Quilting - full contact sport

Now stop giggling, it's true I tell you. I've realised today that I've had more injuries from quilting than hockey and lacross put together. I think skating and cycling still have it beat, I don't want to know how you break ribs quilting, but othere than those quilting is my most dangerous occupation. Now why have I been thinking about this. Well, um, would you believe I have a black eye from quilting? It's true I hit myself in the face with a bottle while packing a quilt. Fortunately I am not going to any cocerts soon, explaining to rock fans that my injuries are quilt related is always embarassing, and they never believe me. On the other hand I do have a class to teach on Wednesday and a talk to give Friday. Maybe quilters will find it easier to believe, this a risky hobby.

Land lines down

If you've been trying to contact me by phone you won't have had much luck. The phone line appears to have been out a couple of days, maybe longer. If you need to get in touch email seems to be OK so far (different cable coming in). Just wanted to let folk know I am not ignoring them, nor have I completely flipped out (yet).

Hopefully we will be able to get the phones back up soon.

I might be winning

Or I might be fighting the quilt to a draw. It's a close call. Yesterday my machine wouldn't play. Not at all, I guess I managed an area about the size of both hands in 6 hours. Not what I need with a deadline looming. This morning wasn't a lot more promising. However a good clean, re time, new needle and different thread colour got me going again. Dunno how I will fare when I go back to the lilac, ask me tomorrow. Still I have now made reasonable progress. I can believe this quilt may be finished in time, by the skin of my teeth. It's going to cost though, I expect to spend the weekend flat on my back of in warm baths. The very dense quilting is hard physical work. I also finished the second book today, and started the third. I am keeping to Heinlein as long as I can. So far I have listened to "The cat who walks through walls" and "The door into summer" and now I am on "The moon is a harsh mistress". If I need a fourth book, and I suspect I will, I either have to re listen to something or move to a joint project "Variable Star". It's going to be a tough call, but without the books I will go nuts doing this quilt, so I will be listening to something. For now though, it's bed time. I can't quilt anymore, my hands are shaking too much.

Quilt eats first book

Well this quilt is taking a while to do. I'm still not quite half way, so it isn't looking great for being done. So far I have listened to one whole book while working on it, so it's shaping up to be the most time consuming quilt I've done. It's also very tiring. It has a lot of tiny fiddly quilting. I intend to keep at it and see where I get to. If it's done it will go to the show, if not I can use it in talks and elsewhere. Who knows? Right now I need to lie in a warm bath and try and get my shoulder working again.

Isn't POD supposed to be simple?

I thought that the whole point of print on demand was to make things easier. OK maybe it does, if you are printing a novel with black and white pages. However if you want full colour, 8.5" x 11", perfect bound it's harder. Is that a really odd request? Well if you're a quilter grab a quilting book, if it's soft cover the odds are that is exactly what I am trying to get printed. So not that odd really. I can find a lot of companies who can't do that size, and a few that can. Of those that can most won't tell me how much it will cost. Some of those that will have interesting pricing. Would you pay over 90 pounds for a quilting book? Nope neither would I and at that price I would still be making a small loss on every copy!

So now I am back to calling printers and asking for quotes on a traditional print run. It wasn't what I had in mind, but beggars and choosers. At least I have just spoken to a very friendly and helpful person from one of the printers. Hopefully they can give a quote I can live with and I will have a winner. We would like to know who we are printing with before the layout goes too much further, and I really do want this book out this year.

At least it is a bit cooler today. I should be able to get some quilting done before I cook. I can see the center of the quilt on the frame now, although I can't claim to be half way there yet. I am definitely seeing a machine binding in this quilt's future.

Busy busy

Well the weekend was hectic if fun. We went down to Canterbury on Saturday as planned and caught up with more people than I had expected. Better still they were people I wanted to see. I managed to do some of the shopping I wanted although good quality belts seem to be in short supply. Canterbury has changed surprisingly little in many ways over the last 20 years, although the new housing estate in the middle of the short cut into town from the university is a bit of a shock. The shop keepers are not only the same but they remember us! Did we spend too much when we lived there?

Sunday we went visiting and a very good dinner was had. As you might conclude this did reduce the time available to quilt of tidy the house. However I did manage to finish the first round of painting things black. Unfortunately Ikea are out of stock of the corner shelves I need and don't expect them in for two weeks, so I won't be able to rehouse my stash just yet. I have started moving the bolts though. Especially as one of the wholesalers seems to be watching me. They sent me a box of fabric today, just in time to be first on the new shelves. It turns out I have rather more bolts than I thought, and this walk in storage might not be as huge as I was thinking. Still I will definitely be able to get a better idea of what I have and what I need. Somehow I have run out of marble blues, and I have two quilts waiting that need them. Guess another order is looming.

Other than that it has been hot today. I was hoping it was about to cool down. There has been thunder rolling around for a while now, but the temperature isn't doing much yet. I find quilting (or indeed doing anything) very hard when it is so hot. I had a plan to do some late night quilting, but if the temperature doesn't drop I will pass on that. So here I sit in a distinctly warm office blogging, while the show quilts sit and wait. Ho hum.

Paint it black

It seems a friend of our started a tradition. I am sure he didn't mean to, and probably doesn't know he has yet. Still when he was in the position I now am he spent some hours in the garden painting shelving black. Today I have done exactly that. It is about half the shelving for my new walk in fabric store. The room is now largely empty. If anyone is looking for an office desk or a fabric covered wardrobe do get in touch. They are free to a new home. Once they are gone I can shelve the whole room. I might have to have a rethink about the lighting, but dim will at least be good for the fabric, if hopeless for matching colours.

While the shelves dry we are going to see the new Batman film. Maybe when I get home I will be able to start getting the room straight. It will be so good to have all my fabric in one place. I will also have a sensible place to put my spare sewing machines, which should make them easier to get at and my sewing room clearer. Win, win I would say.

Promised Photos

I finally remembered to take my camera down with me and take some pictures. I know they don't show much, but, well, you will just have to wait to see it all. I am so thrilled with how it is going. I don't think the pictures really show how well it is going, but isn't that always the way. You will just have to take my word for it that it is much better than the last attempt. If nothing else that was so bad I never shared any pictures of it. Not even with close friends, but this one I am quite happy to show off.

I don't know how many of you will remember. I had a rather old computer. It didn't really like me doing anything with pictures including uploading them here. It had a fit if I suggested looking at a video. Well a while ago I got my new machine, and you would not believe the difference. I can now just take some pictures and upload them. It's just so easy now. I suspect it is going to take me a while to get used to how easy it is now.

Buzzzzzz

I just can't believe how many people are coming out of the woodwork at the moment. It's great coming to the computer and finding who else has appeared. It is encouraging me to take breaks from the quilting too, which is really important. It's going well now and combined with a book on just one disk I am likely to forget to take regular breaks. I guess I am about 18" down now. It's slowed up a bit as the quilting has got denser, but I still love how it is going and I think I may just get it finished in time.

I really will post photos, I just have to remember to take the camera downstairs with me (OK and the memory card too).

Wow, good fabric works!

