Making Grey Days More Colourful

 

After returning from cloudy France, North East Scotland was even damper and far more grey. We put the Yurt frame up but could not find a dry spell or a patch of blue sky for any outdoor photos all week. Mo, Tania & I pretended that it was summer and drank a couple of bottles of pink fizz in the Yurt on Friday night with the wood stove keeping us warm. Everyone seemed a bit gloomy so we took the children to the Banchory Show on Saturday. We ate hog roast on a ringside bench watching the pipe band and parade of prize winning cattle in the pouring rain until the kids begged to go home. On Sunday I took a chance and put the quilts onto the frame despite the heavy black clouds and poor forecast. I just about had long enough to take a good selection of outdoor shots. At least I now have permission to raise the Yurt at Aboyne Castle, where I first encountered Yurts. Mo and I may take it there in time for the Aboyne Games and if it is likely to be wet it can go up in the old barn called the Coo Cathedral.

I completed dyeing all of the white glazed chintz. They look like a proper faded seashore palette and I may try to whizz together a simple quilt in time for FOQ. Some of the fabric has been cut into jelly roll strips and some is 12" squares. I looked on YouTube to see if I could get a demonstration on how to roll the fabric strips professionally. There was a video by Nancy's Notions showing a cutting mat called the June Tailor Shape Cut Pro that interested me. Instead of investing a lot of money importing the Accuquilt Studio cutting system and then finding that no-one wants to buy my jelly rolls, I decided to spend £50 in the UK and cut enough dyed fabric to use in workshops. I remembered that I had bought a crimped blade for my rotary cutter and wondered if I might get a smart pinked edge on my cut pieces.

I received a promising reply from the Colorado Yurt Company when I asked if they would consider sponsoring a USA made frame but a decision has not yet been made. I spent a long time catching up on computer correspondence at the beginning of the week but I was frustrated by not receiving all of the replies that I had hoped for. I am starting to make checklists for FOQ and need to work out the size of van that I will have to hire. A straightforward customer quilt got done so I stared quilting overlapping circles onto a Yurt panel to make a pumpkin seed effect to be in-filled in places. At first I got myself in a muddle and made too many overlaps so I decided to make a feature of that corner and say that I designed it deliberately. I have got it sussed now and written myself some instructions for the next time. I have been drafting a list of workshops as I have started to get enquiries from Quilt Groups. I need to plan classes that are challenging but also achievable AND make up some samples. If I keep writing lists and ticking things off then I must be making progress!

 


 

Vive La France!

 

1.30am and 10 miles down the road on the way to the airport is not a great time to realise that one of your children has developed travel sickness. After such an early start we arrived in Languedoc at midday. You know when you have arrived in the South of France when you can smell mimosa and the chirps of cicadas or crickets. It was nice to be staying in the same area as we did last October because we knew the way to the house, picking up "le stinky cheese", juicily ripe peaches and some wine on the way.

The first two days and nights were very hot and I spent most of my time in the shade, even drafting out a couple of patterns for the Yurt Book before settling down with delicious rose wine around 4 o'clock. We drove up to a farmhouse that allowed "Degustation" and sampled some Malpere wines that were grown and bottled on the premises. It seemed a pity to have to spit out the delicious wine after a tiny sip...

During the week we went for a wander around the Cite Medievale and had lunch on the square. It was much busier than it had been in October and still not yet the height of the tourist season. We bought some soap from Marseille (in Carcassonne) but never saw any genuine Provencal fabric – I need to go nearer to Avignon for that apparently.

We visited the dinosaur museum at Esperaza which also housed a museum about hat making but the children complained that it was boring. That was the day we also drove through dramatic gorges while Fenella was slightly sick  with  concussion after falling out of bed, hitting her head on a tiled floor; finding places to pull off the twisty road was not easy. She perked up in the afternoon after some Coca-Cola at a quaint cafe and we wondered if a creperie-studio would be successful in Scotland. We hung around in Quillan, dodging thunderstorms, waiting for the evening market but it looked like a jewellery stall and someone selling frites was about the sum of it so we just headed home for pasta and wine instead.

After visiting the "Coffre Geant a Caprespine", a cathedral like cave full of amazing stalactites, we drove across country to Castelnaudary. We were hoping for a hearty and authentic lunch of white beans, sausage and duck at the home of cassoulet, but all of the cafes had finished serving lunch. We were rather disappointed with the down-at-heel town where it seemed that the legendary dish was only available in tins. Cassoulet from this area actually seems to be a bit bland; I always thought it contained rich tomatoes, lots of garlic and herbs but it is far simpler here and only has a handful of ingredients.

The Saturday Market in Carcassonne made up for the lack of flavours the day before. We were encouraged to taste saucisse sec and goats cheese. The fresh salads and vegetables looked incredible. We bought some ridiculously crusty bread, a plait of purple garlic and some strong salami. It was great fun drinking espresso at an outside cafe, watching everyone stocking up on fresh produce for le weekend.

We set off for a picnic at Lac Cavayere on our last day with promises of a pedallo ride and ice-cream. The children were not impressed with their lunch of bread so chewy that it makes your jaws ache and were even less pleased when we were informed that the lake was closed for all activities. My French is pretty lacking but I think it may have had something to do with algae in the water. We couldn't even buy ice cream on the way back to the house because even more shutters were closed than usual. It seems like everyone in France is permanently sleeping or away en vacances. The only thing left to do on a Sunday afternoon was read another book and finish off another bottle of light rose wine – it's such shame we have to leave tomorrow..!

 

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It's not Christmas in July!

 

On the days that I could get Yurt helpers it was wet and windy so it still hasn't been to the Castle for its photo-shoot. There MUST be some sunny days coming in the holidays when my friends are around! Instead, I managed to finish all sorts of projects, despite being invaded by children in my workshop. They had a great time making rag dolls, making cups of tea, leaving biscuit crumbs and scraps all over the floor. I managed to put up with it until there was an "incident" – while I was in the kitchen a sewing machine mysteriously fell off a table as if by poltergeist activity. There was a dent and I have not dared switch it on to see if it still works...

There has been a Christmas quilt on my sofa since December and I had actually stopped noticing it. I finally got around to finishing off a jelly roll quilt called "Jelly Jazz" from Monkey Buttons. It was my Thursday Night no-brainer and I even followed the pattern without any deviation, apart from attaching the inner borders. I should have taken them off to reapply in the correct order but decided to fudge the odd joins instead and plonked some spare crochet rosettes over the boo-boos. After 5 hours of heavy shelling, I bound it and duly replaced the Christmas quilt. I came across brilliant instructions for joining the ends of binding so that the start/end is impossible to find. I made the binding the way that I like to make it and it looks very neat. I may even write a mini chapter on binding "My Way" which is really a cobbled together combination of other people's ways that work for me. At the moment I like to sew it on the back then machine sew it down from the front which is utilitarian but it is not quite as neat as hand-sewing for a show entry. I think there is room for further improvement.

