What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Not only was it a busy week at work finishing a hexie quilt, supervising part two of the DIY elephant quilt and being on hand to help with classes, each evening I forced myself to paint my bedroom. I had to keep shifting the bed out of the way to avoid getting paint on the quilt which is protected from Nessie by an old, cotton bedspread in dire need of a good wash;)

There was a big blowy storm and I was worried that the roof might leak onto my new paint but so far all is well. I can ...

I have been keeping myself busy at work long arming and doing some tuition, as well as making teas and coffees for people on courses. In the evenings I put on my DIY dungarees and have been continuing to tart up the cottage. I am slightly dreading moving my belongings in because they will just clutter the place up.

I was meant to meet Mel from Looe and visit a Christmas Fair in Fowey but the weather was stormy so I had a 3-day DIY weekend instead. I painted just about everything I could see. The back bedroom is finished ...

I am gradually “cottagifying” my new place. It really needs a lick of paint but even just moving things around makes all the difference and I have not even got much of my own stuff here yet. My chum, Mel (who moved from Banchory to Looe) came for a visit and we mooched around the Pannier Market, posh shops and charity shops. I found some useful curtains in the Sue Ryder shop.

I had help to strim my overgrown grass and had fun getting a bit carried away with a pressure washer. I ran up some basic gingham curtains for ...

It has been long time since I had a room all to myself that was just for sleeping in. I had a room in Scotland but it was also an office, sometimes a music room complete with piano and drum-kit plus a sewing machine.  

I got the keys to my Tavistock cottage on Monday then had a dreadful, dark drive back to the caravan in the rain so I decided to throw some things in the car the next morning and just move straight in. It is fantastic just to have a 10-15 minute commute to work. There is a ...

 For anyone wondering where I have been… I was working this weekend at Malvern Quilt show – will post properly when I get time! Nessie had a lovely holiday with friends. Did not get slow worm house but will take the wee cottage in Tavi;) update to follow xx

I now know lots about the Accuquilt cutting system and think it is great. I bought some cotton duck fabric for my new kitchen – woodcut style whales and sardines. I am not exactly sure what to do with it but have not bought any fabric for ages and just fancied it!

Here ...

I spent Sunday morning being interviewed by a prospective Landlord and am now having second thoughts about a house that I thought was ideal. I have to make sure that the endangered Slow Worms and Newts in the garden thrive. I am not allowed to paint anything even if it is scruffy and can be evicted at short notice if the garden is not correctly maintained. On the other hand, I also saw a Bedford Cottage in Tavistock which is rather small but the Landlady is considerably more relaxed;)

I don’t actually need to rush into anything at all ...

My main focus at work this week was messing about with the L890 Overlocker so I can make samples for a forthcoming Masterclass. It is a great machine and easy enough to switch modes from overlocker to overstitch but when experimenting it would be great to have about 3 machines all set up for different settings. I aim to come up with some kind of project that includes gathering, rolled hem, zips, quilting and fringing.

I had been disappointed by the lack of response any local letting agents but as soon as I expressed an interest in a terraced house ...

I have completed my official first “normal” week at Quilt Direct, getting up every morning and getting to work on time. The 45+ minute journey is getting easier, apart from the lane leading to the main road which will never get easier. 

Monday was a bit intense with so much to do, stock-taking after the Open Days and not really having a plan. After that I got out my notebook to prioritise what needs doing which is very  much subject to change. I had an all-day pupil on one of my days which was great and she thoroughly enjoyed herself ...

I have no idea how people find time for hobbies in the evening after work. I am getting used to the idea of getting up at early every day, not wasting time on social media, getting ready for the day, going for a dog-walk and making sure I leave on time for work. The journey takes about 45 minutes and the worst part is the single track, bendy, hilly, bumpy stretch until I reach the main road. We had a final burst of summer this week and it was too hot to take Nessie to work if she had to ...

My journey home from FoQ was not entirely straightforward. I made it to Fergus’ flat in Glasgow with no problems but when we decided to nip to the supermarket my car would not start, just like it did in June. I called the AA just after 9am the next morning and a patrol truck came about 2 hours later and declared that we would need to be taken to a garage. At 1.30pm we got towed as far as Asda in Cumbernauld where we hung around for 5 hours waiting for another  truck to take us further. This was ...

