weirdness and make a clashing complementary quilt.

I have nearly finished my peanut M&M's and a bottle of sherry but there is still an awful lot of cheese to eat. I rather enjoyed a week of indolence, reading a book in the afternoon while sipping Baileys but I have lots to do so will have to get back into a routine and prioritise – tomorrow, maybe...

Wrapped Up

2011-12-26T19:22:00.001Z

The week before Christmas went by in a blur. I quilted non-stop so that the African quilt would be ready for special delivery Christmas post. I am relieved to report that it made it on time and its new owner was delighted.

Banchory Academy put on a super musical concert on Monday to get everyone into the festive spirit. I filled in a form that I thought was for a prize draw, not realising that the compere would read out all of the anecdotes for the amusement of the audience in between numbers.

I taught all day on Wednesday after driving the Landy like a rally driver to arrive as the bell rang - again as it was pitch dark, lashing with rain and I had to follow a tractor for miles.

I stocked up on dog and hen food, finally got around to writing wrote some Christmas cards and eventually got most of the pressies wrapped up after I managed to track down the remaining rolls of wrapping paper available within a 10 mile radius.

Tania, Mo and I had a generous amount of Christmas coffee/sherry/treats together and exchanged gifts that sadly didn't include socks and that marked the official start of the festive period. The children were a bit disappointed that the first day of their holiday was Christmas Eve – there seemed to be very little time for anticipation before Santa's arrival. We did some cooking and preparation; gammon in cola worked surprisingly well and the black pig pancetta ham was excellent with Brussels sprouts. Fenella made Santa some chocolate truffles and she left out some porridge oats for the reindeer.

Christmas day started early but it gave us plenty of time for unwrapping and cooking. Nothing got burnt or forgotten and there were no tantrums. Everyone was delighted with their haul; I am planning to puree everything I can think of using my new Kitchenaid blender. I expect I will even be able to make Brussels sprouts soup without being discovered if I add enough ham stock. I managed to stay out of the workshop until Boxing Day when I felt compelled to go and make a quilted case for the kids' new mini netbook computer. I hope to potter away all week on small projects and eating up all of the goodies so that we can eat salad in the New Year... ;)

Wrapped Up

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Last Minute

2011-12-18T20:07:00.001Z

I know there are 52 weeks in a year and I could plan early for Christmas but it never happens. Maybe one year it would be fun to do all of the buying and wrapping for the following year during the previous year's Christmas holidays. I cut and pieced the borders for the huge African customer quilt and prepared its binding but I had to wait all week for the postie to deliver the backing fabric as he was busy with other parcels, apparently.

I also joined the blue and orange quilt together but there is no way it will also be quilted in time for Christmas. The next project was an ipad cover but the thread had a tangle and upset the whole of the bobbin case mechanism. I stripped it all down, cleaned it out, replaced it all several times, tweaked a screw and got it stitching again but it is making a racket and really needs to go to Stirling to be fixed properly.

I taught in two different schools this week – both days were very icy and there was even an overturned Landrover on one of the back roads. Someone had jokingly turned a signpost around in an unfamiliar area so I made it to a new school just as the bell rang.

I decided to support my local High Street and did some Christmas shopping on Friday before returning to a long list of sewing items for gifts. I had to make another ipad cover, two ipod pouches, an iphone bag, three oilcloth homework folders and two cosmetic bags! I still had not written any Christmas cards or wrapped any of the parcels. Somehow I also had to fit all of the usual chores around all of these extra activities.

We collected a fabulous Christmas tree from the forester at the Glen Tanar estate near Aboyne and decorated it tastefully in silver and white with blue glass baubles that I managed to find in the Red Cross shop. The Farmers' Market was festive with carol singers, plenty of fresh Brussels sprouts and light snow flurries.

After a hearty venison curry, I settled down to watch the spectacular final of "Strictly Come Dancing" and ploughed my way through a pile of Christmas cards. We marvelled at the skill of the dancers and the frivolity of the frocks and thought that all of the finalists deserved to win the Glitter Ball trophy.

On Sunday I packaged up my parcels for posting, finally started quilting the African bedspread and went to the children's annual Christmas piano concert, where they all performed really well. The week ahead is looking a little hectic – more shopping and wrapping, customer quilt, two concerts, two parties, teaching at a school, longarming pupil, remembering to buy groceries, catching the last special delivery post and wondering when I will fit in any cooking. There are also emails that I must respond to and classes to organise so I hope there will be SOME time left to enjoy the run-up to the festive period and eat a couple of mince pies!

Ice!

2011-12-11T21:21:00.001Z

I had originally planned to cut off the awkward edges of the African tumbler blocks but that would have been taking a shortcut and I conceded that they would look far better if they fitted together as zigzags. Set-in seams are not easy by machine and progress was a little slow; some hand stitching was necessary to fill in a couple of little gaps. It means that this quick quilt is far from finished and now I have a king-sized African quilt to create for a customer by Christmas (fingers crossed.)

I some work on the Yurt book by dictating some notes that I hope my speedy typist can turn into text. I never learned how to touch type and although a few of my fingers can go quite fast, I still have to spell out every single word.

During the week we had gale force winds - snow fell in many areas but missed us for a change. A few trees came down and blocked local roads for a while but there was surprisingly little damage here. The garden Yurt was unscathed but the roof of the henhouse blew away. The chooks were completely unruffled and are steadfastly continuing their egg laying strike.

I spent two fun days teaching in a country school and we went on a trip to a Curling Festival in Aberdeen. The children were a bit apprehensive when they first stepped onto the ice but they very quickly became confident and were soon tactically knocking each other's stones out of the target areas, whizzing up and down with their brushes. I had a go too and it is far trickier than it looks, getting the crouch and release right with a plastic bag on one foot while balancing using a broom. It is like a more exciting version of bowls with the addition of undignified wobbly sliding, although the pros made it look smooth and effortless.

I took Freya down to Glasgow on Saturday for her acoustic guitar exam. Road conditions and weather forecasts were predicted to be variable so I packed the Landy up with sleeping bags, blankets, coats, fluorescent jackets, torch, shovel and bucket. The motorway around Stirling was snowy and foggy but the traffic continued to speed past. We trundled along steadily, did a bit of Christmas shopping on the way and now just have to hope that she gets good results. Fenella remembered to record the semi-final show of "Strictly Come Dancing" and plenty of M&M's were bought for decorating Fergus's chocolate birthday cake. It looks like another week of cramming in as much as possible and I must do something about writing Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping. By Wednesday I should think I will deserve a mince-pie and a glass of sherry at coffee time!

Write Off

2011-12-04T18:18:00.001Z

My whole schedule went by the wayside this week as I was under the weather for a couple of days. Being ill is such a waste of time so I after one day of taking it easy and guzzling ibuprofen I decided that I was better. However, I was not very productive, only managing to prepare a few zips for oilcloth bags - I even BOUGHT the fancies for my Coffee & Craft morning. A few folk came along and I managed to sign a handful up for one or two forthcoming classes. It was useful to discuss exactly what courses people would like to do and when they would find it most convenient. It looks like machine quilting and absolute basics could be popular. My friend, Miche, offered a present wrapping demonstration and she had wonderfully simple packages of pot-pourri and ribbons for sale.

I taught in a small country school during the week, basing my teaching around Elmer the Patchwork Elephant and some simple quilt block designs as a maths exercise for the older pupils. Deciding that supply teaching is so unpredictable, I have now officially applied for a part-time teaching job. The application was done electronically so I will just have to wait and see if I am offered an interview. The downside of actually getting a "proper" teaching job would be having to plan a major programme of work during the Christmas holidays when I would rather be drinking sherry and popping into the studio occasionally. I guess I will have to cross that bridge if and when it happens!

I took Fergus into Aberdeen for his Grade 1 Rockschool guitar exam. It was held in the basement of a slightly seedy building that bands can hire for jamming sessions. He seemed to think that it went well so we went for coffee afterwards and checked out the new music shop that has opened in the city centre. I was most impressed by the staff and the choice of instruments. I bought Fergus a fun travel sized banjo for his 10^th birthday. After I delivered him back at school I spent the rest of the day making it a quilted bag. This involved quilting the fabric, working out the shape, deciding how to attach the handles, and even fitting a zip now that I think I have finally mastered that method of fastening. There was a certain amount of trial, error and remodelling involved but I was pleased with my invention. I think I will have to make another one for the kids' ukulele.

I ran part one of a class on the "Silent Movie Star" quilt on Sunday which went really well. By the end of the class everyone had completed a whole tricky corner block and cut all of the pieces for the other three. I have rewritten the original draft so that the instructions are easier to follow. I still prefer step by step photos for my instructions so I will have to work on the clearest way of setting these up so that they look professional in case I ever write a quilt book that is not about Yurts.

I will try to get what I had planned for last week done this week - then I will have to admit that Christmas is coming and I had better consider writing cards and maybe doing some shopping...

Techno Deja Vu

2011-11-27T19:25:00.001Z

It has been hard to tear myself away from my latest fiction addiction and concentrate on writing my book about a quilted Yurt while I have been greedily devouring novels featuring DS McRae, set in a grimmer than life version of Aberdeen. These books are full of murderous characters, criminal gangs and far more bodies than normal but they are gripping because all of the places and people seem so real and close to home. Maybe my book needs some more action or a mystery to solve.

I made an effort to spend some time on the Yurt book draft, fleshing it out a bit and deciding what was most relevant. I referred back through the blog to work out what I have been so busy doing since the Yurt debuted at Loch Lomond last year. It would seem that I constantly suffer from angst that I am not fitting enough into my week to create all that I would like. It is interesting to review just how much has been achieved. There was more decorating than I remembered, along with brewing, baking, homework and trips. During that same period I have made several attempts to get my teeth into the book or promote the Yurt before being overwhelmed by guilt that I have spent hours on the laptop with no evidence of activity. At least if I am making a quilt it is easier to see it growing.

I was amused to read in the blog archive that I had been bamboozled by some of the gadgets that I thought would save me time but that simple tasks actually took longer to achieve because I had forgotten how they worked. A prime example of this was my attempt to interview Yurtman for his chapter. I could have used the SmartPen with its recording facility or the handheld voice recorder when I thought I would have time to write podcasts. It is all very well practising with the tape recorder and pretending to be a reporter when no-one else is there but I felt slightly embarrassed to have so much technology at my disposal to interview someone who is interested in living as "off-grid" as possible. Instead, I just wrote garbled notes with a biro.

I decided that maybe I should dictate parts of the Yurt story onto the tape recorder and get my speed typing friend to turn it into text. Getting the hang of the gadget was the easy part. I discovered that it saves the files as WAV's which are too big to send by email so they would have to be shrunk. I spent an entire morning fumbling my way through cyber-babble trying to compress or zip or convert my recording into an mp3 file small enough to email to my friend. It would have been quicker and easier to a) type it myself, b) drive to her house with my notes or c) copy the file onto a usb stick and post it! I was annoyed at how much time I was wasting not quilting but determined to solve my techno-puzzle and I finally found a way to do it by sheer luck. Sadly my friend's computer was too elderly to open the file but at least I know it can be done in theory.

By the time I made it into the workshop to quilt a hessian coffee bean sack that I thought would make trendy gadget covers, my sewing skills had obviously deserted me. I think I should just have stuck to straight line quilting. I wondered if it would improve the look of the piece if it was washed as it was a bit grubby and the hessian had a loose weave. This was not a good decision as most of the ink washed out. I could have made further attempts to remedy the situation by adding embroidery but decided that it would be quicker to start again so Bloody Mabel got a new dog blanket. Next I quilted two small pieces of Aboriginal fabric and a piece of oilcloth so at least I would have something to show for my week's efforts.

Glasgow Twice

2011-11-20T19:17:00.001Z

I made a trip down to Glasgow in the Landy to do a talk about my quilts and travels for "The Glasgow Gathering of Quilters". The satnav on my phone directed me straight into the heart of the city without getting lost – all I had to do was avoid all of the pedestrians and find a parking space. Margo and Bonnie took me out for supper in an Italian restaurant which was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday evening, proving that I lead a very different life out in the boonies. The Glasgow quilters were most welcoming and their warm reception gave my morale a much needed boost. I had even been toying with the idea of getting a proper job and returning to quilting as a hobby. It does me good to meet up with like minded folk every now and then to bounce around some ideas. They gave me renewed enthusiasm for some forthcoming projects and it was even suggested that could I produce some small, mounted pieces for sale.

Home again, I determined to get as much done as possible in a short week so: I painted my plaster deer head blue, drafted out a dozen mini classes that I could offer for craft evenings or demos at shows, used up an off-cut of yurt roof to make a zipped bag, told Blue Cat she is not allowed to sit on show quilts that are waiting to be put back in their cupboard, AND cut out lots more blue and orange African fabric tumbler blocks for Fergus's quilt. I think I have decided which "wholecloth" project to work on first but I need to figure out how on Earth I will mark it as I will not be using a sensible, pale coloured fabric...

Tania, Mo and I went on another trip to Glasgow on Saturday for the Country Living Christmas Fair followed by an obligatory trawl through IKEA. We did some festive shopping but also managed to buy a few things for ourselves. I bought a quirky tartan skirt to wear at Quilt Quine talks and a wicked pair of garden secateurs that I think I can use to mass produce wooden buttons. I resisted the urge to buy an ostrich leather pencil case and passed on purchasing a bottle of sloe gin since I already have several noxious, vintage bottles stashed away at home.

This week my priority is to do some drafting on The Book and fit in some piecing after I have done a bit of editing each day. I might also start drafting out one of the wholecloths, have a go at making some more zipped bags for Christmas and think about producing some works of "Art". Unless I get called on for supply teaching or another, better idea comes along!

The Blues

2011-11-13T18:09:00.000Z

I paid the ransom in customs and received the Accuquilt GO cutter that I had ordered ages ago from the USA. I was really impressed at how neatly it cut out a stack of tumbler shapes and how nicely they all line up because of their little notches. I decided to make a quilt for Fergus using a collection of vibrant orange and blue African fabrics but I just did not have enough; despite telling myself that I should use up every available scrap of stash fabric before buying anything new, I ended up buying yet more from The African Fabric shop.

Mo ran a very successful needle felting class during the week in my workshop and provided her students with home-made soup and bread for lunch. They were all thrilled with their super little animals, including a couple of terriers and a polar bear. We think we may offer occasional drop-in days where folk can get a cup of coffee and see us demonstrating some sort of sewing or crafting technique. This would be less of a commitment than signing up for a whole course. People have been very keen for us to run classes but less enthusiastic about actually signing up. I know that the run up to Christmas is a busy time but I can't honestly work out when IS the best time?

Since I was not busy teaching, I decided to paint the sitting room for the first time in eleven years. It was really quite overdue as there were several old tester patches of paint that everyone had stopped noticing. It was not a thrilling job as I was not making a dramatic change from one shade of cream to another and the dreich weather made it difficult to see what I was doing in an old house with low ceilings. The only good thing about decorating is that I get to listen Radio 4 without a sewing machine drowning out part of The Archers.

Eventually the room started to look fresher but I was reminded that I have two very mismatched sofas and this room that is used by everyone in the family contains an awful lot of different "stuff". There is a glass cabinet that contains odd ornaments and an assortment of books so I made a pair of curtains that would hide it all away. I bought a white plaster deer head but I have decided to paint it blue to match my collection of vintage, cracked Cornishware crockery. Everything got a rare and thorough dusting and I was fairly pleased with my efforts. I will really have to psych myself up to tackle the marathon chore of repainting the hall, stairs and landings – but not yet...

Thrawn Thursday

2011-11-06T19:50:00.001Z

Things were not going according to plan on Thursday; maybe it was due to the tail end of Hallowe'en influences! First, three days' worth of supply teaching was cancelled as the school administrator had double booked relief teachers, then the sour dough rye bread that was proving gently in front of the electric heater in the workshop started to cook in its bowl, my spaghetti Bolognese was destined not to contain a single tomato and the expensive advert for Quilt Quine classes in the local newspaper yielded only two calls from people who could not manage any of the dates on offer. I was extremely annoyed when I received a letter from the UK Border Agency that stated it was going to destroy the counterfeit sheepskin boots that I had ordered online in good faith from an authentic looking website. This gives me something else to sort out and rant about!

My increasingly bad mood obviously did not help when I tried to line up points on the new version of "Bewitched" as the gold lame refused to be teased into shape. The original quilt was just made up as I went along but this time I wanted to teach it as a class or maybe include it in a future book. I simply could not figure out what size to cut the large corner triangles and thoroughly confused myself by looking up various formulae. In the end I cut and measured by trial and error which seems to be the way I usually work things out. I have made 4 blocks and I think the colour combinations are coming along rather nicely.

Despite wasting a considerable amount of time on Ebay looking at VW camper vans, xylophones and Tupperware mugs instead of sorting out the draft of the Yurt book, I made a few zip up oilcloth bags that I intend to give to all of my friends and family for Christmas. After ordering some rather nice thick PVC fabric I decided that I could do with a Teflon foot for my machine so it doesn't get stuck. I can see the potential for making all sorts of pencil cases, folders and wallets but I am not sure if I like the diary cover version yet.

I hosted a fun coffee morning in the Yurt in aid of Compassion in World Farming in conjunction with the local primary school's Fair Trade Committee. We served ethically sourced tea & coffee with home bakes made from organic local produce and everyone jokingly suggested that it should become a weekly event. My hens will have to make a much greater effort if they are to contribute to any future local baking ventures or they may just find themselves being put to better use as stock for soup...

Trick or Treat

2011-10-30T18:30:00.001Z

By now I should know better than to plan out my week. I received two phone calls from schools on Monday asking me to do some supply teaching. I had less than 12 hours to worry about my first morning of teaching children in eleven years. I jotted down a mini project on pets, put on a skirt, found my whistle and chose a story to read. I went straight back into teacher mode and I managed to keep the class busy and under control. I eventually worked out how to write on the electronic "Smartboard" but I confess that I missed the blackboard and teacher's desk. I even turned down more dates that I was offered by two more schools because they clashed with my forthcoming quilt classes. I have actually spent some of my wages already on a couple more teacher outfits, some new books and an impulse EBay purchase of a vintage thermos flask so that I can take my own coffee. I will have to work out a polite way of saying that I think I am "allergic" to staffroom instant coffee.

By midweek I still had not sewed a stitch so I was determined to get cracking on a couple of projects. I erred on the side of caution and ordered a colour swatch card from Cherrywood Fabrics rather than just choose off the internet. I cut out more strips for the Happy House blocks as a "just for fun in between" quilt. I have decided to mix my modern Aboriginal fabrics up with my subtle coloured Starr hand-dyes for a remake of Bewitched. I didn't think I would want to make the same quilt twice but it was much admired before I sold it during NEOS week. Several people asked me to run a workshop or create a pattern so I might as well make a new one in different colours!

I washed and dried the ugly 1940's quilt but to my alarm, due to the combination of a double wool and cotton wadding, it was all buckled and hairy when it came out of the dryer. There was nothing for it – I ironed it into shape before binding it. There was no way that I would be able to put it up for sale in my Etsy shop so my husband suggested that I just throw it on the bed. It has a certain old fashioned charm, I suppose, and it is definitely warm so it might as well make itself useful until it is time to get the Christmas one out.

I remade and photographed the Silent Movie Star block so that I could simplify and improve the instructions so it looks like there will be a new and improved version of that quilt too, although the interesting thing is that I have chosen to remake it in very similar fabrics.

I quilted one of three Hallowe'en tea towels from The Piggly Wiggly and felt decidedly rusty after not having done any serious longarming for a couple of weeks. It looks rather fun but the other two may have to wait be done in time for next year.

What's Cooking?

2011-10-23T19:52:00.001+01:00

Landrover dashboards were obviously designed to hold salt, vinegar and pots of mushy peas. We had an uneventful train trip back from Norfolk but really felt a chill when we got off at Stonehaven. The Landrover was filled with the steamy aroma of chips as we chomped our way through fish suppers, watching the crashing waves through a gap in the steamy windscreen.

Mo and I put some dates in our diaries for quilting & felting classes so now I just need to slot in a few more classes then let everyone know what will be on offer. I received an acceptance letter for supply teaching but already I think I may have to reduce the amount of time that I will be available to be on call as I hope to be busy running workshops. I kept getting sidetracked and not quite managing to finish that job by sorting out winter gear, ordering Lego lightsabres from ebay and taking Fenella clothes shopping for her birthday. I bought a great peaked hat with a fluffy green cap that made Freya laugh out loud when she saw it – I think it is pretty cool and it was a bargain – I just don't know what will happen to it if it rains. My time was spent doing correspondence and planning a birthday party. Freya and I made a lemon sponge encased in a hard caramel case that was not as easy to handle as the demonstration on TV had led us to believe. It looked impressive and tasted great but I think I could do with a few days of vegetable broth to get all of that butter and sugar out of my system.

I quilted almost to the end of the ugly 1940's quilt top but I am still not convinced that it will look much better when it is washed and bound. If I really can't see it on my bed then it will have to go into the Etsy shop. I still have not decided which bed to put the Amish quilt on and I am running out of space in my quilt press.

I hope to quilt 3 Hallowe'en tea towels that I bought in The Piggly Wiggly as wall hangings to replace the one that I did about 7 years ago that still annoys me. I could requilt it but as it only hangs on the wall for about a week each year, I should probably get on and do something more useful instead.

I must improve the corner block instructions for Silent Movie Star as I made an error in the middle of my photo story and after that I am keen to start work on a show quilt that I have been planning for a while. The children go back to school this week and I hope to fit in LOTS of overdue projects...

Quite a Haul

2011-10-16T18:25:00.001+01:00

Norma made an excuse to take friends, Ina and Kay to Chicago IKEA so they very kindly took me to the airport afterwards. A cheeky person in airport security did not believe that I was cool enough to be the owner of the gold Doc Marten boots on the conveyor belt. I wondered about how nice it would be to fly first class as my TV monitor didn't work; the woman in front of me vomited throughout the entire journey and a child kicked the back of my seat. The security staff at Heathrow made me unpack my carry-on bag as it was so tightly crammed that the spools of thread looked suspicious. They even thought my boots were cool and asked me why I had been on my travels. They were very impressed by my quilting adventures, having read about "textile bombers" in the weekend newspaper and were even happy to help me shove my belongings into the rather overstuffed holdall since I was already struggling to carry a laptop bag that had a raccoon puppet sticking out of the top, a tweed jacket and the orange wool blanket from the Des Moines goodwill store. Aberdeen was cool and grey; I was surprised to notice that the leaves on the trees were only just beginning to change colour. The cats were thrilled to see me and immediately demanded the highly addictive meat pouches that had been rationed while I was away.

Waking up refreshed the next morning, I caught up with Mo and Tania over coffee then tidied up my luggage before repacking a smaller bag for a train trip down to Norfolk to collect the children from their grandparents' house.

