Lost and Broken

 No need to be alarmed - the title does not refer to a sad music album that I have written! It has been a week when I seem to have lost and broken more things than usual. I hunted high and low for some Swiss Army knives, blaming everyone else in the house for hoarding them then eventually found them at the back of a drawer where I had put them. When I was unspooling some thread off a Bernina bobbin it jumped out of my hand and disappeared under a really awkward cupboard. I looked everywhere for a quilt that turned up underneath a mattress.

The most annoying thing was that I dropped my phone which was inside a case and bag, smashing the glass on the back which disabled the camera. I had to hang around in Aberdeen for hours while I waited to get if fixed which cost me £100.00 (Apple wanted £459.00!) When I looked at it at home I realised that the back glass had been replaced with a metal panel and the camera was still broken so now if I try to trade it in will be worth even less. I ordered a replacement from Music Magpie which is working well. I could have put up with the broken phone but then would have had to keep a camera handy - it is easy to forget how reliant we have all become on the convenience of smart phones.

I did not seem to get any of the “homework” that I had set myself done this week. I have Nella home for the holidays and helped Fergus to tidy up his CV. I eventually got a customer quilt done - a super Triple Irish chain wedding quilt for recipients in Ireland, quilted with shamrocks. I am tempted to go down at least 2 unnecessary rabbit holes, either piecing a diamond or triangle quilt using up my stash and / or designing some digital sashiko style motifs to work on a panel featuring Japanese motifs with a Zoom pupil. The Tula Pink butterfly quiltalong starts on Monday and I have no idea how I will keep up with that, do customer quilts and get Fergus ready to move to Glasgow!

Cornish Capers

After I finished teaching in Tavistock last Saturday, my friend, Mel who moved from Banchory to Looe in Cornwall, picked me up and we had a lovely couple of days exploring the area. The sun even came out - everyone told me that it seemed to have rained every day since last autumn. I met some lovely people who said, “Proper Job!” a lot, sampled pasties, fudge, and had fun seeking out the filming locations in the light-hearted BBC detective series “Beyond Paradise”. I really had a lovely time, just like being on holiday. 

Unfortunately there was Drama waiting for me at home. Fergus had been all set to move out with his girlfriend to a flat in Glasgow but they split up so all of those plans are over. Thankfully, they had not actually signed the contract. I spent a lot of time this week trying to console him and work out what he is going to do next. The new plan involves him staying on his friends’ sofa until he gets settled, hopefully getting a job quickly then working on some new music.

Apart from that and some Quilt Quine admin which I swear takes me longer to tackle than is necessary, “all” I did was organise myself with a Tula Pink quilt along that I have signed up for online. There was a lot of photocopying and sorting to do. It will be interesting to see if all this preparation makes the construction easier to manage.

Both Freya and Nella arrived home on Saturday evening. Freya is only here briefly for the dentist but Nella has a 3 week break from Uni and plans to work on assignments, projects and do some outings. Obviously I will spend time with her but will also need to spend a bit of time in my workshop, help Fergus write an eye-catching CV, and continue planning for the retreat that I am teaching in Devon in June - (no pressure)!

Visiting Quilt Direct in Tavistock

 I was so determined to make a good impression at Quilt Direct that I got everything organised and was pretty much packed by Monday! I had got all of my customer quilts out of the way so I had to give myself something straightforward to do for a couple of days. I received the new Bernina 475QE that I intend to take with me on teaching trips when I go by car. It is smaller and more modern than the 710 that I have set into a table. I had coveted the turquoise Kaffe Fassett version but there are no more available in the UK so I have enlisted Tracey Pereira’s help to design some jazzy decals for it. 

I quilted a second iris panel in blue, using basting stitches instead of pins to secure it. I think it was a bit smaller than the pink one and I admit that I did not spend quite as much time lining it up precisely to get the digital designs to fit - it looks great but if you look closely, there are a couple of annoying pattern overlaps. 

A dozen sheep appeared in my garden and were behaving so naughtily compared to their friends in the field. They were scoffing the grass and looking around to check that a sheepdog was not about to round them up. I penned them in with hurdles so they could not get onto the track then road and called the farmer. 

