From the editor's desk

Eleven issues down, one to go - I'm in the final days of editing/producing the newsletter for Contemporary Quilt and then must step down and hand over the reins. 

At this stage, with almost every page filled and most proofs of their articles sent to authors, I resort to lots of little lists. Things can get lost in the files, and I can easily forget that some vital information hasn't arrived yet. 

And - more than a week after "copy date", people are still sending in articles: "Hope it's not too late..." No, it's never too late - at worst, the article can be held over till the next issue. If it's time-sensitive, someone else's article gets bumped, with an apologetic email and sincere regret (I want everyone to be happy!).

At this stage, my desk starts to fill up with lists on tiny bits of paper, in ever tinier writing - as if the tidiness entailed in making the writing legible would somehow make me feel more organised ... maybe that does work at some subconscious level. I do have A List on the computer, a very primitive content management system - it's not a huge publication, after all - but at this stage I like to review the issue, and my (hopefully) carefully tagged emails, and "get it all together". So that nothing gets lost or forgotten.

(The silent helpers are Donky Hohti, who was once part of Tony's "yet another animal that Margaret gave me (why?)" collection, and Sailor Whale - an offcut of a toy (now lost) that I made for my infant son from a scrap of wood, using a jigsaw to cut out a sailor who could climb up a rope - how to make an easier, though less durable, version of that toy is here.)

To get back to the intricacies of newsletter production, I've compiled a "how I do it" list for my successors, who may be using different software. Here are the bare bones:

- without contributions from the members, there can be no newsletter - the editor must encourage them to write articles, and it's helpful to suggest topics both to the group and to individuals

- simplicity is the key to a "contemporary" look for the magazine 

- we don't republish articles or information that people will get in The Quilter or their regional newsletter, unless it is very important to CQ members to know about something

-  the aim is to present the contributor's work in the best way possible, so it's ok to shorten articles and to edit photos. Show the contributor the article before publication, ie as a proof, so they can check if anything important has been left out and that no gremlins/typos have got in during the editing process

- proofreading - ask around for volunteers. The coordinator reads the issue but her main job is to make sure that nothing is being published that shouldn't be, eg libel or copyright violation

- adverts are not accepted - they take up space better used for articles - and reviews of exhibitions go on the website, not in the magazine (more photos are possible that way)

- Guild logo needs to be on front cover, its address/charity info must be given in each issue

- keep pages to 40 max so it can be mailed at lowest postage rate [though 44 is possible]

- issue should be with mailers before the end of the month, so it can reach CQ members at the start of the month of publication (Dec, Mar, Jun, Sep) - the printers need 10 working days so it should be with them around the 10th of the month

Next up

People have been asking, "What will you do with your spare time?" Well, the newsletter doesn't take all that much time - it's just that it's concentrated into a couple of weeks and tends to take over my mind and life. Which is why I'm so eager to get out of the house every day ... call it avoidance or call it creative procrastination, I call it "healthy activity".

So, I'll be continuing the walking in my "spare time", and if I can get past the Procrastination Barrier there are a few corners of the studio that need reclamation. I have a plan to take a different book off my well-stocked shelves every day, blow off the dust, and just dip into it - let's call that The Serendipity Project. I aim to continue blogging daily, hopefully more thoughtfully as there will(?) be more time to research. I'm toying with studying Spanish, as a way to motivate myself to travel there (or anywhere). Oh, and art - seeing lots of art, blogging about art, talking art with friends, doing more drawing, reading about art. Reading, ah yes - listening to podcasts has rather taken over from reading, especially science podcasts. And there are ever so many interesting talks, at the RI and the Wellcome, and at Gresham College, and elsewhere.

There's a lot to do, and I'm very excited about all the possibilities. But I will miss using those editing skills that took so long to amass - "what will you be editing next?", I was asked. Hmmm......

Brand name, or generic term? And why?

I recently worked on an exhibition catalogue that listed the materials and techniques of the quilts shown. One aspect of copy-editing it was to decide whether to use the brand names of the products that the contributors listed.

This was hardly a dilemma as it's totally unnecessary to do so - we weren't getting any financial contribution from the manufacturers of these products, nor were these tutorials on techniques that depended on the performance qualities of a certain product rather than something similar but not identical.

