Thinking and hard tasks

Well it has been a while, but rest assured I have been busy. Friday I went to a concert which made me think. I like that. Wasp are a band I have liked for years and they always put on a good show but this one was different. They played one album straight through with videos on big screens. I knew the album, and therefore the story but I didn't appreciate how well observed the character is until I saw the video as well. It shows a child with very strict parents, strict to the point of abusive, which was the first thing that struck me as well done. Where does concerned and strict cross the line in to abuse, is there a line really? The most interesting part for me though was watching the story as the boy grows up and becomes a star, but still the thing he wants is his parents approval. He is shown calling home and each time his mother says "I have no son". What bothers me is from the people I have known in the same situation this seems to be common. Logic tells me it is silly, he is never likely to change their opinion of him, and it scares me that this need for parents is so hard wired in so many people. The mental hoops people will jump through to make a bad family fit the image of what a family should be. Sometimes the answer is, they don't fit, but very few people can accept that answer. I hope that one day I can capture this in a quilt, but right now I can't see how. I guess I will just have to be grateful that there are people already creating work that does.

Saturday I manned Patchwork Corner again. It was less scary this time but busy. I did get the impression that some of the students were quite enjoying the spectacle. I don't know how some people do that day in day out, and order stock, do paperwork, ship orders...... I was shattered after one day, I guess shop keeping is not for me. If I could just do the bits I liked I think I would rather enjoy it though. I love helping people choose fabrics and calculate how much they need. I was thrilled every time someone came in with a bag big enough to hold a quilt, show and tell is fun, but the rest of it, too much work for me. So next time you visit your local patchwork shop give them a pat on the back, they are doing a fantastic job to keep us supplied. Thank you to all the customers who helped me move heavy bolts about, I did make it through the day without damaging my hand anymore.

Sunday was one of those days when things don't go according to plan. The thread I am using on the longarm at the moment is giving me a lot of trouble, I can get the stitch to OK but not great, and then I keep breaking the top thread. When I couldn't find disc 11 of 13 of the audio book I was listening to I accepted it as an omen. I needed to go and take some of my car apart. You may remember a while ago I told you that my darling car had been declared dead, as we have several Ford Capris and I will be buying another, we want to keep everything that might be useful. This means spending a good amount of time taking the car apart before the shell is taken away. Over the summer, which would have been the ideal time to do the work there was a quilting or racing event every weekend so it has had to wait until now. Perfect we get cold as well as battered, cut and dirty. We did do quite well, the gearbox is out, the engine is ready to remove with all the auxiliaries removed, and I discovered that undoing exhaust bolts is indeed the cure for quilting frustrations. I guess it isn't a common option, but honestly it does work rather well. I suspect lifting the engine out will be just as beneficial.