Newcastle

March 6, 2011

I guess it must be time to catch you up with my adventures in Newcastle. I've been pretty busy working and sightseeing so I've not had much chance to blog. I wasn't sure what to expect from Newcastle, but I wasn't expecting the lovely bridges and waterfront. While driving to my hosts house I cam across one of them and avoided being distracted by the others by a very small margin. It really does look wonderful.
I've included pictures of the mileneum bridge, both at night and sunset. There are lots of impressive churches, but for me the large tower with the the arhes at the top is the winner. The cathederal had the better windows and doors though so do you suppose they would let me blend the two?The Sage building is odd. It's a big silver slug by the river. I like it, but I can see how some might not. At night the windows give it the look of a ship which is rather nice. The really impressiv views are from inside it. Despite being a very modern building it feels very welcoming and is a good place to relax with a drink and watch the river. The food looked good too.The last two pictures are from the regional day, Linzi Upon and her quilted yurt. The poor group had trouble getting a venue big enough to contain the yurt, and when they managed it it had a freshly varnished floor. So what? Well a yurt has wooden lattice wall panels that slip really well on a shiny surface and that makes putting it up very ticky. She managed it, and you have to admit it's impressive and very imposing. The whole yurt had come down from Scotland in her Landy. Well technically in and on. We found her packing antics entertaining enough to photograph. Sorry Linzi, but you are the only quilter who's talk taked longer to pack than mine. It's bulkier and weighs more too!Today was teaching and so is tomorrow, so I will leave this here and try and get some sleep. Early mornings really don't suit me.

York

March 5, 2011

Sorry this has taken so long to post, I've been having trouble with electronics this weekend. Not only did my sat nav stop working, and my laptop start playing up but my phone doesn't seem to be holding a charge very well.I arrived in York with a couple of hours to look around. The park and ride system is very good it delivers you right into the town center and has guides and maps available on them. This was the first time I had made it to York and the first thing that struck me was how many old buildings there were. It really is very picturesque. The signage was pretty good and with the map from the bus finding Jorvik was easy. It's a nice attraction but smaller than I expected. They are about to add some new galleries so it may be better next time I am in the area.From there I tred to get to the Barley Hall. That was harder. The maps aren't as clear as they could be and smaller attractions get less signs. Even whenI had found the right street it wasn't easy. I got the impression more that once that you were only supposed to approach things in one direction. Still it was well worth the effort. It is the timbered building in the photographs. I loved the great hall and the spinning wheels all around the house.After too short a trip around York I headed back to the van and on to my talk. What an audience, they were great at hecking and interacting with me. A small but very friendly bunch who helped me pack very quickly. Then I headed to that nights parking. Without the sat nav I was worried about finding my host. She old me the story of the route and even on very dark lanes I found her road quite easily and she spotted me and showed me into her drive. It's amazing how much shelter a hadge can give and I got a very cozy night. Boy was getteing up hard.The next morning I was in a different hall teaching Art Quilts by Numbers. 20 students around one huge table (OK made of several smaller tables). They wored well with many of them getting to the quilting stage. Lots of people took photos so hopefully I will have more to share later.Now I am in Newcastle, today was the regional day, but more about that later. Now I aught to get some sleep.

I knew it would happen

March 3, 2011

When we got the van I saw the potential for it to make the where am I feeling when waking up more complex and today it finally managed it. Admitedly it was aided by a dream that said I was somewhere else. Fortunately the M1 reminded me quite quickly that I am at Leicester Forest services. They are a nice services, but the M1 never becomes quiet (well not here at least). Before I get to involved with todays plan I guess I should explain the lack of posts while I was home. You may remember I hnad some problems with my longarm which was serviced just before the last trip. Well that left me with a huge backlog which I have almost cleared now. I've been quilting as many hours a day as possible and then running around to get the quilts back to their owners. Can't tell you how good it is to not have them all looking at me. Todays picture is opne of the quilts that has just gone back. It belongs to one of my students and I just love it.While I have been quilting Tet has been typesetting patterns and cutting kits. This trip I am teaching art quilts by numbers twice so the cab is full of supplies.There has been some exciting news since the last tour. I will be responsible for filling the gallery at Quiltfest next year. I am quite excited and assuming I keep on top of the longarming I should have a couple of mew pieces for the show. I will also be taking the longarm with me, so if you would like to see me at work plan to be in Wales the beginning of Feb next year.Back to today. I am sitting in the services admiring the car park that is the M1 south and eatinmg my porridge. Starbucks porridge isn't great but it's not terrible either. Tonight I am giving a talk in York and as I have some time to kill I thought I would take the chance to visit Yorvik. It's somewhere I've been meaning to go for years and as I am in the area it seems rude not to. I suppose I had better stop typing start eating and head off.