I think I know what went wrong with the other wholecloth. To use shadow trapunto I needed the top fabric to be thin. I found one that allowed the colour through pretty well, but I didn't exactly like it. I gave up and I am now just working on a plain wholecloth. It's only just started but boy I love it already. The difference, well I am now using cotton sateen over wool wadding. I think that is the key, the much higher quality fabric. I am sure the lovely wadding is helping too, but the stitches just look so good on the sateen.

So I am now quite optimistic about this quilt. I still can't be sure I will get it done in time, but I feel I can give it a very good shot. Yes I will put up a photo later, just a little teaser.

All marked up

It's finally marked. I can't believe I used up three washout pens on this one. There isn't really that much marking. Still it looks good so far, and I am ready to load it on the frame. With the way life is going I suspect my machine is going to want to discuss what threads I use, so I've not got too set on anything. I have an idea of how I would like it to work out, but I can negotiate. Wish me luck.

The right tool

Wow that made a huge difference. Not only was it a lot easier to put the pattern together, tracing it has been much easier too. I guess I have between a third and a half of a 95" square marked. Pretty good going for me in a day. Normally I find I am far too tired and achy to get this far. I should easily get it finished and loaded tomorrow.

I mentioned a while ago about how important friends are, well they've been at it again. Friends are the people who tell you what you can do. Just when all you can see is what you can't. It's been great talking to people I haven't heard from in years too. Keep up the good work, and know you efforts do make a difference.

Unsurprising facts

I am well aware that the right tools can make a job a lot easier. I had guessed that there would be a lot of right jobs for an A0 drawing board. I hadn't realised how much easier it was going to make assembling patterns. OK it will never be easy t put together sheets of A4 to be 95" square, but it is easier on the board. It's nice to be able to see so much in one go, and great that I can hang it off the sides as it grows. In fact it's gone so well I nearly have it done. Of course I will then need to trace it off, which will also take a while, and make good use of the board. I guess I should take a break and get the fabric sorted out.

Hello to some older friends. It's great to know you are still out there doing well and having fun. It's great catching up with you.

Bug jam day 2 - new best time

It was almost green, 0.0055 seconds red. See very nearly green, but it was a new best ET, 13.83. So that's us done for the weekend. Now we just have to see if we can get out of the track.

Bug jam day 2

The sky is clear, bu the track is empty. The bugs have jammed the pits so badly we can't run. The marshals can get us to the start but are still working on a way to get us back to the pit. They are thinking about us coming back down the emergency road then up the pairing lane to the pits. It would work, but it will be interesting.

The number of people here makes me think we won't be getting out of here any time soon. In fact I suspect this will be a very late one. Still I am making good progress on hand sewing the binding on 'Herd Mentality'.

Bug jam day 2 - rain

Well the weather seems to have turned. The clouds are thick black and plentiful. We will just have to wait and see if it clears. Meanwhile I can queue. Th loos have taken a hammering and really aren't places you want to go. Even the Main event is nothing like this.

Bug jam day 2 - personal best

So after much debate, Tet settled on a 13.91 dial in. We weren't convinced. I was certain the next run would be quicker, it was and by more than I thought. We ran a 13.84, a new personal best. However we are still looking for the magic 100 miles per hour termial speed, this time we hit 99.05. So close and yet so far.

Bug jam day 2 - green light

Yay, finally a clean and tidy run. We dialed in 13.86 and ran 13.92. Not stellar but perfectly fine. I was just thrilled to see a green light. We do seem to be getting some good burnouts this weekend. There are some videos which may appear on the web oce we get home. I don't fancy uploading that from my phone.

Bug jam day 2 - morning after

So we are getting lot's of warnings about where not to drive. The no glass rule hasn't been observed and people are worried about their tyres. Maybe it isn't so bad not running slicks.

Trogdor is off driving arround. It's cold here and one drive hasn't warmed him up much. Even sitting idling isn't making much difference. We've had him up on stands this morning, much to the amusement of the rest of our class. They have noticed this happens most meetings. Given we have rented th tarmac here we might as well use it. At home we have mud, not so good for jacking cars up.

All being well we should be running about 10, with two more rounds of qualifying. Given all the VWs have to go first, we may be delayed by oil down. I'll let you know. The photo is taken from our pit. It's not the normal view, there really shouldn't be a stage in the middle of the pits.

In between the racing yesterday I managed to hand finish the binding on Radience. I would have taken a picture last night at the hotel, but there was a very asleep driver all over the bed. You will just have to take my word for it when I say it is looking good.

Bug jam 4 - red light 2

Did I mention one was enough? Well this was a greener shade of red, but still quite definately red. We didn't break out though. We dialed in 13.85 (that had to be safe) then ran a 14.00. It could be worse, but I would like to see a green light.

Bug jam 3 - red light 1

And before we go any further can I suggest 1 is plenty. It was a good run though 13.89 and we thought the track was going to be slow. So another very conservative dial in proved too slow. The Fords have joined forces as ford jam.

Bug jam 2

So 3 o'clock start became 4 o'clock. 4 o'clock became oil down. Oil down turns into rain. Maybe we will run today, maybe not.

Bug jam

Well I would say it does what it says on the tin, but I suspect that won't help some readers. So the bugs in question are Volkwagen Beetles. Dozens of them jammed into a too small pit. The pit is too small because there is a huge stage with audience space, it's making it tricky for the racers. The other exciting feature is the humans who haven't met cars before. They have no concept of danger and apparently have been breaking down fences and wandering in restricted areas. We have been told to be very careful at the top end and look out for strays. All in all it's pretty strange and the music is way too loud.

Our first run should be about 3 o'clock, I'll get back to you then.

Discoveries

I've been discovering things. Did you know if you hang around with sick people there is a good chance you will get ill too? You did, oh. I guess I did too, but, well, I didn't think about it at the weekend. So I spent yesterday not doing much except feeling ill. Fortunately I do feel better today, but the cough is very annoying. I still haven't felt like doing much so I decided the time had come to sort clean socks into pairs. Conclusion, I am too lazy to own plain black socks. So off the the recycling a lot of them will go. I like socks with some design, they are so much easier to pair up. Still I do now have a whole drawer full of nicely paired socks. Perhaps not much of an achievement for most people, but for me something of a novelty. I've been living out of bags for a long time, so clothes in drawers it really nice.

I've also discovered something I can do when I am too tired to do anything but can't sleep. Stick weaving. It's thought to have been brought to Europe by the Crusaders, according to Finniwig Studios the company who made the kit I have. It's very easy and quite soothing to do (OK if you're well and active it possibly would be boring) and you get pretty quick results. I am thinking of getting some more sticks and trying to weave bigger pieces. I think starting with more than 6 sticks will be interesting but once it gets going it should be fine. The fabric you make is quite thick but feels fairly fragile, the weft will move around quite easily. It looks like it might be a very interesting base for stitching. I an plotting ideas for some quite structural belts. I think with more sticks (and a less lurgied brain) I might even be able to weave patterns in as I go. It's certainly a technique with a lot of potential. The sample in the photographs is about 3" wide and 23" long, just to give you an idea of scale.

We have also discovered that blinds, bath screens and taps are all ridiculously overpriced, and that when you are bored and ill the Internet can suck hours of time without effort.

