BLOG 445

Blog 445

 There has been NO progress on ‘Sampler in the Cabin’ and I am just including it in my blog to shame myself into doing something about it!

          Sampler in the cabin

 I found time to a haberdashery jigsaw, one of the most complex I have done for some time!

         Jigsaw

 And then it dawned on me that the Gresford show is less than 3 weeks away! I have visited the church to see what space I have for my exhibition and I have the quilts to fill it in my loft. I needed some smaller stuff however to dot around the chapel and cushions seemed like a good place to start. I like colourful backgrounds (perhaps you have noticed!) and have made them in various ways. The silhouette below was placed on a background of fused random squares; the individual shapes are difficult to pick out because the colours blend so well. This was quick and easy to do!
 

               

             Random background
 
  

             Detail

 Another method I have used for constructing a background is the English paper piecing method. In the sample shown below, I have used a lozenge shape and it took ages! (Note to self: remove the cat hairs before putting it on show!!)

            Lozenge background

           Lozenge detail 

So for speed it was obvious which method I was going to use to make another cushion. I started to cut more squares of ready-fused batiks with a fluted blade. (NB I always change to my really old cutting mat when using a fluted blade because it can chew up the surface of the mat!) 
 

          Palette

 I worked with a piece of wadding beside me and started to randomly over-lap the squares with the aim of making the colours move smoothly one into another. I used the toe of a small iron to catch them in place when I was happy with the lay-out

           Placing onto wadding 
 
 

                    

            In progress
 
 
 

              Colourful background

 And there you have it! But after photographing it I realised that I wanted more light in the centre so I tweaked it by adding some extra squares.

 

           Tweaked!
 
 

BLOG 444

Blog 444

Back home again and isn’t that just the best part of being away! We had a marvellous time in China and made some lovely friends. Three days in an extremely busy Hong Kong was followed by a two week tour courtesy of Wendy Wu. It is the only way to get the most out of China and this is what we did:

 

*Flight to Shanghai and stayed in a hotel which had been built as a football stadium for the Olympics, and in one day we visited an ancient garden, a silk museum, travelled at 268mph on the Maglev train, went up the tallest building, ate 2 Chinese banquets and did a river cruise to see the city lights!

*Flight to Wuhan to join our boat ‘Victoria Katarina’ for a 4-day cruise along the Yangtze which included exploring smaller gorges, the Three Gorges Dam project and The Jade Emperor. On board there was different entertainment, a demonstration of the game Mahjong, painting the inside of small bottles etc.

*Coach to Chengdu via a street market at Ciqikou famous for its porcelain, a visit to a tea room followed by a performance of ancient theatre acts (loved the Sichuan mask changing!), the Panda Conservation Research Base, a Tang Dynasty dancing show, the Terracotta Warriors and the ancient city walls.

*Flight to Beijing to visit the Wild Goose Pagoda, the Muslim quarter market, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, a Chinese acrobat show, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall of China, Jade factory and Summer Palace.

We ate 2 Chinese banquets daily using chop sticks; this was very sociable, and a slow and healthy way of eating. (I thought I was going to starve at first because I couldn’t pick anything up but once I got the hang of it, it was fine!) It was everything we anticipated and then some, an amazing cultural experience of a world so very different from our own. I loved it and feel enriched by it!

          Terracotta Warriors

 

 

 

            Panda

 

 

 

 

           The Great Wall (and it was that steep in places)

 

 

 

              Emperor and Empress

 

Now I am home, I have hit the ground running! I have zigzagged around the black shapes and completed the second silhouetted wall hanging.

             Wall hanging

 

 

have layered and quilted the shaded Liberty quilt. I chose the easiest option and sewed a straight line through the middle of the squares in both directions, using a walking foot. This gives the appearance of fragmented squares and it just needs binding now.

            Liberty quilt

 

 

 

 

              Quilting lines

 

 

I have also layered the miniature log cabin quilt but I still don’t know how I am going to quilt it! There is so much intricate work in this quilt that I don’t want to spoil it with unsympathetic texturing/stitch. I will think about it during the coming week!