Ironbridge, Ledbury, sleeeeeeeeeeep

February 18, 2011

I’ve never been to Ironbridge and there was no way I was going to miss out on a visit as I was in the area. However as you may have gathered things were conspiring against me. Each day I had a plan something changed. When I woke up early on Wednesday morning and saw sun, I knew I had one last chance and I was going to take it.  The sun didn’t last. The first part of the journey from Tewksbury was lovely then the fog appeared. Just what you want on unfamiliar roads (narrow windy roads) in an elderly motorhome with poor lights. Oh well, it’s still better the the torrential rain. I also discovered that the sat nav doesn’t entirely work in the area, but it got me close enough to follow the road signs, which are excellent. The first picture I took from the van in the carpark. This is actually as I was about to leave as when I arrived the fog was lower and the bridge was quite hard to see. I may be sad (OK I AM sad) but I was thrilled to see the bridge even covered in fog.

It was however cold. Very cold, so I decided not to spend too much time in the town. I did have to have a little wander around though so I had an excuse to cross the bridge a couple of times. I think February was the perfect time to visit. It may have been cold and foggy but there was just one tourist in town. Me!  The river may look calm in the picture, but trust me it was moving at quite a pace.

I only had a couple of hours in the area so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to see all the attractions in the gorge (I think there are 10 museums in the area) but I was determined to make it the Blists Hill Victorian town. Fortunately it was open as Thursday it was closed to have the roads resurfaced. For once a close call that was just in my favour. It did mean that the town was full of workmen and some areas were quite hard to access. When I bought my ticket I was told the foundry would be casting at 11, which gave me the framework for my visit. Please excuse the quality of the pictures. They are taken at low resolution on my mobile phone through a window into a dark room with bright spots. Not exactly ideal conditions.

The first one shows the metal being poured into the bucket that is then used to fill the moulds. The children watching were all amazed by the ‘liquid fire’. It’s a good description even when you know it is molten metal. It is so alive and magical, pictures do not do it justice. Next time I will have to try and get video but I’m not convinced that will really capture it either.

In the next picture you can see the long rows of moulds ready to be filled. Most of them make one item but a few do have two smaller pieces in. The ones smoking are already full. They are just sand that has been moulded into shape with a wooden base.

Two men carry the bucket of molten iron over to the moulds and pour. I would say it took about 20 minutes to fill every mould in the room.

I then went for a walk around the town. The dressmaker is just across the road from the foundry and I loved chatting to her about corsets and sewing machines. On the counter she has the cutest little chainstitch machine, just as well it wasn’t for sale. A little further up the road is the chipped potato shop. I liked the friers more than the chips unfortunately. It turns out I like my potatoes cooked in oil not beef fat. Who would have thought it.

A little further on is the sweet shop. I really enjoyed being able to buy sweets by the quarter again. As previously noted, I am sad very very sad, and quite proud of it. With a bit of effort I managed to make my way right to the far end of the town, despite the workman’s best efforts. The candle maker was fascinating, as was the chemist. I never managed to catch the baker with bread, but maybe next time. I did find it a little disturbing how many products they had that I had been looking for. It seems I can shop easier in a Victorian town than a modern one. I’ve often suspected I was in the wrong era.