Mo gave me a simple children's sofa throw to run up out of leftover curtain material which I put together fairly quickly. I used to do those all the time and sell a few at craft fairs but it is difficult to sell them for what they are worth in fabrics and time.

I trimmed, painted and bound another unfinished Yurt panel so now there are only 3 of the original ones left to quilt and one to finish painting. The Yurt panel backs were much admired so I ordered 40 metres of white glazed chintz for dyeing to cut up strips or squares to sell in packs at Festival of Quilts to see if my dyed fabrics would be worthwhile sideline. I was a bit disappointed with the results. The glaze must have resisted the dye because they are half as bright as I would have expected and there is very little sheen left after such a hot wash. I actually put soap powder in with one batch by mistake but it did smell nice. I have now done the sensible thing in retrospect and ordered a selection of white fabrics to see which ones dye the most successfully. I want to produce a fabric that is different to all of the others that are available so maybe I need to use linen or silk instead of basic cotton. I could easily produce quilt backs but I need to determine whether it is worth doing first. This collection may have to be titled "Beach Collection" as they have a washed out, bleached appearance – rather nice, just not planned.

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Quilts and Stuff

 

I received my first copy of an Artists' journal this week after joining an organisation in order to get cheap public liability insurance. I could not make head nor tail of any of it. It must be because I never studied art that I cannot decide whether the artists are really intellectual or very pretentious. The concept of a roll of tin foil hanging from the ceiling is incomprehensible, as is the plastic sheeting draped over some scaffolding. The language used to describe the installations is very elaborate and it would seem that expressing the ideas is equally important to the visual art itself. My Yurt Book will be far more basic as I am finding myself increasingly inarticulate. I will struggle to write more than a few lines on circles before I lose interest. I must make more effort to watch documentaries on BBC4 so that I can improve my vocabulary. I keep hearing myself starting a perfectly erudite sentence but ending it with "... and Stuff!"

I completed a very basic quilt in a day this week by following the advice of my business gurus (Ferret & Tracy) to keep it simple. I was dying to tart it up but it looked perfectly acceptable, despite being an uninspiring colour combination. I was meant to do a second customer quilt in one day but it ended up taking 2 very long days. The background stitching was rather small as I tried to keep everything in proportion and had done a tiny filler around the beautiful machine appliqué. If I could get over my feather phobia I would cover the ground on a quilt far more rapidly. I should probably be locked in my workshop until I have cracked it otherwise I will just keep finding more avoidance tactics.

I was drafting a Quilt Quine advert for QGBI Region 16's magazine when I received a phone call from a quilt group asking if I would consider doing talks and workshops. I said, "Yes! What would you like me to talk about?" This means that I really must now write a list of workshops and lectures, make samples, decide on the cost, work out kits and add a bookings calendar to my website. I'd better start by writing out a new To-Do list.

Tania and I took the children to see Eclipse at the cinema on Friday. It was true to the novel and quite exciting but I didn't think that any of the vampires had any sex appeal. I was impressed that the evil vampire, Victoria, was wearing Doc Martens. We thought that the wolf pack boys were rather easy on the eye although the actor playing Jacob is only 18 and was previously in a kids' film called "Shark Boy & Lava Girl" so Freya informs me that I'm far too old to fancy him.

I hope to get lots done in the week ahead – at least the list in my notebook keeps reminding me that there is plenty to do. I would like to finish a couple of Yurt projects off by attaching binding or adding a touch of paint. I need to order some more dye and fabric to make some more backs and decide whether to sell some jelly rolls or FQ's of dyed fabrics at FOQ. If the weather stays dry and I can find a couple of friends with nothing better to do then I should be taking the Yurt to Crathes Castle for a photo-shoot. I decided to opt for the most local castle as it is scenic, convenient and does not involve clambering over bracken on uneven ground. I still might take it to a stone circle ... or maybe just take some of the panels, which would be far easier to transport.

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Keeping a Ferret

 

I worked hard to get Jenni's Dresden Plate fans covered in small shells to tuck in all of the appliqué neatly. I cancelled putting the Yurt up in the forest for its outdoor photos because the weather forecast was awful but in the end Wednesday was glorious, just to remind me to look out of the window in future instead of searching the Met office on the ipad. Yurtman thinks he may be able to persuade a groundsman at one of the castles near where he lives to let us put the Yurt up somewhere scenic. It happens to be in the area where The Queen has her summer holidays...

The Loch Lomond Quilt Show ladies, Ruth and Patricia came to interview me for their forthcoming book on contemporary Scottish Quilters. We chatted for 3 hours about my quilting life, experience and inspiration. I expect I burbled on and will have said something controversial or daft. Luckily, Ruth left her tape recording pen at home (a clever gadget called a Pen Scribe that will upload spoken word and handwritten notes onto a computer) so maybe she won't have remembered all of my inane comments. I actually had great fun talking to them and it really started to make me think about my ideas and techniques. I have to submit a project for the book by the end of July so may write out instructions for a Yurt panel.

I had a flurry of washing bedding and sorting out spare beds ready for the weekend. On Friday morning I collected Janette from the airport, whizzed around Tesco, made coffee, then Tracy arrived and later Kay. We chatted away about quilting like we had known each other for ages even though we mostly communicate via email. I collected Ferret from the station early on Saturday morning as she had travelled up by sleeper train and we had plenty of time for breakfast before we were joined by Sue & Jenni and classes could officially start. The main class of the day concerned Feathers, some of which were informal. There was much doodling, discussion, demos and some hands on with my Millennium. There was non-stop sharing of information and experience. Ferret had brought a few of her fabulous quilts that featured feathers, including the leather pieces. We discussed ideas for quilting a variety of quilt tops and did a Yurt panel show & tell session. Supper was local produce at the Woodend Barn and Mo joined us later. We had fun marching the salt and pepper pots up and down the table demonstrating some Ceilidh dances. Ferret was excited at the prospect of sleeping in the garden Yurt after the heatwave in London and the South of England. We had actually lit the stove during the day to make sure it was all warm and dry and the weather had been great so it was really cosy.

On Sunday Tracy presented a comprehensive lesson on rulers and templates, attributing all of her excellent longarm teachers at MQX. We made use of the white-boards to draw out stars by sectioning off squares and circles. I had to demo the use of rulers even though I don't particularly have the patience for them and I managed not to be too cack-handed. We went on to show off the Quiltazoid and a few other useful gadgets and even discussed machine maintenance, threads and tension. By the time we came to talk about bindings I was becoming a bit vague and the other experts declared their methods easier than mine. However, I have tried the other ways and my way works for me so I'm sticking to it! I daresay we actually tried to cover too much general information. We could have worked in more detail in some areas so I will review what was taught and fine tune it for another time. I think we all learned something valuable from each other. Janette was very informative on the subject of small business taxes and book keeping. Ferret even rattled off a simple Yurt panel during the evening at maximum speed using her signature curls filler. She and Tracy gave me a jolly good talking to over the weekend about spending far too long on customer quilts and not charging enough. They were encouraging me to become more efficient so that I could make a bit more money to put back IN the bank. I did lie in bed and worry about having to quilt larger patterns. It is a bit like someone telling you to make your handwriting much, much bigger.