Patterns patterns everywhere.

I'll try this as one answer for all, as I am getting a lot of queries on this. I haven't got any of the Turning Twenty range of patterns right now, but they should be with me in a few days. They sell faster than I can buy them, which is great but does mena you will somtimes have to wait for them. I am selling them at 8 pounds per pattern whichever one you choose plus 50p posst and packing.

I do have Dawn and Dusk patterns (the photos show the back and front of the quilt) on hand, they are 5 pounds each. If you are looking for ombre fabrics try calling Patchwork Corner, they still have some of the same range I used for the pattern and at this morning there was at least one kit. If that doesn't turn up the colour you want then Equilter may be able to help you. Put ombre into the search bow, you will a get a great range to choose from.

It's here.

So having removed over a third of the desks from our computer room we have just enough space for an A0 drawing board. It's a monster, a lovely monster, but still. It had been living with a friend but needed a change of scene so has come here. I have plans to get paper on it sooner rather than later and get designing. Perhaps the best bit is it can be put low enough to use an ordinary office chair when drawing. Most boards I have seen in the past needed a stool, which I find a lot less comfortable. I will have to sort out the sewing room a bit though before I can do much as my paper is well buried at the moment.

Why no quilting?

I suspect you've all noticed the lack of sewing going on here by now so I figure I should address it and assure you the cogs are still turning even if the machines are silent. As I mentioned there has been some significant upheaval here. The upshot of which is a major reorganization of the house. I started with the bedroom and despite my best intentions have been working around the other upstairs rooms before dealing with my sewing rooms downstairs. It does make sense in some ways, but it has slowed up the sewing. I suspect I will have to get some sewing done before the house is sorted but it will be interesting. My main cutting and sewing area is currently being used as a dumping ground.

On the other hand while I was away this weekend I did make some progress on the block of the month quilt I am doing. I am desperate to quilt this so I have to get it made. I think I have done about 25% of it now. This is one of the projects I need to get back to sooner rather than later.

Three of my quilts for the NEC this year just need hand sewing doing. The binding sleeves and labels. For me this is pretty amazing really. The fourth however is at pattern stage. This is worrying but not a disaster yet. It is a wholecloth so only needs quilting. I really must get the pattern onto the fabric though and ideally get my frame up and ready to go.

I have a group of quilts going off to Scotland. I need to get them packed and sent today. It will actually be quite good to get them out of the way, and the rest that are sitting around the house will be off to the storage unit again today as well. Hopefully this will clear enough space for me to get sewing.

I've also been designing some new quilts. As my first book reaches completion I have the next two designed. I want to have samples of both made up by the start on the next term at Patchwork Corner, as I have classes who will be making them. If writing one book was daunting, two together somehow doesn't seem too bad. I must be crazy. To be honest, looking at my sewing room right now, sewing the samples is the scary bit. Still I am sure it will come together. I've also designed three new show quilts, all of which are desperate for me to make them. Hopefully after I get the drawing board set up in the new office I will be able to get them drawn up and ready to go as soon as the class samples and block of the month are finished. No pressure right? Add to that the portrait that is ready to sew and I think I have a few months full of sewing to look forward to. Right now though I had better get on with packing quilts and tidying up.

Home again

Well I survived the weekend and I am back home. Actually I met a lot of very friendly and interesting people, and I think they had a lot of fun. It was a long trek and as you might expect on a Sunday afternoon the M1 back to London wasn't playing ball. I ended up taking quite a large detour and coming home on the M40. Not a bad trick from Leicestershire

When I got home I was faced with the task of sorting the house again and made another push on the office. We are definitely making progress, but there is still a way to go. I am hoping Ikea will get some shelving in soon as I won't be able to really get things straight until they do. Still I guess every step forward is a good step.

I am hoping that tonight if I am woken up by nightmares I will at least not have to the the 'Where the heck am I" phase. Days that start that way are not good.

House update

For those who have asked, yes I am still ripping the house apart and cleaning sorting and moving. I had slowed down but I realised why. I wasn't working on the room that wanted my attention. I was trying to be logical, but apparently that is the wrong thing to so. So I am now back to working on the office. I would have been making better progress it I had been able to buy the new shelving but that was not to be. Still by the time I get it I will be more than ready. The room used to have desks around pretty much all of the walls, but I am making room for a large drawing board. I like the idea that I will be able to do my drawing and paperwork away from my sewing space. If nothing else it will make switching between tasks a lot easier. It does mean I need to invest in a new chair, which will be unpleasantly expensive. Still however much I have to spend it will be cheaper than not being able to work when my shoulder plays up. I guess (hindsight being great) I should have picked up the chair today while I was at Ikea, but I didn't expect to have room in the car. By the time I found out they had no shelving I couldn't face trying to find anything else.

On the cutting table issue, I think I have a winner. Ikea (no I hate the store but they do a good range of furniture) sell extending trestles, which are tall enough and stable. They also sell large glass table tops. The combination will mean I can use it as a really giant light box if I need one, and as a good surface for paint and dye. All in all it seems like a reasonable option. It does fail on easy to move, but I think I can compromise on that.

Are these cats spoilt?

I think they might be you know. Enjoying a retired show quilt with almost no cares in the world. Almost because I just dared to move a curtain. Aren't I cruel.

Ikea has a sale on at the moment (in the UK at least) and one of the sale items is the Dimpa bag. These are huge storage bag that zip closed. I find I can easily store 6 bed quilts on one. They are currently 1.99 per bag. However don't go looking for shelving at the Wembly Ikea they are out of stock of pretty much everything.

Jack touched me!

I am sure most of you won't get this at all, but I have to share. Jack is a very timid cat who I have known for several years. Sometimes when cat sitting he will run over my foot in his haste to hide, but normally I only see him because I deliberately look for him. Jez has been saying he was getting better and coming out to be petted most nights. I guess I believed it intellectually but it hadn't sunk in. Tonight he came out while we were chatting. I had been feeling guilty about being there so long, knowing I was depriving the cats of their time, and I guess he had finally got bored of waiting. He came out carefully and climbed up on Jez to be fussed. Very impressive for such a timid cat. He purred and sat there for some time. When he had got his fix he got up to move and headed to me. Well I was stunned, and petrified I would do something to scare him. So I mostly sat still and let him have a hand, which he duly washed and walked off. Oh my. He really is improving, and is a far bigger cat than I had ever realised. What a star, keep up the good work Jez.

Last nights talk seemed to go down well. They are a friendly bunch and helped a lot with carrying all my quilts in and out of the venue. I think I would have to say they were a select group, and indeed they seemed disappointed in the turn out. They more than made up for a lack of numbers in enthusiasm and overall I would have to say it was a good evening.

Now the quilt have done that outing I can pack a batch of them up to go to Scotland. I didn't want to send more away before the talk, as I was worried about having enough work, but now I have a gallery space to help fill. The gallery is called 'Touched by Scotland' and I will be giving a workshop there in September. So if you are in the area I hope if I don't get to meet you, you might have a chance to see my work.