I have been making a concerted effort to have more of a presence on social media in order to get people to book for my classes. It is quite an effort to come up with posts, and then check in for views and comments. My social media presence fizzled out around 2019-2020 and I must admit that I did not miss it. It amazes me that some quilters have thousands of comments and views on every post. How do they achieve that? I don’t actually want to be super famous or popular - I just feel embarrassed and a bit of a fraud if my classes don’t get fully booked;)

After a slightly faffy couple of days, I took Nessie to Mo’s and was finally ready for my trip to Quilt Direct in Tavistock, Devon. I flew from Edinburgh to Newquay in Cornwall and could barely see the scenery because of rain and mist. Everyone said that it seems like the weather has been stuck like that all winter. 

Quilt Direct is a well known UK quilt supplies online store and Bernina dealer. They have a lovely open and bright showroom on the edge of Tavistock with every single Bernina machine on display. I don’t think I have seen ALL of the machines in one place before. I was obviously very busy because I took very few pictures during the classes. I must make a sign that I take to classes reminding me do do that. My pupils were very diligent and said that they enjoyed their classes. I did one day on Northern Lights inspired improv/freestyle piecing and the other day was all about the Q-Series. 

There was a cream tea, pasties, and a lovely bunch of folk who deal with customers, machines and orders. I stayed with the owner, Katherine, who made me most welcome in her 400 year old farmhouse on Dartmoor and met 6 ponies, plus Oreo the cat, Kiera the dog and Graham, the head chef:)

The publisher of my (flopped) E-book, Vivienne Wells, came for a visit from Exeter and we reconnected as she has relaunched my book and changed its title from “Deviant Quilting” to “Machine Quilting with The Quilt Quine”. It first came out almost 10 years ago so it could probably do with a rewrite but I don’t think I want to go there.

After a hectic few days, my pal Mel, who moved to Looe from Banchory last year collected me from Tavistock and I will spend the next day and a half exploring her part of Cornwall. I hope the sun comes out just for a little while so I can see the sea!

Social Butterfly

I have not done much social media since pre-Pandemic and I have not missed it! With courses to promote at Quilt Direct in Devon, I have really had to push myself to get back on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube to remind quilters that I still exist. It is more time consuming that you might imagine, searching for photos, coming up with a caption and checking back in for comments. Freya told me that I needed to learn how to make cool online posters as well as making short movies about what I am up to. Hopefully, my classes will be well attended.

Just for fun, I decided to make a mini series on Youtube about everyday gadgets from around the house. I have mentioned a mechanical pencil sharpener, jumper shaver and milk brother, to name a few so far. Some have had over 400 views, which I find quite bizarre.

I caught up with a couple of pending customer quilts, quilted out samplers for my teaching weekend in Devon, made 3 handy “Clam-Up” pouches, and a Youtube demo on how to make side-clamp extenders for the quilt frame!

On Saturday I travelled to Glasgow by train to attend the Scottish Quilt Show for the day. It was lovely to see other quilters from around Scotland and brilliant that “Help ma Boab!” won Gold in the Contemporary category. In addition to a nice, red rosette, I also won a box full of useful haberdashery items, some of which I will try to find other good homes for, since I don’t really “need” any more supplies;)

Let Me Get This Straight

 

I have embarked on a childish challenge to grow my hair as long as possible. I was never allowed to have long hair as a child and my Dad recently disparagingly asked how long I was going to grow it for to which I replied, peevishly, “Until it reaches the pavement!” I don’t go to the hairdresser very often because they usually want to chop 6” off but every now and then I have to trim my fringe (bangs) with dress-making scissors, sometimes pinking shears, usually in the reflection of my workshop window. I have been getting it remarkably straight and apart from filming myself for Youtube tutorials, I don’t get out much and can even wear a hat;)

I have been sitting in front of my computer for hours this week, mostly checking that I am ready for my Devon teaching weekend. I also did a quilt for my friend, Ellen. She said that she was sick of the sight of it because it just would not behave. I think there was a conflict between the rather stretchy Moda fabrics and the stiff white-on-white background fabric. It would definitely have been challenging on a domestic machine because it was pretty large.  I just did simple wavy lines to keep it fresh and modern and I think it turned out well. 

I have made an effort to get myself noticed online a bit more so the bookings might go up at Quilt Direct. Before 2019 I posted daily video snippets like a “Thought of the Day” but Nella’s illness and the Pandemic cancelled them. I filmed, edited and posted 2 tutorials onto Youtube as well as launching a daft mini series on my “Gadget of the Day”. So far I have posted a mini tripod that has one leg that is a carabiner and a jumper shaver. I have already had several hundred views which is bizarre!

I must focus this week and not get sucked into a Youtube vortex. It is a good job that I have some tasks written down, including 3 zip-up clam pouches because I really wanted to make something easy and useful.