The whole weekend went very smoothly. It was relaxed and fun but a lot of teaching went on too. Everyone had a comfy bed and managed to operate the cranky old shower. It was agreed that being on site for the evening was much better as it meant that discussions and machine practice were unlimited. I had 2 bottles of very nice gin to sample – one from Shetland and Ferret brought me a bottle of Hendricks. We had large bars of Cadbury's Dairy Milk, good strong coffee, a spacious studio and plenty to do. Ferret and Tracy found some pleasing fabrics in Meg's Attic and Milton Studio on Monday morning. She was delighted to buy a box of Edinburgh Rock to take home in Banchory's old fashioned sweetie shop and I thought I would sample some boiled sweets called "Horehound" – a rather interesting flavour, like cough medicine. I am glad that everyone made it home safely and already have had favourable feedback so that I need to start planning a January event now so that people can look out for cheap flights or trains. All of the journeys were uneventful, the weather was very pleasant and I think a good time was had by all – Phew!

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Missing the Boat

 

Before setting out for School Sports Day, I painted the concrete workshop loo floor with tile red paint so it would be dry enough for a second coat in the afternoon. It was the usual medley of novelty races, long jumps, ball skills and relays. The field does not have loo facilities so I had to find a nice rhododendron bush during the afternoon. Mission accomplished and I came out of the undergrowth trying to look casual. I am convinced that wearing Doc Martens makes me saunter which is why I managed to trip over a branch and go flying headlong across a gritty path. I was lying stunned for a minute before I got up to survey the damage, hoping that no-one had noticed my clumsiness. I had grazed both hands, both knees were stinging under my jeans and my green Docs had also not fared well. I tried not to limp back to the sports field and opted out of the tug of war competition. Freya told me that I was far too old to be falling over and she was relieved that no-one had seen me. It was a bit painful when I reapplied the floor paint later on.  My knees got worse as the week progressed. One felt twisted and the other one was all scabby. After several days of hobbling along I even looked up the symptoms of tetanus and blood poisoning on Wikipedia. I think I have damaged a ligament – crawling under my longarm frame to check tension and make adjustments has been very uncomfortable.

 

I saw the article "Meet a Quilter – Linzi Upton" in July's P&Q magazine and was really pleased with it even though Mo tells me that I look blokey in the photo. I rather like the picture of me in the yurt casually drinking coffee while being interviewed and Judi has kindly agreed to let me have a copy of it for The Yurt Book.

 

I have made many more phone calls and emails this week trying to raise the profile of the Yurt and ultimately find some sponsors to help with travel expenses. I contacted Aberdeenshire Council to request the logos that I am meant to attach to any literature that I produce about the Yurt as a condition of my initial grant. I felt somewhat chastised when asked why I had not attempted to take the Yurt to the Portsoy Boat Festival with 30 000 visitors, and extremely remiss when told that I had missed the deadline to register for North East Open Studios in September. I thought it would seem churlish to point out that the Yurt is neither a boat nor waterproof. Apparently it is part of the learning process that I should find out about these opportunities myself without having to be sent any helpful information by a mentor. I was advised to take time out to write a statement about my aspirations for professional development. This should not involve ideas for touring America, writing a book and working on Yurt2 but instead focus on my vision of being an arts practitioner. This was the point at which I stopped concentrating and felt like Charlie Brown from the "Peanuts" cartoon whose teacher's voice droned, "Fwa, fwa, fwa, fwaaa..." I realise now that I have always wanted to be an intellectual but I don't seem to have the academic stamina for in-depth discussions on symbolism and imagery. I always wrote too concisely when I studied English literature. I would argue that authors were not necessarily trying to convey hidden meanings but simply telling their story. That logic didn't wash with my lecturers who always wanted me to elaborate. I'd rather get straight to the point. Will fewer people buy my book if there isn't enough artyfarty flannel in it? Maybe the publishers won't let me pad it out with recipes for roadkill stew.

 

Andrew Salmon from Twisted Thread phoned to discuss how to squeeze the Yurt in at Festival of Quilts 2010 as they are already "full to the gunnels". I offered to put the APQS stand inside it or even set the Yurt up in the cafe area as a way of saving space. They are still thinking about where it could fit – it would be really exciting to take the Yurt to a big show. I will worry about the logistics of being in two places at once later if the Yurt is allowed into the show. Yurtman says we could swap vehicles for the week so I could borrow his van.

 

I have been trying to think of fund-raising ideas for getting the Yurt to America but my project is not classed as a charity therefore I can't run a raffle. I think that it would be possible to embroider a sponsor's name or logo onto fabric and turn the pieces into an advertising yurt panel.  Another idea involves staging a fire-walking event to paying guests. I wondered if I could set it up at a stone circle and hire it out as a wedding venue except that it could rain. The stone circle idea made me realise that this would be a good place to take outdoor photos for potential magazine articles and The Book. I have now approached the Forestry Commission for permission to do this as I need to drive the Landy up as close as I can. The Ancient Celts would have had more manpower for carrying gear up hills than I have at my disposal.

 

My workshop needs to pay for its own running costs so I have approached some freelance tutors to see if they would like to hire the space for classes. It is clean, light, easy to find and I provide good coffee. Several quilters have expressed a keen interest in a "Strip Club", making quilts using pre-cut jelly rolls. Some children from Durris Primary School were here this week to work on the class patchwork project. They made far better progress in the workshop than they had in their classroom with all of the right equipment and space. I was surprised at how difficult they found using the rotary cutter. It made me wonder if I should eventually invest in an Accuquilt cutting machine. Maybe then I could make my own jelly rolls from Hungarian dyed fabric.

 

I have finally finished embellishing the Yurt panel called "Slinky" made by Corey from California. She had used invisible thread that didn't show up much so I added additional quilting of her original designs using a more noticeable purple. I added a few subtle accents of gold Lumiere paint in the quilted curves. As an experiment I swirled round and round in a one inch spot and formed little peaks like volcanoes or limpets. They can be poked in or out and so appear concave or convex. When they stick up they look like the round rivets found on Celtic shields. I thought that I should use poetic license to describe this interesting imagery and include it in a paragraph about inspiration in The Book...

 

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Midsummer Madness

Despite the cool weather and grey skies, it is Midsummer's Day tomorrow. At least the sun made an appearance on Wednesday morning long enough so we could have coffee in the garden but despite wearing boots, fleece and long Drizabone coat to football training, I was still cold. Freya had 10 girls here for camping in the big tent on Saturday night. They had hot water bottles and thick socks to keep warm. Mind you, they didn't go to sleep... they were bouncing on the trampoline all night, making plenty of noise and making popcorn at 4 am. I spent most of the next day wiping up spilled coke and nagging the girls to help tidy up the grassy bedding and sweet wrappers. Our walled garden is perfect for such occasions – they were able to play on the swings, hang out in the summer house and sit around a campfire. While I was in the mood I shook all the rugs out in the yurt and hoovered up the long winter's creepy crawlies in case any of my longarm summer-camp visitors want to sleep in there with the wood-burner to keep them cosy.