After the walk I headed back to the foundry where they were unmoulding the castings. To do that they grab the mould by the wooden base and fling the sand and casting onto a heap of sand. Then you dig for your casting, with a hammer. Hitting the casting scatters the sand very quickly then you can retrieve the item. Most of them weren’t as hot as the one in the picture, but of course that meant they didn’t show as well in the photo. This one is a bell door stop. To separate items that are moulded in pairs the casting is dropped on the floor. I was surprised that it only ever seemed to break where they wanted it to. I guess it must sometimes go wrong, but not often enough to merit spending longer on separating the parts. Yes I did buy a few pieces while I was there. It’s surprising how cheap they are.

Just after lunch I had to leave and head for my last booking on the tour in Ledbury. By this time the weather had cleared and it was a nice drive. Well except for the slightly creative route the sat nav came up with. It found me a bridge to cross, with a height limit, weight limit and width limit all of which I failed, and it really liked the idea a lot. I decided to drive in a different direction until it gave up on that idea. By failing to spot my hosts house I accidentally ended up in a craft gallery. Fortunately the lady looking after the gallery didn’t see me as a potential customer or I would have come home with a sculpture of a horse that I really didn’t need but really did want.

After being plied with coffee, dinner, a private quilt show and a dog (a very very handsome dog) we headed for the venue for the talk. Typically after saying how important parking was at a venue, the whole county had decided to park in the area, but after a bit of shuffling back and forth (with all the really heavy stuff) a space did free up close to the venue which made reloading a lot easier. Setting up was a giggle, largely due to the number of friendly faces in the audience. Lots of the ladies from Leominster had made good on their promise and come for the talk, and were keen to help wherever they could. I don’t know if I was on form or if it was just the perfect audience for me, but the talk seemed to go down very well with a lot of laughs and groans in all the right places. I think I need to take this group with me to lead the other audiences. On the other hand perhaps they should worry that they share my sense of humour. I should also say they make them tough here, my helper made it though the talk without flagging and trust me, some of the last quilts in the talk are heavy.

Packing up was almost as much fun as setting up, and before I knew it the van was loaded and I was on my way. I had decided to aim to get to Oxford services as it’s a long drive to start at 10pm especially after a week on the road. I got lucky though, I followed a lorry for most of the way to Oxford which I find a great help when they are going about the speed I want to. They show me what the road is doing ahead of me and they are someone else on the road. It seems to convince my brain that this is a normal and reasonable thing to be doing whatever the time of night. I did stop at Oxford but after a snack and a drink decided I was fine to head on. By 2am I was home, and bribing my cats. I assure them that I only go away to bring them food so I figure it is a good idea to come back with treats. They seem to agree.

Since then I have taught two regular classes and caught up on some sleep. I’ve discovered I sleep very well in the van but not so much in strange buildings, be they hotels or houses, so I was due some catch up. To be honest I could still use some more sleep, but there are quilts waiting and a class tomorrow, so it will be a few days before I am quite back to normal. That said, I can’t wait to go back There really is no pleasing some people is there

