Sunday 12 September 2010

Crazy Castoffs

Patchwork used to mean using up scraps but these days Quilters generally buy fabulous fabrics especially for their projects. I had a customer quilt this week that was made entirely from curtain and dress-making leftovers. The fabrics were all different weights but the simply pieced top was absolutely charming; it became a lovely quilt once it was all finished. I thought it was appropriate to use recycled packaging to post this quilt back to its owner in Somerset. I turned a heavy duty plastic dog-food sack inside out, wiped off the crumbs, wrapped the quilt in the packaging it had arrived in, stuck it all up with silver tape and delivered it to the Post Office.

I have had several email and phone discussions this week from a PR company in London that has requested a quilted car cover made entirely from pink fabrics donated by celebrities in honour of Breast Cancer awareness. This will be a wacky challenge with an impossibly tight deadline. The fabric appeal was only put out last week, no-one has any idea how much will be donated or what the original garments might be. I have stressed that if it looks like nothing useful arrives next week we will have to buy quilt shop fabrics if we are to stand the slimmest chance of getting something presentable done on time. I was originally going to tackle the project myself but as the deadline looms closer I have enlisted the help of an expert upholsterer and a production team is standing by. We hope to put together a crazy patchwork top on some sort of foundation since the fabrics could be a weird combination. I am very concerned about finishing on time but I daresay it will all come together at the last minute. Just so long as I get the car and fabric next week...

I drove down to Perth for the QGBI Scottish Regional Day to listen to Fiona Diaper from the Quilters' Guild Museum in York and Tina Gravatt on miniature quilts. It was lashing with rain on the way down and I had to roll the Landy window down to clear the fug and wipe its mirrors before considering any over-taking. I adore my faithful Landrover Defender but I realise that the time has come to get a vehicle better suited to long distance driving. It was because I was browsing Volvo estate cars on the internet that I burnt the sausages again. I could quite fancy a gold one with sand coloured leather seats. My husband looked sceptical and wondered if I would soon take up smoking a pipe if I chose such a car. I was highly amused to find an old book about crochet on a sales table with just such a character on the front.

I was meant give longarm tuition on Friday using some long template boards but could not find the stylus anywhere at all. I had not actually seen it since FOQ, fearing the worst, that it had got lost. I had to apologise profusely and reschedule the lesson. I searched in every single box and bag that had gone to FOQ until I eventually found it wrapped up with the laser pointer.  Since I only had a short while left until the children came home from school I decided to paint one wall in the Purposeless Room. I really should have got a tester pot because it turned out to be a nice but uninteresting cream. I will save this huge tub of cream paint until I get around to repainting the family room that has had test patches on the walls for at least two years. I think I would like to choose a 1950's shrimp pink for the new room with mad wallpaper or even crazy-patch wallpaper samples on one wall. The trouble with this featureless room is that it's so easy to fill it with clutter from the rest of the house; maybe it will be easier to keep it junk free if it is decorated properly (in my spare time between projects!)



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