Too Many Chores!

I have far too many self imposed chores that are hampering potential sewing time! This weekend I have planted a pot of bulb lasagne, washed floors, cleaned windows, erected a fairy light bedecked rose arch, made lime pickle, blanched and frozen veg, done laundry, put up more kitchen shelves, dealt with cobwebs, and sterilised jam jars!

At work a retreat was in full swing which means lots of washing up, cutting fabric, finding matching threads and getting a large customer quilt done for one of the course participants. 

I should have been making more samples for my L890 course this week but I did manage to embellish a half finished project and turn it into a lever arch file cover, which is what I intend my pupils to make on their creative day. 

I need to have stern words with myself to do fewer household jobs and allow more time for outings to the seaside and making things such as a notebook cover for Nella’s birthday. It is funny that she requested this since my children were usually mortified by my fabric homework book covers when they were at school;)

Weekends are too Short!

 

I had such a busy doing nothing in particular weekend that I almost forgot to update my blog! Firstly, I had quite a few quilts to do at work then I went in on my day off to quilt the strippy quilt that I made myself from fabrics bought at Malvern last autumn.

One of the customer quilts was a vintage 1980s hand pieced quilt that its maker was finally persuaded to get finished. The filigree design really lifted it I think. 

My own quilt was done with a modern baptist fan design and neon pink thread. I considered adding prairie points but then told myself it is just an everyday quilt that Nessie is allowed to sleep on so just putting a scrappy binding around it would suffice. 

My weekend was spent faffing around doing household chores, groceries, organising my shed and cutting back some soggy dead flowers in my garden. I brushed Nessie in anticipation of a dog show in the park but it was cancelled due to an incorrect weather forecast. She was not particularly bothered. 

Although I quite enjoy just pottering around at the weekend I must try to do something different for a change. I keep meaning to rejoin the National Trust except it seems a bit pointless if the properties might be closed over the winter. If only I had a hobby…;)

A Year in Devon

 

It is exactly a year since I ran away from home to Devon and lived in an old caravan until I found my wee cottage. I have now experienced all of the seasons, including what seems to be an early, wet autumn. The conkers on the trees in the park are huge. Nessie and I are now familiar with the regulars in the park, including the 2 resident geese. I was glad that I invested in a decent second hand raincoat and have now added some reflective heat-press flowers so cars can see me in the dark. 

I have done lots of DIY such as repainting the entire cottage interior, putting up shelves, fixing the shed and got quite into container gardening. The summer pots look past it now so I need some autumn/winter plants to fill the gaps. I decided to paint the shed floor with a donated tin of red floor paint but it is taking forever to dry in the cool, damp weather so I have not finished it yet. All of the chores are of my own making so if I don’t feel like dusting I really don’t have to;)

It was a crazy busy week at work with 2 days devoted to giving one-to-one lessons to a retired couple who knew absolutely nothing about sewing. I got them to make a zipped, piped cushion and put button holes on a jacket. By the end of the week I had done zilch quilts so went in on Friday to get cracking on 2 customer quilts as I now have a backlog of a dozen!

Despite already having several hand-sewing projects on the go, I decided to have a go at making “Bubble Pods”. They have loads of minuscule darts and are an absolute scutter so I can’t see myself churning them out as Christmas gifts.

Shortbread and Shenanigans

Matt Wilding visited Quilt Direct to discuss his bag making class and brought amazing patchwork shortbread.

I finished an autumnal customer quilt and started 2 Halloween quilts.

I made a silly video about some fairly useless clip-on lenses for your specs.

I had a play with some Aurifil spools to consider what colours I might put in a Quilt Quine collection.

My friend at work had completed an amazing Ethereal embroidered quilt so I did some stitch in the ditch to hold it together then added the binding.

Nessie and I had a lovely walk on Dartmoor and was amazed at how many berries all of the Hawthorn trees have which made the trees look red.

I went on an IKEA trip and bought a couple of shelves to reorganise my shed:)