I reminded myself how to use the Quiltazoid, made sure that I set it up correctly for each new block and used it to make spiros on a sampler quilt for a customer. With a quarter-inch piano key border and small loopy filler it looked very simple and smart when finished. Feeling virtuous about completing a customer quilt and supervising a DIY baby quilt, I loaded an unfinished Yurt panel and used the QZ for part and full concentric circles. I was really pleased with the accuracy and it felt good to be working on something Yurty again. I received several positive messages about my interview in July's copy of Patchwork & Quilting magazine. I have not actually seen the article yet but the Yurt also had 3 pictures and mentions in the July edition of Popular Patchwork Magazine; a full feature is planned for September. I find it really thrilling when something that I have made appears in print so I felt inspired do some groundwork for the Yurt Book. I have archived all of the email comments by Stunt Quilters and all references to the Yurt project in the Blog. It was fun to go back and read old posts and see how much work I try to squeeze into every chaotic week. It looks like I need to aim for 10 or 12 Yurt panel projects in a book as well as interviews, anecdotes, information and lots of pictures. My next task is to draft out a set of clear instructions for the publishers to approve.

I had quite a bit of APQS business to attend to this week, chasing up niggles with the electronics, taking delivery of a bigger uninterrupted power supply and then I had a business meeting with myself to outline my strategy for UK's Festival of Quilts in August. I had to call the Very Technical Department of the UPS system suppliers to ask for a much longer cable to suit an industrial sewing machine. They had no idea what I was trying to describe and in the end told me to do something very low-tech - cut off the socket that is designed for a computer system and fit a 3-pin GB power socket instead. I asked if it was OK to rewire a plug in this age of sealed unit plugs and was patronised by being asked if "someone" could wire a plug for me. HA! I do actually remember buying appliances in the olden days and being trusted by the Government to wire it up to a plug all by myself.

Angela Madden was the speaker at the Aberdeen P&Q Group on Wednesday evening and I was very impressed by the range of her quilts. She has come up with non-mathematical tools for marking Celtic designs and drafting blocks with perspective that look really clever but I will have to see if I can understand the instructions. She recommended that I should look at www.justhandstv.co.uk which is a British Internet-TV quilting site. It looks really interesting but I was amused by Jennie Rayment sounding very posh in the style of vintage cook, Fanny Craddock!

I have had no animal dramas lately, thank goodness. As the wheat field is now very lush and wet and the cows are in the other field behind the house, I have been taking the dogs for walks by the river. If there are no ghillies and fishermen about I let them off for a quick swim but Welly always manages to locate and chase the stupid ducks, drawing attention to himself with much splashing and quacking so he gets put straight back onto the stretchy lead. Mabel's bald patches have grown back in since I cut all of her winter fur off so now she looks quite respectable and could pass for a proper terrier.

After visiting the bank on Friday and trying in vain to get access to my money because it hadn't been sitting in the bank's accounts gathering dust long enough, I marched into the sweet shop demanding 3 Crunchies in a Bank Robber tone of voice. The sweetshop lady, who drives a tiny pink car, querulously pointed me in the direction of the much more up-market Lindt version. I have to report that it was quite pleasant but nothing can actually beat that "Crunchie Feeling!"

I made myself give the nuclear-bunker-loo a second coat of paint in anticipation of the arrival of my longarm summer-camp visitors. One of my children looked fairly horrified when they saw my paint spattered painting gear and hoped that I would not be going out dressed like that, particularly as the old jeans also had serious holes in them. Since I have made it my mission in life to cause them maximum embarrassment, I decided not to get changed before taking them to their swimming lessons and I don't actually think anyone really noticed. I have to paint the floor before Sports Day tomorrow so must try to leave time to change before that.

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Multiple Personalities

For the record - I hate painting concrete blocks and ceilings. I have now forced myself to do 2 coats of masonry paint in the workshop loo before I stop noticing the bare walls and forget to finish the job. I listened to BBC Radio 4 with interest but also let my imagination drift and decided that if ever there is a post apocalyptic situation where I am forced to paint a nuclear bunker at gunpoint, I will demand that my captors shoot me. This bizarre thought must have stemmed from subconscious memory of public service adverts in the 1970's that explained that you would need to create a makeshift shelter under the kitchen table if the 4-minute warning sounded.

I used to be a primary school teacher and occasionally wonder whether I could manage to do that as a career again. I attended a presentation at my children's school on the new Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and came to the conclusion that I would prefer not to substitute traditional spelling tests with writing words in shaving foam and continually be organising group activities in the forest. It is true that I like to go off at a tangent but I don't particularly enjoy trying to concentrate when so much is going on at once. This is ironic since I am currently trying to assimilate all sorts of unfamiliar information while multi-tasking. I have been chasing up the local council about the parking at school as Chairperson of the Parent Council, reminding longarmers to sign up for the teaching weekend with Ferret at the beginning of July, approaching potential sponsors for the Yurt, and following up calls with all sorts of people about shipping, insurance, grants and trying to write anything useful down.

I have been trying to guesstimate the volumetric weight of the Yurt in an as yet unspecified plywood box in order to get an approximate shipping cost. This also depends on the insurance value so I have to complete a lengthy proposal for bespoke cover from an insurer that deals with artwork. I have had serious discussions with APQS this week about some electronic faults on machines that they believe may have something to do with stabilising the power supply. I was advised to invest in an uninterrupted power supply/surge protection system but the one that I bought did not mention sine waves. This involved a very complicated technical discussion with a boffin at an electronics company in the UK. Since I actually failed O-level Electronics at school, I was impressed that I managed to get the gist of what he was trying to explain.

I took Freya into Aberdeen to buy some new school shoes and made a detour into the phone shop that sells the Mifi modems for mobile internet suitable for ipads. I asked about coverage, download speeds and gigabytes in an attempt to appear knowledgeable. The sales assistant assumed that Freya was the owner of the ipad and she retorted, "Of course not – my Mother is the geek!"

The customer quilt that I was working on ended up taking me a full week to complete. I was not really asked to do a custom job on it but it was crying out for some special treatment. What I did was not tricky but it was a lot of tiny fillers in small spaces, all using thread that just disappeared into the dark Jinny Beyer fabrics. As I approached the bottom of the quilt the tension went awry unexpectedly and looked horrible on the back so I had to unpick part of the border for 4 hours. The photo does not show much of the detail of the quilting at all but I am pleased with the resulting texture. I MUST improve my quoting for jobs like this up front so that I can start to charge properly for this intensity of quilting. I simply cannot afford to be working so hard on quilts that don't earn me enough. It also eats into the time that I have available for completing the unfinished Yurt panels and simply sewing for pleasure.