This weekend I am off to teach at a retreat at Quorn Hall. This is something entirely new for me and I am sure I will learn a lot from it. I guess spending last weekend with the quiltathon was probably good training, for a weekend in one building with a lot of keen sewers. Hopefully I will have time to blog from there.

What a lot of quilts!

I've been a bit worried about my talk tonight (Enfield Quilters). I've sold quite a few recently, and two of my best are off at the world quilt show. I've got a few more that I don't really want to talk about any more and I was concerned that I would struggle to find enough to talk about. I have held off sending some to Scotland just to give me a better chance.

Well I've got lots. I won't say I can't tell I have some missing. I've had a bit of a struggle to get the balance back where I want it, but overall I'm not too unhappy. I will find the one the beginning of August a little lean, but I hope to have made a couple more by then, so they may actually get to see some new work, which always goes down well.

Now I just need to fold some leaflets and load the car. See you all later.

What do you cut on?

A while ago I made myself a cutting table. It is a board on some of those plastic drawers. It's not bad, it is a huge improvement on cutting on my sewing table, but I want better. I am in the process of completely rethinking my sewing room and I figure this is the time to try and get my cutting table right. I don't really feel I can justify 1800 or even 800 for one of the official tables I've seen. They are nice, but for that much money I am sure I can make something better (or at least as good). So what do you use? There must be some people out there with dedicated cutting tables, and I would love to hear from you. Heck, what do your friend have that you would like to copy or could never live with? All information will be appreciated, and I am quite sure the results will be posted here eventually.

Quiltathon Photographs

I've had time to upload the photos I took at the Quiltathon. As you can see we had a great time. There were a lot of smiling faces. The first few show the morning shift. How can people be this chirpy that early in the day? I don't know but I am very grateful they can, it added a great buzz to the morning session. As you might expect there was a lot of cutting out to be done first thing. Most early birds prefer to piece tops rather than do quilt as you go. Interesting huh. We did have one late shift worker who felt the same but on the whole it worked out earlier people were more into tops.

It was really good to see so many faces from my workshops at the Quiltathon. As ever names evaded me. Although I did manage Dot's name, and was able to introduce her to Tet. The two of them got the small quilting frame going and much to Tet's relief Dot took over running it most of the day. I think she quilted about eight tops in her first ever stand up quilting session. I hope she isn't paying for it too badly now.

During the day we were very lucky with the weather. Although Dot and I out in the marquee perhaps didn't always appreciate it. It got very hot at the quilting frames. It did mean that we could expand into the garden when we had too many for the workshop. By early afternoon we had teams cutting, sewing, pressing and making binding. It's surprising just how much binding you get through. Much of our fabric was sales men's samples. This lets you cut at least 10" square, some 6" squares and the rest often is around 2 1/2" ideal for binding. All of the quilts we have finished have very wild bindings.

As the evening wore on more younger quilters turned up. I guess teenagers are all busy on Saturday afternoons. Still having an influx of young fresh people (and indeed fresh not so young people) was great. By then I think some of us were flagging a bit. I was really impressed with how keen everyone was to step up to whatever challenge we gave them. Jobs were often allocated by what needed doing when they asked, not by skill level or experience. Without exception, people met the challenge and did the jobs that needed to be done. No cutting isn't as easy as it looks, and yes even a quilt as you go single can be a handful under a small machine.

As you might expect after a late fish and chip supper (thanks to chip lady's husband) people started to drift home. Some of the younger helpers had to be dragged out, which is great, I hope they are as keen to come back and sew again. The tone of the conversation changed and the wine appeared. Here you see the graveyard shift. These sterling ladies kept up the work until relief came in the morning. I crashed out at about 6 and woke up feeling very ill about an hour and a half later. Maybe sleep doesn't agree with me. When I came back the work was still going on and our first Sunday morning worker had appeared. I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures Sunday. First thing I felt too ill, then we were just trying to get as much done as we could before running out of time. As I said there will be a photoshoot later in the year with as many of the finished quilts as we can manage.

If you were there, or know someone who was could you let either me or Jenny know. I would like to compile a list of everyone who gave support in any way. Time, money, fabric, or food. If you helped I want to get you onto the list.

We Survived

Better than that we had fun. Lots of it. Even the pouring rain couldn't dampen our spirits. It looks like the final tally is 46 quilts. I say looks because I know there are still people finishing things off. We still have tops that need quilting and then obviously binding, but I am pretty pleased with that.

My goal (when I finally got around to thinking about it) was 1.5 quilts per hour. So in 30 hours I was after 45 quilts. Bingo, right on target. I couldn't tell you why that seemed a good number. One per hour just didn't seem enough, but well two per hour was a bit much. Bear in mind the smallest quilts were bigger than 36" square and the largest are good size singles. I think at least 10 of our quilts a re big singles.

We spent a lot of time considering where our quilts might end up. We were particularly keen to produce some for teenage boys, and believe me that is hard. Still every quilt has a label saying where and when it was made with the Patchwork Corner URL. maybe one day we will hear from one of 'our boys'. While they may never know it, we will always think of the owners of our quilts as part of our family. maybe one day Project Linus will be able to tell the people that receive quilts that they are getting this whole extended family too.

I'll try and upload some more pictures later. The ones of the finished quilts will have to wait for some good weather as we will have to take it outside. We are thinking of leaving it till the middle of August to give people time to finish all the quilts and in some cases make a few more. Thank you for all your help this year, and watch out for next years project. If you know of a charity that might like our help let me know and we will see what we can do. We have fabric left over that has to be used to help people so it could be your charity that benefits.

Sun is up

Well guess that makes it an all nighter then, and still quilting.

3am and counting

Ok, so we have dirty jokes, wine and a boobie obsession. I think we should be worried. As you can see we are still sewing away. We are down to the select few, but the quilts are still coming. It's amazing some people are still waiting up for updates.

Night shift

So here are the night shift. We have several ladies working on the quilt as you go projects, some binding, and some hand sewing labels on. I have no idea how many quilts we have done and right now I have no great desire to try and track them all down. I am sure there are more than 15 tops waiting, and I have one quilted on the frame. I can't do any more quilting as the machine is in the marquee and I don't want to upset the neighbours that much.

Progress report.

Well the machines have had enough. They have both gone on strike. Still we are making good progress. I've just tried to do a count up, but with so many people here it's hard to be sure. I think we have 7 completed quilts, 8 quilted waiting for binding, and 11 tops waiting for quilting. There are also several quilt as you go projects going, but who knows how many. It looks like we will run out of wadding pretty soon, so I guess we will just have to buy what's in the shop.

I can't begin to tell you how impressed I have been with everyone who has given time, money and fabric. Several fabric wholesalers have been very generous, as have individuals. We have one lady here who just popped in to wish us luck this morning and stayed till late afternoon. Impressive huh, well about an hour later she was back and she is still here! Another lady who had to go and baby sit took work with her, she will be back tomorrow.

first finished quilt

We have had dozens in progress for a while, but finally one is finished. Here is Jenny, who's shop may never be the same again, holding it. It's manic here, I can't believe that Dot has done 5 quilts so far on her first day at a stand up machine. How cool is that?

Now I must stop gossiping and get back to work. I've got more appearing all the time.

