Making a list...

Yes, I did make a list; it helps me to maintain the illusion that I have some control and that I'm organised. And on that list, under the heading 'Patchwork' I had written "on the long finger for now". For reasons I won't go into, the next day I sewed together all the blocks for the front...and then I put it away until things are less busy. Only in the meantime, some part of my brain is having random thoughts about what to do for the back and the edges.

 

Roped in and cushioned, the ram travelled from the foundry to my house last week. 

There were some man-moments of working out how to get it in through the narrow door..

...and of course a way was worked out...

A week later, having had either the stove or the heater on all day, the plaster is still not dry enough...and after checking with the client, I have a week less than I thought to the anticipated delivery date.

The good news is that once I started sewing in a zip it all came back to me, so I feel that bit more prepared for the sewing workshop this weekend...and I have, in a very organised way, been working through the list of things to prepare.

Making progress

More from the foundry...

Patination...looks spectacular...

                   ...has to be done fast...

and the finished Hares...
...a never-to-be-repeated shot, as this is the last of them.

Remember this?

....it's now this...ready to go off to Dublin.

Making a mess...

It was a good thing the clothes I wore really were old...plastering the ram made a mess of them...and of the floor...and my camera...and anything else I touched.
 This is scrim dipped in plaster - working fast with small mixes.

The head had been finished separately...

...and fixing it to the body was a bit of an adventure. In the end we put a plastic bag inside the head and part-filled it with plaster, holding it in place until the plaster had gone off enough.

Now it needs to dry before I can do any more - the next adventure will be moving it from the foundry to my house.
Many, many grateful thanks to my son, who helped enormously with the plastering and to Seamus for giving me the space and encouragement.

So while the ram dries I have a breathing space to focus on another deadline... I allowed Shirley's enthusiasm to talk me into teaching a new sewing workshop, a follow-on to "How not to be afraid of your sewing machine"...which I've run several times.
This one is "How not to be afraid of zips, buttonholes, bias binding and piping"...HOW did I think this was a good idea??? Especially when I have never made piping, it's years (decades?) since I last sewed in a zip or used bias binding and I had to look up how to make buttonholes on my machine...and there are two weeks left before the workshop. ( I could have started this before Christmas).
First a search for some hours on the internet for ideas - for a design that would result in an object of desire. There were some printed cushions with hares..made of hessian? linen? Not able to do printed, but can do a simpler shape with applique...that was the easy bit.

Flicking between four books from the library, I eventually worked out the piping and the second attempt was good. It takes quite a while to unpick 72 inches of stitching.

Even worked out how to make the buttonholes...and after several attempts made them the right size.

On reflection, it's been a helpful experience; a reminder of how it is to be a learner, not knowing how to do something, not being competent...making a mess of it.