The next time I plan to make a competition quilt I might just allow a little more time to order the necessary materials. The copper fabrics that arrived in the post were luridly bright orange or dull brown. It may have been possible to use the existing copper quilt that is part of the Ostrych for my Houston entry BUT if I trim it down to the same size as the gold snakeskin piece it will have no background left. I really should have made everything a uniform size but there would be no fun in that ;) I would like to have ordered more thread but time dictates that I have to make do with the orange or brown ones that have at least 500m left on their spools. I searched the internet fruitlessly for more copper lurex and eventually came across some copper lame from the USA. If it arrives by the middle of the week I will draft out a new Norse helmet design but to be on the safe side I have started another bird on copper coloured silk. I was very impressed with the service that I received from The Silk Route www.thesilkroute.co.uk as they sent samples and a length of dupion the very next day after I phoned. However, while searching for copper fabrics on Etsy, I found a leather manufacturer in Texas that produces hides embossed to look like ostrich or lizard skin in a fabulous range of colours. I bet a leather quilt would look amazing; although weighty, it would be durable!
I managed to finish off the sunflower quilt and packaged it up ready to post when I go into town. The customer quilt waiting to be done next is a long, thin hand-pieced hexagon project. After prevaricating about the copper fabric for a few hours, I decided to have a side project and ran up a couple of new quilted Ipad covers. The red oilcloth looked unexciting so I added embroidery stitches, ribbon and rickrack. I had to sew everything from the reverse side as the sewing machine foot kept sticking to the plastic fabric. I want Freya to learn how to make these as she could probably sell them to her school friends. While working on these small, easy projects I mulled over a few thoughts on future "wholecloth-with-a-twist" quilts. I have also been thinking about something that involves African masks for some time but I will have to put these ideas into some sort of project queue!
I taught the same class of children for 3 days in a row so I managed to learn all 31 of their names, worked out how to use the interactive whiteboard and I marked all of their work. They studied The Olympics, Jamaica and Decimals and were suitably impressed that I had downloaded topic related poetry and reggae onto my Ipad. Unfortunately, the grass was waterlogged so they did not experience a hockey lesson with me wearing red Doc Martens since the rubber soles of my old trainers have now crumbled to dust.
I toured the Loch Lomond Quilt Show with Ellen which gave us an opportunity to catch up and talk about one or two quilty trips that we would like to do. We thought that the most impressive exhibition was "Remember Me? Quilts Honouring the Women of Scotland" by Lorraine Sullivan and Tina Gravatt. They have made almost 80 different quilts inspired by all sorts of women in history from domestic servants, to explorers and medical pioneers. I think they have created an incredible and diverse body of work and I believe they have been invited to display some of their collection at Houston.
We had afternoon tea at the West Kirk in Dumbarton where the ladies had hung bunting and covered the tables in embroidered tablecloths to attract visitors to their "tearoom". The meringues and homebakes were delicious and we had a chance to catch up with other quilters on tour around the quilt exhibitions in churches. There was much discussion on the merits of the winning quilts and of other shows that quilters were planning to attend throughout the year. I had a chat with award winning quilter, Philippa Naylor who has been working on her Houston entry for 18 months rather than approximately 18 days. She had me worried for an hour or so after informing me that photographs of my entry would have to be put onto a CD and sent by post. I used my Iphone to check the rules and I was mightily relieved that electronic submissions are allowed! So I have around a week to complete my 3 latest Norse pieces - maybe even a fourth if my Ebay purchase arrives promptly!
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