Yesterday it rained and was cold and felt like October rather than late July. Was I downhearted? Yes, of course I was! But, as you know, I try to see the positive side of things so I had a day where I cleared as many of the jobs I needed to do but have found some exceptionally good reasons why I couldn’t possibly do, interspersed with baking and watching You Tube craft videos on crewel embroidery which is something I haven’t done for a lot longer than I’m prepared to admit. I also started reading a fascinating book on Jane Austen because I’ve realised that Swansmere is a Georgian House so surely they ought to have a Regency festival, with a ball and cookery classes and dressmaking and sewing. There’ll be re-enactors too, and what could possibly go wrong in such a genteel and ladylike setting?
All sorts of things, which is where the fun will begin, but right now I have the ‘end of summer’ feeling that I always used to get in the last week or so of the school holidays which is ridiculous when they’ve only just begun. Besides, the forecast for next week looks pretty good, and I know I’ve said that loads of times before but they’ve got to be right sometime, haven’t they?
I’ve got more than my usual number of projects on the go because I’ve been making the quilts that Amy’s been inspired to make in the next book, which is ‘Crazy for Death’ which is out in September. This one is special to me in so many ways, not least because I took the cover picture and it’s set in my beloved Poole. I always try to make each book better than the last, but my beta readers tell me that this one really is special. So, meandering back to the point, I’ve been exploring a variation on crazy quilts using a set of templates and I’ve somehow managed to find a way to make an organised crazy quilt. That says a lot about me and I’m not sure how much of it is good, but it does allow me (and Amy) to combine our passions for embroidery and hand piecing and making quilts that hold memories and reflect history.
All quilts do that to some extent because of the fabrics you use, and after my last winter’s sort out, some of those fabrics date back to the time Before Children when I had so much more time but didn’t appreciate it anything like enough. Now I’ve got some of it back so I’m revisiting books by my old embroidery tutors that I couldn’t afford to buy back then but now can get for less than the price of a magazine and brushing the thick coat of dust off my skills and incorporating them with what I love and can do now.
Those quilts will be coming together over the next week or so, so there’ll be lots of photographs and even a link or two. I’ll start with one to a You Tube video about the templates I’m using and boast about my clever, clever husband, who’s cut me some extra templates to make the process easier. He’s an engineer, you see, so that’s what he does. And here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TuAk9mKF4g
Meanwhile, what I do is make him his favourite meal, which was steak pie with baby roast potatoes. Yes, I know, it’s July, but the weather suited it and it suited him and maybe that’s all that matters?
So we’ll catch up on Wednesday, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear about your quilts and cooking because I’m always on the lookout for new projects.
Today's picture shows that it is the start of the school holidays and is of all the little boats heading out for a sailing lesson. I love to watch them and remember when I could do that and imagine what sort of adventures those sailors will find. And then I can go home and write about them without getting cold and wet so aren't I lucky?
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