Almost back to normal!

What is normal? That is the question! Well for me it means not being so tired that half way through doing something I feel as if I'm lifting a ton weight. I never realised that glandular fever could be so debilitating. But I am well on the road to a complete recovery I am happy to say. Thank you to everyone for their good wishes!
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I have been reading Gabrielle's blog and was especially struck by her post on what being an artist means to her. I think it was yesterday's post. It made me think about what my creativity means to me. I won't call myself an artist as I am a jack of all trades and if any label were to be applied it would be designer. I like thinking of ways and means of doing things; working out new colour arrangements (I love colour-it is almost my raison d'etre); thinking of new things to make and new ways to get the end result. But I am not compulsive about it all. I suppose one could say that I lack that dedicated driving force that takes the great 'artist' to the top. There is no great burning ambition in my life. As long as I can have my workroom, my tools, fabric and a decent sewing machine then I am happy. In fact I get a lot of satisfaction from just going into my room and looking at things or sitting in the middle of it all and letting my eyes take it all in. This can often galvanise me into starting a new project! There are a lot of things I have in common with Gabrielle's approach especially the bit about self-direction but I am not I'm sorry to say at all focussed. I can be distracted and let my 'art' slip into second or even third place. Books; the garden; the landscape around me (sea and coastline) can all distract me and even though they all represent creativity for me they often take over from the focal point which is what I'm actually making. I can do a lot of thinking but not always a lot of doing. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak as my Granny used to say. I call it Lazy with a capital L! What pulls it all together for me is the teaching. I love to encourage and motivate others to give of their best and achieve work of a greater height than they have before. In fact I'm happy as a sand-boy if my students do well as this is when I know I am putting out my most prolific creative efforts. And at the end of the day there is great satisfaction in knowing that with possibly the help of a book of instructions I can do anything I turn my mind to. Do read Gabrielle's post as it is very thought provoking. How do you feel about your creativity?
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I have been starting on small gift ideas for Christmas. The first one to be finished is a scissor holder. I am always losing my scissors or burying them under piles of fabric so I thought this could make a useful gift for my quilting friends. It is so easy to make and a wonderful way of using up odd blocks that don't have a home in a quilt. I used a 6.5 inch Nine Patch block that was left over from another project. I put wadding behind it, chose a toning backing and bagged it out putting in a hanger at the same time. I then quilted it and folded it to shape. So simple and so effective. The first of many! Blogger isn't letting me add a picture and I have to get dinner so I'll try and add it later.


Here it is!

Tired!

I have just had a nasty bout of glandular fever. At one stage when my glands under my jaw were swollen up I had a quite close resemblance to a hamster! It wasn't a pretty sight. The result of all this is that I now feel quite tired all the time. It took me an age to walk up Falmouth High Street this morning and I did wonder whether I'd make it back to the car. What I need is rest, rest and more rest so I am doing my best to comply by going to bed early and not doing anything strenuous. This is why there has been no progress on the leaves. Sorry! And I am decidedly lacking in enthusiasm for anything. Also this is why I haven't been blogging as often Shirley but I will try and make more of an effort. And sorry Sue but I just don't feel inclined to be tagged. The effort involved is just more than I want at the moment. If all you wanted were seven unknown things about me then I might manage that but to find other people and follow up...well just thinking about it has made me tired! I'm sorry to be a kill joy!
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On Monday I went with a group of my students to visit the studios of Atlantic FM which is one of our local radio stations. The setting was idyllic. Right on the headland at Wheal Kitty, St Agnes. Just a short visit but interesting. They were kind enough to do a short spot for me about my new venture into teaching my own classes as opposed to Adult Education classes. So when we were invited to visit I felt it would be rude not to take up the invitation. It was well worth it even though I got lost on the way there and had to reverse several times! They have the original Gus Honeybuns who will mean nothing to the majority of you but for anyone who is Cornish or lived here in the eighties he was a puppet that had a large following of under fives on Westward Television (now defunct!). I managed to get a photo! Also some photos of old mine houses and the bay at Trevaunance Cove. This is very much a tin mining area.


View from the studio over the bay. There is a chimney stack from an old mine in the foreground. The whole of this area would be a mass of tunnels underground.



View of an old mine house, now a ruin. Notice the chimney stack behind the engine house.


Trevaunance Cove


This is Jamie the son of one of my students holding Gus Honeybuns! He is a news reader at the station and gave us the guided tour! Jamie that is, not the rabbit!

Leaves

I love leaves and I love autumn leaves especially. Our neighbour has a flowering cherry whose leaves turn lovely shades of pink and red in the autumn and today the wind blew a great swathe of them over our lawn. That was the moment I decided to play. I already had some Virginia Creeper leaves and some variegated, possibly a kind of laurel, leaves so these were just right to fit in with them. They would be ideal for using as templates for some leaf appliqués. I already had a base made from some over-dyed and stamped fabric which I had woven together. The colours were just right. I then started to use pens, fabric crayons, pastels and felt tip pens to shade in some leaf shapes. Unfortunately I ran out of time before I'd really got started but I have left it all out so that I can do more tomorrow. I have done leaf collages before; several times! This time I shall try and have a new approach, if possible. But I never get tired of using leaves in my work. They seem to call to me! I shall go away and ponder the layout ready for a session tomorrow after I have been to a sale of fabric which our local mobile shop is having not far way. These people really need every support! Well that's my excuse!
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To be continued......

Dyeing 2night!

