Thursday 14 October 2021

Oops I did it again

 Well, Gentle Readers, I've done it.  I've resigned from the day-job at the Big Bank, and I probably won't be going back, well not to that one, anyway.  Things have been ...interesting... and I took a break in February to support The Elusive Mr Golightly while he went through some really unpleasant medical stuff... but we're coming out the other side now, and I'd decided that I didn't need to go back to the office.  Having a purpose that pays is good, but it's just as good to just have a purpose.  

Anyhoo, plans change, right?  I got a call in mid-August that sounded intriguing, and basically I was offered my dream job, with hours & salary entirely my call.  Was I interested?  To be honest, apart from all the medical shit, I was very happy being retired.  I had the usual days of lockdown blah, but I've deliberately given myself lots to do so I didn't ever get bored, and I had lots and lots of things on my to-do list for when we got out of lockdown... but an opportunity like this doesn't come along every day.

I worked for this company a few years ago, enjoyed it very much & was quite sad when my contract finished & they decided to rework the structure to eliminate my role.  Funny that here we are four years later & they've been told they need the role back to be really effective.  Hah.  Coulda told 'em.

Anyhoo, I didn't even have to go for an interview; when the guy in charge heard I was available, he just said "offer her the role"...  and so hopefully I'll be starting next week.  

In other news, I've rescued a quilt, with help from the fabulous Jayne Rennie at Quilting Finesse (@quiltingfinesse on Instagram).  My mother made me this quilt as a doona cover in 1988 (as you did then???), and I think it was one of the first she made, because to be honest, it was pretty rough - within a year the seams had started to split, the stitch size was tiny (1.4mm?), there were various coloured cotton threads, and the colours weren't my thing at all, but it was made by my mother, for me, for Christmas, so I didn't feel I could just dump it!  As time went by, and I acquired more, beautiful, better made quilts made for me, in colours of my choice, this one ended up further and further towards the back of the cupboard.  We don't have a doona/duvet, instead using quilts layered to give us the perfect amount of warmth.  So it became redundant, and was relegated to an ugly ball in the back of the linen cupboard.

Cue Lockdown!  I had a big tidy-up of the linen cupboard, and took a pile of worn out sheets & towels to the textile recycling bin, and rediscovered the quilt.  First job was to remove the sheet that was the back of the doona cover. and then have a look at the blocks.  Most of them were stitched onto old hospital pillow cases (did I mention My Lovely Ma was a nurse?  Never let a chance go by oh lord):



Then I had to work out how to remove the bulk of the backing without compromising the integrity of the blocks... in some cases the seams were so tiny (1/16") that the whole block had to be taken apart & restitched.  I also ditched the entire strippy border, but I did manage to salvage some bits of that for another project.  Then I squared all the blocks up & made them a standard size, then I restitched it together using a tiny sprigged print in a rich cream... totally my mother.



Then I took it up to Jayne Rennie at Quilting Finesse & she quilted it using the Baptist Fan pattern, and it looks amazing (if wonky (my fault, not hers!)!)!


Now I have to bind it (it's going to join the Snake Trail Surprise which is in the cupboard waiting to be bound) & I have an idea to use some French General creams & beiges to do it.  I think My Lovely Ma would be very pleased.







 


4 comments:

  1. Good grief - you told me what you were doing with this quilt but It didn’t really sink in - had no idea it was so much work. The concept of 1/16” seams makes my head hurt 😵‍💫

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  2. Wow! That is a lot of work. But must be soooo satisfying ❤️❤️❤️

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  3. Bravo 👍 The year has had some strange twists and turns hasnt it.

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  4. Happy new job! And happy new old quilt - what a labour of love this has been, both by your ma and you. I shall find some appropriate pompoms for when it’s bound. Feel free to Furtle with us at the end of the month if you fancy, the link up will be on my blog on the 31st.

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