Spring Spruce Up

 

I have been enjoying lovely spring weather this weekend and got stuck into some serious garden tidying. I borrowed a more powerful pressure washer and got rid of the winter slime. It was a messy job but worth it. I had to stop when the old flaky paint looked like it might wash off the walls. I repainted the front of my shed which had gone green and most of the fence which is pretty rotten. After mowing the grass and buying Nessie a new basketball, I felt very satisfied. I even cut down a sycamore tree that was growing through the fence.

I finished the dolly quilt which ended up at 12” square with 196 pieces then went on to make two tiny housewife pillowcases. I did all that while listening to an audio book from the library so it was quite a nice wee project. I am beginning to feel like completing the patchwork coat next;)

Fergus and his band, Amplehouse, released a beautiful single this week and got a rave review from Indie Music Magazine. It just needs to be spotted by the right person to get it some radio airplay!

Nessie and I are having a slow day and meeting a friend for a walk on the edge of Dartmoor later. I might just tidy up the mess I made in the back bedroom / sewing room first…

Silly Side Projects

 

My Grandad was a joiner by trade.  For years he hand-built railway wagons in Glasgow. When he retired he had a small selection of hand tools that fitted into an enamel bread bin and he made household things that were built to last. There is still a parcel box outside one of our old houses in Norfolk that was constructed in 1980.  He made a sturdy child’s chair, a doll’s house like a Scottish Butt and Ben Cottage, and a dolly bed. 

My sister has recently rediscovered the dolly bed and has commissioned me to make some bedding for it. She has knitted a doll and a cat to whom the bed now belongs. I have worked out the sizes to make a fitted mattress cover and housewife pillowcases - miniature, of course. This damp Sunday afternoon I will be attempting to make a tiny patch Quilt, nothing too fancy, just squares that start off at 1 ¾” and end up about ¾” of an inch across. That is plenty small enough if you ask me!

The other activity that I have given myself is making a beeswax wrap for home-made bread and rolls. I used to have all of that equipment at my house in Scotland but I’ve had to buy it all again. Obviously, I could go to the shop and buy six rolls for 46p but I can’t be bothered so I would rather go to the effort of kneading and proving some dough and making a wax wrap to keep it fresh. Sometimes I question my logic over how I might be able to save save and spend time;)

Puffed Out!

I had such a busy week that I actually forgot that I had a long weekend. At first I wondered what I was going to do with it. Perhaps I should’ve planned to go away. I had two intense days of long arm quilting mastery teaching which went very well. I also gave a talk to the local Quilt group and everybody stayed awake so that’s always a good sign. It was great to see some of my quilts again which just live in a suitcase. I have been driving around with them all week because I can’t get a parking space outside and they’re too heavy to lug from three streets away.

I borrowed a lighthearted audiobook from the library which kept me company as I slogged my way through the puff Quilt. I have come to the conclusion that the French seam method is quite hard work and probably takes an awful lot longer than it should. My shoulders are aching from the effort of hefting the unwieldy Quilt onto my tiny sewing machine table. 

I was so desperate to get it finished in the end that I kept going on Sunday evening and attached the binding as well. Let’s just say that it’s a lovely looking Quilt and it will be super cozy in the depths of winter but I don’t think I’m going to hurry to make another one. 

I’m off to have a con flab with a pal to see if it is possible for us to put together a two person entry for the Festival of Quilts this year as I don’t have access to a quilting machine at my house and I will need plenty of time to do the quilting in my time off at work. Especially as the gardening season is approaching and this weekend I have already tidied up some pots and cut the grass. I even put up new fairy lights in the back garden because the other ones had conked out due to all the wet weather The next big job will be to repaint all of the shed and fencing. Who knew that living on your own would involve so many chores? But all the same, I do prefer living this way!

A Meh Week

 

On the whole I am content with my new life but much of the past week was a bit “Meh”. There was one sunny day but I spent it at work. It feels like it would be nice to get out in the garden again and tidy up but it it is all still too wet. At least some daffodils in a pot are trumpeting their heads off. 

I went on a road trip to the seaside and had very good fish and chips but did not come home with any fun purchases. I know I don’t need anything in particular but I should at least have bought some nice croissants for my Sunday breakfast. Nessie had a haircut which set me back £50.00 - I am so over being poor;) She does look smart though, although someone on the street commented that she was a lovely Yorkie!

Work was pretty quiet so I started a joint project with a colleague where we each stitch an Amanda Murphy “Moonlight Serenade” panel. It is not complicated, just a bit repetitive because I have to place virtual markers to create areas in which to place the digital designs. On the B990 there is a camera scanner which makes that job much quicker and easier. 