Well actually that ought to read Dyeing last night but it was today that I ironed and packaged it. And while writing this I was thinking of fried fish so go figure! Among my various bits and pieces that I found when clearing out stuff so that I can make more room in my various cupboards, I found a selection of white on white fabrics in various combinations of fibres. So I decided to chop them up in fat eights and put selections together to dye in one colour. This was really successful as you can see from the picture above. I was really pleased with how they came out and will take them to class with me tomorrow to offer them to my students. This is a close up of the lilac selection.



My roll of fabric arrived yesterday as well so this weekend I will be able to have a mammoth dyeing session. Time seems to be rushing by and I don't seem to be achieving much in the creativity stakes. Once my classes get well underway I think I will have more time for doing things for me. At the moment I am trying to get my sampler quilt finished and my rooms organised. The thought of having to empty the attic is making me feel quite weak. But I will look back and be so pleased that it has all been done. Now to try and be creative with dinner!

Total Exhaustion!

I am totally exhausted. I have spent the last two days, well an evening and today, moving stuff back into my spare room. As you can see from the pictures above it is now totally ruined. Crammed full of my junk and rapidly becoming overcrowded. The biggest problem is that no way will it take back all the stuff that came out. Why this should be I really don't know but it is always happening to me. I pack my bags to go to class and they are full but they do shut. Coming home I have to put things into carrier bags as no way will the case shut with everything in it. Nothing has been added and I fold and put everything in exactly as before but during those three hours of teaching every single bit of stuff has grown! Is it just me or does this happen to others? I'd really like to know as I could get paranoid about it!
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Last night I carried all my computer stuff upstairs and placed them lovingly into my new computer hide-away cupboard. This wasn't easy and entailed a lot of grovelling on the floor and copious amounts of swearing under my breath. I have short arms! This makes life difficult when trying to marry up socket and plug when they are both out of sight and round a bend! But eventually I did it. Neither of my printers would fit into the designated printer place. The biggest now sits on the top and the smaller of the two, which I thought at first was going to fit, has to sit sideways on. It is bigger at the front than the back and no amount of pushing would make it fit properly! I bet a man designed this cupboard! There is a lot less room and I am going to miss my small drawer but I can use one of the small drawers in the dressing table which is right next to it. Not the same though as being an integral part of the cupboard. And joy of joys when I turned on the power everything worked!
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Today I started to bring back all the books, boxes, folders, bags and other assorted bits to try and find homes for them. It didn't take long to fill up the shelves that Martin put up for me in the alcove. And because of the size of the books a whole heap of them will now have to live on their sides. This means that I'll have to be desperate before I look at them! These arn't my number one books though; they are actually in my workroom. I also managed to be brave and get rid of some with some bric a brac as well. However when I look in the garage I see that the pile of things looks almost as high as before I started which is very deflating. And I still have some boxes and stuff down at my mum's. Just the thought of it is making me tired! But the room is so much better than it was previously in spite of having the furniture and stuff filling it up. And I am enjoying having my computer up here next to my workroom. And if you notice I have a large space on a wall for hanging completed works of art! In fact there are two or three places just crying out for some work to be displayed. And now I'll be able to get to it and make some pieces!
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Also today I went into town and indulged myself by buying fabric for the sample quilt I am making along with my class. The one I have nearly finished is in burgandy, navy, turquoise and greens. So this time I am working in purple, dark green, lilac and mauves. Here is a picture of what I bought and I will dye more fabric to go with these pieces.If I ever recover from my moving activities. This is worse than moving as it has come out to go back into the same space. There isn't even the fun of having a completely new room to play with!

This, that and t'other

Martin needed to test out his new car after doing some major alterations to it so on Sunday we went for longish drive up to Port Isaac. A round trip of about a hundred miles. It was a misty day to start with and eventually it came on to rain so the photos, taken from a moving car, arn't that brilliant! Sorry!
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From the top the first picture is a view of the River Camel at low tide with lots of muddy bank on show. The next two are of a church that I found interesting complete with ancient Cornish cross. These Celtic crosses are to be found everywhere and are often used as quilting patterns. In the middle row there are two views showing the very narrow lanes that we were traversing down. Meeting another vehicle meant reversing back until one found a gateway or turning place so that they could pass. I would definitely avoid these places in the summer when the tourists are around. In the middle is a picture of Port Isaac beach which I tried to take through Martin. I did tell him to lean back but he didn't lean back far enough. As he kept saying, he was driving! And in the bottom row firstly is a picture of Port Isaac town centre! Then a view through a gap in the wall as we left Port Isaac and finally a view cornfield in foreground taken at speed as by now we were very hungry and cold! But all in all and interesting outing and it was good to see places I hadn't been to since I was a young girl. I believe that the television series Doc Martin were shot in Port Isaac but I wouldn't have recognised it from the series. Also the film 'Saving Grace'. But then I could have got it wrong.
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The room is now almost done. The wardrobe is in, as is the dressing table. For the first time in years the wardrobe actually closes properly! Now all that remains is to slowly wade through all the accumulated junk; which is reposing in the garage, my Mum's garage and her spare room, and replace that which is most desirable and necessary to my existence and give, sell or throw away the rest. This I can see will take forever! And I have to remove my computer from the living room and install it in it's new home. However I can't do this until Martin sets me up a lead to the broadband router. Perhaps we'll go wireless! Moving all this heavy Victorian furniture has given me muscles of iron and also turned me into a hunchback! Every single bit had to be lifted over the banisters as there was no room to turn. With 4 and 5 foot pieces of solid wood, 3 foot high on average this was no joke. I am still bearing the scars! But the room, to me, looks lovely. Martin's comment as the first piece of furniture went in was to the effect that the room was now ruined! He has put me up useful shelves in the alcove though! There will be pictures soon. Our next job is to clear the attic preparatory to laying a floor up there. This means that a load of 'junk' will find a resting place temporarily in the spare room! I must enjoy it while I can!
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The quilt is progressing well. I now have the middle sewn and quilted and two sides are sewn and quilted and attached. The other two sides are sewn and need to be quilted and attached. I hope to be able to do this tomorrow. Then at least the quilt will show the students what they can achieve. I am missing my Bernina when it comes to quilting but the Husqvarna is performing manfully. The only problem is that I have got used to the knee lift on the Bernina and I keep going to use it only to find it isn't there. Old habits die hard! I shall be glad when this quilt is finished as I'm dyeing to get on with some new ideas I've had. I'm not into series as I get bored after finishing one piece and want to try out something new. But when it comes to applique I do like to have sets. I've added some flower wreathes to my leaf designs and want to do a couple of samples to see how they fit in. Do I mix them up or keep them separate? I won't know until I've done a few. Time, give me time!