Patchwork Corner - sweat shop

The quiltathon is in full swing. I've been longarming since 10am and the pile of tops waiting is still growing. One lady just popped in to wish us luck and is still here working her socks off. I've lost track of how many tops she has made. The first 5 quilts are being bound and I really have to get back to work. Do come and join in if you are in the area.

More progress.

I am in the process of stripping out every room in the house and the refilling it. In somme case changing the use entirely. Ultimately I am planning a new walk in fabric store. It's long overdue and I really can't wait for it. Today I have cleared a large expanse of shelving, which I will eventually use for audio books and all the business paperwork. For now it is temporary storage for all (OK many) of my blots of fabric. It's amazing to be able to see them all in one go. I didn't bother to group them in any way as they should only be on this shelf for a month, but I am still very pleased with me personal fabric shop. Now if I can just make time for some sewing I can turn this little lot into quilts.

From anything bad comes good

Well she may not have been good enough for the Royal Academy but she looks great on my wall. As you can see she only just fits, but just is good enough. In cleaning and rebuilding the bedroom I've ended up with a mirror opposite the bed. It now reflects my nude when you lie in the right place. It would have been really clever if I had planned it. I can pretend right?

Things are still tough here. I guess for the next month I am going to be somewhat distracted, but hopefully things will improve after that.

Don't forget this weekend is the Quiltathon for Project Linus at Patchwork Corner. Hope to see you there.

Still here.

Well I am getting by hour by hour. This morning I managed half an hours quilting. It's a small start, but an important one. Blogging or indeed any computing is going to be slow for a while. I am finding it very hard to be in my studio, which is where the computer is. I've managed to read some email and the messages of support have been much appreciated. I am hoping my coping skills will be up to their usual standard and in the next week I should be back in the studio and somewhat on the ball. Until then expect just in time service on the big stuff, and a bit late on everything else.

Don't forget the Quiltathon this weekend at Patchwork Corner. I am planning on being there for 30 hours trying to make as many Linus quilts as possible. It's a great xause and I am sure all the helpers will have a lot of fun. Even if you can only spare an hour it will be appreciated.

I've got some great friends

Over the last 24 hours I've been forcefully reminded how many amazing people I know. Life has suddenly got very difficult for me but I have been innundated with support. You are all very much appreciated. It's when things get tough you really find out where you stand. With the amount of lift you guys are supplying I be back in the light in no time. Go send an email to an old friend, you know it makes sense.

Ammersbeker Patchworkfestival 2008

Well I know where 'Winter Star' has been most recently. It was on display at the Ammersbeker festival last weekend. I'm going to have to improve my German before I can be sure whether people loved it or hated it, but I hope from the number of hits to my site this week it is the latter. So hello to all my quilts new friends in Germany. I guess I will have to try and find out a bit more about this show and see if there is a way to enter it next year. If anyone in Europe (or indeed further afield) has seen this quilt out and about over the last year I would love to know where it has been and what it has been up to. Of course if it has been misbehaving perhaps I don't need to know, but I think that is fairly unlikely.

Now back to my troublesome wholecloth for the NEC this year. I have worker out the new design, and hopefully it will play a bit better. Who knows? Still I have a couple of nice easy quilts I can do while I finish off the design, and several other tops I need to piece. I am starting to think that going to the Festival of Quilts will be a good chance to get some piecing done!

My quilts read my blog.

It certainly seems like they do anyway. Today the postman brought me a box. Odd, for once I wasn't expecting anything. It wasn't a small box either and had the feel of fabric to it. Weighty but no rattle. Nope still not ringing any bells. It had a customs declaration from Germany, and that really confused me. I can only think of one thing I would be buying from there and I have that planned for the Festival of quilts. So, perplexed, I opened the box and found one of my quilts inside! It's 'Winter Star' home from it's travels. See it must have read Mondays post.

I don't know quite where it has been, but it seems safe to assume it's last stop was Germany. If I had known it was on it's way back I would have entered it into Houston, but you can't win them all. I think it will be just young enough to try next year. I'd like to give it a go as several people have said they think it is the best quilt I have made. For now it is on display at Patchwork Corner, trying to get the creases out. I do find that my whole cloth quilts seem very prone to picking up creases. I will have to go over to wool wadding as soon as possible.

My final NEC piece is giving me trouble. I am especially upset by it as I actually made a prototype of this one. A first for me. It didn't help, I don't like the real thing at all. I think my main issue is the trapunto just isn't as crisp and even as I would like. So I have redesigned my quilt and will start again in a couple of days. I have some customer work I can be doing in the mean time.

and 4pm Sunday the 6 Next weekend is the Project Linus Quiltathon at Patchwork Corner. We have a good number of helpers signed up already but more would be good. If you can spare any time between 10am Saturday the 5thth we would love to see you. There will be plenty of sewing cutting and pressing to be done. Also if you would like to donate any fabric we would be happy to have more. We are especially looking for more fabrics for boys. I know they are trickier to find, but we must try to help both sexes evenly. As well as showing you some techniques for very quick quilts we will have a machine quilting frame set up. Perhaps this would be a good time for you to get some practice at using it.

All quilts home safe

Well that was an experience. Fitting a quilt that size on the tube (which was abnormally busy) was more interesting than I needed. By the time I got home I was not in the mood for calm detailed quilting so I went to fetch my Sandown quilts from Sally who had kindly given them a bed for the night (yes literally). I hear it took a lot of people to collect, fold and carry my quilts so thank you all. If you see me at the Festival of Quilts do come up and say hi and tell me you were one of the helpers I would like to thank you in person, and I know I won't be able to put faces to the names.

My quilts seem to have enjoyed their stay with Sally. Most of them have never tried a bed and seem much better for the experience. I suspect I am somewhat in disgrace with Sinclair (Sally's cat, or her feline owner depending on your perspective) as I caused him to be shut out of a room. Cats hate being refused access to anything and knowing there were some perfectly decent quilts to be claimed must have made it even worse. still I fussed him a lot today so I might be forgiven.

Despite the lack of awards, I might have to admit that was probably my most successful quilt show. I met so many lovely people, and got to catch up with many more. I got to see a quilt from one of my workshops and hear about several others. I've already had bookings for talks and a couple of enquiries about the quilting system, so from that point of view alone I would have to consider it a success. One of my most memorable conversations, and probably most interesting was with a lady who doesn't like raw edge applique. I am really pleased she had the confidence to actually say so, as really I don't either. I do use it a lot as it is the only way I have found to get the look I want, but I still don't really like it. Sadly as soon as I turn under even a very small edge I find it adds very distracting edges and shadows. Personally I quite like hearing other peoples opinions. Some I will never understand, but it is still fascinating to know how my work is seen.

Finally, for now at least, thank you Kate for the nicest complement I've had. Now I had better get back to my quilting. I need as much practice time as I can get if I am going to try and out do Mandy next year. I wonder if I will need to wait for her to retire before I get this one though :)

Exhausted

Well I made it through the weekend. Perhaps rounding off Sandown with a concert was overdoing it a bit, but I don't miss Queensrych. I do have some photos I wanted to share but in my haste to leave I forgot my camera. I will pick it up from the shop tomorrow.