The Yurt still has not been photographed outside a castle in beautiful sunshine. It is Midsummer next weekend but we have had nothing but glowering grey skies for weeks. There is no sign of any roses, just rampantly lush weeds. I would like to hoover the garden Yurt out in case I decide to sleep out in it soon but I would rather not be electrocuted by trailing an extension lead across the wet grass. Freya went to the outdoor seawater pool at Stonehaven on a trip with the Girl Guides last week but they didn't dare get out of the water to go on the slides as it was so wintry. She was impressed that the snack bar sold hot chocolate and chips instead of ice-creams. I would like to think that summer will arrive at the beginning of the school holidays and my husband has put up a large tent in anticipation of camping out. He and the children slept out last night despite the rain and were fairly cosy bundled up with jumpers, duvets and quilts.

I must produce some structured lesson plans for some quilting classes so that I can make the workshop earn its keep and so that I have a syllabus that I can offer to show organisers or Guild secretaries. I have determined that I will make a formal start on The Yurt Book this week so that I can just work away at each chapter a bit at a time until I have something substantial for publishers to edit and polish. I need to get tough and write myself a strict timetable for the week so that I don't spend too much time on one thing. I have been asked to run up strings of bunting with names and occasions for friends. The problem is that I like the letters all to be embroidered on for a more professional finish which makes them commercially far less viable. It is very easy to spend a whole day on the computer researching and writing but that doesn't directly earn me money to replenish my empty bank account. I aim to do a customer quilt next week that is on the frame for 2 days at most so that I can get a Yurt panel done too, otherwise "Potential Yurt 2" will be naked!

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Information Overload

 

I have had so much information to deal with this week that I wonder if my brain can actually manage to process any more "stuff". I was even told that Gin can cause depression and maybe that was why I was feeling so over whelmed but I refuse to believe that. I have been making lists and researching all sorts of things while trying to get everything else done as usual. As light relief, it was fun to get a couple of cool apps for my ipad such as Wickipanion and Wolfram Alpha. I can find out all sorts of really obscure and useless information that might just come in handy, including how candy floss is made. Scrabble for the ipad is fun too but the computer cheats; it gets to choose whatever letters it likes and it uses American spellings. I also downloaded an ibook that is the sequel to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". After a slow and slightly confusing start, I became absolutely enthralled by this complex thriller so I look forward to finding out what reading a whole electronic book will really be like.

 

I read all of the reviews and decided which battery back-up pack to order for my longarm machine to see if I can eradicate unexpected power surges and then I set off on a mission to discover how to get mobile wifi. I have discovered that it is possible to get a mini modem that provides "Mifi" but the sole UK provider has patchy connections around the country. This would have been really useful when Judi at British P&Q Magazine phoned to ask if I could proofread my interview and send high resolution pictures just as I was leaving to take the children to their after school swimming club.

 

I have been chasing up queries regarding Yurt shipping and waiting for quotes. I need to have a list of potential expenses to decide whether it is the most cost effective to ship the original Yurt with a customs carnet and unknown insurance costs or get another American frame under sponsorship and transport the coverings vacuum packed in suitcases as my baggage. Figuring out the costs will be the key to deciding what to do. Can I afford to take off and tour America? How will I generate an income? My husband is not convinced that my business will ever make money. He is not happy that we have to spend a large sum of money on pipes and stone to fix a broken soakaway when he would rather be saving up for a sports car. I have been lining up some Yurt sponsors and so far have promises of some fabric that I could use for Yurt 2 but sadly no hard cash as yet. My next mission is to find out whether any grants are available for people who would promote Scotland abroad. I want to get permission to put the Yurt up outside a picturesque Scottish castle as that would make a terrific photo shoot. It may be hard to choose a day when it will actually be bright. I am typing this sitting in a deckchair at a school football tournament wearing a long raincoat and boots. It is like a fete with candy floss and pony rides but everyone is wearing wellies and gloves. Yesterday was beautifully warm and sunny - midsummer in Scotland is extremely unpredictable!

 

I went back to the children's school to continue with their patchwork project but it has not progressed as much as I had hoped. They were meant to do some finishing off but other things had cropped up on their timetable. I also have calls to make on behalf of the Parent Council and correspondence and events to sort out as Aberdeenshire rep for the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles. I also started a long overdue customer quilt but instead of keeping things plain and simple, I have managed to overdo it so that after 3 long days standing at the machine, I have only just passed the half way point. I really do annoy myself sometimes. I would rather get back to the unfinished Yurt panels or simply make something quick and easy to remind myself that quilting is actually meant to be fun and not an endurance test.

 

My frustrated mood lifted a bit after I completed a big tidying session in Fenella's bedroom but she wasn't speaking to me after she discovered that I had recycled some of her cardboard junk models. I need to balance all of my chores next week so that I don't get so bogged down. It would actually be quite satisfying to get some mundane tasks done so I may even paint the loo in the workshop at last. Painting and listening to podcasts is usually good thinking time. I was also wondering whether to tackle DIY tongue and groove boards in the sitting room. After all, I just need to cut the pieces to the right length then nail them or use extra strong glue to attach them to the plaster board... what could possibly go wrong?

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What does a press release look like anyway?

 

 

Gillian Cooper from Popular Patchwork Magazine told me I should write a press release about the Yurt so I came up with a single page of info and some pictures that I think will do the job until someone points out that it should be any different...

 

The picture shows the top of the press release that I scanned in because Picasa wouldn't import it and reduce for me as it contained words! You can't see the whole page because the printer ran out of ink!! If anyone really wants a full copy I can send it as a pdf or a Word Doc…

 

I have to say that I am sorry if I failed to mention that you called in the Yurt at LLQS like Mo, Joyce, Ann, Isabel, Norma, Nancy and Angela...! (this is just like the Oscars!) I really appreciate the effort made by everyone who came especially to see the finished Yurt.

 

I have had an awful lot to think about this week, trying to decide how to get Yurt bookings and sponsors, how to ship it, and where and when it should go to the USA if it is also wanted in Europe. I think I must be dreaming about all of these decisions since it feels like my brain is processing all of this even when I am supposed to be asleep in the middle of the night. 

 

I have clearly not been thinking about everyday things. I went to the Bank to complain that every time I try to use my bank card, the ATM tells me that the PIN number is invalid and I have checked it several times. I was informed that I had cut up the wrong card and was trying to use the wrong card with the correct number. They really shouldn't make them all the same colour. When I got dressed one morning the first pair of knickers out of the drawer were those "hold you in" ones. I thought, "Blimey, these ones must really be working 'cos my jeans keep falling down." It wasn't until after breakfast as I hoiked up the loose jeans that I realised I hadn't actually zipped them up in the first place. While on the phone to the APQS factory in Iowa ordering some knurled nuts, I burnt the children's omlette and they told their Dad that I was responsible for the cobbled bottom of the saucepan in which I recently burnt mashed potato.

 

I spent some time putting away all of the Yurty stuff so that it can travel more compactly the next time. The Chinese lantern fairy lights kept bouncing all over the studio and I took ages to unravel 56 metres of purple pompoms. I thought I would have a go at finally replacing my Milli circuit boards however, after opening the box and looking at a picture of circuit diagrams, decided to wimp out and wait until my husband could give me a hand. I failed O- level Electronics after all! Instead I spent a couple of hours removing broken and sellotaped items from Fergus's bedroom. It had been my intention to do a bit of spring cleaning but that is as far as I got apart from scraping some bits of dead rabbit off the front doorstep that Bitzi had left there.