Rainbows and Leaves

While I was waving goodbye to Martin yesterday as he went off to work, there was this superb rainbow over the rooftops. To begin with it was quite small but it got thicker and longer and then I noticed that there was another one behind it. The pictures don't do it credit as it was really beautiful with strong colours. And while I was taking pictures of it I started looking at this tree with it's lovely red leaves in front of the grey bricks of the house wall. I thought this was really wonderful for inspiration for a piece of work. I can see it as a nine patch with appliqued leaves in varying shades on it. Looking at the larger picture one can appreciate the lovely textures in the bark of the branches. Lots there to get one's teeth into for a design. Perhaps amalgamate the two pictures - rainbow with leaves. Watch this space but don't hold your breath!



The continuing saga of the room is that we have the bed ready to put together. Tomorrow we will put it all in place and perhaps move the base of the wardrobe in. I have actually hung curtains! So it is beginning to look like a proper room. And I got our tax returns in so I am feeling very virtuous too!

Hanging on to the end of the summer!

The nights are drawing in and it is dark in the mornings but I am determined not to go into winter mode at least until the beginning of October. So no socks yet and still wearing summer clothes albeit with a warm cardy! Fortunately the weather, although unsettled is still warm and the sun when out is remarkably hot. Winter is so long that it is almost imperative to hold it at bay for as long as possible.
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The spare room is now painted as seen in pictures 1 and 9 above. The walls are sunshine yellow and the carpet is a rich gold. There is now a really light and airy feel to the room which the photo doesn't do justice to. In fact every time I go upstairs I think the light has been left on in that room it is so light! The mess in the middle of the room and around the walls is the flat pack computer hide-away that Martin is building for me. And as is the wont with flat packs it isn't all plain sailing. As usual the screws arn't quite the ticket. But I have no doubt that by the time it's finished it will be wonderful. The biggest problem is that the wall sockets for the electricity are not where I want to put the cupboard which is going to pose a problem as I don't want trailing wires. Not even one! I was going to put the wardrobe and dressing table on one wall so that I could have the cupboard right by the plug but the wall is 6" too short. This is the problem with having huge Victorian furniture. The wardrobe is 5ft plus in width and the dressing table is 4ft plus. There is no length of wall that will take them both unless I block the door or the window! I expect I will move the furniture around a lot before I'm finished.
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Picture number 2 is of our bedroom showing the bright turquoise paint on the walls. I love this colour. It was already painted when we moved in and we haven't changed it. The room is cluttered but some of it is overflow which will go eventually when the spare room is finished. I hope!
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Picture number 3 is the middle of the sampler quilt I'm making for my class to do. The colours have been chosen to go with the turquoise walls. I've been very pleased with the way this has gone together and with all the quick sew methods I've used. It has panels to be added at the side with different blocks and also borders but there will be a choice as to whether or not to make a small throw using just the centre piece or a larger quilt making the whole thing. I like to give people choices! It's not so daunting then. And after making the middle and finding it was not so hard after all perhaps they'll want to make the lot. And they will be choosing their own colours.
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Picture number 4 is a view of my workroom. The room is so tiny...7ft x 7ft...that there isn't much else to see. I am always amazed that I can actually work in it and achieve things. And no more so than now when it has stuff from the spare room as well taking up space. I have every intention of going through every thing on these shelves and winnowing it down to more manageable proportions. Well we all know that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions! But I will need to do this to be able to accommodate stuff from the other room because I won't have the shelves that I had before.
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Picture number 5 is of the heap of dyeing I did this weekend. After I'd finished and put all the dyes away I realised I hadn't tried out the idea I got from talking to Fenella. Ah well, next time! It will have to wait as I procrastinated about buying another roll of fabric. When I rang up the guy who gets my fabric had gone on holiday the day before for a fortnight! Ah well, live and learn! Pictures 6 & 7 are of my favourite piece from the dyeing. Number 7 is the close up. I love the colours in this and will find it hard to part with it.
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Last but not least picture number 8 is one of the corner blocks for my sampler quilt. Hopefully I will be able to get it all together and quilt it before October 5th.
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I now have eleven students for the classes which start at the beginning of October. I have been to look at the room and it is huge with plenty of sockets and big tables. Nice and airy with a kitchen off to the side where we can make drinks. The local paper is going to run a small piece this week and once we are started one of the local radio stations is going to come and do an interview. I'm getting quite excited. Thank you to all who commented and wished me luck and thought what a good idea it was. I know what you mean Sue about the paper work taking up a large amount of time! Its so lovely to know that paper work won't be an issue. Its going to be such fun.

Biting the Bullet!

