On Quiltkarussel Podcast

Ten days ago I was guest of Emanuela Jeske in her German language podcast on quilting, patchwork and sewing. We had recorded the session a week in advance. We had first been in touch when the SAQA Europe/Middle East "Orient Express" started rolling through Europe, and the group had thought it would be nice to have a feature there, but that didn't work out for various reasons. Emanuela and I had been writing back and forth, and at some point she suggested that the two of us do that particular episode together. Which I reclined because I was not one of the people who had been overly active in the organisational matters of the Orient Express. But as my exhibition is coming up now I had agreed that we do a session on that occasion. Here is the link to the episode, as I said, in German only, sorry to non-German-speakers: https://quiltkarussell.podigee.io/92-uta-lenk

It was fun to talk to Emanuela, whom I had met briefly in person in May at the Guild's Patchworktage in Meiningen. We had not agreed on any topics beforehand, and I was simply answering her questions on the spot. Which worked well, and I think it was much more natural than if we had pre-arranged any topics.

 Tomorrow I will start hanging the exhibition and have just gone through my list of "do I have enough rods to hang them all"? 

 

Of course I don't, but shops are open on Saturday mornings, so I can still get some. And it will be another entire week before the opening, so if something is still missing, there will be time to get it.

Actually, I would have really liked to show the quilt that is currently the header for the blog, "Everyone has the right", which has just been on display at Birmingham with SAQA's Forced to Flee. But it hasn't returned yet and Bill Reker had not been too optimistic that the turnover of the exhibition coming back from UK to SAQA shipping centre would be fast enough to get it back to me before the exhibition opens. Well, there is still another week.

Teaching, sort of.

 On the day that the pool closed, and while I was on my way home from work to go to the pool for one last joyous swim of the season, my new car was hit by a guy pulling out of a parking spot on the central square in town. Looks like not a lot of damage, but the cost is going to be close to what we paid as downpayment for the leasing contract. Was I glad that we have booked full coverage. Trying not to think about it, nor fret, after all it is only material damage. But he didn't look when pulling back, trusted his beeper - "It didn't beep!", his words, I mean, how incompetent can you be? 

When I came back from the dealer to have the damage assessed I passed this cornfield, and the glittering of the sun on the dewdrops in the spider web caught my eye. Might as well stop along the road for this little precious moment!

 

After that I cashed in on the final part of my bargaining capital when I changed jobs, I went on a four-day spree to ‘teach’ a workshop at the Petersberg Catholic Community College where I have been going for many years now. (Normally, new beginners on the job don’t get vacation time during the first six months of employment, but as I said that otherwise I wouldn’t start until later, if at all, if I could not fulfill this commitment, I was granted that span of four free days.)

As always, lots of room for the participants, long hours of
sewing, and we don't have to do any chores, we can sit down for meals,
the only thing we have to do is put the dirty dishes on a little cart
so they can be brought back into the kitchen...

 

The group that attends this workshop at Petersberg has pretty much developed into an experienced patchwork group of its own, they don’t exactly need my teaching expertise anymore. 

Several years in the making, now finally finished -
a quilt by the youngest participant, who had started this when she was 15.

 

It’s mostly the same people, with little alterations, but they keep coming back and enjoying themselves in the wonderful setting and fortuitous conditions on site. And this time we took the liberty to call the ‘workshop’ a UFO-session. 

 

Definitely a UFO, it had been at Petersberg at least three
times before it finally got its binding this time around.

The gathering always needs a title because it gets published in the annual catalogue which lists all the classes being offered at the community college, but except for the fact that I could offer little suggestions or pieces of advice every once in a while I didn’t have to teach as such. 

Last year I had shown the pattern of "Burgoyne Surrounded", on which I
did a series of designs for the members of the German Patchwork Guild
on the website, and Iris had actually turned it into a quilt.
Inspired it its colors, she says, by a visit to Finland in winter.

And Iris then proceeded to cut up lots of old jeans from her
extended family and turned them into a finished quilt in no time at all, no UFO alarm here!

 It was noticeable that this time around they were very chat-oriented, more so than usual. But isn't it understandable? The first time without masks when leaving the table, conditions that seemed almost normal (while the prognoses are again dire for the winter season).

Lovely days of leisurely sewing amongst a group of nice like-minded people! I got to finish my piece for 20 Perspectives challenge that will be revealed tonight/tomorrow.

 

Seven weeks lost.

 We have been living in this small town for just over 17 years now. From the very beginning I knew that the open air pool is THE highlight of the town. (By now I know it is the only highlight, but...) When we moved here, my son was 11 weeks old and I would take him in the baby carriage, park him on the side of the pool, with enough distance, and swim for a while, look out whether his feet were still appearing every once in a while when I was on a turn. After a few weeks that life guard would do a little baby sitting if I happened to be there with only few visitors. Ever since I have made it a point to take my first plunge on the first day of opening, usually during the first days of May), and go as frequently as possible. Definitely when it is raining, because then I will have the pool to myself.

This year I was off to a good start, had gone frequently and was in pretty good swimming shape, but when I caught the virus that stopped, of course. Couldn't go while I was still tested positive, and couldn't go afterwards because I was too weak. When I went back to work I just could not muster any energy in the evenings to dive in. After we returned from vacation it took me a couple of days to get back into a bit of a routine with driving to work, running all the errands that needed taking care of, but now I have gone back to the pool. Of course, by now the season is almost over. I started back middle of this past week, but they will close a week earlier this year than usually because of some renovations. So in the end I probably won't have had the full worth of my season's pass, as I missed out on seven weeks of swimming.  That is a big disappointment. But I am trying to console myself by telling me I should be happy that I am swimming again without any respiratory problems or other post-Covid symptoms as you hear from so many people.

So when I have time I am working on the 'Nature' prompt for 20 Perspectives.

I have cut up a piece of hand-printed fabric that was never much of a success, but that is fitting in perfectly for the arrangement here.

And I am planning where to hang which quilt in my upcoming exhibition. Two days ago I received the floor plan. In the end I think I will be able to hang more quilts than I calculated, but because of the location it might not be very orderly. I have to make do with whatever width of hanging space available in sometimes odd places, and it might be a bit of a jumble. I have decided to not be bothered by this.

It is a solo exhibition in a museum.