The train journey to England was quite tedious and took longer than my transatlantic flight. I seemed to be plagued by grumpy old women – one claimed that I had taken her seat and the next one wondered nervously if my bag would fall from the luggage rack onto her head. At least I had the luxury of being able to read a book for the entire trip. It was great to be met at the station by my three kids who had apparently missed me and begged me to take them to America the next time.

The weather was beautiful on Sunday so we ate all of our meals outside. We caught up with my sister and my small nephew then went to visit the Other Granny in the afternoon. On the trip home I need to plan a Halloween birthday party for Fenella then start to make serious new TO DO lists leading up to Christmas!

Fall in Wisconsin

2011-10-12T13:15:00.001+01:00

Friday was a busy teaching day at the Museum, spending time demonstrating and doing hands-on sessions with the APQS Lenni. There was a mini field trip outside to discuss a student's piece based on the old stone walls of the barn and working out how to create quilted texture. There was a select audience for my evening lecture since it was a crucial game for the Milwaukee based baseball team, The Brewers, The opening evening of local Artists' Gallery Tours and also German Fest. However, in the enthusiastic audience, was an online longarmer friend called Colleen who drove over in her Smart Car with a jar of fresh peach jam.

On Saturday there was a "Bling My Quilt" class interspersed with some more longarm demonstrations. There were many visitors to the museum that day including a Facebook friend who had come all the way from South of Chicago just to meet me! The weather was incredibly and unseasonably warm, even in the evening so we enjoyed a grilled steak from the barbecue before settling down to watch the local American football team, the Green Bay Packers battle it out with the Atlanta Falcons.

I had my Artist's Reception on Sunday afternoon and entertained a troupe of keen Girl Scouts who were delighted to experiment with the longarm in contrast to their other hand stitching projects. There were visitors from The Netherlands who were in the area visiting relatives who had read about the museum and Yurt exhibition in American Quilter Magazine. It was great to meet APQS dealers Dave and Jane Bentheimer-Brown from Randolph, WI who brought quilting goodies for me to take home. After a long day meeting and greeting, Terri and I went to a Mexican Restaurant and enjoyed a large frozen lime Margarita before watching The Brewers and Packers in action once more.

Since Terri was working at her "real" job I went back to spend my last few days in Cedarburg with Norma. Despite battling to fit everything into my one suitcase with a 23kg limit, I went on a trip to "Ivana Trunk's" antiques consignment and came away with an authentic looking Amish quilt for $35... We were on a mission to find a toy raccoon for Fenella and searched in vain at various thrift stores and toy shops. On the way back we stopped to take photos of some imaginative Hallowe'en displays and we called in to visit friends of Norma who live on a farm with a beautiful red barn that was built in 1848. During the evening a neighbour from across the street asked if her 8 year old son could come over and sweep up leaves as they did not have any trees in their yard. His reward would be to jump in the huge piles. I gave them a hand with a broom as it was so easy to sweep up such dry leaves. It seemed like such an idyllic all-American evening in suburbia as we could hear the marching band practising at the local high school football field two blocks away.

Tuesday was my last full day in the USA and Norma took me into Milwaukee to visit the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Museum. We had an interesting tour around a terrific industrial building and the company's history was very well documented with artefacts and interactive displays. There was even an opportunity to sit on some real bikes to have photos taken. Afterwards we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum which is situated in the most incredible building that was designed by Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava. The entire structure of the building was formed by huge white wishbones and had magnificent bow windows overlooking Lake Michigan where sailing boats were skimming across the bay. My gift shop purchase was a rubber tablemat that looked like it would make a rather interesting quilt stencil. On our way out of town we stopped at a toy and gift emporium called "Winkies" where I finally found a raccoon hand puppet which will have to travel in my handbag!

Cedarburg, Wisconsin

2011-10-07T19:22:00.001+01:00

Sunday was yet another beautiful day when Norma and I set out on our drive to Wisconsin. We drove past traditional wooden farmsteads, red barns, grain silos and fields of corn and beans that were almost dry enough for harvest. There were huge pumpkins for sale at the side of the road. We stopped off in Conrad, Iowa to visit Heidi Kaisand's new retreat and quilt shop, "Hens & Chicks". She has converted an old general store and filled it with antique presses on which to display her fabrics. She still had a lot to do to get it ready for her grand opening but it will be a lovely place when it is complete.

We stopped for lunch at the Wisconsin state line for a lunch buffet. There was a strange jello confection in amongst the cold salad bar that I decided to avoid but I was impressed by the decor in the ladies loo that was decorated like horse stalls. The Wisconsin countryside is more like parts of England with rolling hills and smaller farms. The leaves on the trees were just turning to rich autumn colours. Cedarburg is a charming town with neatly mown lawns, pretty houses with porches and tree lined streets. We barely managed to stay awake until 9pm that evening and it was most comforting to sleep under a real quilt after a week in a hotel.

On Monday morning we arrived at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts which is sited in renovated 1850's barn with several other smaller farm buildings all awaiting their turn for conservation. I made myself useful by helping to dismantle the previous exhibit: there was a great selection of quilts on the walls and on an antique bed, crochet, macramé, knitting, baskets, vintage linens, and wool coverlets from Pennsylvania. There was also a Baltimore quilt from Mary Koval's collection a WW2 wedding dress made from a parachute and a well stocked gift shop. The barn provides a perfect setting for such a diverse collection of textiles and it has large rooms available in the basement for classes, lectures and functions.

Norma and I took the carpet store by surprise when we asked if they had a remnant suitable for the yurt. I bought 50 samples at 25 cents each. We dropped the Des Moines butterfly chair off at the Goodwill Store near Port Washington and had a glimpse of Lake Michigan, shining flat calm on yet another beautiful autumn day.

Breakfast on Tuesday morning was fun when Norma and I met Luella for breakfast at George Webb's Diner. A group of old timers sat at the long counter; I ordered sunnysideup fried eggs with hash-browns and an endless supply of coffee. I fulfilled a lifelong ambition to shop in a "Piggly Wiggly" grocery store; these are usually found in The South but there is also a small chain of them in Wisconsin. It was a lovely small supermarket so I bought some autumn coloured M&M's and a canvas shopping bag with the legendary pig printed on the side.

There was a big team of helpers to get the yurt frame up in the centre of the barn which was good as wooden floors are always a bit of a challenge. Even the reporter from Ozaukee County News Graphic helped to attach the roof in between taking photos. The rest of the day was spent tidying up and sorting out a publicity poster. Norma and I visited Luella's house which is full of interesting antique collections of quilts and kitchenware. Our reward for working so hard was to have a burger & fries supper at Culver's, followed by ice-cream topped with pecans and butterscotch sauce shared three ways!

Wednesday at the museum involved making calls to the UPS depot, demanding why they had decided to split up the shipment from APQS of a longarm machine for teaching and demonstrations. They refused to admit that they had mistyped a label so we ended up driving to Milwaukee to collect the final box. There was a side trip to Joann's to get some gold lame type fabrics for one of my classes. I wish we had places like that in the UK... the selection of fake fur, vinyl and dress fabrics is amazing and I think I could have such fun with some of that. We toured along Lakeshore Drive in Milwaukee which is an exclusive area of very fancy mansions close to Lake Michigan. Joggers, dog walkers and Harley Davidson bikers were making the most of the weather on the lakeside, making it all look like an idyllic place to live. I have been reliably informed that this weather could break at any time and temperatures could plummet any day. We got the APQS Lenni all set up for classes without the help of a paper manual and learnt that referring to PDF instructions by phone and using borrowed tools is not easy... Terri Kirchner, the President of WMQFA, arrived back from New York where she had been on a tour with a group of quilters. She is one of the original Yurt "Stunt Quilters". She had plenty of correspondence to catch up with during the day and in the evening I moved my out of Norma's house with my expanding luggage to stay with Terri for the rest of my stay.

I worked on the longarm on Thursday morning then had a jaunt out to buy some prewound bobbins and look in the tempting window of the toffee-apple shop. I accompanied Terri on a wild goose chase to collect a donation of fabric from the estate of a deceased quilter. There were many rubbish bags full of musty smelling fabric awaiting collection on the front lawn. The first warning signs were people wearing Tyvek suits and respirator masks. The hoarder's family called to demand that the clearance company did not give away the fabric in case it might be valuable. Terri was most relieved at that decision, particularly after being informed that the original elderly house owner had died 6 years ago; her infirm son then moved in before kicking the bucket himself on a small patch of rotting carpet. Five enormous containers had already been filled with junk for the dump. We returned to the Museum for me to give an evening talk to the volunteers about the Yurt so that they would know how to explain it all to visitors. Afterwards there was coffee with the sweetest and stickiest frosted carrot cake that I have ever tasted – it actually gave me a bit of a headache!

AQS Show in Des Moines

2011-10-02T03:27:00.001+01:00

On Monday I did a little exploring around Des Moines on my own as I would be waiting until the afternoon for the Yurt to arrive from Wisconsin. I took the Skywalk downtown to see what little shops I could find. (It seems that the Skywalk was partly responsible for the downtown shops closing down as it meant that no-one had a reason to walk at street level any more.) I had coffee at Java Joes but did not see many interesting people downtown apart from office workers and a few stray hobos. Next I walked up to the East Village where there is a scattering of trendy boutiques and a couple of large thrift stores where I felt obliged to have a good rummage. I checked back at the convention centre where stallholders were beginning to unload and get set up for the show. There had been very heavy rain in the north so Norma did not make it down from Wisconsin until late in the afternoon but it was a great feeling to unload the USA yurt from her car at last and lay it down in the space where it would be displayed.

Arriving early on Tuesday morning, we were assigned two very helpful members of AQS staff, Melissa and Barry to help get the frame assembled. It was useful that they are both tall as this yurt frame is 2 feet higher than the original Scottish version. The new yurt frame also has a smaller diameter so the two lattices meet more tightly at the back. This took a little persuasion to get all lined up but in no time we had figured it all out and I was impressed at how easily it all went from there. Before long the hanging rope and wall skirts were on and finally the roof that I had made from a sketch diagram with Mo's help. Thankfully and impressively it fitted perfectly! The wall panels all lined up nicely so there was plenty of time to add the pompom trim and bunting. The electricians agreed to run a cable under the carpet so that I could plug in the fairy lights and we still had time left to go on an expedition to see if we could find any interesting items to add to the yurt's cosy atmosphere. Enthused by what might be uncovered in junk shops we set off for a good rake around some of the goodwill stores and Dollar Trees. I have never seen so many jeans all in one place amongst discarded Christmas decorations and novelty mugs. I managed to find a dangly plastic mobile that looked funky, a 1960's style butterfly chair and an interesting wool blanket. Just for fun, I added a set of imitation antlers that were probably designed as a coat rack that would hang above the door. I was made very welcome at the evening Teacher meeting by Bonnie Browning and Andi Reynolds from AQS, before returning to my room to eat a leftover salad and a large G&T.

The show opened on Wednesday and the visitors were amazed and most complimentary when they saw the yurt in person, after having read about it in American Quilter magazine. There were many questions to answer about yurts, why I had decided to make a quilted version, and where I got my gold Doc Marten boots. It was great to have Norma Klimpke on hand to talk about the USA yurt frame from Yurts of America www.yurtsofamerica.com and the background of the Cedarburg, Wisconsin Museum of Fiberarts www.wiquiltmuseum.com I gave my first class that evening, "Bling My Quilt" and the students seemed to enjoy themselves despite everyone being tired after a long day at the show.

Thursday was a busier day at the show as we headed towards the weekend. I made a point of going to see all of the super show quilts and had a brief look at some of the vendor stalls. It was fun to spend time talking to the APQS team and their booth looked great set up with all of the machines in the range on show. I bought some thread, glittery spray and some stencils one just one trip back from the ladies' loo. I met lots of people from the APQS forum and Facebook; it was lovely to meet the real people at last instead of their virtual personas. It seems that Norma and I are both curious people because we quizzed everybody about where they had travelled from and they in turn asked me about Yurts and Scotland. I was interviewed on video by Bonnie Browning of AQS and had fun pretending to be on the news. It was exciting to meet quilt teachers whom I had read about on the Internet; we had a great laugh with Ellen Anne Eddy over breakfast and supper a couple of times and Heather Thomas gave me some helpful book publishing information. I had a worthwhile meeting with AQS publishing editor, Andi Reynolds who encouraged me to look for an alternative publisher that would let me have free rein to put together a book about the yurt that goes beyond patterns and tells the richer story of the collaboration of women quilters who helped to create the Quilted Yurt. I appreciate her insight and this should give me a better sense of direction to the way I put the chapters together.

On Friday I gave my "Silent Movie Star" piecing class which went really well until we realised that I had missed out a crucial photo. Luckily, there were a couple of clever students who helped to find the missing piece of the puzzle and we soon put it all back on track. I promised that I would make the quilt again, photograph every stage and email new improved instructions once I get home. I should probably stick to teaching longarm quilting...! The afternoon lecture on the story of the Quilted Yurt went down very well. The audience listened attentively and laughed in all of the right places, apart from a couple of people who had forty winks because the quilt show had obviously worn them out. The talk ran to schedule then many members of the audience came back to look around the yurt again to examine the structure in more detail. Even vendors made a special point of coming to see what everyone was talking about and ask about the project. I am thrilled at how well received the yurt has been. People are also enquiring which longarm machine I would recommend and asking for more information about the WI Fiberarts Museum. I have certainly been made to feel most welcome in Des Moines!

The Saturday morning crazy notebook class was fun as it was relaxing and not at all complicated. Everyone had a good time but wished it was a couple of hours longer. I went back to the Yurt where Norma K (from the Wisconsin museum) reported that the morning had brought many excited visitors. So many people were amazed by the use of gold lame and fabric paint on many of the Yurt quilts. The time passed quickly, chatting to all of the crowds then I had a last look around the vendors, making the decision not to buy a couple of large and heavy items such as a metal barn quilt sign. Sadly, it was time to pack up and with the help of members of the AQS team, the whole Yurt was packed up and ready to load into the car in less than an hour. Norma and I had a very good burger with beer in the Raccoon River Brewing Co. where we had quite a laugh at some of the shiny, tight Homecoming frocks and high heels.

We will leave for Wisconsin in the morning and I hope to have the chance to take far more photos...

Exploring Des Moines

2011-09-26T02:27:00.001+01:00

After I battled my way through half of a giant waffle that I made myself at the hotel breakfast buffet, Norma collected me and we went off exploring again. I was beginning to get my bearings and recognise landmarks. We wandered around the Botanic Gardens where inventive gardeners had painted quilt blocks to hang amongst the foliage in honour of the forthcoming quilt show. Our next stop was a Target superstore so that I could buy some fairy lights for the inside of the Quilted Yurt. We found these in the impressive Christmas/Halloween department. My next assignment was to find a pair of Converse shoes for Freya and the reward for completing that mission was coffee and a muffin in Barnes & Noble. If I was a homeless intellectual I think I would try to live in there. I rashly purchased some attachments for my Kitchenaid mixer because they were on special offer but they are quite heavy – however, I brought some longarm machine parts into the USA so it should be a straight swap of weight in my luggage.

We visited the Historical Building in downtown Des Moines which was a terrific free museum that contained a variety of fascinating artefacts from Iowa and neighbouring Native American People. There was hardly anyone else there so we could browse and read the labels at our leisure. Our next stop was to the sculpture park where there is a significant collection of modernist works, some impressive and some just weird. We drove past the Governor's Mansion and some other lovely old houses off Grand Avenue. It has been a privilege to be shown around by a Des Moines local. Norma even took me past the Iowa State Fairground because one of the buildings has been decorated with a frieze of ceramic quilt blocks. We drove around the beautiful man-made lake and she answered all of my questions tirelessly. She had brought with her the brand new copy of "American Quilter" magazine in which there was a good article about the Wisconsin Fiber Arts Museum – I was thrilled that the Yurt and I were mentioned! I returned to the hotel, planning on working on the Yurt Book draft but I ended up reading a novel accompanied by a refreshing G&T. I will definitely deal with the draft before I start reading anything new...

Off to Des Moines!

2011-09-25T14:13:00.002+01:00

I have always had success with dyeing up until now but I was not pleased with the results when I decided to run a colour through my hair for my USA trip and it turned out much darker than the box had promised; I may have to wear my tartan hat in Des Moines! I am glad that I didn't have any last minute projects to finish because the week whizzed by as I packed up the Yurt from NEOS, put away all of the quilts, went shopping for shortbread and tried to fit everything for my classes into two smallish cases. Tania asked if I had actually packed any clothes. I attended a proper interview for the Aberdeenshire supply teaching list that I had applied for in January, where I had to answer questions about the qualities of a good primary teacher and the latest curriculum developments. That night I had to admit defeat when I could not figure out any of Freya's maths homework that involved finding angles by using algebra. I asked neighbours, Wikipedia, clever people on Facebook then ordered some textbooks from Amazon for the next time seemingly impossible homework has to be solved.

My trip to across the Atlantic went smoothly but I did not manage to tackle my overdue book draft on the plane as I was reading a good novel. Immigration was efficient and courteous at Chicago airport and I was amused to hear a man say, "How YOU doin'?" just like Joey from "Friends". I arrived safely at my hotel in Des Moines 19 hours after leaving home. I caught up on some sleep but woke early and checked emails. My morning cup of tea was not great with powdered coffee creamer but the weather was beautiful and I was going to spend a day with a quilter so I was happy.

Norma H collected me and we started off our day of touring at the downtown Farmers Market. There was wonderful fresh market produce, including pumpkins, tom-A-toes and baked goods. The atmosphere was terrific as busy shoppers stopped to chat and browse. We got my USA phone set up for local texts and had coffee in the Barnes & Noble bookstore. After that we headed to the trendy area, Valley Junction, which had great junk and craft shops. There was a super bead emporium and we had a delicious lunch at the friendly General Store cafe. Norma took me on a whistle-stop tour of a couple of quilt shops and Creekside Quilting really stood out. It was well stocked with a great selection of fabrics and patterns - the layout and lighting were excellent and the staff members were all friendly and helpful. I managed to buy a couple of things that were not on my essentials shopping list.

Late in the afternoon we drove out to Carroll to visit the APQS factory. We drove through farmland, past ripening corn & beans and spotted quite a lot of flat wildlife at the side of the road, including possums, skunk, coyote, and a fox. I had expected APQS to be a huge industrial unit but was amazed to discover that it really is a small Iowan firm where all of the components are made locally and each machine is indeed built by hand. It was fascinating to see machines in various stages of production and all of the parts all lined up on shelves. The entire staff will be at the show on Thursday so I will be able to ask all sorts of questions and try out all of the models so that I can be up to date with all of the latest developments.

Norma and I had a delicious supper at a fish restaurant back in Des Moines then I stopped to pick up essential groceries of milk for tea and tonic water for gin. She has very kindly offered to take me out to do more sightseeing today before the AQS show organisers arrive from Paducah this evening. It is a treat to have a local guide and quilters always have plenty to talk about wherever they are in the world!

NEOS 2011 - Phew!!

2011-09-19T09:56:00.001+01:00

I joined North East Open Studios way back in the spring and really did not know what to expect. I lined myself up with some projects to keep me busy during what I thought would be a quiet week with possibly a handful of visitors dropping in from time to time. I dug out some of my 1940's quilt tops, expecting to finish a couple of them. The Yurt frame was set up in the garden in case of good weather; I cleared the camping gear out of the garden yurt, filled up its log basket and put a sign up on the gate.

I was completely overwhelmed by the number and enthusiasm of my visitors for the following 7 days. I reckon that 20-30 people called in every day and some called in for second visits to bring their friends. There were people who had looked me up in the NEOS catalogue, folk who had seen the Patchwork Smart Car parked outside the sweetie shop in Banchory, artisans who had the sense to book themselves a day out to see other studios, tourists who had seen the studio trail advertised and then people who came because they had heard from others that my place was worth a visit. There was even a bit of traffic chaos as several visitors arrived at the same time as the guitar teacher and a fully laden tractor & trailer.

There were locals who were curious to see what I do, people on touring holidays and even a visitor from Australia who was staying with family in the area. The weather was decidedly unreliable and I only managed to display the Quilted Yurt's covers once but the sun shone on the gold lame and looked fantastic. During the rest of the wet and windy week, I showed visitors into the cosy garden yurt where some of the panels were hung on the inside. The workshop/studio was festooned with bunting and a collection of bed quilts, show quilts and antique quilts, all of which I encouraged people to handle.

Many signed up for classes which I now need to put on the calendar and Mo came up for a day to run a needle felting demo on making felt animals. Yurtman called in and discussed frame modifications, the Art Department from the local Academy enthused about potential projects, and textile artists & quilters were all gratifyingly complimentary. I talked non-stop about the quilts, my inspiration, forthcoming projects and travels and why on earth I decided to make a quilted yurt in the first place. It was actually a good rehearsal for my forthcoming visit to the AQS Des Moines Show as an exhibitor/teacher.

I sold a few postcards, took a commission and ran up a few quilted Iphone cases in between visitors. One of the 1940's quilts had a mere 12 inches of quilting completed in one corner. Somehow the children got fed on dwindling rations after the studio closed at 6pm each evening and I wondered how artists would manage to do any creating if they had to run a shop on a regular basis. On Monday morning as I type this, I have a long list of things to tidy and sort out before I allow myself to think about packing for my USA trip. This week I also happen to have the supply teaching interview that I have been waiting for since January – I guess it keeps my options open...!

Coffee & Chips

2011-09-11T20:10:00.002+01:00

Thanks to Kay for sending me a photo of the Yurt at Perth...!

Mo and I had a whole two days of "raking" together when we took the Quilted Yurt to the QGBI Regional Day in Perth, Scotland. Before we even left Banchory we managed to rummage through the Red Cross shop where I acquired a Tyrolean jacket, dropped the patchwork Smart Car cover off at the sweetie shop, "Continental Cream" where it will be displayed on a car during NEOS week, chose some sweets for the journey, then we bought some bespoke gin & tonic for our weekend trip from the Deeside Drinks Emporium. I had been busy all week making ipad covers, crazy notebooks and cutting up kits for bunting & Christmas table runners so I felt entitled to a couple of treats...

We thought Perth was pretty cool – I have to admit that I have only ever passed through Perth on previous conferences. There were quite a few interesting and trendy shops selling jewellery, beads, felt hats and yarns, alongside an old-fashioned general store and a traditional ironmonger. There is now a well-stocked craft & quilt shop quirkily named, "The Peacock and the Tortoise". We arrived in the late afternoon so did not get much time to shop but we called in to a great coffee bean and loose tea shop – "The Bean Stop". It was a treat to sample the house coffee and enjoy all of the aromas of freshly blended teas. After a lengthy discussion on the merits of coffee making equipment Mo left with an "aeropress" and I bought packages of Cuban coffee and Russian Caravan tea with a hint of smoky lapsang souchon. We had an early supper at a French bistro then headed to the venue of the lecture, Glenearn Community Campus. The staff there were very obliging and helped to unload the rafters from the Landy roof-rack so that everything was in the right place so that a fast assembly could be attempted ONE hour. The organising committee had managed to round up some young men to help get the crown up and we even had time to spare so that all of the covers went on too – it makes such a difference to have a team of strong helpers! Mo and I felt that we were lacking in salt after all of that strenuous lifting so we stopped off for a bag of chips on our way back to the hotel. There was some hilarity as we could not operate the sofa bed mechanism until we had thirstily slurped a large gin each.