It was a good show. I met so many wonderful people. A very special hello to the Russian quilters. It's so rare to find people who understand why I am careful about people photographing my work. Also a huge thank you to everyone who helped in collecting my quilts. I hear it was quite a team effort. People think I am crazy when I say quilting is a very physical sport. I suspect those collecting my work would agree with me. It is really appreciated. Now I am on my way to the RA to collect the piece that didn't get in, it is the same size as "Nude with Rope" but mounted on a rigid frame. I have to get it home on the tube, so wish me luck.

Sandown

The awards are now up so I can answer the question you've all been asking. I won absolutely nothing. Not even a Judges Merit. I really am going to have to stick the US shows, they like my work. On the other hand we have found space on the stand to hang Nude with Rope, which I never expected to be able to bring here, which is great. So if you are coming keep an eye open for it and say hello.

Slow Progress

I've finally started quilting the last of my four entries for the NEC this year. It's been planned and even marked up for some time, but it just hadn't seemed like the right time to start.Now is. I would show you a picture but after several hours work there really isn't much to see. It's a little depressing to tell the truth, but I am sure it will get there eventually. Right now I need a break. I've discovered I can buy MP3 books from Blackstone Audio. They are great, a whole book on one CD! On the down side I used to mark an hours quilting by having to change the CD, and every hour I took a break of some sort. No break in the book, no break in the quilting. I think I am going to have to set an alarm or something because I need those breaks. On the other hand I am really enjoying hearing some of my all time favourite stories. Last week I was listening to Spider Robinson, and this week it is Robert Heinlein. Having had a break I guess I can do a little more quilting while I wait to find out where in London Tet is going to be stranded when the tubes stop.

The National Quilt Championships, Sandown

Well the car is packed and now I am at a bit of a loss. I am normally panicking right now. I guess this is the advantage of entering quilts you've already made. I have five quilts going into Sandown this year.(Why is it quilt shows are more often known by their location than their name?) 'Guide me' will be making it's last UK appearance before it heads off to the World Quilt Show. Perttu, the cellist has only been seen at my gallery show so this is his first competitive outing. I hope he will go down well, he does at least have some clothes on.

I've also put in "Where is the North Star?". This is a quilt I made for the theme category at Malvern a couple of years ago, and it hasn't been out since. I show it as my talks and it is a very popular quilt, so I decided I aught to put it in another quilt show. If It hadn't had such an amazing response in talks I would still be sitting in the storage unit.

This is "My Fat Quarter of Paradise" It is one of the quilts DHL failed to deliver to a show. It is HUGE. I have no way of getting a good picture of it at home, this is it in a Hotel room. I love the quilting on it but I don't like paying postage to send it to shows. So as I can deliver it to this one, it's going. The hanging sleeve isn't at the top of this quilt to keep the bottom of it off the floor. Hopefully this will work at Sandown.

My last entry is "Lily". This is another quilt I have entered because of other peoples reaction to it. I can't say I like this quilt, but I have to accept a lot of other people do. I would say it was the second most popular quilt in my solo show. I don't get it but I figure it has earned it's place in shows. If you are in Region 1 of the Quilters Guild you will have seen it in your regional magazine recently. Here is your chance to see it in the flesh. It will be interesting to see it the judges agree with my visitors, if they do I will be checking with more people before spending money on entering quilt shows :)

World Quilt Show

I got home to an email telling me that both of my quilts made it into the World Quilt Show. Just as well I didn't manage to enter 'Guide Me' into Houston as well. One of the really nice things about this show, is that you send the quilts to a local coordinator so you don't have to worry about international postage. No customs forms, no couriers. Just a very reasonable fee and Christine Porter deals with all the tricky bit for you. If you are looking for an easy way into showing quilts in the US do consider this show next year. I would have given you a heads up this year, but I nearly missed it myself.

Poop

We woke up to blue sky, not bad given the weather forecasts we have had. Could this be a promising start to the day? Over night the ladder (list of who races who) had been re-written, so we were no longer against the Weasel. We were now racing Dan Devlin. We had a long pause in the pairing lane while the track was cleaned, but managed to meet up with a friend who helped us push the car, which was much appreciated.

Before running we do a burnout. This is spinning the rear (our driven wheels) wheels to heat up the tyres, to help them stick. We do this by sitting the wheels in water so the lose grip then pulling the car forward a little. I was worried, the water was minimal and I've not had a lot of practice, but I thought I had done OK. The tyres spun a little then the car pulled forward and stopped. Did I miss? I wish it had been that simple, the throttle cable had broken and we had to push the car back. Our competitior obviously took the win and is through to the next round.

We managed to drive back to the pit by raising the idle speed (how fast the engine runs when you don't press the throttle pedal). On the way a lot of concerned racers came to see us. This is what I love about this sport. Most racers want to win on the track, not with a mechanical failure. So down to Halfords to look for a spare, without joy. They do have bycycle spares though, so we are using a bycycle brake cable instead. It might hold to get us home and if it brakes we will come to a graceful halt. I like things that fail safe. Even better I will be the car behind and I know it might happen. In case you hadn't gathered the race car is street legal and drives to and from the track. One of the race cars I have just seen leaving goes one better. It tows it's support caravan as well. How cool is that, a race car that can drag it's pit with it.

I guess it's time to watch some racing and take some photos before we head home.

Time on the board

Woo hoo, we have a time on the board and it isn't raining yet. Heavy on the yet. We ran a 13.97 on a 13.93 dial in. That's pretty good, oh and here comes the rain.

On a quilting note, I've designed a new class quilt today. My Thursday regulars have asked for a new quilt as you go project, which rukes out my second sampler quilt which is almost ready to run. So yet again I needed to come up with something special for them. It has to include some piecing and some applique. That's tricky as I don't normally do functional applique, but I think I have come up with a good solution. In between runs I've even managed to start writing it up.

Over excited fingers!

We ran 13.92 not 9.92. 9.92, in a street legal Capri I wish :)

Erm

So we are either thrilled or disapointed or maybe both. We do what is known as bracket racing. You predict the time your car will take to run a quarter of a mile from a standing start. You then try to run exactly that time without going quicker. This allows fast cars to race slower ones on an equal footing. As we aren't sure how many qualifying runs we will get we wanted to make sure we didn't run faster, breakout and not get a qualifying time.

Trogdor, the Capri has not run a 13 second quarter mile at any of the other events, but it has run very low 14s so a conservative 13.97 second seemed a good bet. The track is good and a lot of big cars ran before us (which helps). So a nice launch, a good reaction time, and by half track I was worried. This was looking good, possibly too good. Indeed 9.92 came up on the end board. So this is the fastest run yet, which is great, but a lousy qualifier. Let's hope we get another run today.

Yay!

Well we made it through without any problems, sadly a lot of others had a much harder time. Apparently convertibles aren't supposed to be running, and there are so many rules about wheels I've lots track.

On the other hand they have sorted out the supplier of electricity. Cables are being supplied and the staff are working their socks off to make sure everyone has power. I wasn't here for the other events but I can tell it's a huge deal for those who were.

