Well I think I'm the first of the KP/F+W Publications team to arrive here for Spring Quilt Market, but then I did set off from home (Devon, UK) on Monday! In my defence I had furthest to come - a quick calculation suggests 4874 miles. Approximately.
The others will be here soon, and Jay and I are really looking forward to meeting any Quilt group members who are attending Market. Please say hello if you are passing booth 2711, and drop in to any of our authors' schoolhouse presentations, which begin tomorrow. Most of the sessions are in room B110-111 beginning at 11.05am, except Darlene Zimmerman who will be presenting at 3pm in B117.
Now I wish I could have remembered all those times and room numbers when I bumped into a couple of lovely quilters, Linda and Debbie, in Powell's huge book store this afternoon. Naturally we were in the quilt book section, where the shelves were piled high with old and new volumes - everything on every topic, and a real quilting education. It was like a taster of what I'm sure is to come in the next few days: there was just too much to see!
For those of you who won't be in Portland, Jay and I will be reporting as much as we can about the show in this blog. Please post any questions or comments so that we can check anything out for you.
Spring is certainly springing where I live, and the birds are going crazy with nest building. They do a lot of low swooping out of hedgerows, generally right in front of my car as I beetle along the country lanes between where I work and where my horse lives. It's a bit heart-stopping, but I think they know exactly what they are doing because I've never hit one. Thank Goodness!
For a little bird project here’s a taster of a foundation-pieced tablemat and a fabulous cockerel from Mandy Shaw’s upcoming book, Quilt Yourself Gorgeous. Not out til July, but you'll be able to order it from the UK or US MyCraftivity shops very soon.
Does anyone else have an old, quirky sewing machine? I inherited mine from my mother a few years ago. It’s a Frister and Rossmann Cub 3, which I think she must have bought in the 1960s. It’s creamy and curvy like a block of retro butter! I love it because it’s simple but a little prone to moments of oddness. This suits me perfectly.
mycraftivity.com/quiltadmin2 It has only about 6 different fancy stitches, but this is purely academic as it is currently refusing to do any of them. Unless you count the occasional bouts of zigzag, which it has been known to throw in without warning. I’m wise to this now and I’ve found if I set the dial to halfway between straight and button hole, it’ll give me straight stitches. I’m sure that’s not in the manual (but since I haven’t got one, I can’t tell).
Despite its grand age and eccentricity, my sewing maching does everything a basic quilter needs, including lowering its feed dogs. This means that I am about to embark on some self-taught machine quilting. This will be a new adventure for us both, but as long as we can cope with each other’s occasional emotional outbursts I think we’ll get along fine. Anyone got any tips?
Yesterday I travelled to the Bath Literature Festival with an old friend from my university days. She works for the Arts Council and was therefore there in an official capacity, and I was going to support one of our authors and to discuss a future book with her. It has been ages since I last visited the heart of Jane Austen country, and I had forgotten how lovely it is. Here’s Bath Abbey for example.