I have now sewn all of my puffs into 3’s so the next job is to French seam all of them before joining them into 9’s then even larger chunks. It is a surprisingly time consuming task that I can imagine will end up looking a bit of a mess on the reverse if I have seams twisting all over the place. I should probably just have made a log cabin quilt.

I watched Series 2 of “The Night Manager” on the telly and it was very tense like when someone is rummaging in desk drawers and you know they are about to get caught. I did not expect that ending - the Baddies won. 

I have throughly enjoyed reading “Butter” by Asako Yusuki, a gastronomic novel far more about Japanese society than the the actual serial killer and journalist looking for proof of innocence at its outset.

Now that I have a job, Sunday feels like the day before the school week with lots of chores, homework to do, and packed lunch to make. I managed to find a parking spot on the street so I am going to load the car with 2 suitcases of quilts, covering them up with a tatty blanket. I am giving a talk in town later in the week and can’t fit both suitcases in my festival trolley. I have managed to borrow a projector so I can give a slideshow. I own 3 projectors but, of course none of them are here. One of them might be here because I am convinced that I have seen it but I have no idea where it is now or maybe I saw it at Christmas in my old workshop, sigh…

All Puffed Up

 

Don’t tell my guests but I removed some stuffing from one of the guest room pillows to finish stuffing all 291 puffs. Some may be under stuffed and some may be too plump. It is tempting to make them nice and fat but then they are impossible to join together. I suppose if I was going to be exact I would have to use some “drug dealer” scales but I went for what size of fluff ball could fit into my closed fist. The next thing will be to put them together in blocks of 9 to distribute the prints randomly.

I had another busy work week not longarm quilting. I taught a 2 day ruler class which went down very well - one participant went as far as saying it was the best class she had ever attended. There is already a waiting list for the next one which will take place in September. My next teaching session is looming fast - Longarm Mastery, a day getting to know the Q-Series then a creative day to follow. Because I am so versatile, I spent the whole next day packing more than 80 parcels in the warehouse. It is easy when the goods will fit into a Jiffy bag but when you have to repurpose an old box it becomes a bit more challenging. My last work day of the week was spent checking the inventory of all of the display model sewing machines. Despite my best efforts to make sure all of the bits and pieces for each model were present and correct before Christmas, several items had been “borrowed” and not been put back in the right place.

I was secretly glad that it continued to be wet over the weekend as my cottage is like a little fortress once I am inside. After Nessie has been for her daily walks I try not to go anywhere since I am happy pottering around, doing insignificant little jobs like touching up the black paint on the door handles and screwing in some more hooks for damp dog jackets in my tiny lobby. When my sister phoned I was whining about having to go out and get milk from the garage that is literally across the road.

The remaining tasks on my weekend list include brushing Nessie and putting out the recycling. After that I am free to sew / read / cook or come up with some other pointless activity;)

Some of What I Do Best

Some of the 2 day classes at QD do not have the serve-yourself tea and coffee table so I become a high-speed waitress, running about with cups of tea and plates of cake. I suppose it is good practise for the day when I open a beach cafe with a very limited menu. 

Later in the week I got some of my video equipment charged up and made a wee movie of my colleague, Karen, doing an Accuquilt demo for Ellen’s quilt group in Glasgow. I had great fun doing that and editing out the bit where she got in a muddle and might have said a rude word;)

I have my own 2 day class on Ruler Quilting this coming week and I have assembled all of the materials but have kept on putting off writing the lesson plan. I have taught it before but it is good to make it slightly better each time. I will do it on Sunday, just like last minute homework. I will try not to make coleslaw, celeriac mash, another 30 pockets for the puff quilt, and take Nessie for a walk before I have done my planning…

As per usual, I have spent my weekend making bread and fruit cake, trashing the kitchen juicing all of my manky fruit and veg, having a peek at the leaky shed roof, and trying not to be tempted to cut the grass just because the sun came out. I am going to pretend that I have not seen the damp patch in the back bedroom. I have put Zinsser primer/stain blocking paint on my shopping list for when it eventually dries out. 

Life's Minutiae

 

Considering that I am a person who owns more than just a few cameras and a smart phone that can take photos, I have absolutely no pictures to document my week. It was a busy one too. I had class prep to do at work and a DIY quilter. 

Matt Wilding came to run one of his heart-shaped bag making workshops and he stayed with me. He was a model guest - we even went out for posh fish and chips. Nessie  loved having someone else in the house but I have become very used to my own space so even though he was a fantastic guest it was quite nice to have the place to myself again and watch rubbish on YouTube. 

I managed to get about 50 pockets done on the puffy Quilt. I suppose it’s going to take ages to stuff them all the pockets, but it’s not as if I’m in a hurry unless I think I’m not going to do any sewing projects once I get back into the garden. 

