Tuesday, August 03, 2021

Build your own portfolio – Part 1

This was actually the name of the Adria Good long arm course I did.  Sharing a couple of motifs, giving us time to practice on paper before heading to the machine, we eventually had to cut these motifs up into squares, bind and then put it together on a shower curtain hook as an example of edge to edge motifs.  I did all except for completing the sample book. I then decided to do another set of samples, this time, focussing to get it good enough for this book.

The funny (heart-breaking??) part is that a couple of days ago a friend warned she might be visiting and will need a place to sleep at.  With this in mind, I shook out the guest bedroom bed just to notice how terribly wrinkled the 100% cotton percale flat sheet was apart from being much too big for the standard double bed and I decided to toss it.

By that time, I already finished my first practice piece and thought I’d use this sheet for the book.  With Sunday on my own I went to the guest bedroom, opened the cupboard, got a sheet, squared it neatly and marked my squares, got batting sized and went to my sewing room to find a suitable backing.  Dear o dear, what would stare back at me in this cupboard?  The percale sheet I took off last week.  Needless to say, I chopped up the wrong (and a good) sheet.

As if that was not depressing enough the older kids informed us Saturday, my son tested positive for Covid with mom, dad and the 4-year-old being properly ill and the 9-year-old being asymptomatic.  They will now self-quarantine and I honestly don’t think the oldest granddaughter will mind even if she shows no symptoms.  Not having to go to school, is her idea of the best fun ever.  I offered to go shopping for them but I’ve forgotten the youngster now does everything online and have it delivered.

A doctors’ friend came around to inject the Border Collie and although he is a paediatric cardiologist for humans, gave me the bad news that he doesn’t think it is arthritis or lack of cartilage but rather a spinal injury or infection with no cure or at least not worth it for a 14-year-old dog.  We still have injections for 3 more weeks and I guess then we have to make some kind of decision.

More awful news, to me at least, is that I had to let go of my weekly cleaners.  They will finish up August as their last month.  This is all still part of our attempts to make our pension last a little longer.  We just have to give up some of the luxuries in life.  From September, my routine will change from getting up to start quilting, to clean the house first before anything else.  Not something I look forward to.

I received another nativity panel on Monday but the quilter is in no hurry as this will be as a Christmas gift, so I decided to finish the bindings on my squares for my portfolio and do the back of the binding by hand while the cleaners were busy inside the house.

Outside I watched Devilsdorp on Showmax while doing the binding and did not finish after the cleaners left, I then came inside, watched Follow Me (also on Showmax) until I got all the binding done.  Now I officially have my first portfolio of edge-to-edge motifs.  I have even washed these so quilters can see what a bed quilt would look like after being washed.  These are however sheeting and not good quality cotton fabric.



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