Timing

It's just after that time in the morning when you get toothache (2.30am) - never mind; it's the school holidays now, and true to form, I have a cold. I'm sat up in the living room, with the Snug Rug around me, hot blackcurrant next to me, contemplating whether or not to pick up the Harlequin quilt to continue quilting it, whilst listening to Radio 2. What else do you do when you can't sleep at night, when it feels like you are too tired to sleep? What have I been up to recently? Well, here is a picture:

This is the stocking that I made for my tutor group - the first CMH tutor group, who are now in their final year. There are several musicians in the class - hence the treble clef, quaver, and guitar; the flower - some of the class (including me) are interested in gardening - and there are two girls with names of flowers; the horse is for those of an equestrian slant; the key is made with Beatles fabric - which says 'All you need is love' - which is the key to success; the star and the Christmas tree are evident - they are Christmas symbols. So - what did I put in the stocking? Each pupil had a present, consisting of: two pens, two pencils, a pencil sharpener, a rubber, a notebook, a mini packet of sweets, and a party toy (e.g. a spring, a pinball game, stickers, a puzzle keyring...). The stocking was also filled with lollipops and chocolate coins. Why did I do this? Well, a treat for my tutees, and also it made sure they had what they need for the mock exams that start in January! I now have a couple of days in which to get a stocking made for Keith, and then I can work on one for the house. The idea of doing one for the house, is so that we have Secret Santa in the house next year! And I shall use the tutor stocking again next year, with my new class - if it is year 7 I intend to do Secret Santa with them.

I was pleasantly surprised with the response from my tutor group; I used the party favours section at Sainsbury's to get the party toys, and I did the stereotyping - boys gifts for boys, girls gifts for girls; and there was one boy saying 'I wanted a spring'. Some of the girls got really excited about getting stickers! There were a couple of interpretations of the horse - one boy (the one wanting the spring) asked why there was a dog on it, and some girls said that I'd forgotten the antlers for the reindeer. There is a ribbon attached to the side (in addition to the ribbon to hang it up), which has the names of all the tutor group on it; I wrote the names on the ribbon with biro - I auditioned fabric pens, but they bled through to the back of the ribbon, and I wanted to use both sides of the ribbon for the names. I shall add another ribbon next year for the new tutor group.

Where did my inspiration come from? Well, it is all down to my mum, and something that she did for my sister and I back in 1978 - 31 years ago. Here it is - the one she made for me:

Later today I shall be back in my sewing room, preparing for Friday, and trying not to get too frustrated when things go wrong, when I can't find things, and when I find that I can't do what I want to do easily. Such is life when you have a cold - it makes me really grouchy, especially when I don't get enough sleep. Anyway, time to publish this post now.

Quilting and television

I've just finished writing emails and updating my blog, and commenting on the Patchwork and Quilting magazine, December edition. There have been some very interesting articles this month, including one on blogging. The author of the article - Sue House - has her own blog, which I've added in the blogs I'm following. As time allows, I shall add other blogs I'm following / trying to follow as well.

I've been extending my quilting skills with Block of the Month projects from Antique Angel. There have been numerous times when I've cursed myself for starting them, but I'm glad that I'm doing them - learning new techniques, trying new things.

There are some interesting competitions in Patchwork and Quilting this month, including one about making a Christmas container - I'm tempted by this, but I think that I may end up submitting a stocking - and it will probably be one that I've made already, and that features on this blog. I suppose I could try something else, but timing is the issue, and there are already so many other things that I want to be working on.

Anyway - the title of this post. I'm just wondering what other quilters do when they sit and quilt. I'm lucky enough to have my own sewing room to go to - although the cats have assumed it as their room - with one of them sitting on the chair I use at the sewing machine, and the other sitting on the cutting table - and on the cutting mat. I like to sit in there listening to a talking book, or watching a film (generally listening to the film rather than watching it). When I'm upstairs doing some hand quilting (on my Harlequin quilt), I sit watching whatever is on television - such as CSI, Bones, Lie to Me, House, Criminal Intent, Deep Space Nine. I've recently seen some programmes advertised for quilting. Some of the CCTv programmes on MyChannel - (Sky 171) about textile artists, and Quilt in a Day on Rural TV (Sky 279 - I think). I shall watch these with great interest. However, all of us have some guilty pleasures - and mine are old soaps. A couple of years ago I watched Howard's Way to it's conclusion (from start to finish), and also Dallas (except the television company didn't have all the series, so kept showing series 1-5 - and I wanted to see the rest of them!). My current guilty pleasure is Dynasty. It is great - it is so bad, it's good! Don't you just love seeing all those shoulder pads, seeing Steven Carrington walking around like a wet weekend and looking depressed all the time; barely hearing what Krystle is saying due to her husky voice; seeing Fallon being such a scheming and manipulative little minx; Blake Carrington looking like a caring patriarch, and actually rivalling JR Ewing for the baddie. This is not how I remember Dynasty - I remember it with Fallon being taken up in a spaceship, and later coming back as someone different, with Alexis Colby coming in, and then the spin off series - The Colby's - with Sable Colby, and Maxwell Caulfield then whisking Fallon away...Oh, what delights yet to come!

Why do I sit and sew with the television on? What do other quilters do? I sit and sew and watch programmes because that is what I did 20 years ago (okay, maybe only 18), when I was at home. I remember Friday evenings sat with my mum and sister in the living room. I would be sat in a gold colour Parker Knoll recliner, with a twin lamp on my right hand side. We would sit and watch television - we would watch Coronation Street (I think), Gardener's World, Love Hurts (who remembers that with Adam Faith and Zoe Wannamaker - I'd love to see that again), and I would sit sewing. At that time it was English patchwork, and I still have the templates somewhere. The Harlequin quilt that I am currently quilting (by hand, as the rest of it has been done by hand), was started later, and I've not yet quilted the quilt I was making at that time. However, I have quilted my first quilt - the one that started this hobby / passion / obsession.

The quilt on the left shows my first quilt. I finally quilted it in 2002, having started it in about 1986. I bought my house in 2002 (which I have since sold), and that summer I went to Hythe to house sit for Grandad Banks. I took this quilt along, and sat handquilting it. It is all done by hand, and has vermicelli quilting on it. I dind't bind the quilt, I used a different technique - I used the self-finish, by folding under the backing, and then sewing through all the layers - using a running stitch. I had already tacked down the seam allowances of the hexagons.

Time for me to publish now, as I've just been asked if I have any buttons (stupid question), and how fast am I at sewing buttons on trousers - so I'm doing a bit of work for a stepson!!