I had a lovely day visiting the festival of quilts yesterday, despite a minor hitch with the trains on the way there. Far too many quilts to show and smartphone photographs do NOT do them justice - click on the one above to see a few others I took pictures of. If anybody wants me to delete a shot I'm happy to do so. Lots of folks were taking pictures and I realised I didn't always remember to include the maker in the shot (which would probably be hard to read anyway at this scale). My personal tastes run to the rainbow and loud colours - if it's colourful, it feels "balanced" to me if it includes all colours. I really liked the layout at the NEC too - the whole show was spread out over three halls, with the exhibition quilts mostly in one hall but with some others in lines elsewhere. It felt busy but less cramped, possibly thanks to COVID and there were plenty of places to sit not necessarily attached to cafes, which has been a previous gripe if you decide to take your own lunch in these cash-squeezed times (I did sample the coffee and the cake, very nice!). Amazing work, these are works of arts not something to throw on the bed! Well, not in my house anyway! I am in awe of all the makers, so much time and effort goes into these. I was very good and didn't go mad on the spending - bought some lovely batik fabric from Bombay Stores Fabrics and a marbling kit from Marbling 4 fun. I always try to buy something because exhibition stands aren't free, though quilting isn't something I've ever tried to do as yet. Dressmaking is more my thing really, maybe when I retire I'll have more time! Hoping to attend "Crafts for Christmas" if I'm around, which is in November. That's more general crafts. I managed just shy of 8000 steps yesterday, which shows you what an old crock that 10k steps a day thing is - impossible for any desk-bound worker to achieve!
This month's NeedlesofSteel machine knitting club meeting got cancelled at very short notice due to the owner of our new venue having a family emergency. Apologies to the person who turned up to find us not there - I had been in town all morning so went home early because I only had one confirmed attendee who already knew we were cancelling. We've started a whatsapp group so that I can inform everyone if it happens again - we may go back to meeting at my place if things don't work out anyway. If the establishment takes off then children running around knitting machines is a safety concern. Anyway, we shall see! Next month coincides with the annual Heritage open day weekends, so I will be taking my CSM as well as a flatbed machine.
As for my own crafting, I've started the right front of the Pauline cardigan and am onto the "long slog" of the straight bit before the armholes. I really ought to maybe finish some of the simple projects just to stop feeling "stuck" - there's a poncho and a crochet scarf that are both not far off being finished. We've been having a heatwave, and I'm very surprised the local county isn't quite officially in drought yet - but it's also meant the thought of yarny projects sat in my lap hasn't been an inviting one. Not to mention, being out and about more making the most of the summer while we can - last weekend we visited Leamington Spa's annual arts festival, which takes up all of Jephsons gardens and then some. We could easily have made a weekend out of that, with the live music and many food stalls around. Maybe next year!
Current mood: 
inspired
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