It was nice not to be in a hurry in the morning and we were glad that we were able to brew proper full bodied coffee with the new press. John from the coffee bean shop called in to admire the Yurt and he gave us a great collection of printed coffee sacks from around the world. They are fascinating, smell great and I am sure we will think of a good project for them. My talk seemed to go down well as I told the story behind the Quilted Yurt with some pig chasing tales thrown in for good measure. I was worried that I had only been talking for about 20 minutes but I managed to ramble on for over an hour without anyone falling asleep. The quilters were fascinated by the scale of the project and by all of the different panels. Someone asked Mo how she could cope with a friend like me but of course, she replied, "We are just the same!"

Jan Hassard from Bristol gave a trunkshow in the afternoon and she showed a super collection of historical quilts as well as some of her own. Her old, treasured quilts reminded me to get on with quilting a couple of scruffy feedsacks that I bought from Ebay ages ago. As usual it was great to catch up with other quilters from around Scotland and meet some new ones too. Kay and Another Lady VERY kindly stayed on and helped to disassemble and pack up the Yurt at the end of the day. The janitor, politically correctly named "a mighty man", held onto the crown in the much quicker dismantling process. Lashing the ropes on is always the most onerous task but I must be sure that everything is well secured. Mo sold enough of my postcards to pay for our obligatory fish supper with mushy peas in Stonehaven and I lazily decided not to unpack the Landy until Sunday morning!

Trawling

2011-09-04T19:49:00.001+01:00

My main task for the week was to produce the handouts and patterns for my forthcoming USA trip. I had to run up a string of bunting to check the fabric quantities, figure out how to draw a simple circular design using compasses, sew a notebook cover to ensure that the instructions worked and read through all of the other patterns to see if they made sense. I got Tania to proof read them and she thought they seemed straightforward. The photocopy shop ran off pages of pictures and text for me and I laminated the patterns so that they look like recipe cards. There are no diagrams since I can't figure out how to draw them neatly but the patterns that I have chosen are very simple so it should be easy to follow by referring to the photo. The Silent Movie Star pattern is 6 pages long as it is set out like a step by step photo-story! I have a nasty feeling that my parcel will weigh far more than 2kg so I expect that I will have to pack some of it in my suitcase. I have to leave room for some Quilt Quine "door prizes" – American quilt teachers all seem to offer tombola prizes to members of the class chosen at random. I might take tea bags and digestives to offer to my students at Elevenses instead of coffee.

I have to admit that I became rather bored sitting in front of the computer and I kept going off on online tangents, wondering whether to get a coffee pod machine for the workshop and I also ordered myself some new everyday green Doc Martens. I was very disappointed to find that the foreign manufacturers of this iconic British shoe have altered the fit so that my normal size was too big. I even went to a shoe shop in Aberdeen to try a smaller size but found that they were too tight. This means that I will have to carry on wearing my favourite green patent ones even though they are now looking very scruffy. At the back of my mind I have always wanted to make a quilt that somehow involves Docs...

As a reward for completing my Des Moines paperwork, I pieced a very simple strippy quilt with a few flying geese that should be "absolutely the last ever yurt panel" and I intend to quilt it like 5 Bar Gate. I completed a small African wall hanging and started a mini project using the offcuts from the easy flying geese. I have now jotted down some ideas for new sewing projects. I hate not having something new lined up ready to sew. I am turning over a few ideas for potential show quilts as I haven't seriously done one for quite a while. There may be a rather different wholecloth and possibly a spinoff of Silent Movie Star that could make good use of the exciting collection of Australian fabrics. I have a few other things to fit in first such as taking the Yurt to Perth, North East Open Studio week, a big USA trip and a book draft - but at least I have a plan or two in mind so that I am not at a loose end after all that!

Fun in the Forest

2011-08-28T19:06:00.001+01:00

My sewing machine ploughed admirably through yards and yards of industrial Velcro and eventually all of the new USA Yurt quilted roof sections, skirts and hanging junctions were complete. It took some determination to keep going but with a deadline looming there was to be no slacking. I packed up all of the USA Stunt Quilter panels, along with a wide selection of mine and I managed to cram everything into two very large suitcases ready for shipping. I delivered them to the depot after driving around several industrial estates near Aberdeen airport so hopefully they will be sent out as soon as Hurricane Irene calms down. They are heading for the Fiber Arts Museum in Wisconsin, where the new yurt frame has already been delivered. I expect Terri and her team will have a dress rehearsal once everything clears customs.

Having completed the very last Yurt panel ever, I decided that I had to do just one more in case the 18 panels that I have kept in the UK did not quite fit together. It will be a sort of strippy a bit like Five Bar Gate, inspired by the magenta of the willow bay herb, the lilac coloured heather that is in full bloom, and the deep purple brambles. Some of the wide strips are not quite long enough so there will be a few sections of golden flying geese as they will soon be heading south as summer draws to a chilly close.

I spent a couple of days planning some child friendly hand sewing and packed up the Quilted Yurt for an educational event in Durris Forest over the weekend. There is a wood in the forest where local children can take part in Forest School activities. They can work on environmental tasks and spend whole days outside, walking from the village school up the long forest track to a clearing near the top of a hill. Over the weekend there was a bodger helping them to saw logs by hand and make a wooden xylophone, bows and arrows, and play games using sticks and willow hoops. A story-teller with a lyre narrated scary folk tales and a forest ranger led nature trails, identifying bugs and fungi. A team of volunteers worked on a dry stone dyke while children worked on craft activities and everyone was amazed that the weather stayed dry enough for picnics. Despite the merciless midges and the uneven ground, the Yurt looked terrific in its woodland setting. It would be great if a permanent yurt with a wood stove could be put up there for outdoor education.

Sewing Stamina

2011-08-21T21:32:00.001+01:00

Adrenaline seems to have kicked in for the run up to my USA trip. Instead of my usual 500 word weekly ramble, you will be lucky to get a few coherent sentences strung together. I washed and ironed my new fabric then made myself put it away so that I could not be tempted to start playing with it. The Yurt panels that were quilted while I demonstrated Lenni at FOQ were painted and bound and even the final one has been quilted this week at high speed. I even managed to complete a customer quilt; the last one that I will do until October.

There were quite a few emails between myself, the museum in Wisconsin and the new Yurt frame makers, Yurts of America to sort out photos, drawings and dimensions. I worked out the maths and sketched the measurements of the roof for Yurt2. Mo was my right hand woman for one full day so we figured out some modifications to the design, cut all of the pieces then started overlocking, hemming and attaching industrial Velcro. The progress that we made was astonishing and I have now completed the junctions, joined the roof sections and made additional wall bands as the shape is slightly different to the original. We have to hold our breath that it will fit snugly when it meets the frame in the USA for the first time. However, I have several cunning tricks worked out in case it doesn't quite marry up that involve pins, Velcro and bunting. Mo tells me that it WILL fit – we are the team that made a fitted car cover and plan to construct an armoured horse after all!

I still have to wage war with the rest of the roof Velcro and attach the wretched stuff to my newer Yurt panels but I plan to get it all packed up and shipped by the middle of the week. I have chosen which panels will be sent to the USA; all of the original USA Stunt Quilter panels and a generous selection of mine, leaving me with another complete Yurt to remain in the UK. I wonder what I can make out of the surplus quilted material that is left over from the new roof?

Festival of Quilts 2011

2011-08-15T21:20:00.001+01:00

On Tuesday I drove around the countryside dropping my children off at their various billets on my way to Birmingham with the Landy full of quilting gear and the APQS Lenni strapped to the roofrack. I think I may have to admit defeat and invest in a satnav system after making a very roundabout yet scenic trip through the Scottish Borders to stay overnight with Kay. I drove for miles without meeting another car with sheep on the roads, rattling over cattle grids, wondering if I was anywhere near where I was meant to be since I had forgotten to pack the map. My detour was definitely picturesque and took me to places that I had never previously visited. We set off the next morning through torrential rain and arrived in Birmingham in good time to set the Lenni up for longarm demonstrations.

We made a point of arriving early for the show each day to get an opportunity to look at the quilts and exhibitions before the general public was given access as it got very busy later on and even making a quick trip to the loo involved battling through crowds. There were some super quilts on display from all over the world. I think one of my favourites was a prehistoric dinosaur by Pam Holland. There was a wonderful exhibition by the Cairo tentmakers who create intricate hand appliqués using enormous scissors, seemingly without plans or diagrams. There were several interesting galleries and collections featuring antique quilts, concept art, costumes and installations. I met many international visitors, catching up with old quilting friends and meeting new ones, even resorting to sign language at times as I don't speak Italian or Russian. Every now and then I would make a foray away from my stall to acquire some fabric paints and I also bought a couple of bundles of coloured schwe-schwe fabrics from South Africa, having told myself beforehand that I did not need any new material, especially since an exciting surprise package from Christine in Australia had arrived on Monday containing a delicious selection of Aboriginal designs that are begging to be made into a new project.

My 3 Yurt panels, hanging as a triptych, received favourable comments from the judges and the public and I was delighted that The Hare received a Highly Commended award. I was thrilled that one judge had given me a perfect score card. It seemed to prove popular with the crowds that I was working on real projects at one end of the frame but it was not actually easy to concentrate while stopping to explain how the machine works and help novices use a longarm machine for the first time. Several longarmers gathered at the stall periodically to chat and share information; there is nothing like a lively gaggle of quilters to draw more crowds over. Yvette from Needle & Threads in Surrey was selling fabrics on the other half of the stall so it felt like we were constantly busy during the entire show.

The Landy seemed to enjoy bullying his way through the city traffic and guys loading vans after the show were suitably impressed that I could actually manoeuvre it in a tight spot fully loaded with gear and a ladder. We went out for a genuine Birmingham balti curry twice during the show, stayed up late looking at quilt photos while sipping gin, discussed the designs of the show quilts, outfits of the quilters and examined the purchases of the day. We stayed one more night in Birmingham after the show in order to head back up north to Scotland early as my children go back to school on Tuesday. It was enjoyable and exhausting but I will have to unpack as soon as I get home and crack straight on with the modified roof for Yurt2 so that it can be shipped to the USA in good time...

(Apologies that the blog is a day late but my modem ran out of power last night, also there very few FOQ photos; however, Kay took lots so when she emails a couple through, I will post some more!)

Keep Calm & Carry On!

2011-08-07T20:08:00.001+01:00

In order to stop myself from panicking that my Yurt Tour of America's plan had gone awry, I made some lists then started phoning and emailing anyone who might have a bright idea or two on how to get a replacement frame to Des Moines on time. I gradually whittled through the suggestions and possible scenarios and came to the conclusion that it would not be economical or practical to ship the original Scottish frame. I have had a great deal of support and practical advice from Terri Kirchner, who is the curator of the Wisconsin Fiber Arts Museum and Scott Figved, the son of one of the Stunt Quilters. Other possibilities involved contacting Amish carpenters or shipping my Yurt crown as the most difficult element of the construction. The most daunting problem is lack of time and it is essential that the Quilted Yurt is exhibited on an authentic frame; otherwise my credibility and the potential for the Yurt to travel elsewhere in the USA would be compromised. It looks like the problem is solved and this week a replacement frame will be commissioned.

I have decided that I want to try to sell some quilts in order to help finance the USA trip. I am very proud of them but they spend most of their time in a linen press, occasionally being aired at trunk shows or lectures. They may as well earn their keep and I can always make new ones...! They are for sale in my virtual shop www.etsy.com/shop/thequiltquine I am also going to get some Yurt panels and quilt patterns printed out for sale. It confirms that I need a tight schedule to get me galvanised into action. I finally booked my flights to the USA for the Des Moines and Wisconsin trip. It was a little tricky working out the route and dates but I am relieved that I have got it all sorted out now.

I finished quilting one of the African Fabric Shop mudcloth panels so that I can display it at FOQ along with three of the most recent Yurt panels. I have packed 3 more panels that I hope to quilt while I am there, although it would be great if I was too busy selling longarm machines to have time to quilt. I pieced another African Yurt panel which might even be the last one. I do have other ideas to explore but perhaps I will have to redirect these into a new series of quilts that are influenced by the Scottish countryside.

I spent almost two days packing up part of my studio for Festival of Quilts, including dismantling one of the longarm frames. The long boxes containing poles and rails will have to travel on the roofrack of the Landy. I seem to have crossed everything off the list so I hope I have not forgotten anything important. Freya has been sorting out camping gear for a Girl Guide camp and the other two are packed up and ready to be "evacuated" to stay with friends at the seaside on Tuesday. The dog-sitter is booked, the hens have been cleaned out and I have bought plenty of cat food...

Straw

2011-07-31T19:22:00.001+01:00

Although there are two weeks left of the school summer holidays, I think it would be fair to say that the weather has been pretty dismal. British Farmers are worried about their grain harvest and what sort of straw they will end up with as winter cattle feed. Growing conditions have been erratic since a very dry spring then a wet and cool summer. I could do with a trip to the hairdresser as my hair even looks like straw. It has grown quite long and the colour seems to have faded but the new growth is just mousey. I thought I might dye it myself so it is the same colour all over but I could not find a single box of dye that came anywhere near the new natural straw colour of my hair. I expect I will now wait until autumn then dye it accordingly to match the foliage.

I tackled some worthwhile mid summer holiday chores, supervising major clear outs in kids' bedrooms and completed the dreaded repaint of Fergus' attic room in two days after scrubbing off ancient wax crayon scribbles. The trouble with the new paint is that it makes a scruffy carpet and tatty blind look much worse.

While waiting for the paint to dry between coats, I finished quilting all of the 13 roof sections for Yurt 2 with simple lines to look like a corrugated tin roof. These will have to be shaped into wedges then fitted to the Yurt frame with Velcro before I can declare the new roof complete. I have started piecing the FINAL panel for Yurt 2 and will take the last three unquilted panels with me to FOQ so that I can demonstrate with Lenni using a scrappy area for the Festival visitors and show off a bit of serious quilting at the other end of the frame.

Unfortunately, I had to withdraw the Smart Car cover from the Quilted Creations competition at FOQ as I was unable to borrow a car upon which to display it. I had contacted several Smart Car dealers and the head of marketing for Smart/ Mercedes Benz UK but I was informed that the 35 000 international visitors attending the show were - "unlikely to represent the demographic of a Smart Car buyer" – which is a great shame. I really will have to consider whether it is worth me keeping the cover if Smart dealers can't see the point of lending a car at quilt shows which would give them considerable free advertising. Perhaps I should try to sell it privately after all.

I had some very disappointing news this weekend from the American yurt maker who had offered to make the frame for the USA Yurt tour. He informed me that he would no longer be able to construct and lend a frame due to ill health and economics. This is a major blow to my plans and I wish I had been told FAR earlier! I have been trying to come up with alternative ideas that will enable me to display the Quilted Yurt properly in the USA at the end of September. I have many calls to make this week to see what alternative arrangements can be made. At worst I may have to get the existing frame treated and certified for timber export then shipped at a worryingly unknown cost. I will not be defeated by this huge setback as I am determined that the Yurt will be seen by the American quilters who helped to create it and those who have provided so much encouragement.

More or Less

2011-07-24T20:20:00.001+01:00

Profoundly speaking, I have been comparing the various mores and lesses of the week. The children were busy with holiday clubs and one afternoon there were 10 children here for a picnic. Although there was a lot going on, they were not bored therefore they were less difficult to manage. The whole family is making an effort to follow a healthier eating regime by eating food that is more wholesome and less processed. The children enjoyed choosing their ingredients at the supermarket, picking out local produce if possible. We have made bread, muesli bars, carrot cake, soup, salads, mayonnaise, cottage pie, marinaded chicken, yogurt, and pesto which is all very honourable but it definitely involves a lot more washing up!

I made myself several TO DO lists; somehow I will have to find a way of ploughing through each of the tasks. I find that the trouble with having limited time is that I want to fit more and more things in. It is annoying that I keep thinking of more overdue household jobs that I want to do that involve paint or major reorganising.

My Festival of Quilts entries are more and also less ready to go. So far I have not been able to borrow a Smart Car so it looks unlikely that the pink patchwork cover will make it to FOQ this year. I have been pestering the marketing team of Smart UK and even joined a Smart Car Owner's forum to appeal for a vehicle, or even a wreck. I sewed on 5 hanging sleeves by hand and have the holes in my fingers to prove it. I was a little lazy regarding the labels and simply attached them with Bondaweb. All that remains is to pack them all up and take them to the Post Office. I am sending 4 Yurt panels although there are 5 that are now "show ready" so I will reject one of them at the last minute.

I have finished cutting and dyeing all of the fabric for the roof of Yurt 2. There remain 6 more sections to quilt before I have to face the dreaded task of shaping and joining it all together. I quilted the Yurt panel that I completed in Katherine Guerrier's class at the QGBI Region 16 weekend retreat. The less complicated option would have been to stitch in the ditch or quilt a simple overall spiral. I could even have quilted lots of overlapping circles, but instead I chose a more time consuming combination of pebbles and spiky lines. The next panel to be quilted is a piece of African mudcloth with a subtle extension of shot cotton and gold lame squares that will also require intricate designs. I am determined to quilt at least 2 more tedious roof panels before I allow myself to finish it. I think there may be one (or possibly two) more Yurt panels left to piece. I have already been thinking ahead to a couple of future projects...

All the Fun of the Fair

2011-07-17T14:36:00.001+01:00

Despite not looking forward to an outing to Great Yarmouth, I had a surprisingly fun day. It is a Norfolk seaside town that is a smaller, down-market version of Las Vegas. It is certainly an amusing place to do some serious people watching. It was a wet and windy day so, wearing raincoats, we braved the roller coaster, waltzers, haunted house, snails and the vintage merry-go-round horses. The children lost money on the grabbing machines and the addictive 2p pushers. They were amazed that I could throw darts and delighted when I won a goldfish in a small tank. After a cheap supper on the market of chips, mushy peas and cockles, we went to a cinema that seemed to be trapped in a time warp to watch "Transformers 3".

I am sorry to say that the little fish only survived for two days so it had to be given a funeral complete with requiem and gravestone. It is probably just as well since it would have been very sloshed around on a 500 mile trip back to Scotland. Perhaps we should have taken the moral high ground and not entered a game where the prize was alive but at the time it seemed like a traditional thing to do on a family trip to the funfair. The tub of fish food cost more than the entry fee so the children are hoping for a replacement from our local pet shop.

The weather was not that great for camping and we were glad that we had brought extra blankets. We were very lucky to have sunshine when we hired a boat for a day trip on the Norfolk Broads. Because the boat was electric, we saw plenty of wildlife including several swans that swam right up to see if we would like to share our picnic. We moored up at a remote riverside pub to sample some locally brewed ale. Fergus has decided that he would like a boat when he grows up so that he can moor up, drink some beer and go to sleep for the afternoon.

I snipped loose threads, applied hot crystals and painted some details on 3 yurt panels that I had taken with me as I was worried about finishing them in time for the FOQ deadline on my return. They still have to have their sleeves & labels done and a few more finishing touches but they are almost there. I visited a group of quilters in Chedgrave where my Mother is a member and they were very complimentary about the panels, especially the Hare which I have now officially declared finished. While they tacked their raffle quilt for hand sewing, I helped to make the tea.

We all enjoyed spending time with family and going on trips to the beach or outdoor swimming pool. The climate in East Anglia is a few degrees warmer than NE Scotland so we often ate outside. It would be nice to have a holiday cottage there. Camping is all very well but everyone was secretly glad when the tent got packed away and we spent the last night in real beds again. We were weary after an 11 hour drive in the Landy but it felt good to be home. After a day of washing it will be time to start making To Do lists again...

Corker

2011-07-10T21:19:00.001+01:00

We were all packed up ready for our camping trip so I went to lock up my workshop. Noticing that there was a strong smell of elderflower champagne, I found that one of the bottles had exploded and that several others were bulging ominously. I tried to move them gingerly like unexploded bombs into the large stone sink, aware that one of the plastic bottles was making a cracking sound like an iceberg. There followed an almighty deafening explosion and I was showered with sticky champagne and dared not open my eyes to survey the damage. Apart from dripping with fizz, there was also a fair amount of blood dripping from somewhere. After I had showered for the second time that morning, I discovered that I had a deep gash just above my eye. Tania and Freya stuck it all together with some steri-strips while my husband attempted to mop up the mess and disposed of the rest of my home-brew. He wrapped the remaining bottles in a towel and threw them into the field where they exploded dramatically. I was extremely lucky that I did not get a direct hit in the eye and I dread to think what could have happened with glass bottles. It has been a curious experience having a swollen black eye – people seem to stare but avoid asking what happened as if imagining all sorts of domestic horrors. I did go to the surgery the next day where the nurse complimented us on our first aid skills. Instead of being taken aback by the unusual circumstances of my injury, she mentioned that her previous patient had been the victim of burns caused by scalding hot homemade jam.

We have been spending a pleasant week with family in Norfolk where it seems warm even when raining in summer. I have to admit that I do not enjoy sleeping in a tent as much as I did when I was much younger. It is either chilly or too hot and I seem to lie in bed thinking I must go to the loo but would rather not get up and tackle all of the necessary zips on sleeping bag and tent walls. I have been trying to get into the spirit of it all but have sneaked back into my parents' house a couple of times.

We had a really enjoyable day in Norwich, visiting the castle, cathedral and wandering around the quaint streets. We had a delicious supper in the Waffle House which has not changed at all for years. After the shock of browsing in a trendy and expensive shop called "Jack Wills" with Freya I bought a simple skirt pattern and some Amy Butler fabric to have a go at dress making under my mother's supervision. It reminded me why I don't usually sew garments as I find it all so confusing. I think I could make another one if I approach it like a quilt with binding and buttons. Going to the beach and having campfires has not allowed me any time to embellish the show quilts that I brought with me, let alone work on the Yurt Book draft but it has been really great to spend time eating outside and toasting marshmallows.

What a Bind!

2011-07-03T18:35:00.001+01:00

I decided to concentrate on getting as much done on the quilts for FOQ as I possibly could before the school holidays. The first hurdle was remembering which panels I had earmarked since I made the entry forms so vague in case I had to make substitutions. Three Yurt panels are being entered as a "triptych" but I will work on four then decide which ones qualify at the last minute. I was pleased with the quilting on "Yellow on the Broom" but secretly prefer the reverse side. I decided to work in a slightly back to front way and bind them all first. Next I will attach hanging sleeves, tidy up the loose threads and finally will deal with embellishments such as crystals and buttons. This means that I won't have to worry so much about running out of time. I started off with good intentions of hand sewing the bindings onto the backs of the quilts but soon decided that I had sore fingers and was bored and since I am a machine quilter, I will do the whole thing by machine. I think I do it pretty neatly and the Yurt panels are not strictly show quilts; they are just getting an "outing" to FOQ to show the quilting world that I still quilt!

