What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Like many quilters, I am acutely aware that I accumulate far too much stuff that I don’t use so I sold my Bernette Funlock (coverstitch machine) on Ebay and sent it off to its new owner with a courier. The new owner tried it out but the handwheel was jammed. Since it worked perfectly before dispatch, I think it got dropped in transit. Now I have to waste time and do battle with the courier to get compensation. 

I was encouraged to purchase a gimbal for my camera by some enthusiastic YouTube videographers. I followed the tricky procedure to ...

What is it about having a long To Do list that makes me want to start something new? I came back from FoQ with plenty of things to do or finish but then decided that my filing cabinets looked drab and needed a facelift. I used to enjoy painting furniture to give it a new lease of life but I really did not enjoy this job. I should have emptied them, taken them outside, sanded them then given them a quick spray-paint. However, I decided to leave them in situ then paint with primer and ...

We had one of the hottest days on record on Tuesday – 30C in Scotland is very unusual and I tried to hide out in my workshop, which is always significantly cooler. I made 2 little bags for my dji Pocket cameras and pieced a whole cloth practice quilt that I will experiment with using Q-Matic.

I got sidetracked seeing if I could use a heat-gun to remove tatty stripes from the side of my caravan. This became a whole-day project, followed by trying to remove 25 year old sticky residue. Peanut butter was suggested as a household remedy but I ...

It has been mid-term for Nella so there was no need to rush anywhere. I got her quilt all joined together with a majority of the points matching and downloaded a pumpkin-patch  digital quilt design from Intelligent Quilting. It was quite a busy pattern so it took most of a day but it looked cute and was dense enough to hold all of the pieces down. I had the binding ready to go so I attached it as soon as it came off the frame and the quilt was on Nella’s bed by Tuesday evening!

We had an outing ...

Several weeks after telling myself that I would be filming a How-To video on making zippered leaders for the Q24 have gone by and I still have not done it. It turns out that making instructional videos is not as easy as it looks. I think I am actually good at delivering the demos on camera – it is the technical side that has been tricky. The camera angles have to be clear and in focus and it is important to have good quality sound. I have got so much gear now that I could probably rival a BBC ...

I have always loved gadgets, even though I was the first person in my school to get an Ungraded mark for O-level Electronics. This week’s whim was to order a mini thermal printer with a teddy-bear face after seeing it on a Youtube vlog that Nella was watching. It does not use ink or batteries and the till-roll type paper is very cheap. The images are pretty good and it can also print sticky labels so I think it’s great. Since I love organising and labelling everything, I think I will have great fun with it:)

I now ...

Don’t tell Nicola but we paid Freya a quick mid-week visit in Glasgow… Nella’s doctor said it was a good idea since she had never seen where Freya moved to last September. We were very careful to avoid busy areas. Nella and I have both had two doses of Covid vaccine and we always wear face-masks. The studenty flat is great, although on the top floor, up 77 steps and counting when you have to take a Scottie dog out for a wee. It is in the West End and even has a Waitrose about 2 minutes walk ...

I started the week all fired up to make short instructional videos, kicking off with showing how to make an elasticated bowl cover. I was just filming this on my own using my phone, using the Apple Watch as a remote control. I realised that things need to be recorded in several takes, possibly having done an entire project as a practice. I did not use any of the footage but put it down as a good dummy run. 

Logistically, if I don’t manage to teach online I wondered about a Plan B and made a list of things ...

Another week has gone by and I wonder what I did to faff my way through it! There was one big, colourful customer quilt. I tried to quilt rainbows onto it but the pattern kept crashing the system so I used a substitute pattern called “Dizzy Izzy”.

Nessie tried out her new, fleece rain suit. She was not altogether pleased at putting it on and taking it off but once it was on she did not mind at all and it kept her clean on a muddy walk.

Freya and I both made new sourdough starters for bread making.  I ...