Late Summer Reset

Taking photos of sewing machines is not as easy as you might imagine. Quilt Direct had a media and marketing apprentice for a while and she did most of the social media posts but I am now responsible for the “on the fly” studio posts. I had to take pictures of the new Bernina 7 Series Pro machines but they looked grey or had glare because I was not getting the lighting right. There is a bit of a weird phenomenon where videos of the machines can be flickery so I had to turn off their LED lights. I am getting there and will use additional soft box lights if necessary. I had a bit of a crash course in posting on Instagram from Nella who is a YOUNG person. I have been posting on IG for ages as myself without much preparation but for the Quilt Direct posts I need to post a mixture of Stories, Posts and Reels, without being tempted to add weird special effects. I was thrilled when I learned how to add a hyperlink ( a simple, short phrase that redirects you to a website.)

All of this meant that I only did a superficial tidy up at work but at least I can get into the walk-in cupboard now. I also managed to get a customer quilt done in between practising my photography. It was a Pam and Nicky Lintott jelly roll quilt with an unusual large hexagon block. As requested by the customer, I did an all-over swallows and loops design.

Nella left on Friday so the house was quiet after 2 weeks of visitors. Since I had been to Birmingham, Glasgow and was hosting I had not stuck to my usual routine of chores. Over the weekend I have been tidying, weeding and catching up with laundry. I seem to invent trivial chores for myself like reorganising the camera gear in my sideboard and painting a dresser top that I found to be a herb and houseleek display shelf beside the shed. I also made a long pair of dungarees into shorts. No wonder I never do any patchwork these days! Mind you, I did skive off on Saturday to catch up with Mel and watch the annual duck race.

August Adventures

While I was working this week Fergus, Nella and Nessie had several adventures to the beach, moors, Totnes and Exeter. He really enjoyed negotiating the narrow lanes in my Mini. We also had a couple of evening outings, including driving across Dartmoor to Holne where 2 companies of Morris dancers put on a spectacle outside a 14th century inn. 

At work, I quilted a machine embroidered class sample. It was quite different to a pieced quilt because some areas were bulkier than others according to how much stabiliser was used. The instructions for the quilting were almost non existent and I found that I needed to add some freehand background quilting to make it more consistently quilted.

At the weekend we drove down to St Just in Roseland (South Cornwall) and met my cousin who was caravanning in the area. The meeting point was a medieval church with a tropical garden graveyard. We walked around the headland via St Mawes which was around 8 miles in a fairly stiff breeze. Nessie’s little legs must have done many more miles than that so when we got back she had her tea then took herself off to bed! It was lovely to have 2 of my children staying for the week. Nella has stayed on and hopes to get some of her Uni dissertation done while I am at work. 

I plan to sort through some cupboards at work if I get a chance as not everything has gone back to its proper place since coming back from FoQ;)

Headlining King Tut's!

I had one quiet, lazy day at home in Tavistock, not even watering my plants since it was raining then drove to Glasgow to see all 3 of my children. I stayed with Freya and Fergus which was all a bit of a student experience since Nella also had 2 Uni friends visiting and Fergus’s flat does not have a hoover. 

We did not “do” much, no sightseeing, just our typical mooching around in charity shops and coffee shops. I dragged the girls along to a Mossarium making workshop at Tramway Arts Centre. I had imagined artsy little glass domes filled with moss and tiny plants but it was actually a children’s workshop involving plastic cups decorated with plasticine snails. It passed the time and made a change.

Glasgow is such a fun and diverse city. Friendly drunks outside Freya’s flat spoke to Nessie. I visited a World food supermarket, enjoyed Irn Bru, got a square sausage and tattie scone in a Glasgow roll, and met Ellen for a lovely Tapas supper.

On Friday night I went to King Tut’s to see Fergus’s band, “Amplehouse” play as the headliners. It was the best performance they have ever given. There were 5 new songs on the set list, it was packed out and the energy of the crowd was amazing. The boys clearly loved every minute, grinning as they shredded their guitars. 

Everyone was a bit jaded the next day, not hungover, just tired and suffering from colds so we just loafed around, occasionally tramping up and down multiple flights of stairs to take Nessie outside. 

Fergus and Nella came back down to Devon in my Mini on Sunday and will entertain themselves during the day when I am back at work. It feels like summer is coming to an end as the brambles are ready to pick and the hawthorn trees are laden with berries. My summer pots are looking a bit scruffy so I might think about some autumnal plants. 

FoQ 2025

I can’t believe that I am already back from FoQ! The journey from Devon is only around 4 hours including stops, rather than a 2-day marathon to NE Scotland. One minute we were setting up the full range of Bernina longarms and a few short days later we were packing everything up again. 

I felt that this year the show was buzzing again with more international visitors, great quilts and enthusiastic traders. It seemed as almost as busy as it was pre-Covid. With 2 large halls in use, there was plenty of space and places to stop and reflect.

As an exhibitor, you have to get in by 8am if you want to see the quilts before the crowds arrive. I still felt rushed, like I was not looking properly and appreciating the work. Quilts would pop up on social media that I did not remember seeing. I did not do a video tour, only taking a few photos of quilts that caught my attention. I hope I have correctly matched labels with makers. The QGBI does a pretty good job of showing the winners online so it should be easy to see everything virtually if you did not make it to the show. 

The other aspects of the Festival that I enjoy are the gallery areas and there were some superb pieces.

As per, I did not completely agree with some winners but I was delighted for Matt Wilding, who took first place with “Wear your Wings with Pride”. I had watched the progress of the project unfold on Instagram and discussed some structural ideas when he visited Quilt Direct. I love the often wacky 3D Creations category. In my opinion there were quite a few quilts placed in the “wrong” category so I think the entry brief could be revamped. 

Of course, one of the best things is catching up with quilting friends and inspiring visitors to try longarm quilting machines. 

My garden has survived due to damp weather, the grass needs cutting, the laundry is on full spin and Nessie and I set off for Glasgow on Tuesday! She had a great time ordering her foster parents around and is now exhausted. She will love reuniting with all of her favourite people in Scotland:)