Let There Be (more) Light!

I am hopeful that with an extra hour of light in the evening I will feel more inspired to do more. Every night this week I came home from work, went for a dog-walk, cooked, washed up, watched maybe an hour of telly then bed - on repeat! I continually come up with excuses as to why I am not doing more with my evenings - not enough light, not enough space, not enough motivation;) 

If the weather improves I will put up my pop-up greenhouse and plant some seeds. Before too long I will probably be complaining how long it takes to do the garden’s evening watering!

At least I finished the dolly bed project. I spent a very enjoyable hour at the weekend starting my Lego orchid (Mother’s Day pressie). 

I visited the “Craft for Crafters Show” in Exeter with 2 work pals. I had not planned to buy anything but was encouraged to buy materials to make a small overnight bag from “Country Cow Designs”. It should be quite fun as we plan on doing the bags together and this might hold us accountable to finish;)

I had a bit of a hoover, dust and mop session on Friday since I thought Nella was coming on Monday but it turns out she is coming on Thursday so I will probably have to do it again before that. I even went shopping to get in some vegan food and an Easter egg.

Nessie and I have done our Sunday chores and been for a walk on the moors so we intend to veg out for the rest of the day. At least, that is her intention - I have a Lego project to complete.

Spring Spruce Up

 

I have been enjoying lovely spring weather this weekend and got stuck into some serious garden tidying. I borrowed a more powerful pressure washer and got rid of the winter slime. It was a messy job but worth it. I had to stop when the old flaky paint looked like it might wash off the walls. I repainted the front of my shed which had gone green and most of the fence which is pretty rotten. After mowing the grass and buying Nessie a new basketball, I felt very satisfied. I even cut down a sycamore tree that was growing through the fence.

I finished the dolly quilt which ended up at 12” square with 196 pieces then went on to make two tiny housewife pillowcases. I did all that while listening to an audio book from the library so it was quite a nice wee project. I am beginning to feel like completing the patchwork coat next;)

Fergus and his band, Amplehouse, released a beautiful single this week and got a rave review from Indie Music Magazine. It just needs to be spotted by the right person to get it some radio airplay!

Nessie and I are having a slow day and meeting a friend for a walk on the edge of Dartmoor later. I might just tidy up the mess I made in the back bedroom / sewing room first…

Silly Side Projects

 

My Grandad was a joiner by trade.  For years he hand-built railway wagons in Glasgow. When he retired he had a small selection of hand tools that fitted into an enamel bread bin and he made household things that were built to last. There is still a parcel box outside one of our old houses in Norfolk that was constructed in 1980.  He made a sturdy child’s chair, a doll’s house like a Scottish Butt and Ben Cottage, and a dolly bed. 

My sister has recently rediscovered the dolly bed and has commissioned me to make some bedding for it. She has knitted a doll and a cat to whom the bed now belongs. I have worked out the sizes to make a fitted mattress cover and housewife pillowcases - miniature, of course. This damp Sunday afternoon I will be attempting to make a tiny patch Quilt, nothing too fancy, just squares that start off at 1 ¾” and end up about ¾” of an inch across. That is plenty small enough if you ask me!

The other activity that I have given myself is making a beeswax wrap for home-made bread and rolls. I used to have all of that equipment at my house in Scotland but I’ve had to buy it all again. Obviously, I could go to the shop and buy six rolls for 46p but I can’t be bothered so I would rather go to the effort of kneading and proving some dough and making a wax wrap to keep it fresh. Sometimes I question my logic over how I might be able to save save and spend time;)

Puffed Out!

I had such a busy week that I actually forgot that I had a long weekend. At first I wondered what I was going to do with it. Perhaps I should’ve planned to go away. I had two intense days of long arm quilting mastery teaching which went very well. I also gave a talk to the local Quilt group and everybody stayed awake so that’s always a good sign. It was great to see some of my quilts again which just live in a suitcase. I have been driving around with them all week because I can’t get a parking space outside and they’re too heavy to lug from three streets away.

I borrowed a lighthearted audiobook from the library which kept me company as I slogged my way through the puff Quilt. I have come to the conclusion that the French seam method is quite hard work and probably takes an awful lot longer than it should. My shoulders are aching from the effort of hefting the unwieldy Quilt onto my tiny sewing machine table. 

I was so desperate to get it finished in the end that I kept going on Sunday evening and attached the binding as well. Let’s just say that it’s a lovely looking Quilt and it will be super cozy in the depths of winter but I don’t think I’m going to hurry to make another one. 

I’m off to have a con flab with a pal to see if it is possible for us to put together a two person entry for the Festival of Quilts this year as I don’t have access to a quilting machine at my house and I will need plenty of time to do the quilting in my time off at work. Especially as the gardening season is approaching and this weekend I have already tidied up some pots and cut the grass. I even put up new fairy lights in the back garden because the other ones had conked out due to all the wet weather The next big job will be to repaint all of the shed and fencing. Who knew that living on your own would involve so many chores? But all the same, I do prefer living this way!

A Meh Week

 

On the whole I am content with my new life but much of the past week was a bit “Meh”. There was one sunny day but I spent it at work. It feels like it would be nice to get out in the garden again and tidy up but it it is all still too wet. At least some daffodils in a pot are trumpeting their heads off. 

I went on a road trip to the seaside and had very good fish and chips but did not come home with any fun purchases. I know I don’t need anything in particular but I should at least have bought some nice croissants for my Sunday breakfast. Nessie had a haircut which set me back £50.00 - I am so over being poor;) She does look smart though, although someone on the street commented that she was a lovely Yorkie!

Work was pretty quiet so I started a joint project with a colleague where we each stitch an Amanda Murphy “Moonlight Serenade” panel. It is not complicated, just a bit repetitive because I have to place virtual markers to create areas in which to place the digital designs. On the B990 there is a camera scanner which makes that job much quicker and easier. 

I have now sewn all of my puffs into 3’s so the next job is to French seam all of them before joining them into 9’s then even larger chunks. It is a surprisingly time consuming task that I can imagine will end up looking a bit of a mess on the reverse if I have seams twisting all over the place. I should probably just have made a log cabin quilt.

I watched Series 2 of “The Night Manager” on the telly and it was very tense like when someone is rummaging in desk drawers and you know they are about to get caught. I did not expect that ending - the Baddies won. 

I have throughly enjoyed reading “Butter” by Asako Yusuki, a gastronomic novel far more about Japanese society than the the actual serial killer and journalist looking for proof of innocence at its outset.

Now that I have a job, Sunday feels like the day before the school week with lots of chores, homework to do, and packed lunch to make. I managed to find a parking spot on the street so I am going to load the car with 2 suitcases of quilts, covering them up with a tatty blanket. I am giving a talk in town later in the week and can’t fit both suitcases in my festival trolley. I have managed to borrow a projector so I can give a slideshow. I own 3 projectors but, of course none of them are here. One of them might be here because I am convinced that I have seen it but I have no idea where it is now or maybe I saw it at Christmas in my old workshop, sigh…