It is official! I am going to be running my patchwork and quilting classes privately. The increased prices and removal of concessionary fees for OAP's has reduced the number of students in my Adult Education classes and meant that they weren't going to be viable to run. So I have hired a hall one morning a week and will do my own thing. I have had a lot of support from the students and I think it is going to be fun. There is one big blessing which outstrips all others and that is that there will be no more paperwork. No more filling in forms; no more having to attend meetings on diversity and PC; no more having to be treated like a small child by people who haven't a clue about the subject that one is teaching. Oh it will be such a relief! I have been teaching for about 40 years and by now I should know what I am doing. The students think I do anyway and you soon know if you are successful or not. You don't get students returning! I have been thinking about doing this for some time now and I'm glad I've finally been pushed into doing it.
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The decorating is coming on...slowly! Isn't that always the way. One starts in a flurry of enthusiasm which slowly dies away! Well I'm still enthusiastic but Martin is having to divide his time between his car and the spare room! The car is winning at the moment! At least with no spare room I'm spared the influx of various members of my family! :-) I love seeing them really it's just that I am so busy right now! Though I am thinking of giving guided tours of my pink bathroom! The number of people who have mentioned a visit after seeing my pictures is encouraging. The pink obviously isn't that off putting!
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I'm off to dye now. My four year old grand-daughter, Fenella, has given me a wonderful idea for dyeing which I am dying to try out! Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.... If it works I'll have some pictures.

Pink, pink, pink!

Well I now have a very pink bathroom! It is lovely! So lovely that I have to sit in there just to admire it! It isn't the pale pink I was thinking of that's for sure but it is a lovely pink and it reminds me of a South African sunset. Not that I've actually seen one but I have seen pictures which is nearly as good! So that is one room down and we are now starting on the spare room which now looks like this......


It is all stripped down and ready to go. The outside of the window has been painted and tomorrow we will do the inside and the rest of the gloss paint on the skirting board and door frame. I have chosen a lovely sunshine yellow for the walls and the new carpet is a gorgeous deep gold colour. As the room faces north I want it to look warm and sunny! The furniture was taken apart and then down to be stored in my Mum's garage. It was worse than moving! And it will all have to come back. The wardrobe and dressing table are Victorian and those Victorians certainly knew how to build solid furniture! I'm sure I have a permanent crick in my neck and my arms will never be the same! Martin kept saying that as we got it up we could get it down but I'm sure they had wider staircases in those days! When we first got the wardrobe we were newly married and living in a small cob cottage in Devon built around 900AD and mentioned in the Doomsday book. The stairs were so narrow and had such a tight turn on them that Martin had to get his chain saw and cut the back of the wardrobe in half so we could get it up to the bedroom! It certainly makes life easier.
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Today I went to a quilt show in a church near Truro at Kea and forgot to take my camera. I must have been in a dream! The quilts were lovely and there were lots there. Sue and I decided it was possibly the best quilt exhibition we'd been to this year. Lovely fabrics had been used and the colours of the some of the quilts were stunning. The church is delightful and they use the small church hall at the side to serve teas and wonderful home-made cakes. Where they also have an invited seller with fabric, books, equipment and much more. Much too tempting! I love these exhibitions as I always meet up with old students and it's good to hear all their news.
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My re-furbished computer is behaving itself so far and I am being very good about house-keeping and not filling it up with junk. However my one beef is that I can't get my Artista software to load and play nice! It's version 3 which is old but it worked before on XP with the addition of a Hasp driver. But this time I've got SP2 and it won't co-operate even though I've downloaded all the patches and followed instructions to the letter. It just won't recognise the dongle. I'm really peeved as it wasn't a cheap program...about half a grand! And although it's old I don't want to have to expend that sort of money again! Martin is suggesting that I have a computer dedicated just to that program set up simply with no flash updates! It might yet come to that. I have my old computer so it could work. Why can't life be simple!

Round Robin; Round One!

For the first time in years I am part of a Crazy Patchwork Round Robin. The last Round Robin I was in was a disaster! Several of us lost our blocks, there was total confusion and I was left with a nasty feeling about the whole thing. I hope whoever stole my block has a bad conscience! It has meant that I will never, ever get involved with anything in the US again unless I know those involved! However this time it will go well because it is with a European group that I have done several RR's with before and we have always had a ball.



This isn't the most wonderful piece of Crazy Patchwork I have ever done I'm sorry to say but like most things in my life I left it to the last minute and need to post it off tomorrow. So it was done in a rush and instead of sewing the patches on by hand which gives one a lot more control I used the machine which makes it all a bit straight and in lines. However I'm sure the stitching will more than make up for its basic design faults. There are those in the group who are marvellous embroiderers. The theme is Lace and Roses and I have put some roses on the block and also done a seam finish of Sweetheart Roses. This is a silk ribbon technique which my friend Froggy taught me and I love it. I am seeing this as a wall hanging for the newly decorated spare room. Hopefully the room will be finished before the block! :-) I'm really looking forward to this as I know it will be fun.
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On the home front the bathroom has no window at the moment, just a hole, while Martin paints it. We have all the paint and tomorrow I will paint the walls. I have taken the top bunk bed to the garage along with lots more tubs and boxes and all the shelves are off the walls. Undoing those screws was a mammoth task. Martin obviously put them on the wall so that I could put really heavy things on the shelves should I so desire. He knows me! I could even climb up them I reckon! So things are moving and I feel that we are getting somewhere.
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The computer continues to do well. I've stopped holding my breath and think that everything is fine at last. I'm being much more tidy and organised and for the first time have an organised filing system. Will it last?
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Dee if you're reading this I've lost the rotation list. Any chance you could forward me a copy? I'd be truly grateful.

