What Else Did I do in Glasgow?

 

I decided to make the most of my new National Trust membership and visited Pollock House, where the National Trust for Scotland was founded. Since I had no commitments, I allowed a very keen curator to tell me all about it. She was a knowledgeable historian and told me about witch trials, philanthropy, slavery and the art collection. I met Ellen there for lunch in the old kitchen and we had a wander around the gardens once the rain stopped. In the evening we enjoyed a very nice curry:)

On Tuesday evening I gave a talk to The Glasgow Gathering of Quilters in Scotstoun and my slideshow about my Daft 3D creations seemed to go down well. The next day was a workshop based on improvisational curved piecing techniques using Northern Lights inspired fabrics. I offered several techniques on making slightly wavy seams to more curvy seams and added the options of using bondaweb or appliqué to make bendy shapes. Despite being an owner of several cameras and a smart-phone, I did not remember to take any photos! 

Back home I had a few days of pottering around, just trying to put things away tidily. I wish I had a smaller Sew-Ezi table and a smaller sewing machine to take to workshops. If I start teaching “on tour” more again I should look into that. I am trying to convince myself that I do not have to magically sort my workshop out in one day. I rearranged my bookcase then rummaged through some fabric boxes without throwing anything out. I told myself that I should hang onto the scraps since fabric is now so expensive. 

I attached a keyboard tray to my Q24 monitor so I don’t have to keep moving my makeshift desk that is actually an IKEA mini ironing board. It was a bit of a faff and I am not convinced that it is sturdy enough but it looks quite professional. 

I decided to get started on a quilt restoration where several of the patches had entirely rotted away. I originally thought that I would unpick sections and fit in some new pieces but because it had been a hand project, it was not seamed how you might expect. I decided that it would be better to appliqué some new patches on top and to reinforce those that could be saved from the back. It should now be stable enough to quilt onto its original backing. 

When I was having my minor tidy-up, I found that I still have both crazy coat front pieces to embroider. I could have spent a damp Sunday doing that but I chose to lose myself in a hefty Tudor thriller instead (Revelation, Book 4 in the Shardlake series). 

Some Glasgow Adventures

 This week was rather busy as I got myself organised to teach 2 workshops in Glasgow. I had 3 customer quilts to complete, hand-outs to prepare and some samples to produce. I drew several examples of quilting designs and laminated them until my aged laminator decided to swallow some whole. I tried taking it apart but I decided it was a lost cause. I think in future I might actually stitch the examples as well for reference. 

I stopped in Dundee on the way to Glasgow to visit the Tartan Exhibition at the V&A. It was a really diverse collection and I am glad that I went. 

I taught a day’s workshop for the Glasgow Modern Quilt Group on domestic machine quilting, covering walking foot, free motion and ruler quilting. The participants said that they learned some good tips and enjoyed their time experimenting with the different techniques. I took some of my quilts along to show them off;)

When I was booked to teach 2 separate workshops in Glasgow, I thought it would save travel costs to stay in the city for a few days. I stayed in Freya’s flat but she was actually away camping so I had to entertain myself. I walked to the University and wandered around the Hunterian Museum which houses fossils and gruesome medical exhibits, amongst other artefacts. Next I visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery which houses amazing paintings and many different collections. There was a special Mary Quant exhibition and I had hoped to take photos for Nella but photography was banned and the guidebook was £30.00!

I fancied some lunch after all that culture so I found myself at a street-food warehouse called Dockyard Social, where I had a pick-n-mix of pakoras. 

It was raining on my long walk back to Freya’s flat near The Botanic Gardens and amazingly, I managed to find some curtain hooks in a wee shop, suitable to fix the hideous curtains that were clinging on by 2 hooks. I had an afternoon of hoovering and furniture shifting because obviously I could not just fix the offending curtains - I felt compelled to get stuck into the entire room while left to my own devices. Her flat mates came home just before I had finished but luckily they did not mind the changes and were glad that the curtains looked more respectable, even though I don’t think anyone should actually attempt to draw them!

Tomorrow I plan to visit a National Trust property on my way to stay with Ellen. Hopefully it won’t rain constantly and we will find interesting things to do. 

No Biggie

 

After another epic drive north I spent the next day trying to get reorganised. My workshop could do with a big sort out but I am trying to remind myself that it does not all need to be done at once. Indeed, the universe does not even care whether I do it at all. I have a mega customer quilt to get done before I leave to teach 2 groups in Glasgow next week. It was frustrating that the Qmatic system kept stopping with an error message that there was a problem with the sewhead. On closer inspection, I discovered that the wiring sleeve was disintegrating through wear but I managed to fix it with insulting tape and have ordered some new parts. Tempting as it is to speed the quilting up on a big quilt, more haste gives less speed if something goes wrong. I am having to keep a close eye on this one as there is a lot of back-tracking and if there is a hiccup it can be tricky to find the right place to restart. 

In the garden I picked another batch of blueberries and managed to find some non-waspy plums so even though the kids are all away I should make a crumble.

It would have been easy not to make the effort to drive almost 3 hours to Stirlingshire to attend a Scottie Dog meet-up but I am glad that I did. Nessie behaved impeccably and did not join in with the cacophony of barking. She won the waggiest tail competition and charmed the judges with her fairy wings, taking second place in best of show. 

I have picked up a forgotten project and while Qmatic stitches the customer quilt I am adding some more hand-stitching to my quilted coat. It is one of those projects that I could declare finished enough or just keep going ad-infinitum.

Another 500 Miles

  

 On Wednesday last week I clocked up another 500+ miles driving down to Norfolk but without a caravan it seemed easy to get up some speed and drive for 10 hours. 

Just before we arrived in Norfolk there had been a summer thunderstorm - warm humid conditions were perfect for fungi and I spotted a fine specimen of Chicken of the Woods growing on a willow tree by the river. Freya was very impressed so I have put some in the freezer so I can take it home for her. When cooked it is firm and actually tastes like quite like chicken.

Since I joined the National Trust in the Peak District, we decided to visit Horsey Wind Pump which had been used for draining the marshes in the early twentieth century.

Years ago when I was a student I could not wait to pack up my Uni room and move into my 2nd year flat but Nella was happier just moving a couple of boxes every other day. I really wanted to buy her something nice for her privately rented student house but she was irritated by my interference and frequent texts from junk shops, wanting to organise everything by herself. Fergus and girlfriend, Ellie came to stay in Norfolk for a few days which was great but he and Nella lapsed back into a bit of sibling rivalry. Between them and my folks who have decided that they are “old”, I could do with some time to recharge my batteries. I plan to head back north on Wednesday and get stuck into a huge customer quilt and get ready for my forthcoming Glasgow workshops.