Moving right along!

It's been busy!

What am I talking about, it's still busy, it's always busy here!

Boredom, what is that? I don't think I have ever been bored in my life, I always have something to do, I always have too much to do. Some stuff is exciting and I can't wait to get on with it, other stuff is like being stuck in a traffic jam, it causes a hold up and it feels like nothing gets done. My tactic to the 'traffic jam' stuff is to just do something that is not so exciting or more time consuming so that I can 'treat' myself by moving on to the exciting stuff! Try it, it works just push on through the more mundane, it may be office work, housework, ironing or a not so precisely pieced quilt top that is in your queue to quilt, just do something to clear the 'traffic jam'.

We had a busy few days over the past week or so with the culmination of the Hawick Common Riding 2015. The Friday was a glorious day with men only riders we set Kyle off with Willow and watched at various vantage points before the horses arrived at the Mare. It was a bit disappointing, not least for the rider who fell off and hurt himself right on the course which meant that more than 3/4 of the riders didn't get to gallop the racecourse. The cost of a hired horse for the day was £180 so not to get the thrill and cheers of the gallop must hurt a little in the wallet but it's also disappointing for horse owners too, it isn't cheap to keep a horse from one year to the next, a set of shoes cost £70, never mind tack and feed.

This quilt went home to my lovely customer Anna, it has a pieced backing and although I'm not really a fan of pieced backs, it did turn out well, my fear is that the different weaves of the various fabrics may stretch and warp and indeed the backing did sag in the middle but I don't think there were any puckers....

I used a curved ruler and freemotion feathers to pull in some of the fullness, it worked really well.

 My customer always loves the quilting so I wasn't worried.

Last Friday we made an early trip over to Selkirk for their Common Riding, we were up at 4.30am and had the horses and breakfast loaded up, we left and were ready for the ride to leave the town at 7am....Selkirk is not so civilised as Hawick whose rides are mostly in the afternoons...

Kyle and Fieron ready to muster with the other riders following the Standard Bearer....

Selkirk Standard Bearer, the ride follows hin to the top of that hill way off in the distance

Fi, Riding her first 'chase' up The Toll back into town...

I can see the light......and Langholm....

I can now see the light..... at the end of the tunnel that is! It's been a busy month, all of this lovely weather outside too.  It's a good job I don't do heat too well, my skin is too fair and sensitive so it's better and far cooler for me to be indoors working whenever possible.  It's been a while since these two quilts were returned, both the same random piecing designs, I love the rustic or country look that the stripped shirting fabric gives, it's reminiscent of ticking fabric.  Anne Bright's panto 'Surf' really softens the geometric lines....love that panto.

This wonderful hand pieced Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt is now all quilted and bound and will be travelling to Ireland very soon for the Granddaughter of my customer. This is the second quilt from this customer who is in her nineties, this was one huge quilt around 109 x 120, I also bound this one in a suitable blue fabric by machine front and back.We chose a primrose panto to mimic the shape of the hexagon flowers.

I'm still playing catch up with these 'delightful stars' blocks....here is my next grouping.......

The quilt is slowly filling up......

On Friday morning we took a few hours off to go watch the procession at Langholm Common Riding, didn't take any horses just went to watch...this is the view from the bottom of the hill...

View from the top of the hill, this is 8.30 am....that's a steep climb.... for spectators and horses with riders....

The crowds parted to let the horses gallop through and on up the hill past us.........

We stayed to watch some of the processions, it's a bit quirky. See the guy with the spade, next the Herring on a plate with a Barley Bannock, further back is the crown of roses, then further back still is the giant thistle.....yes a giant thistle...

We were home before lunch and back to work again.....such is life......

1514 AKA The Horse Quilt Hawick Common Riding 2014 ...

So, I did get my latest quilt finished. Could have been a couple of weeks earlier but, hey just in time. I've been lucky to have it hanging in town during the lead up to the 2014 Hawick Common Riding, it's been on display for a week already in one of the local high street banks (RBS). It seems to have been very well received. I popped down this morning to have my photo taken for the local newspaper The Hawick News.

The quilt measures 70"x78" cream cotton sateen with Quilter's Dream wool wadding over Hobbs 80/20 and a mixture of trilobal polyester threads by Glide and Superior. This is my own design drawn out on paper first then transferred to fabric with a blue water soluble pen.  The design and all quilting including a variety of background fills was first quilted, washed and blocked, then painted with pigment paints and Inktense pencils finishing off with a coat of fabric medium.

A bit of background.....Firstly understand that the Men of Hawick were conscripted to fight for King and country in 1513 at the Battle of Flodden, most of the Men didn't return. Only old men, young boys, women and children were left in Town.

This quilt commemorates the capture of the English flag a year later at Hornshole, nr Hawick in 1514, so this year 2014 is the Quincentenary....500 years.

I love this before and after shot of the horses head.

Had to find a place to add some feathers...

The oak leaves are worn by the riders in their lapels on the main Common Riding day in June.

The monument which is on the out skirts of town to the east commemorates the skirmish where the young boys of the town overcame a band of English Raiders and captured the English flag in 1514.

The map in the background shows all of the villages where the 'ride outs' have a halfway picnic.  These rides are kind of 'an enactment' of riding the town boundaries to check that no English have crept through.

Around the border quilted and then shadow painted is the first verse/chorus of the Hawick Ballard sung at any and all of the ceremonial events, this song has over 20 verses...no way I was going to include all of those.

Teribus Ye Teri Odin

Sons of Heroes Slain at Flodden

Imitating Border Bowmen

Aye Defend Your Rights and Common

1514 AKA The Horse....

We are now off out to watch The Cornet tie the ribbons on the horse statue in town and then up bright and early tomorrow for the big celebrations.....

To Denholm....

The past weeks have flown by, Saturday saw the last of this years Hawick Ride Outs before next weeks big celebrations. We counted 268 horses leaving via Wellogate on their way to Denholm.....

Arriving in Denholm, looks like Tessa has been up to her knees in mud...

 We had some light refreshments and waited a while....Fieron joined in with her Dad for the return ride....Kyle swapped horses and rode Willow home...

 Waiting again with refreshments

Fieron riding Bess