Wales, speed 4 and Oakshot

February 15, 2011

I can't be sure but I suspect tonights pictures will be in reverse order but hopefully you will be able to figure it out. The rain has stayed with me the last two days but the people I've met have more than made up for it. My satnav seems to really not get on with Wales. i am doing better now I know I have to change country before it will find places but it still has phases of refusing to talk to me and on the way to Cibi quilteres it kept exagerating how long it would take to get there, so I didn't dare stop for photos which is a real shame. The ones I have are from the house I stayed in last night. It was snuggled in a valley with hills/mountains all round. I couldn't get a picture of the other ones as someone had parked a motorhome in front of them ;)During the day yesterday we worked on Speed 4. As you can see the ladies made great progress. I should be able to put up some more pictures soon. Even those who thought they would keep up and those having bad days achieved a lot. We also did a lot of laughing. It's just as well i have this evening off to rest my voice. As well as the enthusiastic quilting the refreshments were great. Apparently this was the last time the group would be meeting in this venue but I am quite sure their new venue will be great. I can't imagine that group having meetings without good food.Overnight I was with one of the members and I was spoilt rotten. I was a bit worried about it. I really like spending time in my van as it means I can relax and recharge, but I guess bribary and corruption works as well on me as anyone. Roast dinner, with pigs in blankets, a cat and a selection of quilts was quite a bribe. More than that it was inspiring. I haven't been this excited about an idea in about a year. I hope some of you will join me in the South of France in September to hear all about it.Today was my talk for Cibi quilters and lunch with them, see what I mean about the refreshments They had chosen my art quilts talk. That took a bit of thinking about as I don't get to do it that often. It was nice to have the change, and it means I get to talk about different quilts. The group were a great audience and very enthusiastic about everything, I really hope I will get to come back here sometime.Loading up, was made very quick and easy by many hands who did things exactly as I asked, thank you. Leaving me lots of time to go and play. It had been suggested that I could go to Abbergaveny market, but as I said there was a lot of rain. Or I could visit Doughtys who were having a sale. Both were trumped by Oakshot. I hadn't realised they were in the area but after seeing a lady use their fabrics for speed 4 I had to visit their shop. Yes my cunning plan does involve their fabrics. I am so pleased I chose to go to them. I was greeted with a cup of tea, jasmine tea no less and a box of biscuits. As you can see there are also lovey displays of their fabrics and kits. All of which I would guess are on their website. I not only got the fabrics I was looking for but also some interesting wadding. It's a bamboo but not like any I've seen before. I can't wait to try it. I also have an interfacing to play with, I'll let you know how I get on. After a tour of the warehouse I headed to my hotel. It's the same one I stayed at on the 11th. So I thought I would be having pizza again. However there isn't Pizza Hut here. I did wonder if I was just being daft but no. They are renweing the services here. Wimpy and Pizza Hut have gone and will be replaced by McDonalds and the Hot Food Co. In the meantime you have to eat at the only remaining food place. They wouldn't have been my first choice but the food was very good. I wonder if being the only option means a higher turnover and thus better food. Whatever it was good. Now I think it's time for a quick bath and then some writing.

Quiltfest

February 13, 2011

Today the pictures are the lake at my campsite, which is lovely and the river near Quiltfest. I made it to the show quicker than I expected although the weather really didn't help. Surprisingly there was only one really steep hill on the route too. With a little help from Tet I found where I should be and found somewhere to park. I'm glad I made it as there were a lot of familiar faces there and I got to catch up with a lot of friends. I think I might have gained a few new ones too. Of course I had to do a little bit of shopping but with most of the traders only taking cash it kept me restrained. A couple of fabrics with silver on and some kimono fabrics from Susan Briscoe. She did have some full bolts which I would haved loved for making clothes, but I managed to resist this time.Now I am finishing the day as I started it. Snug in bed in my van. I really love it. I've had a very nice evening sewing and watching Mobey Dick. I wasn't that taken with the film but it wasn't taxing so worked well to sew to. I also played with the oven some more. I managed to make a very hot cottage pie with an unbrowned top but figured out how to heat a tinned pudding in it. I think I need to spend more time in here cooking. Next stop Cibi quilters, see you in the morning folks.

Weather

It looks like th weather has found me again. I've woken up to heavy rain. Ironbridge looks a lot less appealing now. In fact getting up looks a lot less appealing. I guess I should do something though and the quilts are at least indoors.