 

All in all, I did get a lot done. I took the Landy to the weighbridge at the quarry twice - empty and fully loaded with Yurt so I could find out the weight - 220 kg, actually. I arranged that the sawmill could treat the timber frame for ISPM15 compliance if I want to export it. I have typed out the programme for a longarm teaching weekend at the beginning of July but I still don't seem to have sent it by email to the people who may be interested. I confess that I wasted a little while browsing tartan Doc Martens on the internet.

 

We did get Milli's circuits and encoders all sorted so I did a simple customer quilt which featured tractors - it had one inch " furrows" until I decided that it needed half inch furrows so that it would have great texture when washed. I helped to hang some of the Aberdeen P&Q group's quilts at Crathes Castle - there were almost too many willing volunteers so progress wasn't that quick. I attended an evening meeting for parents of pupils moving to secondary school in August. I was amused when our guide said, "This is LIKE the library where you can borrow books AND STUFF...?" as opposed to an actual library, I suppose!

My parents arrived for the weekend in their caravan and I took them on an outing to Costco so we could do Saturday morning tasting and sampling. My Dad bought 2 toilet seats with amazing automatically closing lids.

 

Ipads are now available in the UK so it was exciting to be able to get a couple of useful apps. As an experiment, I have typed this week's Blog on the ipad. It should be possible to save the text as a Word document or email it to my laptop. This will be great as I can easily fit the ipad into a bag and do a bit of typing in all sorts of places. Maybe I will even get cracking on THAT book...! 

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Yurt takes Loch Lomond Quilt Show by Storm!

Visit www.picasaweb.google.com/thequiltquine
for LOTS more photos of the Quilted Yurt...
 

 

It was quite a feat loading all of the yurt frame, panels, tools and wicker stag's head into the Landy. The rear seats were all unbolted and removed. The door frame of the Yurt was too wide so we had to take all 16 huge wood screws out to dismantle it and the roof crown only just got wedged in. The 8ft long roof spars came right into the folded-down passenger seat - there was no room left at all but somehow I managed to wedge in my coffee pot and bottle of gin.

I arrived in Dumbarton at Riverside Parish Church Hall before midday on Tuesday and was met by Isabel and her son who were going to help me to erect my creation. I wished that I had brought one of my "experts" with me, never having taken sole charge of putting up a yurt before. It was not as easy as working on grass or gravel. The frame slipped around on the wooden floor and the roof poles kept falling down from where I had leaned them against the frame with an echoing crash. My helpers looked nervous. Isabel was called away to sort out a quilt crisis at another Church, leaving me to hope that Ross and I could manage get the roof up ourselves. A bigger team would have been far more sensible. Once I tightened up the tension band and put the ladder in the centre of the circle and decided that it WAS going to go up we got everything sorted out. There were a few hiccups such as the black strip that held up the panels snapping but I substituted that for a piece of blue nylon rope and got the wall panels velcroed into position. Although these had all been numbered at home, they had to be rearranged as the frame was obviously not the exact same diameter as it had been on gravel. The roof was man-handled on and attached by my willing volunteer who had never even heard of a yurt previously and he also did a great job of smoothing out the bunting around the crown. He later told me that it was far harder work than going to a gym for the afternoon. Thankfully, Tracy arrived to help me pin on the purple pompoms and interior bunting because my shoulder had ceased to function. She also figured out how to assemble the Chinese lantern fairy lights. Quite a lot of string was used for attaching all of these finishing touches. She brought the photo booklets that she had printed and bound for the show and we left the Yurt ready for the morning with photo albums, postcards, comments book, coffee pot and hid all of the junk under the table, concealed by a tartan tablecloth. She drove me to IKEA where we whizzed around buying circular rugs, colourful glass candle jars and a large bar of chocolate for emergencies.

I still cannot believe the response that the Yurt received over the next four days of the show. I am utterly amazed, humbled and delighted at all of the visitors' comments. Almost everyone entered the hall and gasped then either could not say anything at all or simply said, "Wow!!" One lady became quite emotional. Another said she had heard she was going to see a Yacht, not a Yurt! I have never had to deal with quite such a lot of praise and admiration – it was gratifying, a relief, slightly embarrassing but absolutely wonderful and I wished that the Stunt Quilters could also have been there to see all of the amazed visitors. I kept being asked if there was a book. I responded to questions until I could hardly remember what the answers were. They wanted to know what gave me the idea, how long it took, who worked on the project, where did I normally keep the Yurt, where would it be going next, did I teach, would I bring the Yurt to Quilt Groups to do a talk, how long had it taken to put up, what would I be making next, would it appear in magazines... All the time I could hear cameras clicking, just like celebrity paparazzi photographers. It was exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I had thought I would be a bit bored in the gaps between visitors but there simply were no lulls at all. There was barely even time to pop out to the loo. Apparently, the Yurt was being discussed at all of the other quilt show venues, the Traders' Village and people were phoning friends who had decided not to attend the show to make sure that they didn't miss it. Several visitors said that the Yurt had, "Made their day!" Visitors had come from all over Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Singapore, Hungary, and America. I was offered all sorts of advice on sponsors and places where people would like to see the Yurt in the future including the V&A, Scottish Parliament, Festival of Quilts, The Edinburgh Festival and the Centenary of the Irish Craft Council. I was introduced to Pamela Mostek who publishes books with Martingale. Christine Porter was most complimentary – she said, "Who ARE you and why don't I know you?!" Some of my other quilts were on display too and I could hear people discussing them. "That's Kentuckii... I've seen it in a magazine!" I wasn't wearing a name badge but visitors would say, "Oh, the Quilt Quine – I read her blog, you know..." "Are YOU Linzi Upton? I've been following your work for ages!" Actually, I was in shock – I couldn't believe they were talking about ME!! The white-glove ladies found me a little worrying. I would encourage people to feel the tweed roof and when the hangers wondered how to display my children's quilts without hanging sleeves, I broke all of the rules and employed my staple gun.

My parents were among the crowds and they were pretty impressed too. It was fantastic to see them lost for words and so many other friends who had made a special trip. Angie and Chris from the APQS forum came as did Brian & Carole Sowton. There were several quilty friends from Aberdeenshire. Ellen made it and we had a brief catch-up sitting inside the Yurt. Even weary husbands were impressed, particularly by the wooden frame. It's a pity that Paul the Yurt Man of Highland Yurts didn't hear all of the praise for his handiwork. I encouraged people to sit down on the borrowed deckchairs where they could enjoy a spell of quiet and calm and watch the flickering candles reflect the rainbow colours of the roof. Up until now I have been doggedly working to get the Yurt finished for the LLQS deadline but suddenly I seriously need to think about the logistics of what happens next. I have a few panels to finish and I am already thinking of making some sort of floor covering, also figuring out whether to re-cover telescopic deckchairs with quilted tweed. As everyone kept asking if I would bring the Yurt all over the country, I wondered whether I should make a second, smaller one that is easier to transport. I could have the big one off touring large venues and a half-sized one accompanying me to smaller Guild meetings. I have to look into sponsorship, a proper press release, advertising, transport costs, a schedule, a teaching syllabus and still leave time for customer quilts, representing a longarm machine company and Family-life! Unfortunately, they didn't get to see the Yurt looking splendid at the show on Saturday as the high pressure water tank that feeds the boiler sprung a dramatic leak on Friday night and there was quite a lot of mopping up and fixing to do.