We had some serious downpours during the week so I did not feel guilty about spending as much time as possible in the workshop - I also had to fit in taking Freya to her grade 3 piano exam & school prize-giving, and Durris School's end of term church service. Tania and I taste tested the elderflower champagne. It is rather cloudy because I added yeast, worried that natural fermentation wasn't happening. It is extremely fizzy and tastes OK but could do with a stronger elderflower flavour, perhaps by adding some cordial. Ginger could also be an interesting addition. I will make a note of these improvements for next year's recipe.

We are going to do some camping this week but I have packed up the crystals and quilts in case I have any spare time. I would like to make my own sleeping bag. I washed all of the camp bedding but some of the zips were broken. I cut one good zip off a very old nylon bag and intend to make a much nicer new one with some Amy Butler fabric if I see it on sale. I could even use an unfinished quilt top. First I need to decide what wadding to use. The expensive ones seem to have a silk filling of some sort. Perhaps it needs to be layers of silk or wool and cotton as long as it doesn't get too damp. As well as being cosy, it needs to remain lightweight, although if you take the car you can take extra quilts and pillows camping too, as well as the stove, coffee pot, lanterns, books...

Soggy Solstice

2011-06-26T20:13:00.001+01:00

Midsummer was damp and cool again this year and I was secretly glad not to be camping at a Festival, even though Glastonbury looked great on TV. I hope that my new pop-up Liberty flowery tent gets a nice warm and dry first outing. I got soaked to the skin every day as I walked the dogs through the wheat field and tall bracken. The elderflower fizz that started off so well looks a little flat and cloudy. It probably needs to be tasted soon and possibly dumped. I still have a batch of frozen flower heads that I will use to brew up some cordial. I watched a BBC documentary about weeds and decided that I was doing my bit for the environment if I just let the garden get completely overgrown. I can at least use the nettles for pesto – I made a tasty variation that substituted all of the original Italian ingredients apart from garlic for cheddar cheese, toasted breadcrumbs, rapeseed oil and garden herbs and it was delicious! Saturday was dry almost all day then there was a brief but fabulous sunset at around 10.30pm

It may have been grey and dull outside but my workshop was full of colour. I worked on a customer UFO that has been waiting 10 years to be quilted. It is really bright and I am sure that its new owner will be thrilled.

I used my coffee breaks to micro-stipple part of the second Celtic Knot but it is still a long way from being completed. I think this one will probably get some crystals to brighten it up. I managed to find a couple of hours to make a wonky triangle bottom border for the African fabric thistle coloured panel. I will quilt it in chevrons then add some circles to the sides later. There is only one worryingly short week left until the school holidays. Apart from continuing to work on the Yurt while keeping the children busy and fed, I have several pieces still very much under construction for Festival of Quilts. I hope it rains all week so I can spend all of my time quilting.

Resourceful

2011-06-19T19:28:00.001+01:00

I admitted that my sore throat was not getting any better and finally phoned the surgery but predictably, it proved impossible to speak to a doctor. Mo was able to provide me with a second-hand set of unfinished antibiotics which I took for a couple of days that seemed to ease the symptoms. I came across an interesting recipe for an onion and chilli gargle which I may try as a kill or cure remedy. I accompanied Fergus' class on another school trip at the local trout fishery and we all had fly-casting lessons. It was a beautiful day and we saw plenty of fish but they were obviously far too wise to be caught by noisy school children. Later that afternoon Tania I collected a bag of wild elderflower heads which had been in full sun so we hoped that they would help us to make a batch of perfect "champagne". We wondered if the liquid would look too brown since we chose to use unrefined sugar. Several days later I was amazed to find that it was actually fizzing in the bucket so we will bottle it and hope for the best.

Despite making several more batches of bread and some delicious brown bread ice-cream, which tastes far nicer than you would expect from its humble ingredients, I eventually got going in the workshop and completed the quilting on Celtic Circles2. I decided to keep it very close to the original version but there seem to be even more circles to paint this time.

On Friday I drove down to Stirling for the biannual QGBI Region 16 residential weekend at Stirling University. I felt a little guilty at taking time off to have fun when I have so much else to do but it is such a great weekend that I soon relaxed and began to enjoy myself. It is lovely to be catered for and spend the whole weekend sewing and catching up with quilting friends. Everyone is friendly and visitors from outside our Scottish region are made especially welcome. My tutor was Katherine Guerrier and all of the students were delighted with the work that she inspired us to create. The piecing techniques were not as complicated as they seemed but the results looked impressive. We tackled curved piecing fearlessly without any special equipment or fiddly instructions as Katherine's demonstrations were so well explained. I worked as fast as I possibly could and pieced an entire yurt panel using up scraps. It is a wackily random piece but by the time it has been quilted with circles it will fit in perfectly with all of the others. Many people made favourable comments about the Quilted Yurt and asked what I would be working on next. I have had a few interesting ideas ticking over for a while. However, I seem to have agreed to have a go at creating a suit of horse armour for the Loch Lomond Quilt Show in 2012...!

A Little Downtime

2011-06-12T21:02:00.001+01:00

It was a good thing that I got on with several projects early on in the week to make up for some "lost" time later on. The trapunto on the Celtic Knotwork2 panel is coming along nicely. I quilted and dyed some more Yurt2 roof material and I added an assortment of Oakshott squares to make a wacky piece of African thistle fabric large enough for a Yurt panel. This is the first time that I have deliberately used an obviously printed fabric for a yurt panel but the thistle design is perfect. The squares were joined as "in-betweeners" while I pieced Celtic Circles2 so it seemed like I was piecing two quilts at once. I had hoped to get it all done and photographed but I was hit by a nasty sore throat which I suspect may have been tonsillitis so I had a couple of go-slow days. This coincided with a visit from my parents who have been on a tour of Scotland in their caravan, so actually the timing worked out rather well for a lazy and sociable few days.

I was disappointed with my pumpernickel bread that took two days to assemble and then got badly stuck to the cast iron pan that it was baked in. I broke a knife and a spatula trying to extract the bread from the pan and have made an amendment to the recipe book stating that it must be baked in a tined lined with baking paper and protected with layers of brown parcel paper like a Christmas cake. Once I sawed off the blackened, crispy crust, the inside was actually pretty good. At least the dogs enjoyed it.

After harassing the garage every day for seeming to take forever to diagnose the extent of the Landy's electrical problems and get in the new parts, I finally got it back at the weekend. I breathed a sigh of relief as it started up beautifully. The garage has not yet presented me with the bill so I had better get stuck into the next customer quilt with gusto this week in case it is bad news!

$Sparkz!*!

2011-06-05T20:06:00.001+01:00

$Sparkzz!@*&>!!:(

My week got off to a great start as I multi-tasked baking flapjacks, bagels and a loaf on Monday flying between dyeing and quilting yurt roof panels on Milli and the Celtic Drunkard's Path on Lenni! I had grand plans to plough through a mammoth to do list in the following days after fitting in a school trip and a shopping trip to Aberdeen. I helped transport Fergus's class on a visit with the Ghillie for a demonstration of fly-fishing for salmon. It was a beautiful day on Royal Deeside - the children really enjoyed paddling in the shallows looking for small fry and thought it was hilarious when an eel bit one of the class.

Wednesday morning also started off according to plan. I posted LSD off to Australia for an exorbitant fee, made more bread and read a patchwork magazine before heading off to have coffee at Mo's. My neighbour asked if I could help to start her car which had a flat battery. I had a niggling feeling that I didn't really want to attempt it as the Landy's battery is tucked away under the passenger seat but we always try to help each other out so we unravelled the jump leads to do some vehicular CPR. A short circuit happened somewhere and an alarming spark frazzled out from my car's battery. When I tried to restart my car it was dead. I called the AA but could not actually explain the whole story because I don't suppose that sort of casualty is covered. The mechanic tried to tell me that I had probably run out of fuel but I insisted that "in my opinion it seemed to be an electrical fault"... He had to call for a larger truck to tow the forlorn Landy to the garage, which by this time, had closed for the day. Just like the parent of a child with an unknown illness, I searched the Internet to track down a diagnosis and then worried about the possible symptoms even more.

The next day was gloriously hot and two mechanics were "off sick" (obviously skiving) so it was nearly 5pm by the time the garage phoned to say that it was mended. I asked Mo to drop me off in Banchory on Friday morning to collect the Landy. However, there seemed to have been a miscommunication since the Landy was still dead and no-one seemed to know who had actually looked at it. I started walking home dejectedly knowing that Mo never takes her mobile phone with her but luckily she had a sixth sense that I would need a lift home and she spotted me on her way to Tesco. I was very annoyed with myself for thinking that I could tackle any job but instead I caused unknown damage to my own car which could yet prove to have been a costly mistake. I have made a pledge not to attempt any more rescuing, towing or botched mechanics in future. To make myself feel better I made doughnuts and as a punishment I refolded every single piece of fabric in my workshop. Actually, it was very therapeutic to sort through the stash and the neat drawers look most satisfying.

Whirlwind (with text this time!)

2011-05-30T10:58:00.001+01:00

The week started off with damaging gale force winds. The Yurt tried to take off, the henhouse blew over, branches broke off and at least half of the cherry crop was lost. It was not until the next day when I was in the full swing of multi-tasking in my workshop that I had a powercut that lasted for several hours. This curtailed Fergus' electric guitar lesson and Fenella's internet based homework. Of course, this was nothing compared to the devastating tornado that killed so many people in Joplin, Missouri USA.

Somehow I was "in the creative zone" this week and flitted between several projects. I added some shot cotton bits to an African fabric panel which I may treat like a wholecloth. I appliquéd a Celtic knotwork twin for one of the Stunt Quilter's Yurt panels. Adding the black bias was really fiddly so I don't think it is a technique that I would rush to repeat. I intend to mark on some fancy trapunto like the original and see if Lenni will enable me to quilt bravely and smoothly around a drawn design. I worked on Ellen's diamonds quilt. She had been given a Spanish fabric kit that contained linen, velvet and damask and since the diamonds were all cut on the bias, the resulting quilt top was very stretchy. It would have been very challenging to quilt this on a domestic machine so I insisted that I would longarm it instead. I used wool for warmth and also to take up a bit of the fullness. Ellen commented that this lifted a feeling of guilt that she had kept putting off finishing that particular project. I also worked on the Celtic Drunkards Path panel and was pleased with my first attempts at curved cross hatching using boomerang shaped rulers. As a reward for all of this industry, I "allowed" myself to piece the African Fabric Shop wall hanging kit that I bought at LLQS. I even spent some time trying to finish drafting the remaining Yurt Book projects. I want to produce a very rough draft so that potential publishers can see exactly what I have in mind.

It was a busier than usual week for the children; Fergus passed his cycling proficiency test and Freya packed for her school trip to France. I spent a fraught Saturday with Fenella "assisting" with her homework to produce a realistic model pirate ship. I think it is really tricky using junk to make a boat so that it does not look like a shoebox covered in paint and sellotape. We both lost our tempers but the final result looks shipshape; at least, my linen sails hand sewn onto the lollystick masts look pretty authentic.

The biggest fun that I have had this week was making bread on a daily basis. Now that my sourdough mix is doing what it is meant to do, I make up a "sponge" the night before, add the rest of the flour in the morning, then get the Kitchenaid mixer to do a couple of kneadings before baking in the oven. I have varied the type of flour each time and made genuinely wholesome bread. I ordered a selection of unusual flours and seeds from a mill in Gloucestershire, although the children would probably prefer less robust combinations and look unimpressed when offered bread and homemade lemon curd as an after school snack AGAIN! There is a danger that I will have to eat most of the loaves myself so I decided that if there were spare slices then I would freeze them as the bread makes extra crunchy toast. I read the River Cottage Bread handbook from cover to cover and I now have aspirations to become an artisan baker...

Cultured

2011-05-22T20:25:00.001+01:00

I tackled a pair of boys' quilts almost as soon as the customer dropped them off as I knew that if I left them any longer they may not get fitted in for ages. They were really charming in simple checks, spots and stripes and big swirls finished them off really well.

Mo gave me a panel of Celtic patterns to quilt that she had applied with a T-shirt transfer. I used the Bliss Lenni and was really impressed that I could follow the pattern without wobbling off any of the lines as it was so smooth. I decided to check that the rubbery residue would wash off before I spent hours on the background quilting but after hand-washing it, then giving it a hot wash, it looked like dried-on glue. Mo was more determined to get it off so she has now scrubbed it with white spirit! I think I can probably come up with easier ways to finish the Hare off...

I decided to trace the Celtic knotwork Yurt panel from California and make a second version of it for Yurt 2. My curved cross hatching rulers have now arrived so I hope to tackle the Celtic Rings next. I will have to make a decision on when to stop as it is probably about time to work on a new project or at least think about a couple of new competition quilts. I checked and edited the supply list for my AQS classes at Des Moines, and submitted the draft book proposal so it really was a week of crossing things off lists.

It was an incredibly sociable week. I attended the world premiere of low budget comedy-horror film, "Attack of the Herbals". This was shot entirely on location near Stonehaven with local actors. The bizarre plot involved herbal tea that made the villagers psychotic and turned them into evil zombies. It was surprisingly funny – apparently it has attracted considerable interest at the Cannes Film Festival. I took Freya and Fergus out for a sophisticated supper at Woodend Barn to see Walter Strauss, an amazing guitarist from California. He played a mixture of Blues, Spanish, American Folk and African instrumentals, including songs that he had written himself. We also went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and enjoyed the swash-buckling piratical adventures of Captain Jack and the dastardly BlackBeard.

In addition to all of the cultural outings, there were some incredible cultures bubbling away at home. My sourdough starter no longer smelled like vomit, just acridly cheesy. I appealed for help on the River Cottage Forum and was advised to keep going as the cooler climate in Scotland was obviously slowing down its fermentation and at least it was not mouldy. Sure enough, it now smells fresh and yeasty after two weeks so I hope it actually makes good bread! We had some remedial work done on our old fashioned concrete septic tank and soakaway; I was complimented by the digger driver that he had not seen such wonderfully healthy bugs and cultures for years so it's good to know that we have done our bit for the environment.

I spent Friday and Saturday at the Loch Lomond Quilt Show with Ellen. We spend a pleasurable and leisurely couple of days visiting all of the exhibitions. The Smart Car looked great in the shopping centre at Lomond Shores. The Canadian Red Cross Quilts all had moving stories to tell. Of course I am biased as some of my quilts were there, but I particularly enjoyed the "30 of the Best" and "FreeWheeling" galleries in the Trinity Church at Renton. The traders were in a new, brighter location at Riverside Church and I bought some gorgeous African fabrics from Magie Relph's African Fabric Shop. There are a couple of large pieces that may end up as Yurt panels and a wall-hanging kit for me to do just for fun. It was lovely to catch up with so many people and even be recognised by my gold boots. I am also thrilled to mention that I have sold "LSD" as part of my effort to raise funds for the Yurt tour of the USA. Its new owners are from Australia; they were on holiday in the UK and were visiting the show. This will be my most well travelled quilt as it has already been to California and Rhode Island. I will be kind of sad to see it go but on the other hand, it's an excuse to make something new!

Quilting Between the Lines

2011-05-15T19:30:00.001+01:00

I worked on a geometric Yurt panel this week which I have called 5 Bar Gate. It is a very basic strip quilt with vaguely Welsh/Amish inspired quilting. Simple designs can be surprisingly time consuming as the lines have to be drawn out accurately then followed with a ruler with concentration. Some of the lines were then filled with mini spirals. I was really pleased with the effect and decided to order a couple of new rulers. I did not have one that was marked for cross hatching so I drew the lines in fine marker pen then scratched them on using the point of a pair of compasses. I spent Friday 13^th painting inside the quarter inch lines with a very small paintbrush while listening to Radio 4. Earlier in the week someone told me that I sounded "just like Sandi Toksvig!" Hmm, I have always wanted to be a BBC presenter... While listening to the R4 soap opera about farming, The Archers, I dutifully filed my Government guidelines on what to do if I have an outbreak of Sheep Scab with my flock inventory. I applied for an agricultural holding number several years ago in case I ever wanted to get a couple of pet goats but I have never actually had an Ovine on the property. Theoretically this means I could keep sheep, llamas, pigs and even elephants. At the moment the only "livestock" to keep me occupied when I am not quilting are my 5 hens.

I spent an interesting day with Garioch Quilters on Tuesday where I taught my feathered Paisley class. I made notes on what could be improved for future classes. I will include a photocopy or template for people who really don't want to draw their own designs and I need to source white-board pens that don't trigger asthma. I even went home with some fresh rhubarb. This went straight into a cake that was delicious, despite getting burnt on one side. I left a curry in the oven at 120 degrees while I took the children swimming but when I got home it was black. I will attempt to change the thermostat since I refuse to buy a new cooker until the day I finally get an Aga! Fenella kept me busy with "homework" so I sub-contracted some of it to her older sister who created a pirate outfit, drew on some fake tattoos and took photos for the class project. I felt inspired to make a sourdough starter for yeastless bread. It has to be fed with flour daily for at least a week until it gives off a pleasant yeasty odour; however, it smells more like vomit to me so I am hopeful things will improve.

I caught up with Mo who had cut out lots of foliage for a Green Man appliqué project which should look great. She has given me the challenge of quilting some intricate Celtic stencils to make new borders for the Hare. She also produced a sketch of an adder that we could piece or appliqué so it looks like I will have plenty of panels left in the UK for Yurt 2 after the original ones are shipped to the USA later this year.

I made myself sit and concentrate on the Yurt Book for a whole day without getting side-tracked. Once I got started I made good progress, rediscovering and editing half written chapters. I tried to use the Smart Pen to sketch rough diagrams to attach to the written instructions but I forgot to switch it on to activate the special paper..! I enjoyed the challenge of turning my "chuck it in and see" recipes into formal instructions but I will need to get someone to check that the quantities are accurate and will produce something edible. I hope that a publisher will allow me to include some of these so the Yurt Book is more diverse and quirky than a straightforward quilt book. A few more productive days like that should get the manuscript into shape and ready for submission at last.

Curtains R not Us

2011-05-08T21:09:00.001+01:00

Curtains R not Us

I had a great day on the beach at St Cyrus with the children on Monday, the May Day holiday. It was sunny, not windy, lovely and warm beside our driftwood bonfire. We just sat and watched the waves, built a moated sand castle and made hot-dogs washed down with cups of tea. I didn't even worry about my To Do List at all!

I did battle with a pair of linen curtains for the next couple of days, regretting using the thick blackout interlining. There was barely enough so when the sun shines I can see that it doesn't quite reach the top. The linen seemed to keep moving every time I measured it and I could not remember how to use the blind hem foot so I simply used invisible thread for the hem instead. After hanging them they trailed voluptuously and annoyingly on the floor so I took up yet another hem that I wasn't pleased with. The finished curtains seemed so bulky after the 40-odd year old velvet ones that I thought they looked like bedspreads and decided that from now on I will only make Qurtains or pay a professional to do them properly. I know I should have sewn them by hand; using the machine was not necessarily faster. I am going to make a pelmet with pompoms to finish them off. Visitors declared them to be very posh so I must stop obsessing over the mistakes that only I can see.

I added some painted details to the Hare but there seemed to be something missing. I thought he needed a shadow but Mo favoured a standing stone. That is the trouble with not planning something in advance. I looked up images of hares and standing stones but just could not find inspiration. In the end we have decided to cut a bit off the bottom end of the Hare panel so that he no longer seems to float in the middle and we will attempt to add on some new quilted borders with Celtic details. Meanwhile, Mo is going to appliqué a Green Man's head so hopefully we will have a choice of panels with which to enter into the two person category at FOQ.

As an antidote to all of that artistic decision making, I ran up a super simple 5-bar Amish style strippy in 2 colours of Oakshott which I intend to quilt very geometrically for a change. I absolutely MUST make some progress with writing so will work on that on and off during the week, while continuing to churn out quilted/corrugated Yurt roof sections and try to make a decision about dates on which I could offer classes.

This weekend we went on a family outing to have a go at 10-pin bowling. I don't think my dodgy elbow appreciated hurling the incredibly heavy bowls but I came second and enjoyed the nachos. The children became utterly addicted to the 2p pushing machines in the amusement arcade and fed all of their winnings straight back into the slots until they were broke. After a slap up supper at Costco, it was time to supervise music practice, do the ironing, organise packed lunches, read bedtime stories and update the blog at the end of yet another week that simply flew past.

Too chicken for a Hare

2011-05-01T20:22:00.001+01:00

It was another 4-day week so I had to get stuck in and try to quilt two things at once. I rattled off 3 Yurt2 roof sections then concentrated on getting Mo's Hare quilted. I decided to do the background first as I really wasn't sure what to do about his body. I am pretty pleased with the effect considering that this was the first project that I had done on Lenni and I was squeezing myself into a very small gap which was not very comfortable. In the end the body was just quilted with wiggly lines as the fabric collage did not really demand anything fancier. There now needs to be some paint to enhance some quilting lines and a few sparkly crystals. Mo and I need to decide whether we are happy with the Hare just sitting there – she had originally planned to do a standing stone collage but hit a creativity brick wall with the project. I think it also needs something interesting to happen in the binding then I will send it to FOQ before it officially becomes a new Yurt panel.

Since major dieting was not a speedy option for squeezing in between Lenni and Milli, I decided it would be quicker to rearrange my studio to fit Lenni in the larger room. It is a pity that I have to have the longarms in separate rooms but it is now in a much better position as Milli's room is chilly and shady all day. I dismantled the frame and reassembled it all by myself as good practice for being at a show. I also put together the flat pack table that arrived as a replacement for my Horn cabinet so I reckon I'm getting pretty good at using my tools and even following instructions.

While spending all this time in my workshop I thought a lot about running classes on a more regular basis. I have been meaning to do this for ages but never got around to writing down specifics, requirements and picking some dates. With Miche on board as an informal PA, she is giving me helpful suggestions and setting me "homework" tasks to try and get things done more efficiently. I made myself finish off an article for C June Barnes that I started over a month ago and thankfully she has approved it so I was able to tick that off one of my lists.

Like most of the people in the UK, I took the day off on Friday to watch coverage of the Royal Wedding and have a picnic lunch with friends. I decided that Coronation Chicken and G&T Granitas would be delicious patriotic treats. The BBC did its usual great job of commentary and providing wonderful footage of the ceremony, procession and crowd scenes. I encouraged the children to watch such an historic event, annoying them by singing along to "Jerusalem". We loved criticising the outfits and hats, and trying to work out who was who. It was lovely to forget about deadlines, foreign wars and disasters for just one day and be caught up in a feeling of national goodwill.

