I asked soft-furnishings-guru, Mo for a reminder on how to tackle piped binding which she sews most expertly upside down using a zip foot. I then ignored her sage advice and worked out my own way using my original Husqvarna which has a nifty grooved piping foot. I was satisfied that I had attached the piping and finished off the ends really neatly but it took me a couple more days to pluck up the courage to tackle sewing these “log ends” onto the “trunks” of the totems. I decided that I would write instructions on how to do this so that a fitted bolster cushion can go into my Book but even with careful measuring, there seemed to be a weird, slight variation in fit on every other one. They are starting to take shape at last but it is rather a wrestle getting the bolster-quilts to fit onto the horrible, synthetic foam!
I commissioned Yurtman to cut me a set of plywood circles to fit into the bottom end of each totem to give them some weight and stability. I won’t be able to hand-sew the 9 totems shut until he has got around to doing that small job in amongst completing orders for half a dozen yurts. I will have to use my electric carving knife to cut bits off the columns once the bases go in as I have made them the exact height of the foam in case I decide to scrap the weighted bottoms if Yurtman is too busy. At least I have bought all of the eyelets, cord and toggles to complete the leather quilts which will be laced onto the largest columns.
When I failed to find a king-sized cotton sheet to dye for the back of the grey tie-dyed fabric, I decided to make use of some curtain fabric that I have had for a while. After using 4 packs of fekete/charcoal Hungarian dye, the reverse of the linen shows no signs of having had poppies printed onto it. It was a bit of a chore ironing all of that crumpled fabric but it is now on the frame waiting for me to start quilting circles and pebbles all over it.
Frustratingly, I will only have a short time in my workshop to crack on with The Henge this week as I am teaching 5 year olds for 3 days in a row this week. Last week, after muddling along and inventing activities such as balancing salt-dough with a bucketful of plastic dinosaurs on defective scales and modelling beanstalks with real beans embedded in them, I had to treat myself to a bottle of Edinburgh Gin. I have decided that it is impossible for me to teach small children and also be teetotal…
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