These pictures are for Christine who wanted to know what a shower screen looked like. Unfortunately they don't contain Martin or Marvin! This is probably a good thing as this isn't a pornographic blog! :-) The picture on the left is of the screen folded in so that it is on line with the basin. It will fold right back to the wall if wanted. The picture on the right is of the screen open. We have spent this weekend gutting the bathroom so it doesn't look like this now. We are stuck with the avocado suite but I'm going to paint the walls pale pink, the woodwork white and the carpet forest green. We are also going to fit a new shower! At the moment the bathroom looks as if a bomb has hit it! And to add insult to injury I am at the same time stripping the spare room as I want to paint in there too and lay new carpet which at the moment is rolled up in my Mum's garage. Today I took all the hundred and one shelves off the walls that were left over from the days when this was my workroom. I never want to see another screw! I'm storing a lot of the stuff in our garage and also in my Mum's spare room. What would I do without her! She only lives four doors down the road but I drove my car up from her drive to collect all the stuff and then drove it back again. Is that lazy or what?
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I have been very careful to keep my workroom serviceable so that I can continue to sew. What has become very apparent is that I still have far too much stuff and will have to be even more ruthless and get rid of some of it. Well most of it if I am to remain sane. This isn't the stuff in my workroom but the overflow which lives in the spare room. There are five working rooms in this house not counting the kitchen and bathroom and I have enough stuff to fill at least eight! Something very wrong there. Anyway the whole decorating thing is worse than moving and will probably drive me to drink before it's finished. I am on holiday this week and will have to be very organised. There is only one good thing to say and that is that my computer is working like a dream. All that phaffing about was worth it. Did I mention that I had to have a new mother-board after I'd got it up and running eventually? And then when the new mother-board was in I had to re-format AGAIN as some of the programs I'd installed were slowing me down. Bad vibes! But now all is hunky dory and working well. I haven't even tried to install my Bernina stuff. I'll wait to do that until I'm feeling stronger. When...If....

Eventually........

All singing, all dancing computer! Does everything...well almost!
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It has taken a week but finally I am up and running again. A lot of the time has been taken up putting back the programs I use and the hardware - printer, scanner, etc - but something I put back on didn't go down well with the computer and it all went tits up so poor Martin had to re-format AGAIN! But this time I was exceedingly careful and so far, so good! Hopefully it will all hang together and I can get back to my quilting, sewing, reading, having fun.....
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I have no email addresses because in all the cafuffle they disappeared so if anyone who likes to keep in touch with me or just wants to, sends me their email addy I'll be well chuffed! In fact I'll be delighted as otherwise it will take me ages to collect them all again. (email me:valeri.b@ntlworld.com) Into every life a little rain must fall but I feel as if I've had a deluge and I'm soaking! Why is it that of all things mechanical computers can affect one's quality of life so much. It was a bit like losing a hand for me. I use EQ5, Artista software and art packages such as Photoshop and without them I'm lost.
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If anyone reading this is an EQ5 expert I need help. I've saved everything and got it back into the program successfully but although I have the fabrics I scanned in for my latest quilt in there they arn't showing up in the library. How can I save them into a library when I haven't got the original scans? Can I save them from the sketchbook? I really really don't want to have to scan the fabric in again as it took so long! Again, any help will be greatly appreciated!

Three cheers for Martin! Hip, hip Hooray!

Well my clever clogs husband has managed to retrieve all the files off the lost hard drive. The computer still doesn't recognise it and it is possible that it has bad sectors somewhere but what matters to me is that I have all my folders and files safely stored on another drive and as soon as Martin gets off my computer and lets me have it back I will sort them all out and save the ones that I want to keep on my ICY box. There is every chance that I will eventually have a computer that is superb and faster than a racing snake but at the moment Martin is enjoying tweaking it. I really do find typing on a laptop a trial but I am grateful I've got one!

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Dee if you're reading this I tried emailing you using the address you gave me and it kept coming back! Can you email me direct so I can reply from that? Thanks!
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I have found some old pictures on the laptop so I am going to delight any one reading this with a couple of blasts from the past! One is a Crazy Patchwork throw sashed with a gorgeous bright blue dupion. One is a quick collage that I did after being impressed by the sunset, and the other is a piece of work still in progress with appliqued leaves on a manipulated background. The collage has to be forty years old. The throw is only about seven and the leaves have been waiting for a year or even two to be finished! One day..... As to what I'm working on at the moment...I am still plodding on with my large sampler quilt and dyeing material for it as I run out. I always under estimate just how much fabric I'm going to need. And I have spent a considerable amount of time putting my files back into EQ5. And just generally phaffing about on the computer looking at stuff!

The End of the World.......

I am feeling extremely depressed! Martin has just re-formatted my computer. The computer that he built for me four years ago...was it really that long! And before he did this I put loads of my stuff onto an external hard drive (my IC box) and also some stuff onto the smallest of my three internal hard drives thinking that this one wasn't to be formatted so it would be OK. Bad thinking! The wretched machine now won't recognise this drive! It is having a hard job giving me all the Gb that I am owed on the two main drives. (each is around 120Gb while the little one is only 20Gb) I have left Martin at home ...it is his day off...slaving over my machine in the hopes that somehow he will find this errant drive which has so many things on it that I now find I want! I am writing this from work as I can't do so at home not having an up and running computer. Well actually that is a lie as it is up and running just in bits while Martin sorts out this missing drive problem. The stupid drive is visible in Device manager but not in My Computer! I don't understand it but then I wouldn't as I'm not a geek.

