Guilty Pleasure

My workshop was wonderfully tidy and there was no excuse about lack of time yet I still did not manage to get as much sewing done as I would have liked because I was too busy feeling guilty about READING. It was just like when I was at school and failed to complete my homework because I was devouring books instead. I read the "Shades of Grey" trilogy because I wanted to know what all of the hype was about. Frankly, it could all have been condensed into one novel. There was at least a plausible plot by the third book but I have to be a literary snob and declare that it was mostly uninspiringly written repetitive porn. Obviously, I could have given up during the first book but I do like to finish what I have started reading! By comparison, I found "The Hunger Games" trilogy absolutely thrilling and just could not put it down until I had finished all three books. The calibre of writing, characters and post-modernist plots were stunning. I almost hope that I can't find anything else quite so diverting for a while otherwise I will fail to achieve anything all summer holiday.

Setting aside the fiction periodically, I forced myself to sew sleeves onto the remaining "Ostrych" panel, "Norse Capercaillie" and the tricky continuous sleeve for "Odin's Trilogy". It was a tough job on my fingers as most of these panels have been painted on the reverse and they have been very densely quilted. I was relieved when that chore was over.

I cut out the pieces for the rest of "Australian Bewitched" and decided to enlarge it from a 16 block quilt to a more useful 25 block quilt. It has felt good to continue with an abandoned project at last and I am working on it a couple of blocks at a time. Each Ohio star will have setting triangles to make it larger then I will have to decide on a border design. It is nice to be working with colourful fabrics on this project but the gold lame is being its usual non co-operative self and not all of the points are beautifully matched. At least this time I have made a note of the sizes of pieces that I am working with so that I can write a proper pattern for it. I have even worked out a different sized block using pre-cut charm squares.

I took Freya with me on a day trip to Inverness in the pouring rain to set up a new longarm machine. She was a tremendous help as the instructions for the hydraulic lift system were somewhat confusing. I need step by step photos so I will bear that in mind when I produce my patterns. Frustratingly, there was a crucial small piece missing from the kit so I will have to make another trip to complete the job when the replacement parts arrive from the USA.

According to the BBC, the reason for our continuing bad weather is that the jet stream is unseasonably low. It rained for most of the week so in the end I lit the yurt stove and cooked outside one evening despite the black clouds. Freya went off to Guide Camp at Crathes Castle in waterproofs and wellies and was not really looking forward to pitching an old fashioned canvas tent on the mud. I'm glad I managed to persuade her to take an extra blanket and a box of sweets. I expect she will have fun as long as she stays dry and at least she won't be creating mountains of washing-up making cakes all week ;)