Highs & Lows

I made it just in time for my talk at Aberdeen North Embroidery Guild by the skin of my teeth as my sat-nav lady had a bit of a meltdown in the dark and could not take me somewhere perfectly straightforward less than 15 miles away from home. The ladies seemed to enjoy some of the quilts that I have produced in the last 6 years.

I attended an interview for a teaching job that I really believed I would get since I had already been teaching at the school regularly. Despite telling myself that I would be philosophical if a better suited teacher got the job, I was really fed up when told that I lacked “experience”. I was given sound advice on how I could improve my CV for future applications. After stewing about it all for a couple of days, I decided that perhaps the tarot cards were trying to tell me that school teaching is not my destiny after all. I had seriously considered putting my quilting business back onto the back burner and earning money the “easy” way by returning to the teaching profession but I now believe that I just don’t fit the mould required to be a permanent member of teaching staff. If I am honest, I like to plan things my own way without filling in reams of paperwork and I hate being told what to do. I spent a supply day in an infant class the next day where the children up to age 7 were all learning through play activities and I decided that I was actually rather bored. I even had time to jot down one or two new ideas for quilting projects.

When I returned home there was an offer to go and teach quilting in Texas next October if I feel like it so I ordered a celebratory new pair of green Dr Martens, poured myself a large gin and decided to feel relieved that I am still a free agent to travel to international quilt shows without having to consider school holidays. 

On Friday Mo, Tania and I spent a long overdue day together. We started by dunking Cadbury’s Crunchies into very strong coffee, then went to see the new upholstery workshop in an old farm steading that Mo will share with Yurtman, a Canoe Builder and a Felt Maker. She is excited by the creative possibilities that could evolve from such a combination of artisans. We helped shift some rolls of fabric and shelves then treated ourselves to a late lunch at the Finzean Farm Shop. The heavy rain throughout the day caused the River Feugh to burst its banks but my trusty Landrover waded manfully through the deep puddles on the road. There was even a small waterfall gushing through the dry-stone dyke in my garden that caused a moat to form around the yurt and lap at the door. I will need to light the stove and mop up - after another winter I will probably need to commission a new roof canvas.

At the weekend I finally finished quilting the rejected then resurrected Viking helmet that I did on some inferior quality silver lame. Some of the shiny surface has worn off so I think I will give it a squirt of silver spray paint. This will also hide the fact that I changed thread colours halfway through. As this is now Silver Helmet Number 3 I think I will probably put it up for sale. I added more strips to the 25 house cushion/quilt blocks and prepared the back of a small customer quilt so I felt that I actually achieved something in my workshop this weekend, despite the pungent smell of spirit vinegar that I had used to remove some stains on a vintage wool blanket. 

It is a good job that my Macbook has virtual “sticky-note” reminders - it is only two weeks until I fly to Houston and I have lots to do before I pack my suitcase!!