Best Laid Plans

On Monday morning I had to jump out of bed and fling my clothes on as a DIY quilter arrived sharpish while I was lazily reading in bed, celebrating the mid-term holidays. I thought I knew better than my calendar and decided that it was weird that she had scheduled the 13th of February and also 13th of March when it was just a weird quirk of the calendar.

I managed to fit in a nice wee quilt for a customer but the only other sewing was a zippy bag for my new selfie stick, purchased specially for my forthcoming trip to Quiltcon;) 

I can prove that I have not been time wasting because I have filled up 7 whole pages of ideas and things to do in my notebook, as well as a random list of tasks for Thursday and Friday. I did just about everything on it, even coaxing the hibernating lawn-mower into life and persuading Fergus to help dig up a tree that self-seeded itself right outside a window about 7 years ago. 

I also had a productive brainstorming session with Tania, attempting to work out a schedule of workshops from my studio, hoping to replace the classroom teaching. It was great to have another person come up with helpful suggestions on dates and general logistics. 

It would appear that I have prepared for a siege, having cooked and frozen a selection of ready made meals for my veggie teens for when I am away. The store cupboard is full of emergency rations, including 9 tins of baked beans and spare Nutella. There is enough pet food for at least a month and everyone’s schedule is on the noticeboard. I am only off to the USA for a week but a few days after I get back I will be heading off to Switzerland for a Bernina Q-Series seminar, followed by a trip to Germany a month later! 

I have actually typed up a list of potential projects for consideration - I know I must make up some quilting class samples fairly urgently but I really feel the need to be working on something else instead of constantly “dabbling”…

Budgies Don't Fly Upside Down

It was midweek by the time I had written yet more lists, helped a DIY quilter, did a cute customer quilt, tried to help Fergus tackle last minute revision for his Music Prelim, and managed not to sort out the kitchen cupboard that is full of spilled sugar. After all of this industry and to stop myself from getting sucked into reading an epic trilogy non-stop, I decided to have a go at Sara Lawson’s “Aeroplane Bag that I had purchased as a PDF. 

I already had fabric and some interfacing but by the time I had been to the craft shop to get a chunky zip, more specialist bag-making interfacing and some more pompom wool, I reckoned it would have been cheaper to have bought a bag in Cath Kidston’s very jolly shop. 

It took me some time to prepare all of the pieces and because the pattern did not actually say to check that my fabric should be the right way up, despite the many photos, I managed to cut out my budgies upside down! The only solution was to add a panel of co-ordinating fabric and pretend that I was doing patchwork. The instructions were very good and I managed not to get lost. The only hiccup I had was getting the ends of the chunky zip to line up exactly despite being very careful with that step. I need to give myself a zip masterclass to figure out how to improve that.

There is an iffy bumfle inside the lining that only I need to know about but overall it looks quite professional. I decided to make a false bottom to make it sit up even more like a carpet bag. If I could get my hands on a piece of sewable carpet I would love to make a Mary Poppins bag for under £400, although the metal clasp could prove even more unco-operative than a zip!

How I "Waste" my Time...

Truthfully, I don’t waste time at all - I just don’t fill it with meaningful activities at every opportunity. I could watch daytime TV or read novels all day if I owned a chaise longue but according to my many lists, I have productively done some pointless filing, written my first pupil reports in 17 years, made bramble jelly, listed loads of old magazines for sale on Ebay, completed and bound two customer quilts, made a virtual me, and even planned what we were going to eat each evening! 

The trouble is, I don’t actually have any projects on the go. I have PLENTY of ideas, and even a quilt top or two lying around. I have been trying to get all of my outstanding jobs done first but I never feel I have achieved in a week anything unless I have sewn something to prove it. So… I absolutely have to get my brain in gear, finish that big job hanging over me which is updating the list of Patchwork and Quilting classes that I can offer so I can finally knuckle down and create something!!

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