This week I have to find a large box and arrange a courier to take quilts and the Smart Car cover to Loch Lomond and make some headway with the book draft and quilt class plans and make a pair of curtains... However, the children don't return to school from their long weekend until Wednesday so that could be quite a lot to fit in!

Mad as a March Hare (in April)

2011-04-24T19:53:00.001+01:00

I questioned my sanity when I had to ring a list of people who may be able to have my children after school when I forgot to check whether my neighbour was actually available and when I set off to Inverness with the Yurt without the full address and telephone number of my destination. I will put it down to trying to think of too many things at once. I need to go back to old fashioned list writing and consider printing off all non junk emails. In the end, everything worked out fine and I had a clear run to Smithton, where I met Sandra who did a great job of looking after me. I was glad that Highland Quilters had a team to help me including two very patient men without whom things would have been tricky. The church hall had a brand new carpet so I was unable to chalk a 9 foot circle to mark where the wall trellis should be placed. Someone eventually had the bright idea of laying down bits of paper and after that things went really smoothly apart from breaking another roof pole tip – I will just need to have around 3 spares I think. The talk seemed to go down well, despite the audience sitting in a curve around the Yurt so I hope they all caught most of it!

As we have had another week of good spring weather, I dyed some lengths of fabric for the roof of Yurt2. I dyed 6 times as much fabric at a time than was recommended in the instructions so the colours were lighter but they are still really good shades. I did some complicated calculations to work out the most efficient way of cutting the pieces and I intend to start quilting the long roof panels this week. I have even loaded the Lenni frame with the Mo's Hare panel so I need to pluck up the courage to quilt that too. I am hopeful that it might do for a two-person category FOQ entry since I have not done any show quilts for over a year now.

The sunshine spurred me on to finish Freya's new quilt, take up the hems on Fenella's new school dresses after she tried to squeeze into last year's frock complete with woolly tights & sheepskin boots, and I even went on to clean out the summer house and garden yurt. Freya and Millie entered the Balmoral Run for the first time and ran 2.5km in a very respectable 12+ minutes. Welly and Mabel willingly lined up for dog hair cuts. I looked up some recipes in case we decide to have a last-minute garden party to celebrate the Royal Wedding – I wonder if Prince William and Kate Middleton will have Coronation Chicken and Gin & Tonic Sorbet on their menu?

Spring!!

2011-04-17T21:16:00.001+01:00

Spring!!

The weather was pretty good this week, indeed, unbelievably fabulous on Sunday and we even ate outside twice at the weekend without everything blowing away. The ground is actually dry and the wild cherry blossom looks lovely. There are hundreds of white anemones growing through the dead, winter bracken that may inspire a Yurt panel when I remember to take my camera on a dog walk. Fergus got a new bike since he wasn't looking forward to doing his cycling proficiency course at school on his sister's old one which was purple and too small. I was rather taken by a traditional ladies' bike with a wicker basket so wasted a little while on the Internet looking up Dutch bicycles in case I took a notion to cycle 4 miles for a carton of milk. Those bikes look such fun in Holland but the reality here in Scotland is that the main roads are too busy and the off-road tracks are too stony for that sort of contraption.

As it was school holiday week two I felt concerned that I was not progressing with business related tasks so got stuck into finishing off 3 customer quilts and a tote bag project that had been hanging around for a while. The bag was a little frustrating because it had an odd windmill construction method and I did not find it easy to get the lining to behave. I had hoped to have alternating coloured churndash blocks but seem to have ended up with a red side and a purple side. I utility quilted Catherine's Aussie animals, Alison's scrappy elephants and sewed the binding onto another quilt that I did before we went away.

The faulty Kitchenaid mixer had to be collected and will be swapped for one that doesn't mind making bread dough so I had a cooking frenzy one day trying out all of its attachments. It did a really good job of pancakes, pizza dough, mango yogurt ice-cream and also mincing cheese and basil. The children were impressed by all of this activity in the kitchen but after washing up a sinkful of dishes about 6 times I remembered why I am not a full time domestic goddess.

The APQS Lenni on the 8ft Bliss frame arrived from the USA and I put most of it together by myself. It looks great and I have had a practice piece on it. I love my great big Millennium but I think the Lenni is lighter and far simpler to use. There are no adjustments to make on the track or wheels although I was a bit frustrated that there was some vibration at certain resonances. This improved dramatically after we took off the castors. I may have to do a few minor tweaks to get it running as perfectly as I would like. Space is now rather limited in my longarm room; I could do with being a bit slimmer to get past Lenni to the back of Milli but I would prefer to keep the other room free for workshops and small classes.

All in all, I was pleased with my progress for the week and should be able to go to Inverness with the Yurt this week with a clear conscience – after I have done everything on my To Do list for Monday!

Isle of Mull & Iona

2011-04-10T22:10:00.001+01:00

We spent a great week on Mull despite some very wet weather that made part of the cliff wall collapse further down the street. It was like watching manufactured rain in a movie lashing across the bay. We did not get too bored as the children drew pictures of the colourful harbour front and strummed on the old guitar that we took with us. After I made Fenella's Clothkits dolly with back to front arms, I pieced a quilt of simple squares. My husband kept thinking of errands to fetch from the multi-purpose chandler at the harbour that sold everything from cake decorations and harmonicas to fishing tackle and binoculars. I came up with plenty of ideas for remodelling the fisherman's cottage that we were staying in. It was quaint and cosy but if it was mine I would have redecorated it with a nautical theme and antler coat hooks.

It was not quite the tourist season so some places like the handmade cheese company were not open for business. We travelled all over the island in the Landy and took in the spectacular scenery, driving on twisting, plunging single track roads. Some of the settlements were extremely remote and you could drive for miles and not see a house or car. There were many highland cows and sheep wandering around and we kept a keen eye out for wildlife. We could not decide whether the birds of prey were sea eagles, golden eagles or just buzzards. We were fortunate to spot a sea otter, a mountain hare, a seal, and on the last evening a pod of five harbour porpoises swam around the yachts moored up in the bay at Tobermory.

There were plenty of good places to eat out and the seafood was fabulous. At Mishnish, Cafe Fish, the Pub and the Chip Van we feasted on langoustines, mussels, oysters, crab claws, monkfish, scallops, and even squats which looked like large pink woodlice. I have to admit that we had fish and chips several times in one week but it was all so deliciously fresh.

Our outings were delightfully simple – Tobermory museum, collecting shells and pebbles on the beach, and a foggy ferry trip back to the mainland to visit the most westerly point of mainland Scotland. There really was nothing much there apart from a few muddy cows grazing on the beach. The expedition to the neighbouring island of Iona was more successful as it was sunny and the children enjoyed looking for pieces of sea glass and green Iona marble on the small beaches. It was fascinating finding out about the geology of the area. Mull is a large island formed mostly from massive volcanic eruptions millions of years ago It was obvious to see that lava had flowed and bubbled to form most of the land mass. Apparently, the rocks on Mull are so old that fossils are rarely found as plant and animal life had not yet evolved.

We were sorry to leave the island on our last day as we had enjoyed our week spent mostly without Internet or TV. We took the long scenic route home via Glencoe, Aberfeldy and Braemar so that we could tour through the Highlands. On that journey we appreciated that Scotland has the most amazing scenery of craggy peaks, waterfalls, lochs and glens. It was nice to arrive home and realise that we have so much space in our house after spending a week in a small cottage. We would certainly recommend a trip to Mull and may consider visiting other islands in future; possibly visiting when there is a Celtic music festival and hoping for some sunshine – still, a major advantage of it not being brilliant weather was that at least we did not have to contend with midges

Time Wasting Technologies

2011-04-06T11:39:00.001+01:00

I signed up for Mobile Me, supposedly a productivity enhancing programme to link my computer, ipad and phone so that contacts and emails would all be synchronised over a technological "cloud". However, I wasted a ludicrous amount of time trying to load it all up and get the gadgets to connect with each other. I really wonder whether it was me being dense and missing the obvious or whether it was actually far more complicated than necessary. It is still not quite all tied together with the computer but theoretically I can at least access and edit the calendar.

I was very excited when my new Kitchenaid mixer arrived and immediately made a bucket full of mashed potato and cookie mixture. Strangely, it juddered alarmingly when mixing a batch of bread dough so I wasted yet more time on the internet trying to find out if it is normal for an industrial type of mixer to struggle with a basic loaf. It is not supposed to do that, of course, then I came across a website full of Kitchenaid complaints that I wish I had never read. Sadly, I have to pack it all up and send it back for a replacement which is frustrating. I made Freya's chocolate birthday cake the old fashioned way and it tasted great.

I finished off the couching and binding on Pi Sqaures on the new Elna machine and was pleased with the extra throat space. It is really annoying that it is around an inch too big for my Horn cabinet – if I lower the table I can't plug it in! I was horrified at the cost of new, larger ones so may just get the basic Janome/Elna table instead of the hideaway cabinet. I eventually managed to get half of a customer quilt done, ordered more fabric and dye for Yurt2's roof and got packed up for the family trip to the Isle of Mull.

We had a very scenic drive through Perthshire to Oban to catch the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry across to the Island. It was only a 45 minute crossing; beautifully sunny and calm. We drove on the single-track main road towards Tobermory with its brightly coloured houses on the harbour front. After settling in to an old fisherman's cottage, we had a supper of freshly caught mackerel and chips from an award winning van on the jetty. We ate it sitting on the steps of the clock tower in a heavy rain shower as a double rainbow arched across the bay.

What's the story in Balamory?

2011-04-03T17:49:00.000+01:00

I'm on the Isle of Mull without an Internet connection! I will have to wait until the Internet cafe opens later this week before making a proper blog post...

Pale and Interesting

2011-03-27T21:22:00.001+01:00

I started the week determined to make good headway on the Yurt book and began by printing out everything that I have written so far. There seemed to be 3 versions of an introduction and several partly completed sections. At least I can now see what needs to be done. I made headway on an article on Shape and Form despite looking up definitions in a dictionary and getting rather muddled. I just decided to write about yurts in general and the structure of mine in particular. I had to put the frame up again in order to make accurate measurements which Bruce in Vermont will need to make the USA frame. My Yurt is not what I would call precision engineered – the measurements vary slightly and seem to change if the grass is bumpy. I need to stand all of the roof spars upside down in a bucket of linseed oil since they seem to be getting brittle at the ends; there have been a few casualties, snapping off at their pointy ends that will need to be replaced.

I quilted the panel called Pi Squares with some curving lines and curved cross hatching, filled in with pebbles. The new Elna 740 machine arrived from Pembertons and I put it straight to work on couching some yarn around the circles and defining some of the curves. I am very impressed so far – it has not complained once about chomping through a quilted piece to do a bit of fancy stitching. The larger throat is great for manoeuvring a finished quilt for embellishing since the wadding I have used is rather stiff to make the texture puff up nicely.

I painted my bedroom bit by bit during the week. As I have a roll of subtly printed grey and white linen with which I intend to make curtains, I had to cover up the pumpkin coloured walls with something more Scandinavian. I used to paint walls in bold colours but I seem to be choosing paler shades nowadays – I hope it is not a sign of age! I can't say it was exciting decorating when the colour was an undramatic off-white and by the second coat I couldn't see where I had been.

I finally decided to order a Kitchenaid mixer this week as I came across a very good offer. This promotion did not apply to any of the gorgeously coloured ones so at least I was spared that difficult decision – the classic model only comes in white. This was partly prompted after I grated my thumb amongst the carrots again and I admit that I found the video clip on potato mashing impressive.

After working with all of these neutral shades there was some unexpected colour here this week – Fergus discovered a very old bottle of fake tan lotion in the bathroom cupboard and decided to apply it liberally to see whether it would work. The offending bottle had long passed its sell-by date and had a potent smell. Fergus maintained that the bottle "fell" on him. He did not consider rubbing the cream in or washing his hands afterwards so he gradually developed a patchy orange tan that fascinated everyone at school.

I ended the week getting frustrated by a program that is meant to make life simpler by synchronising my calendars and contacts between PC, phone and ipad – except that I can't get it to function in the first place and all it tells me is that my new phone is actually 4 miles away from where it really is so I expect I will have to waste some more time sorting that quirk out...

Stirling

2011-03-20T20:45:00.001Z

There has been something wrong with my coffee this week. It seemed to lack flavour so I went on a quest to source some more interesting blends. I researched different types of coffee grinders, wondering if I should make a ritual out of preparing my own beans for elevenses. Ferret had made me a cup of Blue Mountain coffee at the Region 15E weekend that had strength without bitterness. I eventually ordered an extravagant tin direct from Jamaica to see if it really is worth it. I had coffee with Mo midweek and came home with two new hens. She is constantly downsizing her free range flock so we captured a couple using fishing nets and I put them in my empty pigsty. They have laid two eggs each every day while my other lazy four have produced one in total. I had to stock up on layers' pellets before my trip to Stirling so picked up several new pairs of dressage gloves which are perfect for domestic machine quilting.

As well as preparing for a lecture & workshop away from home, helping to make sets of wings for the school show, registering for North East Open Studios and typing away on Yurt related documents, I also began dyeing fabric for the USA Yurt roof. Disappointingly, I realised that I am short by almost 40 metres! This large miscalculation is because I had forgotten that the first roof was tweeds on the top side with dyed backing but the second one will have dyed fabrics on both sides. On a positive note, I experimented and found that one sachet of Hungarian dye will colour an impressive 6 metres at once.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Stirling Castle Quilters this week. It only took 2 ½ hours to drive to Stirling which is a compact city and I soon found my way around. The evening talk was held at the very well appointed Raploch Community Campus which had modern conference facilities. It was rather nice not to have to set up the entire yurt as I only took the panels. These were all laid out on tables - there are almost 36 now which is almost enough for two yurts but I aim to complete a minimum of 40 by the summer so that I have "spares" that can be swapped around. I managed to borrow a digital projector so the audience could see pictures of how the frame is constructed. They were really impressed by the scale of the project; they gave me a really very warm welcome and I felt that the talk went down really well. I was told that everyone was looking forward to seeing the fully dressed yurt at the Scottish Regional Day in Perth in September.

I took my Husqvarna sewing machine to Pemberton's in the centre of Stirling and was most impressed by the customer service. I looked at a couple of machines in case I decided to trade it in and tested them out on a piece of army canvas and quilted tweed. I felt that Andrew Pemberton imparted sound advice based on experience and knowledge. The technician looked at my machine straight away so that it could be diagnosed and discussed before I would head home the next day. I took some leaflets away to read overnight and I decided to trade in my embroidery machine for something better suited to quilting. An Elna Excellence 740 with an 11" throat is going to be delivered on Monday...

I pre-quilted a set of 9 Celtic kaleidoscopes for the Stirling workshop and wondered if it would be possible to draw them out instead to save some preparation time. I looked up spiro drawing applications on the computer but it was all a bit mathematical and I couldn't work out how to echo the lines. I ended up ordering a selection of books on circles, mandalas and vectors as I decided it would be far easier to photocopy, enlarge and trace the patterns. The books that have arrived so far seem to be written for people who have exceptional understanding of geometry and computer programming so I hope that the colouring books that have yet to be delivered will be easier for me to follow. The students in my workshop commented on how fun it was that the basic quilting had already been done so they could concentrate on the more intricate fillers and embellishments. They all worked very hard and produced super pieces which they all seemed to be pleased with!

I coerced Freya into helping me rearrange my workshop at the weekend as it seemed to be getting overcrowded and I was climbing around rolls of wadding. It looks much better and I have created enough space to accommodate Lenni, the smaller longarm that I will take to Festival of Quilts. Fenella helped me to clean out a 1950's kitchen cupboard which most sensible people would have taken to the dump. It is impossible to work out what its original colour may have been and it really could do with a total revamp but I can't spend days doing it up when I have so many other things to do, including considering repainting my bedroom for the first time in 10 years!

Full-on Formal

2011-03-13T18:36:00.001Z

Sometimes I have customer quilts that don't get quilted as soon as they arrive. This one came last year as a "no hurry" quilt then its owner eventually took it back to complete herself before returning it recently since it looked rather challenging. This customer makes perfectly pieced quilts and she always warns me not to overdo the fancy quilting. This quilt required formal quilting, particularly stitch in the ditch. I am usually reluctant to use rulers as I once ran over one and had to retime my machine. I think that using rulers on a longarm machine is actually quite tricky to begin with – you certainly have to sew far more slowly and concentrate. It is all a matter of confidence – I used a really small ¼" thick ruler that couldn't slip for the straight lines and a 2" circle template for all of the pumpkin seeds. I eventually became faster but it still took me 5 full days of quilting to finish this quilt. I am really pleased with the results and know that I will not be afraid to use rulers again. However, I was conscious of how long it took to be so precise and how I was spending the entire week on just one project.

The formal quilt kept me mostly out of mischief. I had coffee with Mo one morning and came home with 2 new laying hens. Mine are lazy layers so I wanted two everyday chooks with no airs and graces. They have already shamed the other lot by laying a brown egg each every day.

It was a week of very variable weather – we had gale force winds that threatened to pull off my canvas yurt's roof. The anchoring straps worked themselves loose so I had to go out and haul them in to avoid a catastrophe. I had planned to drive to Perth for the QGBI Scottish Regional Day but we had a severe weather warning for heavy snowfalls. I spent the spare day usefully catching up on correspondence for the Yurt tour in the USA and browsing for internet special offers on Kitchenaid mixers. It will take me ages to decide whether to buy one as they come in so many lovely colours.

I have packed up all of the accessories belonging to my recalcitrant sewing machine to take for a service in case I decide to trade it down. I can only justify doing this if I can get a good deal as it originally cost me a frightening amount of money and I have hardly used any of its fancy functions. I have to pre-quilt some kits for a class that I will be doing for Stirling Castle Quilters this week and maybe I will get started on quilting one of the new Yurt panels. I am dying to get started on Mo's fabric collage hare but really need to think about how this should be quilted. I also need to decide whether to make something for FOQ this year – if the hare works well then we could consider entering it into the reinstated two-person category.

First Yurt Road Trip

2011-03-06T19:32:00.002Z

I spent most of the week preparing for my trip to QGBI Region 15E near Durham after getting in touch with Region 15W to apologise profusely for muddling the two groups together and taking the latter out of my diary. Luckily, Ferret has agreed to take my place at their Regional Day in October as I plan to be out of the country. I rooted around my computer to find lots of construction and work-in-progress pictures to make a PowerPoint presentation. This was a really interesting exercise as it meant that I had to create a chronological sequence of photos and make notes. For the first time ever, it made me realise quite how much was involved from planning, to gathering materials, making, enlisting help, putting it all together with the invaluable help from the Stunt Quilters and then starting to work out how to continue developing the project after LLQS. Bizarrely, on the night before the trip, I dreamt about Kitchenaid Mixers rather than having nightmares about driving several hundred miles with a Yurt on the roof of my car.

Packing everything up was relatively easy as it was already organised. The tweed roof sections had been packed into vacuum bags which took up very little space. The most challenging thing was working out how to use the ratchets on the roof-rack straps. I think I have it sussed now, after catching a finger in one of them.

The 6 hour journey was pretty smooth all the way to Newcastle then a couple of angry motorists shook their fists at me while meant to be keeping to the 40mph speed limit during roadworks as they wanted to overtake. I almost made it to my final destination then had a last minute doubt that I was in the right place so stopped at a corner shop to ask for directions. In my haste to get away, I backed up the Landy but somehow just did not see a parked car behind as I crunched its plastic bumper. The driver emerged from the shop, understandably annoyed and I apologised profusely while also getting lip from some cheeky teenaged bystanders. I was SO annoyed with myself! There wasn't a scratch on the Landy, of course.

During the evening some of the Region 15E committee members gathered and finally after 10pm we gained access to the venue. The janitor was most concerned about his newly varnished floor but we were very careful. Miraculously, the small team of ladies managed to put up the wooden frame within an hour but it made me realise that however independent I claim to be, this is one job where Manpower is essential.

We arrived early the next morning to hang the wall panels and get the huge tweed roof up. Despite not having time to hang bunting and fairy lights on the Yurt, it was great to see it in all of its finery again. The visitors were impressed and seemed to enjoy my talk which actually overran a little. I normally worry that I will be over concise and finish talking too soon. I received many compliments and admiration for my crazy project, and for the amazing support of the Stunt Quilters. I was delighted to sell some of my hand-dyed packs and postcards. I even met 2 longarmers who were keen to undertake some tuition and it was really nice that Kath from Darlington came specially – she even volunteered her son to help pack up the Landy afterwards, which was hugely appreciated.

It was fun to meet up with Ferret again as we always seem to get along rather well. We were amused that some members of the audience didn't know which of us was which and wondered vaguely whether we should plan a joint road trip in the future. Her talk also went down very well and it looked like everyone managed to stay awake all day – this has not always been the case at other Regional days that I have attended as there often seems to be some surreptitious afternoon snoozing going on.

I must thank Ann for being a lovely hostess and looking after me this weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting quilters from another area. It was a long drive home but I was able to listen to Radio 4 for most of the way. I stopped at IKEA for lunch on the way home and bought a bolt of black cotton which I daresay wiped out the modest profit that I might have made if I had not ruined someone's bumper. Unfortunately I didn't remember to ask anyone to take photos on my own camera so I hope that someone might send me a picture or two. I believe that Ferret may have taken a quick snap as I climbed on the Landy to load up my floral trimmed army canvas roof-rack bag – I don't suppose it was a particularly flattering shot!

My sewing machine hates me...

2011-02-27T18:49:00.001Z

I have really fallen out with my domestic sewing machine this time. I don't think our relationship will ever be the same. It just isn't prepared to try hard enough these days so I have decided that after it has a good sort-out, it will be time to sell or trade in. It really did not want to sew the army canvas that I was using to construct a roof-rack bag for the Yurt. I tried using a great big needle but it still struggled so I ended up having to make a gigantic army-issue laptop bag with a daisy print binding to finish off the edges, since a double seam was out of the question. Then the so-called-top-of-the-range sewing machine balked at the industrial Velcro that I should have remembered it didn't like when I sewed the Yurt roof panels. It continued to sulk when I wanted to satin stitch onto a quilted Yurt panel with metallic thread and it kept snagging up the bobbin until I became hoarse with shouting at it. All seemed well with attaching binding until I pressed the reverse button and suddenly that was all it could do – it got stuck going backwards! I got out my more basic but (actually) made in Sweden machine and it was more than happy to oblige. I have decided that I don't use the posh (not actually made in Sweden) machine for any of the fancy embroidery that I thought I would when I first bought it and it is pointless keeping it unused in a box. I will have to get it serviced and fixed then decide whether I need to replace it with a different machine altogether; maybe I should even consider an industrial one.

