Touchdown at the Newest Bluestocking Inn. Pudding, cups of tea, the vegetable garden coming into its own, and gerbils beautiful gerbils all furry.

[DeanElderberry]

All females welcome for intelligent discourse and non-harmful comestibles.

Is it for hand or m/c quilting? I'm fascinated by the videos of women working those new-fangled ones; I'm never sure how much is automatic.

We had some very elegant sewing rooms installed in the Bluey at one point. I'll try to find the pics. Who knows where the rooms actually are.

Ah, here we are. In the nor-nor-west wing, ground floor, just past the Battenburg factory & the capybaras-only (protected characteristic exemptions apply) swimming pool & fitness suite.

You're very welcome to use them if you wish, Angle.

It'll be fine. Rain at yours at 4.22pm.

Well, our rain finally arrived at Glenda's third predicted time of 1345. The good news is that all my washing was dry by that time and I've just finished ironing it all.

The bad news is that my iron blew up, just as I was doing the last item, tripping the circuit breaker in the process. So tomorrow I'm off into town to find a new iron. 🙄

Hope your washing dried without incident @Boiledbeetle

The map puzzles look interesting, will be looking for one. I love maps, especially for leisure journeys, although I do use satnav to pinpoint addresses in towns and cities.

Pot of tea and a cream scone please gerbils. I'll be in the garden room🌷🌺🌸

Oh, lovely, thanks! If only I had a room like one of these!

The frame is one for hand quilting, so the backing is attached, batting/wadding laid on top, then the quilt top. The whole thing is held together by tension in the frame , and you work on about 24-30" of the quilt at a time, rolling it up and re-tensioning as you work. But the quilter normally has to learn how to quilt in all directions, which is going to be new for me.

A special, handmade frame with French linen strapping is not essential (you can make your own out of 2 by 4s and some C-clamps, and a few trestles), but it sure would be nice!

I'd like the sort of quilting frame where you throw everything at it & it quilts it for you. 😂

I have no idea how machine, long-arm quilting frames work, but I do know that there are places where you can send them your half-finished quilt and they will machine quilt it and bind/border it as well!

So if all you love is the fabric and the piecing, you can have someone else finish it quickly for you.

I love the fabric, and the end result, but piecing complicated designs does my head in. I'm not great at quilting, but I refuse to pay someone else to do what I can do for myself with a bit more knowledge and patience!

Hate doing borders so most of my edges are "butted".

Oh, I'd be interested to hear which iron you settle for. I have a very very very old iron which will die someday soon, with my luck. Most of what I've read online complains about very short power cords which can make ironing difficult.

Amen to that!

One of my craft group friends has a long-arm quilter. She makes elaborate and beautiful quilts herself, but also quilts and finishes ones using other people's pieced tops.

I know what Hamlet meant when he said “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,”

I'm sure he was including long-arm quilting frames in that - I never knew such things existed until this very moment😄
Every day a school day at the Bluey!

Well, my current one is a Tefal, which is about 12 years old, so it certainly doesn't owe me anything. I'll have a look on-line then go and see a few before I decide. Fortunately, I won't have any more ironing to do for a few days😀

I have a Phillips, which has been going strong since probably 1994 (yikes). But I don't do a lot of ironing, I prefer to just hang my clothes as neatly as I can, and who cares about any remaining wrinkles. Especially since I no longer need to look smart for work. But I do need the iron for the quilting.

ps. the frame also means no basting/tacking necessary, which saves time and your fingers/back

The queen-sized quilt I am currently working on (in addition to two other smaller ones) took nearly a whole day of being on my hands and knees tacking it so I could lift it off the floor and then roll it up, using my ironing board to support it while I basted! My hands and back hurt so much after that, I was determined to get a frame.

I currently have no tables (except for my sewing machine) so have to work on the floor. Last time I dismantled my sewing room, I sold everything.. That was a mistake.

I have just realised that I have read @AngleofRepose 's username as Angel of Repose!! I had been thinking that was such a lovely name too 😄
Oops
I was always pretty good at comprehension at school and wish I'd pursued English to degree level. Wound up following a completely different career

Oh, that would be a nice username! I thought for a moment that perhaps I had spelled it incorrectly.

It's an engineering term, I believe, and lifted from one of my fav books, by Wallace Stegner. To me, it means something slightly different, but loosely relates to how much I am willing to put up with before I break.

The electrician has finished the job!

I had to go out at 2.15 and apparently he took till 3pm. So an all day job. I'm picking up two outdoor boxes with smartplugs and extension leads from Screwfix tomorrow so we will have lovely lights tomorrow night.

I’d been misreading it too and thinking you were a pal of the sleep and dream gerbils.😂
But the actual term really is pretty apt for how you mean it - how high can I pile this stuff before it slips?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_repose

Hurray!

Going back to an earlier topic, I’d love a non-naff water feature but any I’ve liked have either been quite complicated or exquisitely expensive.

Maybe on Temu? 😄

This is true. Average prices are about £250. The posh ones are closer to £700.

'Angle of repose' from engineering reminds me of the urban planning term for unofficial paths that people make, e.g. a short cut across a green to a bus stop - 'paths of desire'

Likewise!

And Marię, yes, it was meant to be irrigating. Though there are farmers I know who refer to it 'the irritation' - 'See you later - got to pop along and sort out the irritation!'

I had a hospital appointment today (minor, irritating, recurrent issue) and got there early, expecting to spend 10 minutes or so circling the carpark like a charter flight over Gatwick on an August afternoon. And indeed, on arrival at least half a dozen cars were doing exactly that, so I resigned myself. Then, just as the Tesla in front of me moved a few yards along, the car in the space it had just passed began to pull out. Tesla carried on trundling, oblivious to the drama in his wake, as the woman pulling out gave me a beaming smile and a jolly wave. I returned both and zipped into the slot. AND my appointment was 2 minutes early, and very efficiently and thoroughly dealt with by two lovely nurses and a very pleasant doctor.

I'd better sort out dinner. It's my turn this evening and I've got to be out by 6.30.