What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

“Gardening” seems to be taking up quite a lot of my free time these days! I started off just doing a little tidying then I got some pots. I could have just weeded the bit of ground where there should be a shed but instead I seem to be creating a patio area. It could be a nice little spot for a bistro table but the view is of my neighbour’s rubbish and I have seen a rat out there so I will not be eating alfresco in that area!

I managed to remove most of the rogue sycamores ...

Whew – it has been hot this week in Devon although not as hot as London which reached 33 degrees! My first task at work each morning was to fling all of the windows open. I had a varied week, demonstrating the Q24, teaching an overlocker class, working on a customer quilt, reorganising the walk-in cupboard, and sorting out bolts of Grunge fabric. 

I did not venture far over the weekend, either staying in the shade or inside, just wilting. I tidied the shed and put together a shockingly flimsy shelving unit. When it cooled down I cleared the rubble out ...

I had a super week with all three of my children. They get along amazingly well with each other as young adults. We had outings to Hound Tor, Welcombe Beach, Polzeath, Looe and Exeter! The weather was mixed, the house fitted everyone in and we had a bonfire. I planted up some wee plants and herbs and put busy lizzies into my favourite green (15 year old) Docs which now have smooth soles and great big holes! It is very quiet here now that everyone has gone back to Glasgow and Norwich but they have promised to visit again soon:)

Nella arrived on Monday evening and my other two children will arrive on Sunday so we will all be on holiday this coming week! I am hoping that it will be dry after an absolute deluge on Saturday where Nella and I binge-watched the latest series of “Outlander”.

Nessie had a cat visitor who won a staring contest before sauntering off on its way. 

On Friday we ventured to a Cornish village called Minions then walked up to see the weird geological rock formation, The Cheeswring. It was quite a calm day but it was blowing a hoodie at the ...

I really got stuck into things this week, maybe because I have visitors coming soon? I continued working on the strippy quilt top and got it finished so I could move the sewing machine out of the back bedroom. It is a bit galling that I will actually have to buy batting and backing for this project as I have 2 or 3 rolls in Scotland. I often dyed a sheet for the back of my quilts but I don’t have any dye or dare to use the washing machine here;) 

At work the new Bernina Hoop Frame arrived ...

Don’t be too shocked – I have done some actual sewing at last! At work I did a very nice Liberty star quilt for a customer and finally got to grips with the L890 project, “Bloom & Grow”. There were parts that I really liked on the project but others that I would probably change if I do it again or teach it as a Quilt-Along. Mainly, it is not super accurate but it is fast. The point of the project is to experience lots of techniques that the L890 excels at but sometimes I felt that it would have been ...

I am blogging in my garden! While farmers are no doubt worrying about potential drought conditions, I am basking in sunshine. I got my plant troughs filled which has created another chore for me keeping them watered. I had to take down one of my window boxes because it was dribbling mud all down the wall. Having been warned that removing the dangling wires would cause certain death by electrocution, I decided to disguise them with fake wisteria. It does need more strands to bulk it out but I think it looks jolly. 

At work I have cracked on with ...

It is funny how a week with a Bank Holiday can seem longer than normal. I could not stop thinking about a solar candle lantern that I had seen in Aldi at Bodmin but left behind so I drove to another store in Plymouth to get one. I love how it flickers at dusk on my back doorstep. 

I had to deal with several cabbages and a pile of runner beans that I got in a veg box so I blanched and froze them. I just have to remember to eat them;)

Since I am renting my cottage, I don ...

Late April into May has been like High Summer as far as I am concerned. Far too hot to be inside! I trawled through my photos to find images of quilt binding for a class that I was teaching. There were a lot – many with prairie points, would you believe?! My class was about how I almost always attach binding to the reverse of a quilt then machine stitch it down on the front. We also discussed trims, piping and how to make bias binding.

I visited Pencarrow House in Cornwall with my friend, Mel who had a 2 for ...

I had a couple more days off with Nella this week and we explored a remote beach on the North Devon coast which could easily have been somewhere like Portugal. It’s a pity it takes about 1.5 hours to get there. 

It was ridiculous that with water running down my wall in heavy rain, most of the town had no water due to a burst pipe. There is no doubt that I am experiencing a totally different climate to Scotland as Sunday was like high summer and I spent all day in my garden, grass cutting, potting up ...

