My LE2 Workshop at AQC In April

 April is just around the corner now.

I'm hand sewing my LE2 coverlet. This is the coverlet I'm teaching in a special workshop at AQC this year. Hand sewing gets me in a contemplative mood and has me asking all those mysterious questions all over again. Such as; knowing that the British were sticklers for records, surely there is an account of wealthy people throughout the country where the coverlet was first found?

And, having recognized and recorded the coverlet as such a fine example of work, why didn't Averil Colby say more about the quilt? Did she know more? Did she try to uncover more?

I just can't help feeling that the woman behind this quilt was remarkable - almost certainly in wealth, but also in textiles. And this narrows down the field even more. Was she a married to a mill owner? how did she have access to or afford so much chintz? If she was 'merely' wealthy and purchased so much of it because she could, this doesn't explain how she obtained or created the coverlet pattern.

And having created or obtained the pattern for the coverlet, wouldn't she have shown it off in her society circles? This pattern is really extraordinary and unique for its era. What does that mean? Did she make it personally? Or did she copy designs which she had seen outside of the UK? Was she a foreigner? So many questions, Love Entwined, so few answers.

I really hope I live to see this textile marvel and mystery solved in my lifetime. It really is a significant piece of work in the era and I'm sorry that it is languishing without it's maker's name. I wish there were more historical and archival textile hunters out there! The original is truly a national treasure. I hope it becomes recognized as such. And soon.

As for me, I have done what I could and now I'm focusing on sharing my love of Love Entwined in a larger centre based quilt exclusively for AQC this year. I'm really looking forward to the workshop. It feels doubly special to be presenting it in person too, especially as LE2 is such an emotive quilt.

I can't wait to meet my LE2 students in just a few weeks time. Are you coming? Have you prepared your background fabric? Are you ready for the workshop? In these weeks running up until AQC I'm making student contact my first priority, so please, if you have any questions - ask me!

My goodness, time is flying!

WOW: Real Opinions - Do They Still Matter?

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I think they do.

Last week I shared my batting pet hate. Thanks to everyone who commented. I purchased the batting at a show and have no idea where to return it although I agree that it should be sent back. That got me thinking of the other products I have previously loved and trusted ... many have fallen short lately.

One of the advantages of having a blog is the ability to share real-life unbiased feedback. I love reading the real opinions of others and must admit that most of my purchases nowadays are based on recommendations and suggestions from those very same real life opinions. It's something I'd love to see more of. I get so annoyed when I trust in a brand and am then disappointed with the performance or quality standard. And its not just quilting or sewing products either- it's services too. Remember my post about QNNTV from December last year? It's now been 8 emails and still no reply. And no, I still can't get in. I lost $12 which is no big deal, but it's the blatant money grabbing set up I can't stand. And it just doesn't make sense. If there's no one there - who's running (or not) the website? That's just a minor annoyance - there are so many more where that one came from, and many much more significant too.

What's going on? 

Whatever happened to quality control? 

Whatever happened to customer service?

Yes, I actively seek out real reviews now before buying things and I think it's the way of the future. But I can't end this post without acknowledging that there are still some real service stars out there in the quilting community. EQ7 is one. I cannot fault their customer and technical service. Whenever I have needed advice or support, Penny has responded in such a friendly and helpful way, its made all the difference.  And often at the last minute too (from my end) because creativity just works like that, when you feel you need answers you need them straight away and I have always received them as quickly as humanly possible from EQ7. Thank you EQ7 for loving quilters!

And I can't forget Quilt Pro Systems either. I had purchased their HST Triangles Magic software for use in a HST quilt for easy printing out. Then I updated my computer (this happens twice a year in my household due to my DH's work requirements). Well, somehow I lost it. And then I couldn't remember where I had purchased it. Then I found the website in my favorites bar and contacted technical support to see if I could re-download it. Well, not only did they send me a new link to download it, Linda from Quilt Pro tech support found two other purchases I had made under my username (which I'll be honest, I had forgotten about) and re-sent me those as well. Talk about customer service!

See? It's completely possible!

What do you think?

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm back!

Last night I arrived back in Melbourne from back to back workshops and I am exhausted! Too much creativity for one week... if that were possible.  I was also offline for almost a week, so if you have emailed me - I'll be catching up in the next few days and you will hear from me.

I did think I would miss being online and catching up on WOW as I did last week, but I was so busy that I didn't really think about it. It's only catching up to me now as I have just realized that it's almost WOW again. What a week!

I haven't washed Lily Rose again yet. I am hovering over it thinking about the best way forward. It will have to be washed and I will blog it when I do. Today I started preparing my kits for AQC. Now that March is here, April doesn't feel so far away anymore and AQC will be here in a flash. I can't wait - but I do have to finish Lily Rose first so that I can display it at the show!

As you can see, I'm taking bouts in cooling off my fingers. I have a bad habit of touching the base of my iron to see if its hot. It's such a silly habit and it's something I know I shouldn't do... and do it anyway. Well, on my last day of teaching I touched a far too hot iron - one of those old seriously hot bases and scorched three fingers all at once. It's been ice water since. The worst thing is, I'm always telling people not to do it. Just like my Lily Rose Colour Run Disaster, I need to start taking my own advice!

WOW: Pesky Batting Pet Hates

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

As you read this, I'm heading off to WA for a series of classes and I'm leaving Lily Rose behind on my design table with mixed feelings. The stain is out and I'm relieved about that, but as Sally mentioned in the comments yesterday - I'm going to have to make sure that no trace of the chemical remains in the fibres where it might damage them in the long term. What can I say, I should have taken my own advice and that was certainly a reminder to me. Testing for colour fastness is always a must. Why didn't I listen?! 

Speaking of Lily Rose, yesterday I unpacked my batting in preparation for quilting when I return home next week. Do you have a pesky pet hate? I do. This is an especially pesky annoyance of mine and it happens much too frequently in my opinion. When I unroll a new bolt of batting and it has an ingrained buckle in the weave. Can you see what I mean? This isn't a crease, it's an actual fault through the batting loft, its like an overlap - it's rough, higher than the rest of the batting and generally super annoying! This is Hobbs Premium Cotton Batting and its what I'm using for Lily Rose. There are always degrees when you find this kind of fault, usually they are very minor and can be simply ignored,  but this one is lumpy and hard. I have found that batting with this kind of fault never quilts or hangs nicely, there are always issues. I really wish Hobbs had better quality control, I really don't like having to fix things before I use them. 

I'll have to cut out this fault and lose quite a bit of batting doing so. And I just don't think I should have to. It's really annoying.

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up