Quilting Between the Lines

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.