It has been lovely having Nella here for her Easter holidays. She had been a bit worried that my new place would not feel like home but she says it does as there are some things from the old house. She has been busy doing some free motion embroidery on my Bernina 475 for her textile projects. 

We had a couple of outings to Tintagel, Calstock and Looe, despite some very heavy rain that Nessie was not impressed by. I was not impressed that my bedroom sprung a leak and has made a mess of my lovely white paint. 

I ...

My long anticipated Art & Stitch retreat week was a success! The amount of preparation that I did paid off and I managed to pull off the illusion of being an expert on a complex digitising program. The folk who came along all gelled nicely as a group and all went home as far more confident users of the Q-Matic with Art & Stitch computerised quilting system. 

It was a beautifully sunny week here in Devon (nearly Cornwall) so it was a novelty to have a mid-week day off. I did not head for the seaside but pottered around at home then ...

I had a bit of a scrappy week at work, doing lots of “this and that”. The highlight was that an Oscar winning cinematographer (married to one of our clients) came to share some filming tips with me and our media apprentice. His advice for our Youtube tutorials was “keep it simple”, using natural light where possible and even shooting everything on an iPhone, rather than a complicated, fancy camera!

I attempted to do some simple crafting and made some fused bead shapes that might become a dangly curtain (or not.)

The weather was lovely and I sat outside to ...

This week I have been glued to my 2 computers in every spare minute! Last June I was meant to teach a week’s retreat all about the “Art and Stitch” software for Quilt Direct but it was postponed due to low numbers as it is a tad niche. I was almost ready with the preparation then shelved it all thinking I would have months to finish it all off. Obviously, I got side tracked by moving and DIY so my good intentions kept slipping. Hence, I have spent hours finding, revising, copying, and checking all of my files! The ...

I travelled back to my cosy Devon cottage on Tuesday via Stonehenge, according to the Satnav and that seemed to take ages, although it was scenic. I was back at work for 2 days this week where I dashed around making cups of tea for visitors, attempted a sewing machine inventory, basted a customer quilt and answered the phone, plus loads of other things;)

At home I painted what I could reach of the grubby upstairs landing. It is pretty small so that did not take long. My long awaited garden furniture set arrived from Temu. Instead of being 4 ...

It still feels weird that I now have limited holidays. When I was teaching in school there was just mandatory term-time and when I was my own boss I just took time off whenever I pleased. I had to use up 4 days of holiday so decided to spend time with my family in Norfolk since I had not visited for 5 months.

I don’t know why I bothered to take 2 laptops to Norfolk, thinking I might have time to review the Art & Stitch software retreat that I am teaching in a couple of weeks. I have said ...

I swear that next week I WILL take pictures at work just to prove that I have a job and am very busy;) I think that is proof in itself that I am so busy and forget to take photos. My 2 day ruler course went very well with the participants telling me that it was “outstanding”. I am so pleased that everyone went home with the confidence to have a go at ruler quilting. I worked on finishing 2 customer quilts that I feel have taken far too long way as I have been redirected to other tasks, including ...

Maybe I am too hopeful but March has started with lovely weather – frosty first thing then sunny and mild. Such conditions are wasted if you are working of course but 2 days of nice weather at the weekend lifts everyone’s mood. I even decided to cut the grass which was long and straggly and had never really stopped growing. The old guy next door said it was too soon but his whole property is a mess so I ignored him. My grass is awful anyway and could not get any worse. 

I finally got the overhead locker up in ...

My sister and her boys loved my tiny cottage with all of its quirks and Nessie had people to play with all week. I took 3 days off and obviously it rained constantly every single day. We did not let that stop us and did a driving tour of Dartmoor, admired Tintagel Castle in the howling wind and followed that with ice cream in Port Isaac. Looe was the driest place that we visited between squalls. Of course, it was a glorious spring day when my visitors left but the next day lashed down with rain again!

It was lovely ...

Nessie spends a lot of time snoozing or looking out of the window when she is not out on squirrel patrol. I think she thinks that is what I do too when I am not at home. She is very much mistaken! I had a busy week preparing for my class on “Quilting with your Bernina”. The participants learned lots but on reflection, there was too much for just one day’s class. Feedback from one student reported that they were not in the least bit interested in the history of quilting which I mentioned in passing so that has ...