I must start drafting a Quilted Yurt book that has more profound statements about my sources of inspiration. If I simply put it all down to drinking gin or just deciding that it seemed like a good idea, it will be a very short book indeed. Even I was impressed when I saw the completed Yurt for the first time on Tuesday afternoon. All the months of working on sections of a project and carrying images in my head came together at last. Once I got all of my photos developed last week it was easy to see that the colours of the fabrics had been inspired by the bracken, birch trees, derelict farm buildings and Scottish landscape all around me. I have had one of the most amazing weeks of my life where I saw my crazy vision of a project come together at last. I would never have managed to pull it off without the trust of LLQS who believed that I would complete the project and the help of my very supportive friends – real and virtual who helped in practical ways, offered advice, discussed practicalities and poured me another G&T! Instead of sorting out the workshop or ploughing through my (patient) customer backlog on Sundays I will try to sit in the Garden Yurt to work on a manuscript and a Plan on how to become a professional quilter who puts money IN the Bank for a change. However, I must remember not to light the wood stove on warm days in summer months since it tends to have a soporific effect..!

 

 

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Checking the Checklist

 

There was a frenzy of finishing attaching velcro strips invisibly to the tweed connectors and backs of all of the panels so that we could do a dress rehearsal of the Yurt walls on Wednesday. There was a bit of shifting around to make sure that panels with similar colours didn't hang next to each other and to check that the wall reached all of the way around the yurt without bulging or sagging. It was really exciting to see that it all fitted together and we had a taste of what it will be like once it gets to Loch Lomond. Mo did a fantastic job of painting the double doors so all I had to do was find the correct hinges that would lift off easily. This involved phone calls to a couple of yurt companies and trawling the internet for suppliers of antique hinges until I found "Band & Clasp" hinges that would probably support a drawbridge.

It was time to start drawing up lists... things still to do, items to collect, what to pack and where it would all go. I realised that I should have some postcards to sell so Vistaprint received some trade from me with priority postage that cost about as much as the printing. I moved all of the Yurt project pictures into one folder so that I could get some printed off for an album. I had to make a list of the Yurt panels with corresponding photos in order to make a mini guidebook for the show. Freya helped me with margins and text wrapping then I sent my document to Tracy for proof reading and tidying up. My panels have not got the most imaginative or airy-fairy descriptions because my brain simply can't think of anything interesting at this point in the project. I realised that I had reached something of a hiatus with the project almost complete. I couldn't quite get the bunting finished, I couldn't sort the photos as they weren't ready and I just couldn't seem to get into the right gear for packing everything in bubble-wrap. I tackled a well overdue job of clipping winter dreadlocks off the dogs with kitchen shears. Mabel was half the size by the time she was all trimmed. A poodle parlour stylist would be appalled at the hacked look but at least Mabel's wiry fur won't break the dog clippers when she goes to Mo's kitchen for a number two brush-cut.

I spent a couple of days driving around collecting the photos, looking for albums, finding cellophane packets for packs of postcards, choosing fake thistles, a spare glue gun and a staple gun, and picking up a large wicker stag's head. I got Freya and Millie to scrub the cobwebby round picnic table, hemmed two tablecloths, attached all of the crochet doyleys and finished off a couple of areas of quilting that just needed a little extra detail. There are still 4 unfinished panels that will be completed eventually but they will go to the show anyway. I still have the hinges to screw on and the purple pompoms to hand-sew to the edge of the roof. There are even some funky feathered kilt pins to place at each roof intersection. Miles of bunting was finally finished and I am very grateful to my new neighbour, Michelle, for sewing all of the pennants together for me.

Some of the seats have been unbolted from the Landy to make room for the Yurt frame but I'm still worried that I won't be able to fit everything in – including my other quilts and a step ladder. IF there is any room at all, I will try to squeeze in a wicker chair and some sheepskin rugs. I hope that it will all go up easily at the show so that I have spare time to pop to IKEA for a few small round rugs, and possibly even a chandelier!

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Raising the Roof

 

I may have returned from America at last but my children still have not seen much of me since I have spent almost every available minute in the workshop. The Yurt frame had to be put up in the driveway so that the roof could be fitted. Considering it is a year since I last watched the Yurtman put a frame up, it went up quite easily in about an hour. It rained a lot during the week but the wood won't come to any harm if it gets wet as the spring sun and wind dry things up quickly. Tania and Mo came to help manhandle the quilted tweed roof sections into position for a rough fitting. It was at this point that it finally sank in how big this project really is. I listened carefully and made notes as Mo expertly explained where to attach the velcro on each section. It was a long and difficult job and there were areas where I was sewing through 2 layers of tweed, 2 layers of cotton and industrial strength velcro. I bent several needles and got thoroughly fed up with the velcro attaching itself to the tweed, itself, my sweater and the carpet. Despite the diagrams, I forgot what I was doing and attached rough velcro where fuzzy velcro had to go so that was a minor set-back. Fortunately, Mo came to the rescue and helped me to fix that when we did the final fitting and tweaking. It actually fits... and looks amazing!

Tania has been helping to handsew the fuzzy velcro in place on the wall panels after I machined down the bindings with invisible thread. Our new neighbour called in for coffee and was immediately roped in for making pennant shaped bunting for the inside of the Yurt. I sent her away with cut pieces of fabric, a template, sewing machine and scissors. She did say she was looking for a sewing project.

I made several enquiries about van hire and roofracks and realised that it was going to be rather expensive to transport the Yurt to Loch Lomond. I have now persuaded David to unbolt a couple of seats from the Landrover and it should all fit inside. I bought a couple of strings of Chinese lantern fairy lights at B&Q but the man was a bit bemused by my questions about rope and door hinges for my "tent".

I keep rewriting my To-Do list...

I have not actually finished all of the Yurt wall panels but I do have enough to construct the walls - the rest will have to go along as Works in Progress. Ideally I would like to make a photo album to display at the show. I have to make labels for the panels and write a blurb about each one for a show guide. I need to gather together other quilts to make up the rest of my exhibition, including some that the children have done. I have to sort out what accessories will go to furnish the Yurt – rugs, chairs and possibly a table. I saw a fantastic wicker stag's head in the local art gallery so I have asked the artist if she can possibly make another one in time as it would make a perfect feature. Mo suggested that I should add some pompom braid along the bottom of the Yurt roof. I ought to see if I can get some postcards printed on time that I can sell at the show. I am even wondering whether to raffle off "Pub Carpet" or another one of my panels to add to the overseas shipping fund. At least I have now finished reading "Breaking Dawn" that was keeping me awake long after midnight. If I can find any spare time I must try to reclaim some travel insurance expenses for my extended stay in USA and contact HM Customs to see if I stand any chance of reclaiming some of their extortionate charges for the yurt panels that stunt quilters have sent. They had to put a value on the outside and I have been charged import duty on that. I do now have almost all of them and each one that arrives is fabulous in its own way. Now I must stop blogging and sort out some digital photos...