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The thought of all the things I have to re-install is making me tired especially having to set up my Artista software for my Bernina. Coping with the wretched dongle is a nightmare! And I've managed to lose my EQ5 stuff. I was sure I saved my scanned fabric for my latest quilt onto the IC box but I can't see it there. Of course there is so much stuff on it that I might not know what I'm looking for. I doubt if I called the file anything sensible! Tonight I am going to wade through all the files and try and sort them out. This screw up is making my life quite complicated as I can't think of anything but my missing files. No EQ5, no accounts, no address book, no new lesson plans, no....the list goes on!

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Wait! There is hope! If everything fails and Martin can't make the computer see the missing drive all is not lost. I have just been given the telephone number of a guy who retrieves files off hard disks! Oh joy!

Quilt Exhibition

I went to the Falmouth Quilters Group's exhibition today with my friend Sue and it was a real treat. As well as smaller items there were several really large quilts, mostly in the traditional manner, but very impressive and beautifully made. The quilt above is a Baltimore Album and the applique work was exquisite. It isn't the best photo in the world but it was hard to get into position and get most of it in the picture. Unfortunately I don't know the maker's name.

This Fibonacci quilt was made by one of my ex students, Mary Miller, who had several quilts on show. The appliqued vine really made this quilt and it was quite striking. My photo doesn't do it justice.


Another Baltimore Album quilt which was started in one of my classes. The amount of work in this is enormous but well worth all that effort. Again I wasn't able to do it justice with the camera angle.


I don't know who made this quilt but again it was full size and lovely. Very delicate with lovely pastel colours.


This is a Leaf Wreath quilt by Jeanne Pettit which was started in one of my classes. The fabrics used were really gorgeous and made the quilt. The quilting was superb as it was done on long arm machine. Really spectacular.


An attractive use of Cathedral Window patchwork in a cushion. Maker unknown.


A piece of silk ribbon embroidery by Carole Monk which was started in one of my workshops. Beautifully done.



And last but not least of the photo's I took, a jacket, made by Barbara Johnson. I really love this pattern and would like to make it for myself. The little bag was made by Jan Woods.

All in all it was a great exhibition and I spent far too much money in the shop buying batik fabric and a couple of books which I couldn't resist. And the cakes in the cafe were to die for! I had a superb orange and poppy seed sponge which was light and moist and Sue had a really sinful chunk of gooey chocolate cake. Our friend Yvonne who joined us for coffee didn't have any cake at all. I don't know how she was able to resist! Her will power must be tremendous! So a good time was had by all.

Fabric

This is the sampler quilt that I want to make for this Autumn's classes.
I have been very naughty and bought more fabric! I just couldn't resist it but to make me feel better I then went and dyed up a load of toning colours to use with it and managed
to get a fantastic burgandy colour. Burgundy is one of those colours that isn't always easy to get being either too bright or too dull but this was just what I wanted to tone with this delicious print. And getting this small thing right really motivated me to get on with the sampler quilt and so today I made up one block. I actually find it quite relaxing doing traditional patchwork for a change. It could be because the guidelines are already there and all I have had to do are make colour choices. That is for me the fun part. This year I am being slightly different in format as the blocks are in several sizes and there are pieced borders and sashing.


Now that it is August the summer will gallop away and it will be back to class before I know it. I have a week's holiday at the end of the month and hopefully we will lay the carpet in the guest room and put up my computer cupboard so that I can move my computer etc from the living room. This would give me so much more space but I'm not actually holding my breath! I have been doing some constant dripping about the possibility that I may be holding classes at home and I think this might be the push needed to see some action with home improvements! Wouldn't it be nice if one could wave a wand and have everything done just like that! I am such an impatient person!

Feeling Positive!

Today was a good day...twice! Why? Well firstly because we are trying to bring our bathroom into the 21st century and to that end we bought a couple of bathroom cabinets,some shelving and a folding shower screen to go over the edge of the bath instead of a shower curtain. I hate shower curtains as they wrap around one when wet and it's a bit like taking a shower in seaweed! This one is neat and folds away when not in use. So what is good about all this? When we got home from the store Martin fitted the shower screen! And since then we have both been able to see how much nicer showering is! And when I showered there were no leaks at all! The same could not be said for Martin's shower but then he is a very active showerer! This is't to say that I'm not efficient, just that I don't wave my arms around and spray water everywhere! Now to wait for the cabinets to go up! I'm not holding my breath!
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And secondly a package that I've been waiting for from the States arrived today! I seem to have been waiting for it for ages but it cleared customs yesterday evening and was delivered this morning! So they didn't hang about! I am thrilled as it was some quilty stuff which I'll now be able to play with. This is a belated present for my birthday so doubly enjoyable. A special cutting square and a book! Oh joy!

I've finished the Drunkard's Path quilt. I am very pleased with the way it worked out but not so pleased with the quilting. Once it all went pear-shaped in the middle I think I gave up the will to live with the rest of it and it isn't up to my best but having said that it isn't that bad! And I've learnt lots. The most important being that I should have over-dyed the Liberty lawn so that it blended with the hand-dyes better. Oh well one lives and learns. Now I'm starting a sampler quilt for the Autumn term lessons. I'm using all the quick techniques that I have picked up so that it will be a real learning curve. That is if I get any student's in the Autumn after the cuts in funding. Well I can always hold classes at home. I'm being positive! It's the best way to be and I have found the best way to have life work out in a way that is what one wants. Of course a lot of that works on the premise that one is happy with what one has rather than miserable about what one can't have! I shall stop now before I make everyone sick! :-)

Being inspired!