I have been completing American Quilt Society forms to be considered as a teacher at Des Moines. I had to list exact quantities of fabrics and supplies, so it became a useful planning exercise. This prompted me to try out circles quilted with a twin needle on a domestic machine as an alternative to using the circle-making attachment on the longarm.

This week was busy with non-quilting happenings. On Monday I attended school as an observing teacher to see how teaching maths in primary school may have changed in the 10 years that I have been away. Of course, the concepts remain the same but the emphasis is on more active learning and the interactive computer screen has replaced the blackboard. I now have to wait for a formal interview and hope that drastic cutbacks in education have not closed the list of relief teachers in my area. It would be good to know that I could have a reliable income that would help fund my USA Yurt tour. Fenella was thrilled to start Brownie Guides and was adamant that she would need the uniform straight away. Fergus played Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" on guitar for the school talent show and was delighted to be chosen as the winner. Freya had her first senior school prom and persuaded a friend to help operate the hair-curling gadget to make her look glamorous. I expect she was worried that I might burn her hair or make her put on too much glittery eye shadow. Blue Cat accidentally stayed out all night for the first time and was most disgruntled in the morning.

I ordered a couple of unusual items online; antler buttons from The Highlands and a pair of builder's props from a tool merchant in The Midlands. Both of these are Yurt related. The buttons will look good on one of the new curved Yurt panels and the props are to hold the Yurt crown in place, rather than make someone balance on a ladder to wait with aching arms until all of the roof spars are lined up. The alternative to these would have been plasterer's stilts but I thought these would have been quite tricky to master!

Highland Rake

2011-02-20T19:48:00.001Z

The mid-term break was grey, wet and cold so I decided that the children could do with a dose of culture at Aberdeen Art Gallery. Although they were not excited at the prospect, they enjoyed the visit. I was bemused by some of the artist statements, wondering whether they are taught how to write enigmatically at art school. I was impressed by the range of the collections. There were several famous Impressionist and Pre-Raphaelite artists' works as well as pieces by Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. I was still fuming after a phone call with a representative of the Scottish Arts Council that had started encouragingly regarding artist travel grants. It ended quite quickly after I explained that my exhibition involves textiles and I was informed that this puts me in the "craft" category for which there is no current funding. I constantly find this distinction between Art and Craft infuriating. I appreciate skill and technique in any medium. I wonder what William Morris and his followers would have made of the separation of his key principles. I have been asked to write an article about the Yurt with regard to "Form & Structure" by C June Barnes for a chapter in a forthcoming book. I will try to write a suitable piece that is esoteric enough for the subject but that is not incomprehensible arty drivel. Before I am bombarded by emails from incensed artists, let me say that I daresay that most of them are perfectly sensible, creative people who do not usually wear smocks and berets while smoking French cigarettes. Admittedly, I did not meet anybody like that at the North East Open Studios AGM. I have decided to join NEOS this year and will open my studio for a week in September.

I worked away at drafting and typing projects for the Yurt book. I had to calculate the yardage for each project and check that I was giving the correct sizes for each unit. I will pass the notes on to some quilter friends to proof-read when I have sketched out some accompanying diagrams. I am still not completely satisfied with the precision of some of the joins in my Celtic Drunkard's Path piece. I was lent a book on "Piecelique" by Sharon Schamber that offered another method of dealing with curves then discovered that there are several books on the subject on Amazon and I wondered why I had made myself figure it out by trial and error. My inaccuracies were probably caused by the loosely woven fabrics and in the end I decided that some antler buttons could be used to disguise them.

I investigated how I could print my blog out in book form since it would be useful to flick back and pick out references to the Yurt for the book. If I had used Blogger from the beginning then it would be relatively easy to "slurp" the entire blog into a publishing website but my website based blog is not recognised. I spent a very long time figuring ways around this and even worked out how to export it all BUT still got stuck with an error code. As a distraction I also became an electric guitar online-buying geek, shopping around for a full sized guitar for Fergus, reading reviews and watching demo clips on YouTube!

Mo and I went on a jaunt to see Yurtman, Paul Spencer, at the edge of The Highlands near Balmoral. We drove along the very scenic South Deeside Road all the way. The sun was glimmering on the birch trees despite the leaden sky. He was working on 5 yurts in various stages of construction. He has a large yurt that he rents out as a weekend retreat. It has an outdoor shower with a twisted birch branch as a rustic door handle. He has agreed to be interviewed for my book when he is less busy. He let me have a length of sturdy green canvas to make a waterproof bag for the Yurt to travel on the Landy roofrack. We stopped in Ballater to look for antler buttons but none of the shops had any. We each ended up buying something trendy to wear in a boutique then were advised to try the charity shop for buttons. I didn't get any buttons but ended up buying a 15 metre roll of hand printed linen that I could use for bedroom curtains. I'll just have to redecorate the room to match the fabric!

Sorting Circles

2011-02-13T19:31:00.001Z

I was determined to make significant progress on writing some projects to go in the Yurt book. I wrote instructions that I think are simple to follow but I am aware that anyone who makes a claim that their pattern is "easy" is either optimistic about the skill of the person tackling the project or is just lying. It will be imperative that someone else can understand what I am trying to explain. I have taken several photos of various stages but some publishers prefer diagrams. I realised that I could use Smartpen to sketch the pictures and an editor could find someone who can actually draw to present them properly. However, the trouble with having gadgets and software that are not used frequently is that the operator tends to forget how they work. I could do all sorts of things with EQ6 if I had enough patience to remind myself how it works. It took a whole evening for me to figure out how to upload a scribble and save it as a PDF. It would have been quicker to scan in a sketch but there is really no point in having a Smartpen and not using it. It struck me that when I attended the meeting for parents about the school intranet, I should have won a prize for Geekiest Parent since I was able to comment authoritatively on uploading and plug-ins.

The abilities of computer literate quilters can be staggering. My parents are touring around the USA and they emailed to tell me that they had visited a small quilt show in Tombstone, bought a raffle ticket and left their mobile phone behind. I posted a message onto a forum, a quilter elsewhere in Arizona contacted the guild in Tombstone, the phone was found and they called the number that was stored to my parents' friends in California to ask how they could return it!

I decided that I would figure out the most accurate and easiest way of attaching bias tape to circles. Sally kindly posted a link to her method on Facebook and it worked really well. Not satisfied by that major achievement, I just had to crack the "Easy" method of sewing a closed bias loop around a circle. Several attempts ended up in the bin but I finally got good results and can now describe a blow by blow account of how to do it. I make sure that a piece of wadding goes underneath to add stability and to bulk out any fullness. The next challenge was to construct some Drunkard's Path type blocks to reform into a simple Celtic design. I used a variety of methods of turning under the edges of circles. It just goes to show that if you are going to write a pattern that works properly, it has to be thoroughly tested. I had to work out circle sizes or curved templates that included the correct seam allowance and would fit exactly next to a 4-patch block. Since I am not a mathematician and because I never studied a proper course in patchwork, I find resizing can be a bit tricky. It may seem sensible to use a template from a book but I often want to adjust the size of the project. I will make the other half of my Celtic ring before I decide which method gives the best results. Maybe I will decide that I should just make the templates using EQ6 and piece the Drunkards Path pieces together with a curved piecing foot.

I made carrot cake #3 using Nigel Slater's recipe. It was a good cake, although separately egg whites and yolks was a bit of a faff. I thought the texture was a touch dry if I am being really critical but the mascarpone and cream cheese icing was superb.

I contacted the British Council to enquire about travel grants for artists exhibiting overseas but I was told that all future funding has been cut. I emailed Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" to see if they would be interested in interviewing me as I could really do with finding sponsorship to help fund the Yurt tour. I sent a package of postcards off to Terri in Wisconsin to publicise the Yurt exhibition in the USA. I phoned Creative Exhibitions to see if I would be allowed to exhibit the Smart Car cover on an actual car at FOQ. The answer was that I may be allowed to enter it if I could obtain a car without a battery or petrol tank for Health & Safety reasons. The marketing department of Mercedes Smart in Birmingham is looking into my request since they could gain free advertising at Europe's largest quilt festival. The latest thing that I have decided to investigate is publicising my blog to date. I don't mean to sell any copies; it would just make it easier to flick through to pick out any suitable excerpts for the real book. I was fascinated to discover that I can see where my readers come from on the Blogger site. I was amazed to note that there are viewers worldwide. I think I will now go and frustrate myself with EQ6 for a couple of hours or perhaps I will go off at a tangent and look up some other international quilters' blogs!

Flying Teuchter

2011-02-06T20:46:00.001Z

I flew down to London this week to be at the APQS technical training course in Surrey. Despite being "Europe's Oil Capital", Aberdeen airport is accessed via twisty country roads and it is decidedly compact compared to Terminal 5. I have been through Heathrow before but I had not actually tried to meet anyone there. I did not even occur to me that there would be more than one way out. Luckily, Yvette managed to phone me and find me! On arrival at her house I was delighted to be offered a large gin and introduced to Boris (Johnson) the golden retriever. Yvette dropped me off at Chris' studio for the class the next morning after ploughing through traffic hold-ups caused by school runs, commuters and roadworks. It was great to meet up with several APQS owners and to refresh my memory on machine servicing with experienced technician, Mark Caraher. After the class Yvette and I assisted him with major surgery on Ferret's hard working machine, replacing many of its moving parts. I joked that it would now be bionic and that she might have to "bond" with it all over again.

I spent the next day discussing the stand that Yvette and I will run together at FOQ 2011, she demonstrated the capabilities of her Intelliquilter system and we paid a visit to her shop in Horsley High Street, Woking called "Needle & Thread". It was encouraging to see several customers popping in for fabric, haberdashery and cards. There were a few simple quilts hanging up and I took a fancy to the Tanya Whelan collection and some other Fabric Freedom fat quarters. I decided that I will make Freya and Fenella a new bed quilt each using charm squares; maybe I will sneak a Featherweight into the car in the Easter holidays if I can wait that long before cutting it up. I think it is probably therapeutic to run up something easy now and again.

My flight home was delayed due to high winds in Scotland. In the end, the turbulence was not quite as bad as I expected but I was very relieved to arrive in Aberdeen. I had left the Landy at the airpark where they had warmed it up for my late arrival – it was like being met by a big, green, friendly dog with a waggy tail. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip down south but it felt great to be back home with bright stars overhead and virtually no other vehicles on the road. It looks like I have become a teuchter (Scots word for a country bumpkin).

I cut up fabric for a couple of so-called-simple Yurt panels involving circles. I wanted to run a wide bias binding around some 6" circles. I got extremely frustrated with the bias binding machine and even tried making the bias without it simply using the iron. Both methods kept missing an edge or crumpling everything. I watched several YouTube clips on bias binding making. I had cut the binding from a large square as shown in the Fons & Porter book. I think that the width of my strips must have been variable and certainly some fabrics co-operated better than others. I even got the gadget to behave eventually. Once I had made the wide bias, I then had to work out the circumference of my circle, add a bit for the end join and pin it into position by matching up some pinpoints. Explanations in books never seem to cover all of my questions. Should I use the outer circumference or an average midpoint so everything got covered properly? Should I use a tape measure or do calculations involving pi? In the end I seemed to get it all fudged in and pinned down without using any stupid pinpoints. I decided that a trapunto layer of wool wadding would help to bulk out any misfitting.

I experimented with the dyeing method that I use for yurt backs. I wondered if the dye would work at lower temperatures so I don't have to use the hot cycle of the washing machine which takes ages. I just filled a large bowl with hot water, salt and vinegar and let it soak in for a while. The colour was absorbed fine but it took so long to rinse that I'm not sure whether it all got "set" properly. I don't really need to wash yurt panels; there was a lot more effort involved in doing the dyeing by hand. I could have done with a mangle to squeeze out the excess water. I will definitely dye the new roof sections in the washing machine.

I have finally made some rough notes for Yurt Book projects and I will have to decide whether to include this one. I have to work out whether to attempt badly drawn diagrams or take lots of photos. I expect that many of my ramblings will have to be edited out since most patchwork books have to conform to a set number of pages. Perhaps it would be better to write a (quilt) recipe book instead as they seem to be pretty thick. In the meantime, perhaps I could produce some patterns to sell as it could be some time before the book is finished.

Focus!

2011-01-30T20:14:00.001Z

I expect that I really do have plenty of time for writing a book except that I have a tendency to get a little side-tracked. I have just spent about an hour searching on the internet for a folk singer that I heard on the radio one evening. I memorised her name and meant to write it down but then forgot. After a circuitous trawl via Mike Harding and the Folk Awards, I remembered that I was looking for Emily Portman. Incredibly, when I asked Fenella who the singers were on Jools Holland's Hootenany, she immediately reminded me that they were called "The Secret Sisters". I am mentioning this because I have made a very simple gift quilt this week with large flying geese and rectangles. Surely nothing could go wrong? The thing is that when things are simple, I must let my mind wander and not concentrate fully. There was a good couple of inches difference between the two sides of the finished quilt top because I wasn't accurate enough. I don't know whether this was because the large triangles made things extra stretchy or whether I really should have used some pins to keep things together. I will tell the recipient that the quilt must absolutely never be hung on a wall as it has been specially designed to go on a spare bed.

I had similar lapses in attention when I made the effort to read through the Scottish primary curriculum guidelines that had supposedly been endorsed by the Plain English society. Either it has been deliberately written by a government quango in Gobbledegook or I am incapable of concentrating for long enough to reach the end of each flow diagram. However, while I was doing that I figured out how to draft some quilt blocks with curves, and even worked out the best construction method so it turned into a pretty useful multi-tasking exercise.

Something that preoccupied me greatly was whether we should consider putting in an offer on Durris Manse that came up for sale this week. It is a fantastic large Victorian house in wonderful grounds that requires substantial modernisation. It is also well out of our price range and doesn't even have a workshop. Somehow it appealed to me and I could actually imagine myself living there but it would be far more sensible and much cheaper to extend the house we already have.

I intended to start on some new Yurt panels but I realised that I did not have sufficient yardage to do what I had planned. I ordered some super pieces of organic, fair-trade cotton from http://www.fairtradefabric.co.uk that I will incorporate the other shot cotton and dyed yurt scraps. I want to work on some more panels that involve circles so I spent an afternoon mass producing bias binding that will cover up some raw edge appliqué. I decided that the bias binding can include prints which did not appear in the other panels; the main fabrics will remain as earthy plains.

The patchwork Smart Car cover appeared in "Popular Patchwork" and "Patchwork & Quilting" magazines this month and got some very good coverage. Taking it to a couple of the Ribbon Walks is something else I have to organise soon. I also have to find out whether I will be allowed to display it on a car at Festival of Quilts... I have now booked the APQS stand at FOQ 2011 and my book-keeper ensured that my accounts were all in order in time to complete my online tax self-assessment. But I did not realise that I had to allow time to receive a code in the post before I can complete this. I decided to send in a cheque to show willing even though HMRC will probably end up refunding it later!

I had a look at the draft of the Yurt book and was pleased to see that I have written more than I remembered. I need to concentrate on getting the instructions done for another 10 projects then can spend more time waffling on about Yurts and the wonderful stunt quilters. I even made Carrot Cake #2 which was too fluffy, although technically still delicious. By the time I have made all 6 recipes that I want to trial, we will either be utterly fed up with carrot cake or will have decided on the ultimate combination and it will deserve a place in the Yurt book.

Brringg, Brringg!!

2011-01-23T19:56:00.001Z

I had a birthday this week and celebrated in style with my friends and family, surrounded by pink balloons; the lucky recipient of a retro phone, books by Nigel Slater and peanut M&M's. The 1960's rotary dial phone is great fun – Tania gave it to me as I am always complaining that my cordless phones are defective. The children had absolutely no idea how to answer or dial; I deliberately let it ring a few more times than strictly necessary as its old-fashioned bell tone makes me laugh. I decided that I would make a carrot cake so asked for recipes on Facebook. I now have 6 variations to test thoroughly in my quest for the definitive carrot cake recipe. I am classifying this as research of sorts, since I would like to include a few essential Quilters' recipes in the Yurt Book.

I have made a start on the Yurt tour plans, trying to work out dates, venues and logistics. I looked at the possibility of hiring an RV so that I could consider taking the children on tour to the USA for a few weeks but it looks pricey without even adding fuel, berths and food. Perhaps I will need to think about making more than one trip across the Atlantic instead. Whatever I decide, my accounts show that I cannot guarantee making enough money for a grand Yurt tour based on quilting alone. This has prompted me to complete an application form for some work as a Primary relief teacher, hoping that I can save towards my air fare and Yurt shipping costs. I need to read up on the latest curriculum guidelines and spend some time in school as a volunteer. I am sure that will have to practise my patience skills considerably as they seem to have disappeared since I had children of my own!

I have cut out an easy scrappy quilt project that I will make for my book-keeper as a Thank-You gift for sifting through my receipts and notebooks so that I can get my tax return done by the end of January. This will have to be the last non Yurt project before getting started on some new panels, the USA Yurt roof, and some serious book writing sessions. With this attitude of getting sorted out to concentrate on more important projects, I bound a large piece of quilted tweed because I decided that the Blue Cat shouldn't really spend all day sleeping on my antique Welsh blanket. I also completed the quilting and binding on the Fresh Start spring quilt. It is wide enough to go right down to the floor and since it has been such a cold winter so far, I used a double layer of cotton and wool wadding. I tried Sew Simple waddings for the first time but they are flatter than I like so I think the quilt feels a bit rigid; hopefully it will soften up as it gets used. However, I decided that it was actually pretty warm and I could probably take off the other quilt and wool blanket that are usually on top of the duvet as it was quite becoming difficult to turn over in bed under all of that weight!

Ready 4 (x4) Adventure

2011-01-21T20:00:00.001Z

January 16th - text got lost so I'm reposting...

I really felt that I got some things done this week as I worked my way through TO DO lists. In between all of the admin tasks I worked on piecing my king-sized Spring quilt. Basic sewing seemed to help me come up with ideas and possibilities for how to organise the Yurt's tour of America. It looks like I will need to travel around the USA for a few weeks or fly over more than once. Three fairly major snags in that plan are my children so I am even considering looking into RV hire and taking them with me. In order to save up enough money for this grand scheme I have investigated signing up as a primary school supply teacher. However, first I have to get references, attend an interview, refamiliarise myself with the curriculum and hope that enough teachers go sick that some nice jobs come up where and when I want them, despite Aberdeenshire Council making major cutbacks to their education budget!

I ordered 35 metres of fabric to dye for the USA Yurt roof and some procion dyes since I was inspired by pictures posted on Tamarack Shack's BlogSpot about snow dyeing techniques. I have avoided the mix it yourself dyes before because I couldn't quite figure out the recipe. The mention of potash, bicarb, salt, heat, differing amounts, calgon and synthrapol has previously put me off but the results look great. As soon as I placed my order, our lingering snow finally melted but I will at least be ready for the next lot. I have to decide whether to overdye coloured fabric or whether to see if I can get good results on white. It should give a crystalline-batik effect so it will be interesting to see what happens.

The result of the slow thaw was that our track turned into a lethal luge run of 4" thick ice running with surface water. It became impossible to drive or walk on it until the Farmer came along and gritted it. Freya stood still and slid downhill for 150 yds to catch her school bus. Our new glass shower enclosure was delivered to the end of the track where the driver shoved it into the back of my Landrover and tied the door shut with rope. The missing roof-rack finally turned up on Friday and was also dropped off at the end of the track. I am disappointed that I paid £50 carriage to get it delivered but it took a month to get here, got lost and then I had to carry it up from the main road with Tania's help.

I have handed over my accounts books to a friend who is putting everything all onto Excel. It is such a relief to hand it over to someone who seems to know how to organise it all properly so I should get the tax return sorted out by the end of January deadline.

I made enquiries into reserving a stall at Festival of Quilts – this year I hope to share the pitch and get something a bit bigger on a corner so I will complete the booking and tick that off a list as well. I also booked flights to London to attend the APQS technical training day at the beginning of February. It is important that I spend a bit of time networking with some of the UK longarmers and I will be able refresh my knowledge so that I can run a technical class myself for APQS owners in the North.

There was a thought provoking series of documentaries on TV this week hosted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage. He is campaigning for the wasteful practice of discard to be abolished, raising awareness of the impact of catching small fish from the other side of the world to make fish-food for farmed salmon, and exposing tuna fisheries that catch endangered marine animals as a by-catch. Hugh has become a most articulate environmental activist for sustainable fishing methods. The River Cottage team has tried introducing a tasty alternative to cod in UK Fish & Chip shops; we made battered mackerel in a bap for supper on Saturday and declared it delicious. I urge you to pledge your support at http://dev.fishfight.net so that Hugh F-W can go back to the European Parliament with a petition showing overwhelming public support for sensible and sustainable fishing, particularly in the North Sea.

Finally this week, I even tackled one disorganised kitchen cupboard. It was only a small cull from the recipe book shelves. I threw away all of the unused free leaflets from the supermarket and jotted down the scribbled post-it-note recipes that actually work into a proper notebook with alterations in temperature to accommodate my oven that burns everything. I removed the bag full of cookie cutters that fell out every time I opened the door and stashed them in the pantry. That is also due for an overhaul because I can't fit any more stuff on the shelves. There are flowerpots on the top shelf just in case I ever decide to make a Barbie-doll cake and about a dozen ice-cube trays from the era when I mistakenly believed that my babies would eat frozen vegetable puree, so that should create a bit more space...

Fresh Start

2011-01-09T20:14:00.001Z

As the holidays drew to a close, I felt compelled to reorganise everything that I could think of that required sorting. Shelves went up in the workshop and Music Room and the decorations were tidied and put away until next Christmas. I made an effort to be a "Yummy Mummy" a couple of times and involved the children in some cooking or baking; I even let Fenella have a sleepover that involved making decorated gingerbread men and popcorn. I bought a trendy skirt in the sale when I went to get more hen food at the Farm Supply Store and wore it with smart leather boots to go out for coffee with friends. My children thought that I looked unusually smart so just to reassure them that I was just the same, I took them into Banchory wearing my old green Doc Martens and ancient multicoloured patchwork knitted cardigan so that Freya felt obliged to walk behind me and pretend that I was not her Mother.

One of my greatest bugbears is all of the wire spaghetti hidden in drawers that belong to gadgets and chargers. I am convinced that we have a collection of cables that belong to cameras or mobile phones that are now obsolete but no-one even knows what they are. I have kept all of my cables in labelled sandwich bags but whenever I go on a trip they get all muddled up and I am sure that one day I will be stopped by Security, questioning why I may need to travel with all of that wiring. I decided to make a few small drawstring bags with embroidered labels but when I laid all of the cables out separately on the table it became obvious that I would have to make at least a dozen just for my own stuff – the house is still full of many more cables for IPods, Nintendo DS, headphones and cameras!

I cut out 3 sizes of squares for a large, everyday bed quilt so that I can put the Christmas quilt away. I pieced a small section but wonder if it is a bit too girlie for me. I wanted something light and fresh for Spring but it feels odd to be using pretty prints after working with plain fabrics so much last year.

