Bernard and the Tartan Quilt

After a successful test run and showing off to some studio visitors, I put “Bernard” to work finishing off the Tartan Quilt. He was superbly smooth, although I think I need a little tweak somewhere since there was a tiny bit of vibration through the handles. I had to switch everything off for a whole afternoon while we had a Scottish monsoon with lightning so I fiddled around making striped bias binding instead.

I decided to throw the entire quilt into the washing machine to get rid of the markings and I am glad that I put in 3 colour catchers to soak up rogue red dye. It survived the wash but was rather distorted so I pinned it all out flat onto some large foam insulation boards. The needle-break hole did not improve with washing. It is really small and sometimes I don’t spot it but I am tempted to paint that entire section with pewter fabric paint just to seal in the fuzzy blobs of wadding that only I can see. I have started to attach the binding before I start trimming tiny stray threads or painting. I can see that the edges seem to be warping so the whole thing will need to be starched and steamed before it can be seen in public. I wonder if this quilt will ever live up to my expectations?

The Landy and I made another marathon trip to Strathallan Castle with Freya and Friends to the largest music festival in Scotland, “T in the Park”, loaded up with tents, snacks and wellies. I was secretly glad to drive away from 80 000 revellers, inadequate toilets and camping in the rain but I expect they will have had a great time;)

I took Nell and Fergus shopping for shorts and was met with their resistance and mortification in Gap. I bought them anyway and was relieved when they conceded to wear them when they got home. Fergus much preferred the visit to the guitar shop and Nell was thrilled to purchase her first pair of new Docs that had not previously been worn by anyone else. She glared at the assistant who informed her that they would take a bit of wearing in as if she had never clumped around in Docs before. I decided to quit while I was ahead and put off the school uniform shopping for another day. 

The second most important item on the week ahead’s To Do list is to prepare for the videography session for my Ebook. I need to get some mini projects ready and try to remember what I plan to show off. But first, I need to get that dreaded Tartan Quilt ready to hang at FOQ…