So any material that started with a capital letter got a very suspicious look. Here's my list of trade names, and the generic terms to replace them. It's not a complete list by any means.

Brusho colour - concentrated watercolour

Egyptian cotton - cotton

fabric dyed by a named company or a named individual = commercially hand-dyed fabric

Inktense pencils - water soluble ink pencils

Lutradur - non-woven polyester 

Manutex - dye thickener (Procion dyes thickened with Manutex = thickened fibre-reactive dyes)

Markal sticks – oil sticks

Pima cotton – cotton

Procion dye – fibre-reactive dye

Superior Razzle Dazzle thread (or any named thread) = thread

Thermofax screens – screens

Transfoil – transfer foil

Xpandaprint – expandable printing medium

One that gave me trouble was

Angelina - heat bondable fibres? synthetic fibres? (some are not heat bondable)

Any suggestions?

In the art-gallery world, labels for drawings, prints, and photographs seem more and more to be stating the type, ie manufacturer, of paper used. No doubt different papers have different qualities, but you don't see "2B pencil" or "Golden watercolours" along with "Hannemuhle archival paper". I cynically wonder whether this is a kickback to the paper manufacturer, in return for a bit of generosity towards the artist. But maybe it's just the artist or gallery being reassuring to their customers that the artwork is made with best quality materials?

Page layout

In recent days - getting on for weeks! - I've been distracted from art pursuits (and serious blogging) by the need to put together a newsletter. I'm using InDesign, as it's the program I know best, and putting articles on the page hasn't been too much of a problem. Getting the articles into a cogent sequence has provided a few headaches, as it's good to have them as page spreads where possible, and starting at the top of a page if possible. This means printouts, and physical shuffling of pages, on my knees on the floor - after which, moving pages on screen is a doddle.

Although InDesign is the program I know best, there is much about it I've not yet figured out - lining up columns of text, for instance, and ohdearohdear, hyperlinks. There will be a print version, without hyperlinks obviously, and also an online version: a pdf with clickable links (how luxurious is that!). Belatedly I've realised that the URLs in the print version, which import themselves as hyperlinks, contain tedious http:// and www. - which are no longer necessary when you type a URL, and on the page are just extra characters getting in the way. So out they will come, even at this late point, even though they may change the page layout slightly here or there... Before that - something I should have thought about sooner - the links all need checking. There seem to be 84 in the issue, two a page, can that be?

As quickly as the morning has gone, the afternoon will fly past as The Hyperlink Issue gets sorted.

Dawdling round town

Sometimes you have an extra hour or so, sandwiched in between two appointments, and nothing particular to do (or no energy?). The path of least resistance is to simply take your time ... look around ... notice things ... get out the camera ... go into shops....  My route took me from Primrose Hill via Camden to Bloomsbury, ending at the London Review Cake Shop, and thereafter, instead of to the Picasso linocuts exhibition at the British Museum (which hadn't opened yet, but is now on till 6 May) for more wandering in Bloomsbury and Covent Garden.

The sign outside says "Pottery" but it's been empty for a while

Ribbons on wooden spools, from Denmark (broste) - £11 for 15 metres

Local scenes on cards, for sale in the pharmacy

Big hessian mesh, 4 metres for £8.70

Stamp lust - charming, but it'll face the other way when stamped

One for the wish list, Collections of Nothing by William Davies King
(read an excerpt here)

Lovely chunky ginger stars 

Oh, bring me my editorial pencil!
Sharpen your whistle?? What next, dampen your appetite?

Charming little cups with fine grey lines, and grey inside, by Susan Disley

More fine lines at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre; these are by Nicola Tassie

Circus jewellery in one of the tempting windows of Monmouth Street

Shoes by Think, Arche, etc at Natural Shoe Store

A pleasant enough way to spend a winter's afternoon.

Just when you think it's all over...

Wanting to hand some work in before the deadline - for possibly the first time in my life - I prepared the 500-word reflective essay a week before the due date, printed it out the night before going in to college -- and forgot to collect it from the printer.

Which might be a message from the gods? Certainly in the past few days I've found a lot to revise -

And even spilled a dab of blood on it!

On retyping, yet more changes are creeping in. Will I be able to leave the new version alone ... it's a long time till Monday ...