On one of my days off I was amazed at how easy it is that one small job leads to another. Perhaps I’ll just wipe the dust off the mirror or deal with that little patch of mould in the bathroom and before I know it the whole day has gone by in a whirl of little chores. Like dealing with the recycling, which I dread but probably takes me all of five minutes. 

I must actually do some serious preparation for my own forthcoming classes at Quilt Direct in ruler quilting, free motion quilting and Longarm master classes. I’ve done it all before but it’s just as well to be prepared and to make the odd tweak here and there.

February Unlocked

 

I have survived a long, wet January. I am thankful that I did not have several feet of Scottish snow, icy temperatures and probably power cuts but it seemed like every time I stepped out of my door I got very wet. It made a lovely change to wander into town on Nessie’s 6th birthday to see a spring-like display of crocuses. 

I had a different week at work - due to a last minute cancellation, I was able to be a pupil in the 4-day intensive B990 training course. There are interesting crossovers between the B990 and the computerised side of the Q24 longarm machines. As long as I practise what I learned by using the machine regularly, I will be able to do all sorts of projects and more importantly, explain how the machine works to other members of staff and customers.

I am hosting Matt Wilding again this week so I spent a whole day doing chores, even washing the floors by hand. I stuck some Hama bead shapes to the wall and framed up some prints in IKEA frames. I must be aware that there is a fine line between Cottagification and Hoarding. I was not responsible for cleaning the old house so I never noticed how much black fluff Nessie produces. The idea is that I can sew all day on Sunday, guilt free although now that the sun is out I should probably be outside pressure washing the green, slimy back yard. 

I visited Mel in Looe but it was blowing a hoodie so we stayed away from the sea. I showed her my French seam method of making puffs and she is now inspired to use her Liberty charm squares that she had been “saving”. I sewed a few puffs during the week which made me feel quite productive although I have realised that they end up smaller than the 4” that I was hoping for so I made need to make more puffs than I bargained for. 

I spotted a handy IKEA pegboard hack online - Bernina feet fit very nicely into the Skadis key hanger. Apparently, some people attach the pegboard onto the Raskog trolleys so everything is at hand. I was up in my craft / spare room the other night using my old iron when I was plunged into darkness as it tripped the electrics. Maybe it is finally time to admit that it has reached its sell-by date.

Birthday Week with Freya

I only worked a 3 day week so I could have 2 days off with Freya. She was working her job from home with Nessie’s help and it was so nice to have some company. She took Nessie for midday walks and cooked something delicious most evenings. We made a successful vegan apple cake and even delicious vegan Scottish tablet. 

It was great to have help to do some jobs that I had been putting off like hanging up some string lights (which have only come on once so far) and repotting some house plants. We had a blustery outing to bohemian Totnes where we had lunch outside at The Hairy Barista while watching ageing hippies go to a daytime disco in the coffee bar opposite. 

My sister sent some knitted bunting for my kitchen and I received some lovely tulips which I had to put into a tall Tupperware tub as I don’t have a vase.

People living on Dartmoor had a super show of the Aurora the other night but it was too misty here in town. Since then it seemed to rain constantly so we did not bother to make a trip to the seaside and most of the National Trust properties are completely closed until Spring. Freya and Nessie were happy to stay at home but we did nip out into Tavi to get a pasty between downpours. The weather was so stormy that the sea wall protecting the train track in Dawlish was partly washed away but Freya’s train managed to get through. Typically, after my visitor departed,  the sky cleared to a bright blue and we had a warm, sunny day. 

At work this week will be a Bernina 990 retreat for 4 days so I put together a table runner for the event. I am hoping to participate in the course so I can be more au fait with the flagship Bernina sewing machine. It will be interesting to see if I enjoy the machine embroidery aspect. 

I did not plan in advance for Burns’ Night so have not managed to procure a haggis or a neep. That could be an activity the next time I see my children even if it is out of season!

Girl Visitors

Customer Quilt

This week I have been entertaining my 2 lovely girls, Freya and Nella. There has been a lot of washing up but plenty of helpers to deal with it. I made some genuine Scottish tablet which turned out perfectly but you can feel your teeth rotting!

I had another go at working out the best way of constructing a puff quilt and have decided that French seams are the answer. 

At work I reconstructed a table runner for B990 using Q-Matic. I also tried using its own built in jumbo stitches to embellish the project which I found a bit tricky because I have not done the training course and the manual does not give step by step instructions. I think it will work out well and I have enjoyed getting to know how to do machine embroidery.

The girls and I walked from Calstock village to Cotele and had lunch in the National Trust cafe. Nessie sat on Nella’s lap to stop her from barking as a protest about having to sit on the floor like a normal dog. 

They gave me a great early birthday present - Bokashi compost bins which ferment food scraps of any sort. It looks like I am all set to become a keen gardener. But first I have to sort out the mould in the shed.