Despite endeavouring to crack on with my book-keeping and prioritising my projects, I got bogged down in making phone calls to chase up the long overdue heating oil delivery and trying to find out why my LandRover roofrack had still not been delivered. The roofrack seemed to have disappeared entirely between couriers and will need to be tracked down again this week. I felt that all of these mundane tasks had to be done in order to clear the way for greater focus during the coming week, as long as school transport is running since we have now had more fresh snow...

Glad it's all over?

2011-01-02T20:30:00.001Z

I cannot believe that it is now 2011 and that two weeks of holiday have sped by...

The week before Christmas was hectic with snow and ice continuing. The children's piano concert was the only event that was not cancelled; there was no end of term carol service or party. My husband thought it might be fun to take his lowered Golf GTi for a drive in the snow one evening but then could not get back up our track. Even the Landy couldn't pull it out on solid ice so it had to stay there until the farmer arrived the next morning. He has been terrific at clearing our track of snow as usual so I left a few bottles and chocolate on his doorstep on one of the festive supermarket runs. I made an effort to buy plenty of local produce from a farm shop this year despite it being more expensive.

Mo, Tania and I exchanged gifts with Christmas cake, truffles, salmon pate, champagne and coffee. We had chosen each other exactly what we would have picked ourselves, such as scented candles, home-made cushions, incense and in my case, a ceramic book that actually hides a secret gin stash! The children were delighted with their haul of presents that included a violin, camera, Xbox, Lego and hair gadgets. We spent a lot more time than usual preparing, cooking, eating and washing up. We ploughed our way steadily through gammon, turkey, smoked salmon, pate, cheese, nuts, cake, chocolate, relishes and other tasty treats until I began to dream of enjoying a more frugal diet.

I was amazed to be offered a vintage fur coat that had previously belonged to a friend's Great Aunt. It is very heavy but incredibly warm, ideal for watching a Hogmanay firework display. I think it will be well used this winter. I had to splint one of the garden Yurt roof spars that snapped due to the weight of wet snow. I lit the wood stove to dry the canvas out but the damp logs just spluttered – I need to get some peat to get it to burn hotter.

Every now and then I thought about clearing out some junk and old clothes before deciding it could turn into a much bigger chore. I deliberately put off making any To Do lists for the coming year as I didn't want to start worrying during the holidays. I can wait until the children return to school, then panic. I hope to make an everyday bed quilt in frivolous fabrics while working on mundane January tasks like book-keeping. Instead of using up leftover Yurt fabrics or existing stash fabrics, I ordered a Heather Bailey selection just for fun. I have made a few New Year resolutions that I hope to keep... I will try to be better organised, waste less time on the computer, make more use of the gadgets and software that I thought would be so useful, eat less chocolate and dress smartly on occasion – hmm, Good Luck for 2011!!

Shopping for a Fur Coat

2010-12-19T20:26:00.002Z

I attended Freya's first secondary school Parents' Evening after she gave me a stern warning not to stand out too much; she even tried to convince me to wear a smart cardigan. The temperature outside was plummeting again so she had to suffer me wearing the tweed jacket, woolly scarf, pink ostrich leather handbag and red Docs. I felt quite smart compared to everyone in their fleeces and hiking boots, actually. The art teacher even told me that I looked "Arty", which I took as a compliment. I considered it polite to say "Bonjour" to the French teacher but had to admit that my French was pretty rudimentary – then I asked why the school did not offer Latin on its curriculum.

I placed orders for wadding and other essential supplies that I might need before the next lot of snow and was irritated when told that couriers in England were refusing to take any deliveries north of the border in case of a blizzard. This was during the thaw when all of the major roads were clear. Nationally there was great consternation that Christmas deliveries from Amazon might not arrive on time. I warned the children that Santa may have a few problems with his suppliers this year but Fenella was confident that he would manage perfectly well since he is Magic, after all.

By Thursday it started snowing again and I had to drive the children to school. I decided that I really ought to get into shape if I am going to have to make a habit of climbing into the Landy via the boot when all of the doors are frozen. It is not easy clambering over two rows of seats wearing wellies and several layers of winter clothing. I could not zip my jacket up because I was wearing a woolly vest, shirt, jumper, waistcoat and thick knitted cardigan underneath it. I decided to shop for a fur coat in the Red Cross shop but was disappointed to find that only mangy fake furs were on sale at £50. I daresay furs have become vintage and fashionable, although I don't imagine Freya would agree. I asked my Mother if she might have an antique fur coat but she admitted that this may have been a victim of her latest clear-out. I may have to settle for a Paddington Bear duffle coat or simply continue with my long waxed coat over some hideously unfashionable layering. I defy any fashion gurus to come to Aberdeenshire in the middle of winter and get me to wear flimsy items in my workshop!

I did some quilting this week, working fast to keep warm. I finished a customer quilt to add to the other one that has been awaiting collection for since the weather turned wintry. I quilted and bound two Christmas table runners then worked on a crazy sketchbook cover for Mo's sister. I love working on those as they are such fun. I am often asked why I don't sell them but an A3 piece takes around 10 hours to complete so they would be too expensive to produce except as presents. I made it a bit bigger than I needed so that there would be enough left over for an A5 book and a camera case.

We went to the Banchory Farmers' Markey on Saturday which was made festive by a stall selling mulled wine, snow falling and people wearing Santa hats. We bought local sausages, cheese, bread and cold pressed rapeseed oil. It was almost like being at a French market except that it was well below zero and we didn't have a basket. We went to choose our Christmas tree but the forester had not been able to cut any local trees and had resorted to buying some in. The children were not all that impressed with the modest tree that we chose but it still looks the part with its baubles and lights and at least it doesn't take up as much space.

Freya asked me to shorten the hem on her 1950's style prom dress because "only old people wear dresses down past their knees". This was quite a feat for a non-dressmaker as it was a completely circular skirt. I measured down from the waistline and marked points with a blue pen then used the overlocker to trim it down then finishing off a neat hem by machine. Then I had to cut down the circular underskirt with net frill and felt pretty pleased with my efforts. Unfortunately, the junior prom has now been cancelled because of the snow but she wore it to a friend's party where it was declared a success.

The week ahead is likely to be similarly affected by snow but at least I have ordered a local turkey and veg. In the hopefully very unlikely event of a power cut, I could cut it up and barbecue it or attempt to cook it on my Yurt's wood stove. I am fed up with seeing interviewees on the news saying " - the snow is such a nightmare!" It is just a bit inconvenient and the landscape looks wonderfully festive. We need to pay heed to the wartime reproduction posters and tea towels in all the shops declaring, "Keep Calm and Carry On!"

Wishing everyone a Calm Week Before and a very Happy Christmas! xx

Wrapping Up

2010-12-12T19:07:00.003Z

Despite there being no fresh snowfall, there was severe ice which meant that there was still no school on Monday. There were no mail deliveries and everyone was getting rather bored. I even edited my address book and diary before frittering away some time in a virtual cupcake shop on the internet. However, I also finished planning out 10 new Yurt panels and felt that I had achieved something worthwhile for the first time in days.
By Tuesday the school made the decision that parents with four-wheel drive could take children to school if they considered it safe to make the journey. The back roads were still treacherous with compacted snow and ice. Some vehicles did not crawl along slowly enough so ended up in a ditch or spinning on ice. I decided that the Landy is the BEST vehicle so I have ordered it a roof-rack as a Christmas treat. The school day was shortened so my time was limited for catching up with correspondence and dog walking was still quite an endurance test.
I went into Aberdeen on my own to crack my Christmas purchases and wished that I had an old-lady shopping trolley instead of struggling to carry all of my bags. Books, piggy banks and packets of natural liquorice are actually quite heavy!
I made stripey jelly and a Lego brick cake for Fergus' birthday party and had fun stabbing cubes of cheese, pineapple & raspberry onto cocktail sticks. The party was after an indoor football tournament, the hope being that the 9 year old boys would be worn out. They still managed to be excited and noisy after playing football afternoon, followed by a medley of old-fashioned party games that included charades, fan the fish, beetle drive, memory game, alphabet minute,and pass the parcel. The guests declared that the party was awesome and ace so I will take that as a successful outcome.
Blue Cat aka, Her Majesty the Pepperpot, has decided that she will deign to sit on laps occasionally. That is when she is not sitting on a shelf attempting to impersonate a rather large ornament. She has finally made herself at home. Bitzi MacBob can now tolerate to sit near her but still swears at the posh cat in Doric.
Due to telephone repairs in the local area, we have had problems with the internet connection. This is absolutely maddening. I can use my mifi modem to check messages but it is not nearly as convenient as instant access broadband. My laptop has still not got back online so I am blogging this week on the ipad. Typing is fine but I have not added any new photos yet.
I did a 6 hour marathon wrapping session on Sunday in order to clear the tables in my workshop as I am determined to get three quilting projects finished this week, Post Office done and get all of my materials ordered BEFORE getting snowed in again, possibly by the end of next week....

Gauntlets & Gaiters

2010-12-05T20:14:00.001Z

We had such a lot of snow and ice all week that there was no school, and according to the BBC News, the entire country ground to a standstill. It was bitterly cold and no-one really wanted to do much. I did not go anywhere all week as my husband was taking the Landy to work. The postie only came twice and I had to wade through knee-deep snow so I could defrost the hens, fetch logs and take the dogs out. I caught up with some correspondence, wrote Christmas cards and even worked on a few small projects. I won't post pictures of these since they are presents for friends. A left-over piece of quilted yurt roof was cut and bound to and make the cats a mat each to sit and look out of the window at the record breaking icicles. The children kept themselves occupied with some sledging, a little homework on the computer and some baking. I came in from the workshop one afternoon to discover grated chocolate all over the worktop and clouds of acrid smoke where attempts had been made to bake fairy cakes under the grill.

Tania and I walked to Mo's for coffee and mince-pies at the end of the week. We felt that we deserved two each with a liberal splash of Kirsch after stomping through the snow; Tania striding along in her walking boots with gaiters. Mo had been nursing a young buzzard back to health with raw eggs and sausages which was why the word, "Gauntlet" appears in the title! Apparently, the wild rabbit population has been decimated by a virus that rabbits take underground to infect the entire burrow so there is very little food available for birds of prey this winter.

I took Freya Christmas shopping at the weekend where we managed to make a few purchases before we got fed up with the crowds and over-heated shops. Online shopping is great as long as you know what you are looking for and probably less distracting, although I do tend to get sidetracked by checking emails and looking at Landy roofrack configurations on the internet! Needless to say, my Christmas shopping is nowhere near finished but at least I remembered to email my order for local turkey, ham and veggies. This week I am going to stock up on Bondaweb, wadding, stabiliser and freezer paper in case this weather continues until the New Year. I have spent some time sketching out new ideas for more Yurt panels so I hope to get on with some fresh work soon.

Brrr!

2010-11-28T17:24:00.001Z

Brrr!

When snow is forecast before Christmas in Scotland we don't usually pay much attention since it is usually only a short-lived dusting, or so I kept telling Marjorie who came up to learn about longarm quilting. We had a busy couple of days looking at gadgets and techniques and I kept dismissing the flurries as being too early to take seriously. I had to take her to the airport on Wednesday evening while weather conditions became serious and none of the roads had been treated. It was an eventful journey on icy, white roads, with cars sliding off or getting stuck. The local radio news kept announcing fresh accidents and blocked roads so I had to make several detours. It took twice as long as it should have and the airport was even closed for a while to clear the runway.

Obviously, schools were closed for the rest of the week as we were hit by the worst pre-Christmas snowstorm for 17 years. We had pink sheet lightning, thunder, blizzards and the roads were unusually quiet. The children arranged a sledging party so I lit the Yurt stove and made a large flask of hot chocolate. Over the weekend we had a lengthy power-cut which meant that we had a full day without heat, hot water and worst of all, technology. Thankfully we were able to light the wood stove and warm up one room downstairs; it is amazing how reliant we are upon electricity even to make a cup of tea. We have got candles lined up and a flask of hot water ready in case we get cut off again since there is no sign of it thawing just yet. I could do some sewing using the hand crank machine but when the workshop heaters are not working I would rather do something else. I will make sure that the laptop and ipad is fully charged so I can do some writing at least. I could even write the dreaded Christmas cards if I get really desperate.

At least I have made up my mind that I will now be keeping my trusty Landy since it is definitely the only way to get about with caution in these conditions. I did some internet research on roof-racks and made some calls to find out what alternatives there are to the over-priced Landrover branded ones. I already have a ladder, so will have to practise standing on the wheels and doing lorry-driver knots to hold on my cargo. I will manufacture some sort of heavy-duty canvas bags to transport the Yurt roof poles. The other option is to get a trailer but if I get lost somewhere I don't fancy reversing more than is strictly necessary.

Cats and Curtains

2010-11-21T21:28:00.001Z

It was not until halfway through Monday morning that I finally realised that I was a week ahead of myself again and did not have a visitor coming to spend 2 days longarming in the studio. Instead of getting on with my customer quilt, I decided to spend two days making the curtains for my new room and remembered why it has been around 10 years since I last made a decent pair. Even though I now have large work table it was still a lot of fabric to measure, cut and sew straight. I am very pleased with how it is all turning out and glad to be finishing a room off properly for a change. I do still have to fit in the new digital piano as I can't bear to scrap the Victorian one and I can't find a grateful home for it either. I suppose that having two pianos should mean that that there is every opportunity for the children to do plenty of practice.

I heard one of the Monday Quilters say the words "Blue Cat" and happened to mention that I have wanted one for a very long time. She was very sad to be re-homing Pepper since her grand-daughter is so allergic to cats. I was completely amazed when my husband said we could take her on a trial basis as long as Bitzi wasn't too annoyed. Since then we have had an interesting few days as the cats get used to each other. On the first night there was much hissing and hiding from both of them and both hissed their disgust at me. The next day I was really worried that I may have lost both of them. The Blue Cat was shut in the kitchen but had completely disappeared and Bitzi seemed to have gone off into a wet and windy day and didn't look like she was coming back. This made me feel doubly guilty and wondered if I had done the right thing at all. Much later on Bitzi sauntered downstairs from having spent all day sleeping in someone's bed and Pepper's eyes gleamed out from a tiny space behind the microwave, much to my relief. Since then they have spent most of the week avoiding each other and generally being pretty huffy with the humans but overall, things are fairly settled.

Sheena Norquay came to the Aberdeen P&Q Group this week and gave an interesting talk on hidden images in her work. There are so many of her quilts that I have never seen and they are all terrifically symbolic with references to Norse folk-tales, cats and runes. I attended a workshop where we printed circles onto fabric using everyday objects. I foolishly decided to experiment with linen which did not absorb the paint as easily and I used two colours where everyone else sensibly stuck to one which I thought looked beautifully simple. I remembered how to free motion quilt on a DSM which was actually good fun on a small piece so I hope to finish it off as a cushion cover for a Christmas present. I was particularly interested in how many ways circles can be used in quilting since they seem to have been motifs that I have used many times on Yurt panels.

I eventually got the customer quilt done and binding cut just before we went to see the latest Harry Potter film on Sunday afternoon - it was deliciously dark; much closer to the book than previous films with plenty of action and tension. It is a thoroughly British film where London looks great and the heroes appear so ordinary. I hope we don't have to wait too long before Part 2 is released...

Wet & Wild Week

2010-11-14T18:25:00.001Z

I deliberately left the Landy encrusted with mud when I took it to the 4x4 garage to be valued for a possible sale. Despite it looking well used, the guy still commented that it had, "- a lovely clean axle!" He asked me why I wanted to sell it to which I replied that I did not want to sell it at all but thought I should go through the motions of looking for a roomy estate car such as a Volvo to shift Yurts or longarm equipment around. After checking the Yurt for storm damage at the beginning of the week, I drove to the west coast of Scotland to do a talk and workshop for Helensburgh & District Quilters and was delighted that I had a sturdy, dependable Landy as gale-force winds raged and the rain lashed relentlessly. And because I was on my own, I could turn Radio 4 up as loudly as I liked. I made a leisurely detour on the way via IKEA to get some rather unusual curtain fabric; the pattern is much bigger than I expected but the beetrooty-raspberry pink colour is good.

My talk about my quilting adventures seemed to go down well and the workshop went without a hitch. It was a stress-free class on machine quilting where I tried to impart as much useful information as possible and still leave enough time for a project. The class was called "Wild Wholecloth" but I think it should really be entitled "Pimp My Quilt" as it involved random quilting followed by embellishing with paint and bling. The hospitality that I received was great and I was made very welcome. I'm not sure whether everyone believed the anecdote about me having coffee with Mo this week and observing casually that there was a duck with an injured wing swimming around in the bathtub. When I arrived home on Friday night, I unloaded one set of fabrics and quilting gear from the Landy and reloaded with stuff for the Aberdeenshire QGBI Area Day. This was officially my last one as area rep after 3 years in the post. I really have enjoyed the opportunity to meet many other quilters at meetings from all over Scotland. We had a relaxing day in good company with a mini Mola hand sewing project or easy-peasy machine projects at my end of the long table. Mo helped me out hugely by being the "caterer" for the day. She had made 2 delicious soups and a wicked selection of fancy-pieces.

On Saturday evening I went to a Ceilidh at the Scout Hut with Tania and some other friends. There was a really good band called "Celidh Stomp" with a caller who explained the dances such as "The Witches Reel" and "The Flying Scotsman" extremely well. I actually managed to figure out where I was meant to be most of the time and only had one major collision with a burly kilted man which is probably why I feel a bit stiff today. Supper was a hearty plate of stovies and pickled beetroot. It was super fun and I really hope that it is a tradition that will still be going strong in another 100 years.

I was suffering from guilt for most of Sunday because I kept thinking I should catch up and get on with a customer quilt that I really need to get done by early on Tuesday as I have a visitor coming for some longarming tuition. However, I sorted out most of the stuff that I had taken to my various quilting activities, did some washing, accidentally felted my favourite rainbow striped woolly jumper, and pieced a very basic but satisfying window sill runner. I decided that paperwork could wait and I will either have to work flat out all of Monday or simply take the waiting quilt off to do later in the week; this is the sort of time when I could really do with two machines.

Back in the Groove

2010-11-07T14:02:00.001Z

After another week of crossing things off a list that never actually gets torn up, I think I am finally getting back on track. The Purposeless Room feels full of potential so should be a nice place to write or research on winter evenings IF I can put a stop to internet browsing that is quilt related but not necessarily essential. After giving serious thought to making a new quilt for the daybed, I decided to save time and bought a vintage Welsh blanket instead. I have one that I acquired as a student that was at least 30 years old 25 years ago so I reckon they are made to last. This means that the curtain fabric will probably have to come from IKEA so hopefully that is another decision made. I even got my haircut since the fringe was so long that I had resorted to wearing a Minnie Mouse hairband. I think I am ready for a Talk & Workshop near Glasgow at the end of this week. I have all of the pre-quilted kits ready, a list of things to remember and a recently organised slideshow of quilts.

There were some of the usual frustrations that beset my quilting life these days. I have a parcel that I cannot retrieve from the depot after paying the Customs charges online and stupidly not printing out the evidence. The faulty Sky TV box was eventually replaced but not until making several time-wasting phone calls. I went to see my Business manager at the bank for a demonstration on online banking. I know it is meant to be easy but had never got around to setting it all up. I made some half-hearted enquiries about estate cars to replace my beloved Landrover if I start having to travel more. I quilted a small, jolly quilt top for Joyce who helped on the Patchwork Car project. She had given it to me as a piece that could be cut up but I couldn't do it and it has now been given a second chance. I was reminded that I keep promising to run weekly beginner's patchwork classes so I really must just announce 3 taster sessions for December that could include a basic cushion, festive bunting and maybe a very basic set of tablemats using leftover Christmas scraps. A load of logs was delivered for the winter and that prompted me to remove all of the cobwebs in the Garden Yurt, light the stove and give it a good airing.

There has been a lot about the International Quilt Festival in Houston on Facebook this week that has made me determined to go and experience it for myself. I have made a new list of what I need to do to finally sort out the Yurt Tour of USA. Once a list gets made it means that action needs to be taken so that things can get scored off, as long as the list remains somewhere prominent and doesn't get filed away to be forgotten. I seem to have been volunteered to write letters to members of Parliament questioning the new 16+ exam system in Scotland in my capacity as Chairperson on the School Parent Council. I was only meant to be steering the meetings this year...!

Out of Sorts so Sorting Out

2010-10-31T21:03:00.001Z

It has been an odd sort of week... I felt compelled to sort out my studio shelves, fabric baskets, drawers, files, boxes, scraps of wadding, tangles of rickrack and trimmings, and get rid of out of date catalogues. I couldn't decide what to work on even though there are umpteen things that I could or should be doing. I was still painting the Purposeless room white and every time I opened a cupboard I wanted to tackle its contents. I think this was a classic case of avoiding starting anything new. I have lots of things that aren't technically urgent and it made me realise how I get more done under pressure. In the end I started a Bonnie Hunter "Scrappy House" project so that I was actually making something. It is something that I can just do in between serious, challenging or boring tasks. I even made some calls to enquire about semi-industrial sewing machines including the Juki F600 and Janome Horizon but so far have not received any lucrative sponsorship deals apart from an offer of a £50 discount. I had promised to buy my children a digital piano before I invest in any more equipment. There was also an unexpected purchase at the end of the week which I will write about in another blog...

There was the added frustration of the telly not working and the usual saga of trying to call a help centre to work out how to fix it. We didn't have to miss "Strictly Come Dancing" on Saturday evening as the TV got reconnected to its old freeview box. There was also a problem with the internet and it seemed that most of the East of Scotland's connectivity had suffered after high winds but thankfully that soon got sorted out. At least I could use the mobile modem to check emails. I could really only go and live on a remote island if it had broadband for me to keep up to date with the online quilting world.

My outrageous Marimekko Finnish wallpaper arrived and my husband did a great job of sticking and lining it all up neatly. It looks fabulous but now I will have to make a new quilt for the day bed and co-ordinating curtains. Although I like eclectic and mis-matched furnishings, it would be really great to design a room properly instead of fitting all of the same old stuff back in after the walls have had a fresh coat of paint. I would dearly love to buy posh curtain fabric at £35 per metre but since I need at least 15m, will probably have to settle for something from IKEA. I am thinking of making qurtains – I could quilt some IKEA fabric or linen and bind them like a quilt. The Cat is impressed that I have decided to bring the sheepskin rugs in from the garden yurt for the winter as it makes all of the old chairs very luxurious. Now that my Studio is all tidy and the Purposeless room is looking better, I am hoping to get back on track with the projects that I should be doing with renewed vigour since I have a busy few weeks ahead.

