Imaginary Celt

    

Three days of teaching does not allow much time for quilting projects but the schools are desperate for relief cover and the funds will all go towards my epic trip with kids to Bath and WOMAD. I found the process of booking up accommodation quite tiresome - I had to do an internet search, read the reviews, check availability, price and enquire if they had a large enough parking space for my Landrover. I decided to book a one-night farm stay on the way down to England, a small house in Bath for one night then treat ourselves to a hired yurt at the music festival. Then I felt obliged to browse the internet for new sleeping mats and a small tent for a local festival that will take place at the weekend of the summer solstice. This led to a search for solar powered fairy lights and a phone charger, wasting the time I had set aside to work on my Ebook!

I caught up with Helen Jackson, the willow weaver who made the coracle shell. She has also got the bit between her teeth on this project as she has already made a second coracle and considered modifications for a third version. We discussed the various accessories that an imaginary Celt may carry in their little boat. The idea is to be fanciful without being "twee". Helen is weaving a wicker paddle and a fishing creel; I decided to make a round cushion and a general purpose bag using the spandex/chamois scraps.  

I was unable to find round cushion pads in Banchory so I just made a round cover with suede fringing and stuffed it as full as I could so that it would not look too much like a whoopee-cushion. I could not decide what the Celt would keep in his patchwork bag so I made a piece of fishing net by knotting jute string and hanging flints off the bottom end. A few feathers and a couple of porcupine quills sticking out of the top make it look almost like a tool bag. I am still trying to work out how to include a sheepskin and a deer antler in the coracle. These accessories will look fine in the fishing tackle shop window for the Banchory River Festival but I am not sure how they will go down with the judges at Festival of Quilts. 

It seems that the totem trio has been juried into the Fine Art Quilt Masters BUT there is to be a further round of judging in a couple of weeks. I was surprised to hear about this secondary phase since this was not mentioned on the entry form. This forced me to punch the eyelet holes into the back of the goatskin piece and lace it onto the large totem. Next I need to consider what sort of box I can use to send these pieces to FOQ - I may enquire at the Florist to see if they have cartons for long blooms!