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The Wonders of Walmart / The End of the Road Trip

The Wonders of Wal-Mart / The End of the Road Trip...

I spent Sunday finishing off the quilting on my Yurt panel then decided to paint on some metallic lime green funky stars. I continued creating "departments" in Bonnie's studio such as stationery and ironing... she will never be able to find anything again without emailing me to ask where I have stashed it. We made a short trip out in the rain for milk and Schweppes tonic and spotted an old chest of drawers at the side of the road so we made a u-turn and picked it up for Bonnie's husband, Gene to revamp in his workshop.

On Monday we went back to Kingston and revisited Style Fabrics, Joann's, Michael's Crafts and Wal-Mart where we could pick up some half decent fabric for $2.44 a yard. I had to have a yard of Western bandana fabric just in case I have time to make an American a quilt when I have run out of other projects. Wal-Mart is an interesting place to watch people... there were various velour tracksuits worn by well endowed ladies, packets of ready meals that are not available in the UK, a vast choice of BBQ sauces, car tyres and air rifles.  Bonnie started to practice with her new Circle Lord that she picked up from the tiny post office in Elizaville and I gave my painted stars extra legs so that they looked like spinners then gave them all 3 coats of lime green lumiere. We also had great fun testing out the new Simplicity bias binding machine that folds and irons at great speed.

Bonnie had to dash into Albany to collect Siana from school for an appointment on Tuesday so we stayed behind to work on projects. Tracy pieced a wall hanging together for her new grandson and I faffed, trying to decide how to embellish my yurt panel. I just could not decide how to add definition to the green spinners. I used the machine to embroider around a couple of spinners then spent ages unpicking because it did not look right. If I had stopped prevaricating all day and had the right thread, I could have chain stitched around all of the spinners by hand. I blame the Internet for causing further distractions – there was plenty of table top space in the studio for all of us to be online and surfing at the same time. Sitting at the 1960's basement bar with a Gin & Tonic was just like being at an Internet cafe. Supper that evening was tasty oven fried chicken legs with cowboy biscuits (like scones) and white gravy.

On Wednesday, after collecting a Yurt panel parcel from Kristina in Nevada from the post office, we drove the scenic route to Albany via Kinderhook where we passed the historic houses once inhabited by Benedict Arnold and General Burgoyne from the American War of Independence. The twisty country roads made Tracy feel queasy so we stopped at Cracker Barrel for an early lunch. We shared a burger and I had root beer because I think it is such an American drink that I would never have in Scotland. We found ourselves in Joann's for the fourth time in a week and had to pick up a few more pens and hot fix crystals. We wandered around the mall for a while we waited to collect Siana from a homework assignment and Tracy even had a manicure at a nail bar. We packed cases during the evening and removed unnecessary packaging in order to distribute the weight evenly. Tracy actually had to buy an extra holdall but mine were OK. I was not sure how much my yurt panels would weigh so I was careful not to buy anything weighty. Tracy tried to buy the extra baggage allowance online but the computer messed her booking up so that she was not able to book ANY extra bags at all. She was concerned that she would be charged heavily at the airport.

After checking the Elizaville post office for Yurt packages on more time, we loaded the car up with our luggage and went for lunch at the 1956 fully restored Elizaville Diner where I enjoyed another splendid Pastrami Reuben with sauerkraut, coleslaw and French fries. It seems to have been rather a foodie trip for me – I think this is probably what I need to get me in the right frame of mind for serious dieting when I get back home! The traffic was busy for most of the route through New Jersey to Newark Liberty International Airport, a grandiose title for a miserable transit depot. We arrived early in case there was any hassle with excess baggage but we didn't have to pay any extra since we got a dispensation for "being disrupted". The British Airways terminal was being remodelled so there was very little there. We fancied a bowl of chilli before we boarded but the chilli concession had run out of chilli! To make matters worse, there was no Wi-Fi so we couldn't even waste time surfing the Internet. I asked if it might be possible to charge up my American mobile phone so I could let Bonnie know that we were all checked in. To my amazement, I was waved into the secure section where all of the staff were chatting and face-booking on their Blackberries. I kept expecting a SWAT team to descend and interrogate me while I plugged my phone into a power socket surrounded by bored security staff. They said they liked my boots.

We dozed uncomfortably on the late overnight flight and arrived bleary-eyed at Heathrow more than 8 hours later after circling around for a while. Delays make me nervous – every time I have to land or experience any turbulence wobbles I grip the arms of the seat with white knuckles. This could be problematic if I start travelling more. I may have to undergo hypnosis or take a sleeping pill or just drink more gin. After wandering around Terminal 5 like zombies we boarded the last small pane to Glasgow. A noisy crowd pushed their way to the front.  Everyone tutted as there was no club or first class section on this aircraft. It turned out to be Whitney Houston and her entourage who were going to perform in Glasgow. Let's just say that she is no longer as glamorous as she was in her heyday and she looked a touch glazed to me – maybe she doesn't like flying either. I stayed overnight with Tracy and unwound with a G&T an epic 24-hour journey. She had quite a bit to unpack and fit into her sewing room...

The next morning I travelled back to Aberdeen on the very basic Megabus, surrounded by Rangers football fans all drinking Buckfast cider and vodka, discussing transfer deals, fights and getting "steamin'" drunk the night before. I was lucky that none of them threw up before they got off for their away match at Dundee. My husband, children and cat were all delighted to see me and very pleased with their American souvenirs, multi-coloured goldfish crackers and candy.

I unpacked slowly on Sunday and felt sick after eating Hershey's chocolate with my coffee. I was only eating chocolate to perk me up a bit since I had still been wide awake at 1.30am but I should have stuck to Cadbury's or my last bag of peanut M&Ms. It took me a long time to sort out all of my receipts and bills and I tried not to think too much about how hard I will have to work to pay for my extended trip. I don't suppose travel insurance covers trips to Joann's Fabrics. The best unwrapping of all was opening up the Yurt panels and letting them relax on my Milli frame after their long travels by post or plane. I will have to work very hard to get them all joined together but there are plenty of them now. It won't be a disaster if I don't finish every bit of quilting and embellishment for the launch at Loch Lomomd. It will be a project that continues to grow and develop. I have had a couple of new makers step up this week and ask to take part. I still have 3 to finish off but they can be added later and hang inside. I hung LSD in the studio with the ribbon from Cathy Franks and found places for my new thread, pencils and magnetic pin dish, as well as the other latest gadgets that every quilter "must" have. Now I have to write myself a long TO DO list for the week ahead.

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