I am being inspired which is a good thing! The only trouble is that there are only so many hours in the day and only so much that one can accomplish. However I have discovered Microsoft One Note which is an amazing note pad facility in Microsoft Office. Using One Note means I can write notes, add pictures, even make audio comments and One Note automatically saves it all ready for the next burst of inspiration. This way as I finish one project I can immediately look in One Note for the beginnings of another. I have so many ideas just waiting to get a hearing that this was just what I needed. And one of the features which I most like is that if I copy something into it from the web that takes my fancy it automatically inserts the web address so that I will know where I found that feature later on when I will no doubt have forgotten. How often does one save something from the web only months later to have absolutely no idea where it came from! I do this all the time and it is so frustrating. So I shall be singing the praises of this neat little program!

Caity of CaityQuilter Blog tells me that August 11th is National Moth night here in the UK which is something I didn't know! I shall have to find out more! Thank you Caity!

So Grateful!

I am so grateful that I live on a hill and that Cornwall isn't suffering from the awful floods that they are experiencing in Gloucester and Tewkesbury and that vicinity. My heart goes out to those poor people especially as many of the flooded areas wouldn't have been so bad if governments had had their wits about them in the past. And they are still going to use flood plains to build houses! What is wrong with these people! We were in Tewkesbury a couple of years ago and it is a lovely town with glorious old buildings and full of history. My fingers are crossed that the worst is over!
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It has been a week of the doldrums and I really haven't achieved an awful lot. However I have got the quilt top finished and am now in the middle of quilting it. This is a long winded affair as I am doing different patterns in different places and also it is quite bulky under the machine. But it's coming on. I did encounter a problem when I started as the free machining was very bitty and the cotton kept breaking. The front looked OK but the back is terrible. Just as well it's for me! I fiddled about and tried lots of things. It is working well now and I'm having no problems but the trouble is I don't know what I did or what the problem was in the first place. It could have been that I was using a thicker cotton and it didn't like it even though I was also using a thicker needle! The sample I did was fine. I have reverted to a normal cotton and that is working without problems so probably that was it. These things are sent to try us...and they do! Pictures when it's finished.

I rescued this moth when I opened the kitchen door tonight. It flew into the kitchen attracted by the light and then just fluttered about. When it lighted on the floor I trapped it in a cup and put it back outside. I then took some photos as it was of a variety I haven't seen before. We used to get loads of moths but they seem to have disappeared of late and now all we get on a regular basis are funny little brown ones. However I have noticed that we are getting more butterflies, even the little blue ones. This could be because the garden is awash with flowers and is making a really colourful picture at the moment in spite of all the rain. I have been taking pictures of the flowers for use later on when I want to do some applique work. They make such good inspirational subjects.

At last!

Finally I am back in my workroom sewing, creating, having fun! I have started on my circles quilt and I can see immediately that it is going to be much more experimental than my diagrams as I ran out of the fabrics I had chosen. But not to worry I had more fabric albeit slightly different and I think that difference is going to be beneficial. Everything is cut out and the large circles are sewn. It is going to be fun putting it all together and planning the colour mix. I was surprised at how quickly and easily I was able to cut out the drunkard's path blocks using the one template only method. It took less than two hours and that included sewing the twelve large blocks. There will now have to be a pause as tomorrow I have to get ready for a silk ribbon workshop on Friday. And at the weekend I want to dye some more fabric though I should have time to whizz up a few more blocks. So it looks like Monday for finishing it off. Tuesday I'm going to teach my Mum how to make folders and what to do with them when she's made them, on her computer. And Friday I have a private lesson again on computers so a busy week. And I have my grandson's second birthday coming up and I want to make him a small quilt with horses on it. He is made about horses which he actually calls Adders but then a rose by any other name and all that! I think a quick nine patch background in greens and blues with applique horses. Shouldn't take too long....I hope! So busy, busy, busy! No pictures as Blogger wouldn't let me insert any!

Show Time!

Today I was one of the craft judges at Stithians Show. Stithians is a small village where I onced lived for five years. Immediately before I moved here in fact. The show has been going for decades and still has a country village, parochial feel about it which is lovely, even though it is the second biggest show in the county after the Royal Cornwall Show at Wadebridge.It is very much a farming show with livestock and machinery. Last year when I judged it was so hot I thought I would expire and there were so many thousands of people there that it was impossible to move. This year with lots of rain over the past week and more to come there weren't as many people and it was fresher and cooler and much more inviting. Sadly there just arn't the craft entries that there used to be and it is hard when there are only three or four entries in a class. In fact one class had only one entry but that one was so good that I wrote on the ticket that it deserved a first anyway! The quilt I gave a first to went on to become best in show which was pleasing.

I had a minor panic when I came to leave as I couldn't find my car amongst the many thousands that were there! In the end common sense prevailed and I retraced my steps and voila, there it was! Oh what a relief! My only excuse is that I had been up since 5.30 and was getting tired! I don't do early mornings very well!


I thought the colours of these plums and apples and other fruits were so exciting and that this picture might act as an inspiration for a piece of work later on.
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Now that I have got that outing out of the way I can concentrate on other things. I am planning to do a drunkard's quilt block.


This is the design I have in mind. I used EQ5 to design it in and scanned in some of my own hand-dyed fabrics plus a piece of Liberty Lawn. I'm still not quite sure that this is going to be the final version. I'm actually enjoying playing with it and moving things around. It will be on these lines though. I want to do something fairly traditional but which isn't that traditional.

Finally, the project!

