Pinky Promise

 

What is it about having a long To Do list that makes me want to start something new? I came back from FoQ with plenty of things to do or finish but then decided that my filing cabinets looked drab and needed a facelift. I used to enjoy painting furniture to give it a new lease of life but I really did not enjoy this job. I should have emptied them, taken them outside, sanded them then given them a quick spray-paint. However, I decided to leave them in situ then paint with primer and pink top coat - only the parts that could be seen. After 4 coats they are still patchy! The trouble with starting a project like that is that it highlights other scruffy furniture and could well snowball into a major operation. 

I still have to complete the caravan stickers - I really need to start and finish one job at a time;) I am tempted to start a quilt but at the same time I still need to make more videos showing how quilters can use the Bernina L890. On the subject of videos, I uploaded a tour of FoQ to Youtube. The walkthrough footage is a bit shaky because I am still getting used to my new camera but I did manage to edit it all myself:) 

Despite all of my faffing this week, I managed to get 2 small customer quilts done and sorted through some of the stuff that Nella needs to take to Uni. There are only 3 weeks to go - she is both nervous and excited! It is really beginning to feel autumnal here after a great summer. The blackberries are fantastic, the nights are drawing in and there is a slight nip in the air. Change is afoot…

Festival of Quilts UK 2022

I reckon it can take me about 5 minutes to pack for a trip but days to get around to putting it all away. I spend several days afterwards trying to catch up with myself, including writing my blog. I am hoping to make a vlog of my experiences this year using video footage that I took as I had a look around the show. 

FoQ 2022 was far better than last year! There was more space, more exhibits and more people:) It was great to be busy demonstrating the Bernina Q-Series machines, except for a day when there was a train strike that seemed to reduce visitor numbers. I kept Q-matic busy showing how automated quilting works and we even did a couple of charity Linus quilts during a quiet spell on Saturday afternoon. 

I had a wonderful surprise when Julie Tebay from Minnesota came to catch up. We rode an elephant together in India but this time she was on a more sedate tour of England. Cecille Flegg kindly brought me chocolate when I was wilting. 

I drove Luana Rubin to Stratford upon Avon to have dinner and see a Shakespeare production at the RSC. It was fantastic but I was a bit confused as to why this production of “As You Like It” seemed so different to the play that I studied at school. During the interval I noticed a poster then realised that I was actually watching “All’s Well That Ends Well”!

As usual there were quilts that I loved for their skill, ingenuity and creativity, and a couple of winners that I may not have chosen if I was a judge. Speaking of which, I had to laugh when I saw some of their photos on the floor one morning as if a disgruntled participant had torn them off the wall in a fury. I am just going to say - I am not impressed by the trend for taking tatty old quilts that are in a terrible state then adding some bits of wool or plastic and declaring, bizarrely that they are ART…

It was fun being interviewed by Brandy Lynn Maslowski for her podcast, “Quilter on Fire.” I did not get introduced to the legendary Kaffe Fassett, who had a special gallery with Bernina for the launch of some special edition sewing machines. I observed that there are some quilters who are extremely good at self-promotion on social media, some with big egos to match. There are also many other quieter, talented quilters who need to shout louder;)

 

Some Like it Hot (and Sticky)

For most of this week it has been scorching hot weather again and I don’t really like it! However, I bought an ice cream maker and had a go at making vegan ice cream. So far I have tried strawberry, cherry and blueberry. I am still working on the perfect recipe without dairy but I think the most successful one used vegan condensed milk. 

Nella was away in Orkney with her friend so I pretended I was on holiday and just pottered around. I filmed a couple of short overlocker demos and with my Editor in Chief away, I had to figure out how to edit the videos in iMovie myself. They are not fancy but I managed to cobble them together, cutting out the bloopers. 

I decided to do all sorts of things I think I never have time for and I discovered that the second-hand backup overlocker can do a fancy wave stitch which I think could look cool on quilt binding. 

The most time consuming activity was cutting out more caravan stickers on my Scan-n-Cut machine. I did not paint the caravan because I thought it would take too long but sticking o hundreds of flowers onto the caravan with vinyl transfer tape has taken forever and I have no idea what will happen the next time I need to wash it!

Alongside churning ice cream and cutting out stickers, I did one customer quilt and won’t attempt to do any more until Festival of Quilts which is next week:)

Cousin Capers

 

Linzi and Karen

                                            Nella, Cousin Elodie, Cousin Estelle, Nella's friend - Kirsty, Cousin Lena

This week I had visitors which is very unusual. My favourite cousins from The New Forest were on an epic caravan tour of Scotland and spent a couple of days with us before starting their journey back south. We had a lovely time eating together, playing board games and visiting Crathes Castle. We visited them last year when Nella was still unwell so this time was so much more fun. We decided that we would love to meet up with our caravans some time, maybe in the Lake District. 

Speaking of caravans, I have been adorning mine with hundreds of vinyl stickers. It has taken ages and I am still not sure if it looks rather like a child’s exercise book cover. I have not yet finished and have no idea how they will wear but I think they look fun. 

I finished quilting the pink whole cloth quilt and got things lined up fairly well. In my opinion it was far more time consuming than doing it freehand but I did learn lots about computerised quilting. I just need to bind it to finish it off then decide what to do with it…