Hmmm rain... That wasn't supposed to happen yet.

Summer nationals

So I've made it to my first race meeting of the season. I'd got out of the habit having been very busy with work and not keen of sitting at a drag strip in the rain, but it's great to be back. Being able to pick up the pit pass and tickets without hassle was lovely, and getting to catch up with people I haven't seen for months was great.

I am now sitting in our pit while the car goes through scrutineering. Aparently they are being more strict than usual, and I know I don't deal well with authority so the most useful thing I can do is keep out of it. It's a shame I was quite looking forward to seeing what goes on, but it's more important that the car gets through. Our main concerns are all wheel related. Whether there is enough stud length coming out of the hubs and whether our wheel nuts are 'right'. Both have been fine so far, but others have been turned back, so we are worried. Watch this space for the result.

Speed Quilt 2

Strangely I was just putting the binding on this quilt when I got an email asking for a picture of it. I figured I may as well finish before posting. So here is Speed Quilt 2. I guess I would call it a large single, and most people should be able to pretty much complete the sewing in one day. It is a reversible quilt as you go project, and being quick is ideal for those people you aught to give a quilt to but you know they won't really get it. As you can see mine is quite soft colours on the front and something a bit more striking on the back.

If you would like to have a go at making one there are still a couple of places on my class on the 24th June. Call Patchwork Corner to book a place as they are running the class. Alternatively you could ask your local quilt group or shop to book me to teach it there. Sorry, but if you are not in the UK you will either have a large travel bill or need to find some other groups who will also book me.

For those of you booked already, I hope this will help with picking your fabrics, the quilt will be at Patchwork Corner as of tomorrow.

Faux pas averted

I normally keep pretty good records of where my quilts are when. yesterday I dutifully updated it and checked which quilts I could enter into the Houston show. Then this morning I spoke to Sally who happened to mention the World Quilt Show. Abut and hour later my brain finally kicked in and pondered what I had entered into that show. According to my records nothing! OK I know that is wrong and I have that sinking feeling. One of the quilts I had planned to put into Houston might already be committed. Fortunately Christine Porter, and her lovely husband are more organized than I am and confirmed my fears. "Guide Me" is trying for the world show so cannot be entered into Houston. The upshot is I remembered just in time to avoid committing a cardinal sin in the quilting world. Don't you just know it would have got into both shows if I hadn't spotted it. Of course I have probably jinxed the world show now but I think that is better than the alternative. I have just couriered my entry of "Herd Mentality" to Houston. Wish it luck.

A photo at last.

I finally got a decent picture of this quilt. I did get one of it straight on but it didn't show as well. So here it is lying down.

It is almost exactly 1m square (which I am finding stupidly satisfying). All the threads used are essentially purple. The lightest in the middle is a very soft lilac and the swirls at the outer edge are a dark purple. This quilt will be on display at the Festival of Quilts at Birmingham NEC in August.

Where I went for the weekend.

Also known as inspiration for abstract quilts. So this is the fine view I have this morning. Any guesses what you are looking at? Well the large grey (cleanish) bit is the new petrol tank that has been taking up so much of my time in good weather. We finally had good weather when we were at home to work on my car. I think I mentioned that her coolent leak has been fixed so this is all that is needed to get her back working. Yesterday I discovered that the muscles I've been building up with the quilting have a practical use, bench pressing petrol tanks. About 7pm yesterday we had the new tank in place and connected up. Great, just a trip to the petrol station and I'm ready to go.

You've probably never taken the petrol tank off your car, so trust me when I say the fuel takes what seems like an eternity to reach the engine. We have, and we knew this, but boy this particular eternity was getting to be a long one. Then it dawned on me, I couldn't hear the fuel pump. They are pretty loud on the 2.8i Capris you do normally notice them. After double checking and comparing with the other car we realised that the pump wasn't pumping and it did have power. I know we should have checked it before fitting it, at least before putting the petrol back in the tank,- but we didn't. So now we have to swap th pumps over. So right there in the picture you see the non working pump. We have decided a new piece of hose is in order so I am sitting looking after the car and tools while the hose is fetched. Some much welcome downtime in which I can blog.

I have also been doing a lot of sewing, and some designing. It seems ideas come more freely when I spend time under cars, which is great. Sadly I don't have time to make use of them right now, but I will get to them eventually. I currently have a long awaited quilt on the frame. It is for a customer I have come to know quite well over the months we tried to schedule this quilt. It started to seem that everytime we set a date some misfortune would strike. It really was getting rather disturbing. It's a great relief to have it on the frame. It's quite a tricky quilt to work on. Being both busy and plain at the same time. I had a few ideas but knew they weren't quite right, I asked a non quilter for a second opinion. The solution is very strange, but is working well. I look forward to being able to show you it soon.

I've had a lot of questions about my latest black wholecloth. It will be at the NEC this year and is about 1m square. It is a pig to photograph, which is why I haven't posted one yet. I've got several shots that look like I left the lens cap on. I guess this isn't going to be a famous quilt. I really should consider how easy a quilt will be to photograph before I make it. My other entries for the NEC are largely ready. herd Mentality has a facing rather than a binding, it was the best of a lot of bad options. I am going to try it in the Houston competition too. I an hoping it will be less challenging and more striking than the work I've tried before. Yes I know the deadline is looming. Couriers are at times very handy. I guess my hose should be almost here so I will sign off and be ready to get back to the car.

What quilt teachers do after class.

Well this one at least goes home and paints her petrol tank. Yup that's what I said. I spent a very enjoyable if tiring day teaching machine quilting to a fun bunch of ladies then drove home to find my car had been making progress without me. Apparently very expensive silicone racing hoses fit and cure my water leak. So now all she need to be properly roadworthy is a petrol tank without a leak. I say properly as she is now fine provided she has less than half a tank of fuel. So I've been putting the last of the primer and the first of the topcoat onto the new old tank. It's looking pretty smart now, and it should be more durable. I wish I had taken some before pictures to share.

The really great thing is I feel much happier for having had a balanced day, to say nothing of getting my car back to drivable condition. Now I guess time for some more quilting.

Bonnie MCaffery was right

No, I am not surprised. Well perhaps I am, but by how right not just the fact she was right. It is a lot harder working on a portrait of someone you know well. You notice much more subtle issues that wouldn't have even been issues to a stranger. However I am pleased with the progress I am making with that quilt. It wasn't planned. Heck I can't even say I am thrilled it needs making, it's timing sucks, but we think (if I can pull it off) it should be a really good piece. It's from a picture I took recently of an old friend. I'd got him to model for me for an entirely different quilt, then did some close ups for him. By the end of the shoot we had obviously both got into the swing of it and I got a really good photograph. The photograph then demanded that I immediately make it into a quilt. Of course I have a hundred and one things I should be doing, but this isn't going to leave me alone until I do it. I've got the pattern drawn up and hopefully next week I can get the fabric cut. From past experience they shut up once I have the top made so I should be able to postpone quilting it until I have finished my NEC quilts.

I have made some progress on that front. My small traditional is pinned out working on being flat and square. I will get a picture up at some point, but I've been a bit busy recently.