This is the project that I couldn't show you! It is a memory quilt that I made for my sister's 60th birthday and just in case she looked at the blog I had to keep it quiet. But her birthday was yesterday so I can reveal all. How cool is it that she was 60 on 07-07-07! What a lucky day if you're into numbers! I had great fun making this quilt even though the printing of the pictures had a few hiccups due to the printer playing up. This was annoying, especially as I'd bought a new Epsom especially to do this. However in the end my little HP came up trumps which is probably why I'm an HP fan. I even dusted off the embroidery attachment for my Bernina and made a label! Probably the first quilt label I have ever made. I'm almost ashamed to admit to that!

I have decided that to get me moving and not let that 'lazy gene' get control I'm going to start by finishing off some of the many things that are half finished. A lot of them started as class samples which is why they get left! Too busy rushing onto the next thing. So with this in mind I dug out the two pieces of faux chenille that I have and flung them into the washing machine with a pair of Martin's jeans. They are now in the tumble dryer. When they are finished I am going to turn them into a pair of cushions. I am organised! I can do this! At the same time I have been making a start on my class worksheet for next term. After all September will be here in next to no time. There will be a sampler lap quilt for beginners so I am choosing blocks (different ones to last year and the year before) and colour schemes. This is the part I like. Then I am going to design a machine applique quilt which can be made in blocks. I'm thinking gardens, flowers and cottages. I want the students to think about colour and using fabric to get special effects. We will also use fabric pens and crayons to add to the fabric colours. Again another bit that I especially like. But there is a sad note here. The meeting for tutors that I went to yesterday was bit disheartening as I found out that the funding council has stopped the concessionary rate for over 60's. The reason? Because it's ageist! Hellooooo? These people make up the back bone of the Ad Ed craft classes and they need every help they can get on the whole. The cost of the class has increased by over £20 a term which is a lot of money when you have to find a lump sum. So I won't be surprised if I don't get enough students to run the classes. Especially as the minimum number now needed to run the class is 8 and to get full pay 15! Private classes will have to be thought about. I already run several classes from home but I haven't got room to have many students at a time. If it isn't one thing it's another!

Reflections.......

I have been trying to work out why I don't get as much done as I used to a few years back and then it came to me! I work for four hours every afternoon and that kills my day for me. Work is necessary to pay the mortgage so there is no going back but I am going to have to re-structure my days and my attitude to them. There is going to have to be a more positive attitude to actually doing! When I'm in teaching mode and I have one if not two classes coming up every week I can get really stuck in producing samples and writing hand outs and I get it all done on time and usually with enjoyment. So why is it that as soon as I have a couple of months or so away from the discipline of teaching do I fall apart? Where is all the work that I was going to do for me? Where are the experimental pieces and the trials of different techniques? I'll tell you where...in my head! Because I have no deadline, no approaching performance, where I'll be in the spotlight and will have to succeed or fail by my earlier efforts, there is no feeling of urgency. In fact there is instead an insidious feeling of endless time with the summer stretching ahead of me, and in complete contrast to that a hidden thought that with not much immediate time at my disposal each day is it worth even starting! It's as if because I can't spend the whole day doing things my brain has a spoilt brat moment and refuses to do anything. So how can I overcome this? I know that once I get started routine will kick in and I'll be fine but its taking that one step to get started. So I'm going to start by writing down and thinking about some things I want to do. If it's in black and white I will have a beginning. And then I will map it out from there so that I have guide posts along the way. In this way when I get sidetracked and slip back into my un-productive ways I'll have a route to follow and I won't wallow in indecision. Because it's not that I don't have ideas nor that I'm not bursting with creativity..that's no problem...its the lazy gene in me that has to have the perfect setting to work in and short periods of time don't do it for me when there is no push from outside. So tomorrow after I've been to a meeting for Adult Education tutors in the morning and had coffee with a friend in the afternoon, I shall make plans. I will be organised while still leaving room for happy accidents! I'm going to start by printing some more pictures onto fabric and this time I'm going to make sure that the *%$"*^ Espsom printer works for me! I bought it to use for just this purpose and I'll make it work if I dye in the attempt! Well perhaps not so drastic but on those lines! And hopefully I'll
be able to crack it and make the time I have work for me rather than the other way around.

Is this summer?

I am now totally bored with the rain. To begin with lying in bed listening to the rain fall out of the sky was exciting but now it is old hat. I am grateful not to be one of those in different parts of the UK who are suffering from floods. The pictures of their flooded houses look terrible. It is a good thing to live on a hill several hundred feet above sea level!
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I have finished my project and am feeling quite pleased with myself. It went quite well though I think next time I do something like this I will make a few modifications. Pictures later! At the moment I am trying to have a clear out so that I can see at a glance exactly what fabric I have to hand. Every time I go to find something I have to wade through several useless pieces of stuff before I come to anything good. Why do I hang on to these less than perfect pieces? It's fear! Fear that I won't have just that colour! Fear that I won't have enough long strips! Fear that I might someday run out of fabric! Hello? Run out of fabric? When I'm dyeing 100 metres every week or so? Do I need to see a shrink? Am I unique in this fear of lack with regard to fabric or do others also not want to bankrupt their fabric supply? And I never have the right colour regardless of how much fabric is in stock. In the same way that I don't have the right clothes for any given occasion regardless of the fact that my wardrobe is bursting at the seams. But this I think is partly due to 'once in a Blue Moon' occasions cropping up when one can't be expected to necessarily have the right stuff! Well that's what I tell myself. So with all this in mind I'm going to sort and clear this week. I'm looking forward to it. Well I think I'm looking forward to it!