Getting Set for Winter

2010-10-24T19:27:00.001+01:00

We had a smooth train trip back North despite the mad dash to catch our connection at Edinburgh and the SNOW had all melted by the time we reached home! The wild cherry trees still have glorious orange leaves but the fields around the house are all very muddy. I brought a batch of sloes back from Norfolk so have prepared a large bottle of sloe gin for Christmas. Mo and I spotted a Liberty print sofa in the junk shop so after bouncing on it to test its springs, we shoved it into the car. I had decided that we would need enough places to sit and watch winter TV essentials such as "Strictly Come Dancing". We have an awkward sitting room with too many doorways, bookcases and an old piano so we did some rudimentary rearranging to fit in the "new" sofa. My husband was not all that impressed by the new seating and grumbled a little that it was not all that comfortable so I reminded him that it cost £30 instead of more than £300 and I know an excellent upholsterer.

I had a flying visit from Linda and George who came to talk to me about longarming and various essential gadgets. They may have thought things were a little chaotic here as I had extra children visiting, crockery and books all over the place, and a half painted room. I really must get that room finished before I lose interest completely. I have ordered outrageous Marimekko wallpaper for one wall as a treat for painting everything else boringly white. Luckily, the workshop is civilised so visitors can have a sensible cup of coffee in there.

On Saturday I made 3 giant Birthday cupcakes for Fenella & Emma because the first looked great but was raw in the middle, the second burned and eventually after I turned the temperature down as far as possible, number 3 looked presentable. I wrote down the winning combo for future reference but if I ever get an Aga I will have to rewrite all of my recipes that have all been adjusted to suit the dodgy oven thermostat. The icing was a mixture of cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract, grated white chocolate and cream; just heavenly! I had to drive very slowly to the party and it really was not a practical shape for serving. Normal cupcakes may have been a more sensible option.

As the children go back to school on Monday I hope to finish painting, catch up with my correspondence and get machine quilting samples ready for a forthcoming workshop. I daresay other projects and bright ideas will crop during the week up to put those good intentions astray...

Family Outings

2010-10-17T20:22:00.001+01:00

People probably don't usually start decorating when they should be packing for a week away with 3 children. I bought a tin of light reflective white paint for the Purposeless Room and couldn't wait to try it out on a dull gray day. I couldn't actually see whether I had painted all over the ceiling or not and quickly realised that it would need at least 2 coats. Before I could stop myself, I decided to paint all of the skirting boards and the floorboards which meant that I now have a half finished room. The children were responsible for packing their own bags for the train journey to England to visit our folks which would explain why they didn't include headphones or books. The 8 hour train trip was not as fraught as it could have been and was certainly quicker than going by Landrover.

Our trips to Norfolk are always great fun with leisurely family meals and puddings that my children claim they never get at home. We went on two proper outings – to Sutton Hoo where a Saxon king was buried with his treasure in a magnificent longboat, and Gressenhall Workhouse and Farm. The workhouse visit was absolutely fascinating and our interest was maintained for the entire day. It was a huge purpose-built complex for dealing with the Parish poor and really made the children think about living in Victorian times.

I have managed to sneak in a couple of quilt related trips to Quilters' Haven in Wickham Market owned by Karin Hellaby. It was a super shop filled with a great range of fabrics and patterns. I couldn't resist a bundle of 1940's style cupcake fat quarters. I have no absolutely no idea what I will do with them! We paid a quick visit to the Assembly Rooms in Norwich for the 30^th Anniversary Show by The Norfolk Quilters. We admired a tremendous variety of quilts then had a quick wander down Pottergate and St Benedict's Street. This used to be a fairly seedy area but it is now really trendy and artsy with jazz cafes, wholefoods, music and vintage clothes shops. I had a brief look on my latest quest... for an ostrich skin handbag. I saw one of these lately and I now covet something made from this exotically bumpy leather.

I can't believe how quickly time passes on our family trips. We never seem to fit everything in that we have planned but we really manage to enjoy ourselves!

Gallivanting Time Again

2010-10-10T19:56:00.001+01:00

The Pink Project was completed last Sunday night, quality control checked for threads and wrapped up on Monday morning. There is always an anticlimax after such an intense period of activity. It took two days to sort out the workshop, sift through all of the bent pins, catch up on correspondence and wait for Fedex to collect the large package. I was disappointed that it was not released to the media on Friday as planned as I have been dying to post pictures of the finished article on the blog and Facebook.

I finally bound Buddug's beautiful Baltimore quilt and sent it back to Wales as a special delivery parcel. I did a lot of tiny background quilting on it but because I had used wool wadding, it was still drapey and light. I think her hand appliqué is wonderful and love that she used so many different fabrics.

By Wednesday I was wondering what to do as the pressure was off and I had no definite deadlines to meet. It is not as if I have nothing to do... just that I could not decide what to tackle next. I quilted a small piece of fabric to turn into a notebook cover with pen pocket for the Echo Livescribe pen that I have been too busy to experiment with. As usual I have made myself a note to increase the sides on the quilted covers for spiral books by another quarter of an inch. I really must write down the instructions for the notebook cover as by now the original notes have so many crossings-out and post-it-notes attached.

Tania and I were driven down to St. Cyrus to see our neighbour's new house with sea views. I was intensely jealous of her 1950's cream Aga that made the empty house cosy and welcoming. We had a rake around the junkyard on the edge of the Nature Reserve. "Steptoe's" has the most incredible quantity of stuff outside on tables and stacked high in a large barn. There was an odd system of pricing where we had to ask a woman with a notepad who went off to discuss terms with the boss and then some haggling could go on. Prices were not cheap; I bought a scruffy 201k Sinker hand-crank sewing machine for £20 but it is in a bit of a state. I had read that it has the reputation for being one of the strongest machines ever made. My Husqvarnas are great machines but they have really struggled with large, bulky projects this year.

We had a second outing on Friday when I took one of my machines up to the shop in Keith to be fixed. I was rather taken with the Janome Horizon as I reckon I could do with a sturdy machine that can cope with big projects but can also do some decorative stitches. I have received many comments by email that it is a good machine but there seem to have been a few teething troubles according to some. It would be great if Husqvarna would bring out a similar machine in the same price range then I would have both value for money and the best Swedish build quality. It was a long drive to Keith in thick Scotch mist but fun to be away from the workshop and not at home doing overdue jobs like sorting out my wardrobe, paperwork or tidying children's bedrooms, which is what I ought to have been doing.

At Freya's request, I took her and Fenella into Aberdeen for a girls' day out on Saturday. We went to the music shop to look at pianos. Our free antique piano has a honky-tonk-pub-piano sound with some keys that stick occasionally so the teacher has recommended a digital version. I have now researched extensively on the internet and been to the music shop and the conclusion is that we should get the most expensive one that we can afford so that the children don't grow out of it as they progress. I like to encourage any interest in music so bought Freya some sheet music by Lady Gaga! We had a leisurely wander around in Aberdeen and stayed out in town all day, even visiting a tortoise shop. Fenella had said she would like a tortoise for her birthday but changed her mind when told that they don't do anything at all and can hardly ever go outside in Scotland. She thought the lizards looked cool but we agreed that the reptile shop was pretty odorous so thankfully she has gone off that idea.

Mo and I had permission to rummage through the skip behind a hotel that is being refurbished but we were disappointed to find that it had already been emptied. We decided to drive by a disused village hall that could make a great studio. It is right in the forest and would provide a terrific space for working on large projects. The landlord is apparently on the brink of turning off the services and using it as a storage shed so we are keen to find out if we can use it for a very modest rent. It would make a wonderful longarming space except that it is situated on its own and expensive equipment may not be secure, although it has obviously had no visitors other than swallows for years.

The children are now on holiday for two weeks so I am planning to fit too much in as usual - visiting family in England, reminding myself what my Yurt Book is about, quilting a few of my old quilts that have been sitting in a basket for a while, planning a talk & workshop, starting a couple of new Yurt panels for Yurt2, repainting the Purposeless Room white, considering a couple of new projects with Mo, making a huge cupcake for Fenella's birthday, and planning a Yurt Night which should keep me busy for a while...

TOP SECRET

2010-10-03T20:41:00.001+01:00

Sorry but there is no blog tonight as I have promised to say nothing at all about the large pink project until Friday. I even removed last week's post to keep up an aura of mystery!
Lots happened this week but I cannot spill the beans - yet...

In the Pink

2010-09-19T21:25:00.001+01:00

I have been beavering away on a Beautiful Baltimore all week, trying to get it done before starting the Smart Car project. Since all of the blocks have to be micro-filled it has taken quite a while and I confess that it is not quite finished. I have had more than the usual distractions to contend with. On Monday evening I was invited to attend the Durris WRI to listen to a talk about 30 years of taking proficiency tests in crafts. I think I'll just stick to quilting... Despite getting a good cup of tea with a "fancy piece" and winning a tin of soup in the raffle, I will remain as a Pay As You Go client for the foreseeable future.

I had to speak to a telephonist in India to complain about my crackly phone line and slow internet connection and was informed if anything was found defective with my phone equipment than I would have to pay, despite already paying line rental. I was very worried about the prospect of having no phone or internet so I ordered a mobile Mifi dongle just in case. The engineer arrived and did a whole series of diagnostic tests with his computer then eventually freed the wires that were tangled up in a tree but he couldn't sign the job off until the computer let him go.

Shona challenged me to another crochet learning session. With intense concentration, I managed to remember the sequence for trebles until starting the next round. I was told sternly that I would need to practice if I wanted to progress onto circles but I think I may have an excuse for not doing my homework this week.

A batch of pink fabric arrived in the post from Judi Mendelssohn for the car project, followed by a parcel of celebrity offerings. There was not much to work with there so it was a good job that I had plenty of other Pinks lined up to get started. Friday morning was more chaotic than usual as the Smart Car arrived just after 9am, having been driven overnight from Milton Keynes. The driver, who normally delivers luxury cars to motoring journalists, was irritated that my postcode mislead the Satnav system as usual so I felt obliged to drive him to the station in Stonehaven while Tania workshop-sat in case the lorry arrived to collect the Festival of Quilts Lenni for delivery to Simon in Derby. In the meantime the mobile dongle arrived, closely followed by members of the Smart Car Quilt Team in time for coffee. Work started immediately on measuring up templates using wallpaper that was obviously very dirt resistant since the sellotape would not stick it together. It was not great trying to draw around a car with templates that were flapping in the wind. We had been given permission to take the little car for a drive so Mo and I made a quick trip to her workshop in second gear since we hadn't a clue how to use a tiptronic gear box and didn't want the gearknob to come off again. After collecting more wallpaper, we had to keep swapping seats until one of us found Neutral and were able to restart the engine. It is surprisingly roomy for 2 people and even has a glass roof, ipod dock and Satnav; it's such a pity that we'll be too busy to go off on any jaunts.

Over the course of the weekend we managed to draw and cut all of the templates, crazy piece and stitch 3 sections and make an incredible mess. Despite being such a tiny car, it is amazing how large the 5 flat patchwork sections are. I admit that I seriously underestimated the amount of fabric involved! We need to order thread, pink lining, a huge pink zip and lots of pompoms on Monday. I must finish off the Baltimore and start quilting as soon as I possibly can. We haven't even begun to add the embellishments yet. I will try to get the car for an extra week if possible as it will be needed for the fittings. I hope no-one has any homework or needs to eat supper next week. I think I'll even be hard pressed to answer emails!

Crazy Castoffs

2010-09-12T22:04:00.001+01:00

Patchwork used to mean using up scraps but these days Quilters generally buy fabulous fabrics especially for their projects. I had a customer quilt this week that was made entirely from curtain and dress-making leftovers. The fabrics were all different weights but the simply pieced top was absolutely charming; it became a lovely quilt once it was all finished. I thought it was appropriate to use recycled packaging to post this quilt back to its owner in Somerset. I turned a heavy duty plastic dog-food sack inside out, wiped off the crumbs, wrapped the quilt in the packaging it had arrived in, stuck it all up with silver tape and delivered it to the Post Office.

I have had several email and phone discussions this week from a PR company in London that has requested a quilted car cover made entirely from pink fabrics donated by celebrities in honour of Breast Cancer awareness. This will be a wacky challenge with an impossibly tight deadline. The fabric appeal was only put out last week, no-one has any idea how much will be donated or what the original garments might be. I have stressed that if it looks like nothing useful arrives next week we will have to buy quilt shop fabrics if we are to stand the slimmest chance of getting something presentable done on time. I was originally going to tackle the project myself but as the deadline looms closer I have enlisted the help of an expert upholsterer and a production team is standing by. We hope to put together a crazy patchwork top on some sort of foundation since the fabrics could be a weird combination. I am very concerned about finishing on time but I daresay it will all come together at the last minute. Just so long as I get the car and fabric next week...

I drove down to Perth for the QGBI Scottish Regional Day to listen to Fiona Diaper from the Quilters' Guild Museum in York and Tina Gravatt on miniature quilts. It was lashing with rain on the way down and I had to roll the Landy window down to clear the fug and wipe its mirrors before considering any over-taking. I adore my faithful Landrover Defender but I realise that the time has come to get a vehicle better suited to long distance driving. It was because I was browsing Volvo estate cars on the internet that I burnt the sausages again. I could quite fancy a gold one with sand coloured leather seats. My husband looked sceptical and wondered if I would soon take up smoking a pipe if I chose such a car. I was highly amused to find an old book about crochet on a sales table with just such a character on the front.

I was meant give longarm tuition on Friday using some long template boards but could not find the stylus anywhere at all. I had not actually seen it since FOQ, fearing the worst, that it had got lost. I had to apologise profusely and reschedule the lesson. I searched in every single box and bag that had gone to FOQ until I eventually found it wrapped up with the laser pointer. Since I only had a short while left until the children came home from school I decided to paint one wall in the Purposeless Room. I really should have got a tester pot because it turned out to be a nice but uninteresting cream. I will save this huge tub of cream paint until I get around to repainting the family room that has had test patches on the walls for at least two years. I think I would like to choose a 1950's shrimp pink for the new room with mad wallpaper or even crazy-patch wallpaper samples on one wall. The trouble with this featureless room is that it's so easy to fill it with clutter from the rest of the house; maybe it will be easier to keep it junk free if it is decorated properly (in my spare time between projects!)

Purposeful

2010-09-05T20:58:00.001+01:00

I started the week by attempting to take my own photo one-handed wearing my tartan tam-o'shanter hat. After around 25 shots I selected a couple that looked OK apart from the double chin. It took far too long to affix my new avatar to all of the forums and I ended up getting side-tracked on the internet as usual by browsing dehumidifiers for the workshop, Volvo estates, pens that can upload your handwriting onto pen casts and choosing heritage paint online for the Purposeless Room. I used to have lots of paint colour charts but they seem to have been filed somewhere. The colours on the monitor are not the same as in the tin but I could not be bothered to drive 20 miles to look at paint charts so I phoned and asked the Farrow & Ball sales girl to pick me a warm pinkish-creamy old fashioned neutral. I expect it will be fine – nothing else in the Purposeless Room matches after all. It is really a small sitting room that has been a bedroom, playroom, sewing room, junk room and now houses a spare bed and guitars. I want it to be more purposeful so that I can type in there during winter nights and keep a closer eye on children doing their homework. Mo has given me the most amazing old armchair that was hanging from some rafters. Its horsehair stuffing is bursting out and it smells very mousy but it will look fantastic after she has worked her magic and we have used a lot of fabric freshener.

One of the Stunt Quilters told me that she thought my new avatar would be a good back cover author photo and reminded me that I should be pressing on with the Yurt book. I decided that I had lost the flow so will need to reorganise the bits that I have drafted so far and schedule designated writing time into each week. It was a kind of relief to postpone Des Moines in the end. I could not realistically have gone without enough sponsorship. I will recruit a PA whom I will pay with a quilt; she can crack the whip and make sure that I get sufficient sponsors and bookings in the Spring for the Yurt to start its USA tour properly. I am going to construct an entirely new roof for the USA Yurt that can be shipped permanently to avoid complicated Customs issues. That is possibly what I should aim to do with the wall panels too if I can get enough made over the winter to cover 2 Yurts. I actually quilted one this week with a linen back. The back looks great but using linen as binding is challenging.

I will try to do a simple customer quilt this week as I have to fit in a day of tuition and possibly leave room in my schedule for a large project with a ridiculously tight deadline. I have a conference call with a PR company on Monday that will decide if the next 3 weeks get devoted to a slightly unusual commission.

I was asked by P&Q Magazine if I would like to design a simple project. I made several sizes of "Gussetless Pouches" for slim gadgets such as laptops, ipads, cameras and phones. Fatter gadgets make the pouches bulge so strictly speaking those ought to have gussets... I took photos of each stage and I wrote some Linzi proof instructions, imagining that I was going to make it myself. I also managed to complete the class sample "Pimp My Quilt" (aka "Wild Wholecloth" in more circumspect parts of the country.) It is essentially a machine quilting tutorial that is enhanced with fabric paints and crystals.

I was invited to judge a Women's Rural Institute competition as a neutral outsider. I had to pick the most interesting and clearly presented schedule of events from each group for the forthcoming session. The programmes varied enormously with talks from the Air Ambulance Service to Head Gardeners and Sugar Craft Experts. I felt slightly under qualified for judging the efforts of ladies with more life experience than myself but they gave me a bottle of strawberry wine and sent me on my way. I made a mental note that if I want to fulfil my ambition of being in charge of a tea urn I should just buy one rather than join the ranks of the WRI, at least for another 30 years or so.

I had the Postie worried again one morning this week as Bloody Mabel shot past me out of the dog run before I managed to clip her lead on. She made a dash straight for Sooty the Rabbit with me sprinting after her in my wellies swearing profusely. Mabel doesn't respond to any commands given in a pleasant voice and after I had done several circuits of the rabbit run trying to out-dodge a determined terrier, I sounded deranged. The Postie waved politely, looking slightly perplexed and signalled that he had left me a parcel.

We had a rare and unusual live creature on the doorstep where Bitzi usually leaves her disembodied mice. There was a little Common Lizard just sitting there. They are extremely unusual in this part of Scotland and I don't know why it was there on such a chilly evening. Stunt Quilter, Terri from Wisconsin informed me that they are lucky! I decided that it meant that I should create another Yurt panel with a brownish tartan lizard to celebrate his appearance. A friend of mine spotted an adder when she walked her dog this week, another very rare occurrence. In fact, she sees lots of unusual things on her walks in the remote countryside. Last week it was a man jogging in the nude!

David and Fergus were away for the weekend spectating at a motor-racing event. The girls and I lit a camp fire, pulled up some old armchairs from the summer house, burnt some sausages and ate beans straight out of the pan with a wooden spoon. It was lovely watching the sun go down with a last of the summer Gin & Tonic until clouds of midges arrived. We went inside, sang along to DVD's of "Mamma Mia" & "Hairspray" and shared a big bag of M&M's - it was a fun evening!

Gatherings

2010-08-29T20:45:00.001+01:00

The Studio received a thorough sorting out after I unloaded all of the gear from FOQ and even the paperwork was filed neatly. I spent a lot of time emailing and phoning to follow up possible shipping quotes, technical queries and making notes on how the show went. It could take weeks or even months to see if people who looked at machines at FOQ become actual customers.

I ordered wool wadding for an impressive appliqué quilt that is coming up and finally got to work on the long overdue workshop samples for the "Pimp My Quilt" class that may have to be subtitled, "Wild Wholecloth" for more sober types. I am fairly pleased with how it has turned out but feel that it could do with even more bling to live up to its reputation. Miniature crochet circles in fine gold thread would be great so I really must make an effort to conquer my crochet dyslexia.

I chased up arrangements for the Yurt Tour, very conscious that Des Moines in October is rapidly approaching. The Customs forms are long-winded and I was hugely disappointed when my tweed roof sponsors pulled out having shown a keen interest previously, citing cutbacks as the reason. It is too late to gain any grants at this stage. The USA Yurtman came up trumps and agreed to make the Vermont frame the same size as the original and AQS has been poised to put the Yurt in its show catalogue. I decided to wait until after the weekend to figure out whether it would still be possible to go ahead with Des Moines without one of the main sponsors or get a PA on board, have more funds in place and line everything up for a Spring tour that could involve more than one event. I also need time to work some more on the Yurt Book!

I have been collecting together ideas and mulling over all sorts of things since FOQ. If I am going to travel around the country doing workshops and selling machines then I may need to make the enormous sacrifice of trading in my beloved Landy for a more economical and practical estate car that could double up as a van. The Landy is my absolute most favourite vehicle and brilliant where I live in Scotland but it is not good for long distances. Maybe I can have one again when I retire!

Mo and I are going to try to work on a joint show quilt using lots of different materials and techniques. We are full of grand ideas but need to sketch these out on paper and work out when we are going to fit it in to our schedules. I have not actually worked on any show entries this year and the Yurt Project seems to be evolving into the Yurt 2 Project – with USA and Europe versions.

I was irritated to find that I could not pay for the bottle of supermarket wine at 9.50am as I dashed around doing some grocery shopping one busy morning. I was disappointed that the shop was not busy as I was in the mood to cause a Scene and protest at the Government's stupid law that only really penalises housewives rather than teenaged binge drinkers who would actually still be in bed before 10.00am . I refused to move out of the automated checkout area where the assistant was getting agitated at the robotic voice proclaiming, "Please take the illegal item out of the bag!"

That same day a man arrived at the house asking if I could use any cheap, spare tarmac for cash as they had finished patching the potholes in the road. When I went out later on I noticed that they had only repaired one side of the road before trying to sell off their "surplus" materials. By the time Freya came home to tell me that her first Home Economics lesson at secondary school was "How to make Instant Coffee", I was ready to storm Parliament, stage a coup and restore order. I think that teaching children who have cooked over a camp fire in primary school how to make instant coffee is absurd. I was expecting something more elaborate involving coffee beans and frothy milk.

Mo, Tania and I set the world to rights with a Yurt Night discussing politics, books, taxidermy and funeral arrangements. Our conversations are always irreverent and eclectic, accompanied by a delightful bottle of Rioja from the new wine shop in Banchory that also stocks 6 types of gin that we will be obliged to sample.

On Saturday we drove up to Strathdon on the edge of The Highlands to see the Lonach Gathering. This is quite a spectacle where Pipebands and Clansmen march around the neighbourhood from early in the morning, stopping off for several drams of whisky on the way. I filmed a short movie on my digital camera, forgetting that we have a Flip video camera at home. It was a wonderful, traditional event with everyone wearing tartan and wellies. The weather was beautifully sunny one minute then lashing with rain the next. Freya camped there overnight with friends and it was pretty stormy but they stayed cosy with plenty of extra layers and blankets. It is fascinating watching the field events that include caber tossing, hammer throwing and tug-o-war. We spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around chatting to friends and I chose a tartan hat with feathers for the Quilt Quine to wear at foreign events. I really hankered after a bright green tweed trilby but it was £55 and I wasn't sure that I could really wear it while demonstrating longarming at quilt shows. It is about time for me to update my web avatar picture so I may model the new headgear for the photo.