Leominster

February 12, 2011

Another early morning and off to Leominster. I've been to the Malvern quilt show several times but never explored the area. I've missed out. The area is lovely especialy in the early morning. I really should have stopped and taken some pictures, but I was enjoying the drive and before I knew it I was at the hall. It turns out I was also in the area where a lot of my friends from the show scene live. It's always fun to catch up with people I generally see once or twice a year. Oddly this group had booked the same workshop as Vectis quilters on the Isle of Wight. It was strange to be teaching the same class two days running. It was interesting how differently the two groups approached the class. The finished designs always vary a huge amount, but now I think there may be a regional variation too. After a busy morning lunch appeared as if by magic. Another group member brought homemade soup, bread and cheese. I'm not sure what sort of soup it was other than very very good. That was followed by chocolate brownie. Oh and there were homemade biscuits for the coffe breaks too. Desoite the best efforts of the catering to distract everyone a lot of work got done too. The pictures are from the afternoon tea break. It wasn't planned but the group had good radar for a boiling kettle. I promise there was a full class and they all left with well progressed quilt tops. I hope they might share some pictures when they finish them.After the workshop I went in search of my campsite. It's funny but an hours drive in unfamiliar teritory seems a lot longer than the same time journey that you know. i guess it must be a matter of concentration or something. Still with the great views and good weather (sorry IOW) it was lovely. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said of the site. It's the most I've ever paid for 30 minutes parking. On the other hand I am now on a wonderful site. My only problem is I can't believe the whole of this pitch is mine. It's even cheaper than the one I had booked. I feel welcomed and safe. Dinner was good, although I need more practice with the oven and I can now relax with a drink some sewing and a dvd or two. Fantastic. Tomorrow Ironbridge. From talking to todays students I don't think I will have time to get the Quiltfest as well. If you are going have a great time.

IOW and back

February 11, 2011

I'm back, sorry I didn't blog while I was there time and signal didn't come together. As it turned out that was quite a good thing. As you can see from the grey photo the Isle of Wight wasn't exactly welcoming. We only manged to see the islan a few minutes before being told to retun to our cars. Grey wet and foggy in patches. Still it was somewhere different and I was going to have fun. I hadn't had time for breakfast so lunch was quite high on my adgenda and as I was on ans island (OK a smaller island) I though fish and chips was a good idea. First find a town, Newport seemed close, so that's where I headed and looked for parking. In short, don't. Motorhomes are not welcome and cars only seem to just be tolerated. With the van still playing up in a strange place all I wanted was to park up and take a break, easier said than done, but I did find a park and ride near Cowes. Great, there must be a chip shop there… yes but not an open one. I did eventually find one and they were really good, but by then I was very wet. Still food and tea make everything look better and exploring seemed like a good plan again. Unfortunately each place I though might be open in the winter was down a road with a 6'6" width limit. Hmm, time to give up and head to a quilter. Who is also down a restricted road. I decided I had to go anyway and actually it wasn't a problem. I can only assume the intention is to discourage motorhomes and caravans as locals know which roads they can use.We spent a very nice afternoon drinking tea in front of a wood burning stove. Muh better than walking about in the rain. We were joined for dinner by another member of the group which turned out to be very lucky. At the venue we discover that it had another carpark I didn't fit in although I was lucky enough to park very close to the front door also pretty lucky. I realised after I got set up that I had forgotten to change, maybe I was a bit distracted by the van which was getting worse each time I drove it. The audience were great and really filled the hall, but in the back of my mine was the fact that I had a lot more miles to do and no way to do it. We made it home safely and after a night cap headed to bed. For all it's faults I do love the van. I could sit and relax with my radio and work on my rug while I tried to come up with a plan. Lovely. The plan was to try the local mechanic as recommended by last nights dinner guest. Of course with an older slightly obscure vehicle I wasn't expecting much, but anything was worth a go. The van was delivered to the mechanic and me to the hall by my very capable host so by the time I started the workshop I was organised and relaxed. The workshop was a lot of fun, hopefully for the group as well as me. I can't say everything went smoothly but I think all the issues were dealt with. Fortunately the gruop had a good sense of humour and aren't easly detered from enjoying their quilting. Everyone made good progress with their tulips and hopefully I will be ab;e to share some pictures soon. In the afternoon I got an update on the van. The mechanic was happy that there was no serious fault and indeed on the way to him I had noticed the burning smell seemed to have reduced. Still after the problems I might not have trusted that result but for the fact he happened to be a Bedford CF expert! What are the odds? See I said that dinner guest was lucky. She was also kind enough to deliver me back to my van after the class. I am now in a hotel near my next booking. The van has been fine and I am now looking forward to the rest of the trip. I think what will stay with me from the Isle of Wight are the people. Everyone I dealt with from supermarket staff to the port to the quilters were exceptionally friendly and helpful. The place (and the councils) were so unwelcoming, but because of the people I am looking forward to a return trip. Thank you all, and please do send me pictures of your finished work.