All 3 of my grown up children and Nessie came with me on a working holiday to Quilt Direct in Devon and we all had a wonderful time! I was so busy teaching and doing some filming that I did not take a single photo but the gang took lots of good ones on their travels  along the North and South coasts of Devon and Cornwall. I had a couple of days out with them to explore the area and enjoyed local delicacies, obviously! The weather was pretty good and we stayed in a delightful cottage in Tavistock, an historic ...

I was away at the start of the week, teaching and demoing at Barnyarns in NE Yorkshire. I had chosen to travel by train which was great because I could do some work on my laptop and read a book but not so convenient as having a car at the other end. The Premier Inn in which I was staying was a couple of miles out of town so nowhere to go out for food in the evening. The event was well attended by people keen to investigate purchasing a Q-Series machine or just curious or just tempted by Prosecco ...

I have said it before – Time in Norfolk is elastic. The days pass quickly doing very little. Nella and I had a couple of wanders in the City, admiring the spring blossom. We stumbled upon a textiles exhibition in the Forum, including an entire knitted model of Great Yarmouth!

I took my Mother on an outing to Southwold, despite the squally weather and spotted an amusingly titled beach hut (Star Wars reference).

I did not even open the sewing box that I took with me but I did some of the slideshow about Q-Matic that I am working on.

My ...

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 ...

When I was little if you were “At your Auntie’s / Granny’s House”, normal rules did not apply. My sister and her boys came to visit for their half-term hols and they were allowed to do pretty much what they liked;) Luckily, we had decent weather almost all week so we went for long walks with Nessie and had a trip to Aberdeen on the wet day. Other than that it was very relaxed with video games, crafts and snacks. The boys thought my cluttered house was great as it contains every known gadget, book and musical instrument yet ...

As a person who owns several cameras, these days I take very few photos which does not adequately document my week. I had a huge customer quilt that took 2 days and a DIY quilter who spent 2 days here custom quilting. 

I considered starting on my Tula Pink butterfly quilt kit but that would require my full attention so I decided to dip in and out of the Art & Stitch manual. I think I am absorbing it more easily and it was pointed out to me that I don’t actually need to know it off by heart – I ...

Christmas with one extra person and a dog seemed more chaotic than usual. I did not get to do my jigsaw puzzle much because there was nowhere safe to leave it out. I have often accused Nessie of eating one piece so leaving set up with a curious puppy did not seem like a good idea. Nessie ended up mostly opting out of the sitting room – she and Fizzle kept out of the way, probably hatching plans for revenge.

Freya made me a cute little sconce from clay, Nella gifted me a non-alcoholic blood orange cordial and Fergus got me ...

I had to collect Nella from Aberdeen bus station so went for a wee wander around Union Square shopping centre while I waited. I went into the new Seasalt shop which already had a sale on. I stroked the velvet dresses to see if they were as wrong as the ones I had seen in Norwich and to my horror, I discovered that all of the nap was running in the wrong direction. When I helpfully informed the sales assistant, she insisted snippily that the designers would have requested that. It made me shudder to think that if I ran ...

When my children were younger Christmas did not begin until after Fergus’ birthday on December 11th. We have an artificial tree now so it has been up with only its lights on, waiting for Nella to “dress” it when she arrives home. I must admit that I sort of miss the frantic round of Christmas concerts and performances. The trouble is that since the festive season starts so early nowadays, the whole thing is spread out and there seems to be no definite Christmas period (for me, at least).  All of the Christmas Fayres are over already and I never ...

Nessie and I travelled back to Scotland by train which is a long way with a dog on your lap, sometimes the floor. She was very good, especially at Edinburgh Waverley where we had 10 minutes to change platforms. Thistle (Fizz) was delighted to see me and was especially pleased that she could get access to my bed. Meanwhile my room had been turned into a recording studio and Nella’s room seemed to have been filled with the junk that everyone else had decided they no longer wanted in their rooms. It seems that I will have some serious ...