Sunday, January 13, 2008

Was Eve a quilter?

Here I am on my sick sofa, under a quilt (of course) and not really watching All About Eve while I read blogs. I am betting that the Biblical Eve was not a quilter:

(a) she'd have been far more tempted by fabric than fruit
(b) even after the fall she would have been wearing somthing more pieced than a fig leaf
(c) she'd have appreciated the abilty to spend her time quilting too much to behave in a way which lead ultimatley to that quilting time being lost by the monthly pain, aches and sickness I am wallowing in at the moment. (It's that kind of sickness that can be temporarily be relieved by a strong cup of ginger tea which affords windows of opportunity to finish off the Jaffa cakes and start on the Thornton Viennese truffles.)
Anyway, despite my current self-indulgent sloth, this week has been quite quilty:
Tuesday: Down Under Quilts arrived. As did this fabric from my batik club at Hannah's room...

So did a large order of threads I'd placed with Barnyarns.
This stuff I got for £24 and pence being a taster pack of one of all the types of superiors threads they sell.


This is a line of Masterpiece by Alex Anderson, a line of The Bottom Line by Libby Lehman with one King Tut and some 30 weight embroidery threads for machine applique plans.
Wednesday: I was sent to Birmingham ( 2.5 hours by car. train and foot to the court and the same back) all to do an application to adjourn a matter.(Which predictably I lost - as was always going to be the case!). I applied my judicially trained mind to the question of whether, once finished I should go another 1/2 hr south to the quilt shop. I performed the usual balancing exercise in the application of my discretion:

Factors against:
1. This is the shop whose mail order policies I very much disapprove.
2. I just got a load of fabric and threads yesterday!
3. It will take two hours of extra travel and browsing time I could spend playing with the threads I just got.
4. I am saving up for the Nantwich sale next week.
5. I will be in a quilt shop anyway in three more days.

Factors for:
1. It's a quilt shop.

Decided against it. Went in to do the case before one of the rudest Judges I have even met - I came out scarlet and sweaty with the sheer cheek of having to say several times; "If I could be allowed to finish my sentence Sir" to find the heavens had opened and also found that my feet had started to hurt badly. (There was a reason, which I had forgotton, why I hadn't worn thsoe shoes for ages). I reappraised the evidence - Oh well, now I deserved a little treat!

Whilst it is nice to be in any fabric store and whilst this is a well stocked one, there has always been something about it that let me cold on previous visits. This time the penny dropped - it was more than the fact that the staff - whilst not unfriendly or unhelpful when you approach them - are not chatty or warm. Nor is it just the lack of offer of a cup of tea which I get at some shops I visit. It is the fact that there are no quilts in the shop! All the space is used for goods for sale and it is well fitted out - but no quilts!!!


By the time I got back on the train with my (modest haul) of spay baste, marking chalk, sale thread, wash away thread and glue stick ( all stuff I don't excpect to find at Nantwich) my feet were so on fire. A sweet but very bent-over-a stick old man had to ask me if I was OK walking!

Thursday: New Zealand Quilter and British Patchwork and Quilting arrived

Friday: I did get to play a little with the new threads on a 'play' quilt top. Oh and ordered 5 quilt books on line - mostly ones I had seen at the shop but decided to buy on amazon marketplace.

Saturday: Our local rugby team Liverpool St.Helens (LSH) were playing Penrith and my husband and his friend decided to go up with my Dad who now lives up there. So I went up too and collected the blocks my Mum has been embroidering for me to start off a quilt based on sacred texts. These are they all over her conservatory rug.....




I then went to Just Sew to use the cutting table to cut the sashing strips, where I found that the vey expensive silk we chose is fraying all over the place. I spent ages painting the edges with fray check but am wondering if I may be better ironing on interfacing?

Now, this has taken me over 2 hours to write (off and on) given my lack of energy so you will excuse me if I go back to sleep now...












1 comment:

Gina said...

I hope you feel better soon. Take this time to lie back and browse through all the magazines.
I know what you mean about the quilt shop. My LQS is great, the kettle is always on and they are always up for a chat. well they are Welsh and we are known for being able to talk to a brick wall. The other LQS has recently closed down and I'm convinced it's because she saw it as a business. She was never very welcoming and I didn't find it a nice place to shop.

love and hugs xxxx