Response to skinny envelope

Well what do you do when you get a rejection letter? You enter more shows :) I've cut down my number of entries for the NEC this year. There are two reasons for this, the main reason is time. I spent so long preparing for my own show I haven't had time to make as much as I would like for the NEC. Although I have just realised that you can send them work that has been seen before so it will open up my options next year. The other reason is the cost. The four I have entered this year have cost me 102 pounds to enter. I should say this is largely because I want to insure my work while it is at the show, but I do collect from the show so I save on return postage. I think last year attending the show, the dinner and entering quilts came to about 800 pounds, and I really want to keep the cost down this year.

Still I have four pieces going in, one each in traditional large and small. One in pictorial and one in Contemporary small. My innovative piece will have to wait until next year, as will my quilt creation. The one I am most upset at not having the time for is my quilt creation. I love working in three dimensions, but I am trying very hard not to over extend myself, especially as I do want to finish my book. The book is now down to it's last few chapters. My students quilts look stunning and swapping has worked well. I am really looking forward to photographing all the finished quilt and their owners. We are hoping to have a show of the quilts from the book at Patchwork Corner, so watch this space for details.

Skinny Envelope

I think it is a sign you've entered too many shows when you can tell from the feel of the envelope what it says. When it obviously only has one sheet of paper, it's thanks but no thanks. So my piecewon't be hanging at the Summer Exhibition this year. Rest assured I will be trying again next year. Hopefully encouraging some more quilters to try as well. Quality is important, but I am sure that quantity will improve the chances of a quilt being hung too.

Hopefully this year I wil have a bit more thinking time :) Now what am I going to do with the second Nude with Rope? It's on a rigid frame so it will be a pain to ship anywhere, but it is striking, and I would like to see it displayed somewhere. Of course that does assume it hasn't got damaged during the judging process. I suppose I could cut it off the frame and bind it for quilt shows.

What's on the frame?

After a string of customer quilts I finally have one of mine on the frame. Having had a delivery of five and a half Heinlein books and two and a half Spider Robinson books I have an urge to quilt. Anything intricate will do. I have no idea how long I've been working on this, maybe 15% of the book Friday, but probably too long. I ache, but I've enjoyed it and I think the quilt is looking pretty good. Now if I could only think of a name for it.

Malvern - Sunday

Sorry for the delay in getting the photographs up from yesterday. I've just been running around like a loony today. It was lovely to get the chance to catch up with so many people I didn't expect to see for another month. If I seemed to ignore you or not recognize you I am very sorry. I am getting better at identifying people but I've still got a long way to go.

I was thrilled to discover that the quilt is awarded two rosettes, so one can go to the quilter and one to the piecer. It was amazing to get an award for someone else's quilt, which I hadn't even entered. Certainly one of those very special landmark moments. It was also very good to win Frans award. I had really hoped I would be able to get my name on it, she was a very important influence even though I didn't know her long. Now I have to try for the Sandown one too. I also had an interesting revelation. I've won three awards for longarm quilting (I think ) and all the quilts have very similar quilting. Even more strangely, I don't feel they are that special. The first was, at the time it was by far the best quilting I had done. This one the quilting is exactly what the quilt wanted, but it's very hard to actually see. You may have noticed that none of the pictures really show the quilting. Maybe I just don't understand how the judges look at things. Whilst I don't entirely undrstand, I would be very pleased to think they choose the quilt with the most sympathetic or appropriate quilting, almost regardless of complexity.

For me there was one quilt that really stood out to me. It won the hand quilting award. I didn't have the guide with me when I saw it so I just remembered it for later. The I was distracted by the awards and found out who's quilt it was. Gwenfai Rees Griffiths. Ah! That explains a lot. Now at risk of causing offence (and I really don't intend any) what I really loved was that at a distance I couldn't tell it was hand sewn. The stitches are tiny with make a really strong quilting line, something I love about machine work. I am quite pleased I didn't photograph it though, as I would like to design a machine pattern that has the feel I remember from it. I don't know how successful I will be but I'll be interested to see what I come up with.

Aliens

I've finally had some time to put together the other top I cut out a while ago. It's a fun quilt that one day will end up on my bed. After it has finished working. You may notice it isn't the normal aspect ratio for a quilt. I decided that I really need wider quilts with less length for our king size bed, so this one has been designed for that. It could easily be made a more traditional shape if needed.

I fell in love with this fabric as soon as I saw it but found it impossible to buy in the UK and hard in the US. So this is the result of a lot of searching, and I think I have enough left for a second quilt when I decide what else I would like to do with it. I don;t know if you will be able to see in the photograph but there are some fantastic space craft in the small print with a black background. I especially like the bus. The range is called Alien Invasion by Amy Bradley Designs, and was produced by Moda fabrics.

I guess it's time to put the border on now. I think I have just enough of the sashing fabric left.

What I've got in the pipeline.

I thought it was time to show one of the projects that has been taking up a lot of my time recently. I am sure this doesn't look like a lot of work but there have been a lot of hours in the design and drawing stage. It is a bed size wholecloth, which will have trapunto and a lot of free hand quilting. It's going to be very strange working on something with this much marking. I would show you the whole pattern but the picture of it didn't come out well.

Power of negative thinking?

So last night I went out for dinner with friends, and it was very nice. During the course of the meal they suggested we needed a reason to go out for sushi. "Well" I say, "I usually go to sushi Joe when I win an award at a quilt show, but that will be at least a month". I entirely forgot that one of my customers. Barbara Wharton, had entered our quilt at Malvern this weekend. I didn't bother to enter anything, I don't do well at Malvern, except of course when I win the Longarm award! So apparently I will be in Malvern on Sunday, if anyone is going I will see you there. I guess that would count for sushi, but I really don't have time or money right now for that, so we made to with chicken instead.

Another good weekend.

Well this may not sound like fun, but I loved it. I spent Saturday at the Bristol Comics Expo, and Sunday treating rust on a petrol tank. Yes really, and yes I did enjoy it.

I would admit that comics shows didn't sound very exciting but when an old friend is showing the first pages of a new story you kinda have to go. If it hadn't been such an appealing story I might have been able to resist, and that would have been a great shame. The people at the event were lovely, it was very relaxed and friendly. One of the highlights of the day was a talk by an independent comics publisher. I only ended up there by accident, I was looking for a cash machine, but I am glad it happened. It was interesting to hear from another small business in what I thought was a very different industry. They seem to face all the same problems, and all the same triumphs. They found suppliers who just don't bother to even give a quote on doing work. They struggle to find any kind of a profit margin and marketing is hard work with very little rewards. They also mentioned that they had never really intended to go into the business, it just sort of happened. Sounds terribly familiar.

My main reason for going, other than just supporting Cy, was to buy Layer Zero. Mainly to get the free pictures from Cancertown, but (as with everything about this event) Layer Zero is pretty good. Remember This Moment, if a joint CyNic story based on a magic trick, and yes it works. While we were there I was able to get the Cancertown Pages signed by three of the team of four. Not bad in one hit. As a long time fan, I was really pleased to finally meet Bryan Talbot, who is very friendly and helpful. I am now the proud owner of a signed copy of Alice in Sunderland.