If you are visiting the blog for the first time, you will see that there are 3 sections to each entry. Life Before Quilting documents my early years up until the time I started to quilt. My Quilting Journey covers my 25 years of teaching and the quilts that I have made during that period. Quilting 2010 addresses what’s happening in my quilting life now. Just enjoy what you are interested in and visit often!
LIFE BEFORE QUILTING 1970
Formal classes at the school on Tarawa were scheduled for the mornings, the coolest time of the day. After lunch, there was a compulsory rest period for the children and this was followed by organised activities for an hour before the evening meal.
The PE lessons usually took the form of playing games, mainly volleyball, softball and tennis and the pupils were the keenest I have ever known. The pitches, on hard packed coral, were marked out, regularly I might add!, with lines of the whiter coral sand carried from the waterside. There were regular inter-house competitions played during the activity sessions and a sports day held once a year. (My greatest dilemma then was to mark out a full size and accurate running track, using white sand to mark the lanes!) As a teacher, usually wearing tennis whites and sunglasses, I taught technique, organised teams and umpired the matches.
I also had to teach classes at the Tarawa Teachers College (TTC) where students from 18 to 40 were being trained as teachers for the primary schools on the outlying island. Although we played the usual games, I was also interested to learn about local games.
MY QUILTING JOURNEY 1986
LIFE BEFORE QUILTING 1970
Formal classes at the school on Tarawa were scheduled for the mornings, the coolest time of the day. After lunch, there was a compulsory rest period for the children and this was followed by organised activities for an hour before the evening meal.
The PE lessons usually took the form of playing games, mainly volleyball, softball and tennis and the pupils were the keenest I have ever known. The pitches, on hard packed coral, were marked out, regularly I might add!, with lines of the whiter coral sand carried from the waterside. There were regular inter-house competitions played during the activity sessions and a sports day held once a year. (My greatest dilemma then was to mark out a full size and accurate running track, using white sand to mark the lanes!) As a teacher, usually wearing tennis whites and sunglasses, I taught technique, organised teams and umpired the matches.
I also had to teach classes at the Tarawa Teachers College (TTC) where students from 18 to 40 were being trained as teachers for the primary schools on the outlying island. Although we played the usual games, I was also interested to learn about local games.
MY QUILTING JOURNEY 1986
Jacobean Spring 62” x 78”
Jacobean Spring was my first competition entry, way back in 1986. The event was held at Audley End in Northamptonshire and the Marquis of Bath presented the prizes. My quilt was voted the winner of the hand appliqué section and was then selected as the over-all Championship Quilt! Imagine my surprise and delight. I had started at the top … and I have managed to work my way down over the next 20 years! For my efforts I was awarded 4 pairs of Wilkinson Sword scissors: dressmaking, embroidery, snips and pinking shears (not the sewing machine that is awarded nowadays!). I must also say that, way back then, this quilt was fresh, original and different. It wouldn’t win any prizes in today's competitions where availability of fabric, expertise in technique and innovation in design are far superior. But in 1986 I was proud to be National Patchwork Champion!
Championship prize 1986
QUILTING 2010
In Blog 10, I referred to my Alston teaching sample, seen below. This has been hanging on my wall since March, waiting for an excuse to complete it. That excuse has just arrived in the form of the Gresford Craft Show. This has been held every June for the last 30 years in the beautiful village church. The building, beautiful in its own right, makes a majestic gallery and many crafts are represented. You can see beading, felting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, painting, card making and quilting. This year Wrexham Flower Group is represented and there is a charming display of miniature rooms. There are plants to buy, a tombola, a sales table, refreshments and Dot with her ‘Quilting Basics’ stall. What more could a girl want?
I decided to complete the wall hanging that I started at Alston Hall in March. As I have plenty of Irises out at the moment in the garden, they were an obvious choice for inspiration.
Alston teaching sample
Iris wall hanging 11 ½” x 35”
Iris detail 1
Jacobean Spring was my first competition entry, way back in 1986. The event was held at Audley End in Northamptonshire and the Marquis of Bath presented the prizes. My quilt was voted the winner of the hand appliqué section and was then selected as the over-all Championship Quilt! Imagine my surprise and delight. I had started at the top … and I have managed to work my way down over the next 20 years! For my efforts I was awarded 4 pairs of Wilkinson Sword scissors: dressmaking, embroidery, snips and pinking shears (not the sewing machine that is awarded nowadays!). I must also say that, way back then, this quilt was fresh, original and different. It wouldn’t win any prizes in today's competitions where availability of fabric, expertise in technique and innovation in design are far superior. But in 1986 I was proud to be National Patchwork Champion!
Championship prize 1986
QUILTING 2010
In Blog 10, I referred to my Alston teaching sample, seen below. This has been hanging on my wall since March, waiting for an excuse to complete it. That excuse has just arrived in the form of the Gresford Craft Show. This has been held every June for the last 30 years in the beautiful village church. The building, beautiful in its own right, makes a majestic gallery and many crafts are represented. You can see beading, felting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, painting, card making and quilting. This year Wrexham Flower Group is represented and there is a charming display of miniature rooms. There are plants to buy, a tombola, a sales table, refreshments and Dot with her ‘Quilting Basics’ stall. What more could a girl want?
I decided to complete the wall hanging that I started at Alston Hall in March. As I have plenty of Irises out at the moment in the garden, they were an obvious choice for inspiration.
Alston teaching sample
Iris wall hanging 11 ½” x 35”
Iris detail 1
Iris detail 2
The pinked scissors I won in the National Patchwork Championship in 1986 have come into their own now, as I use them regularly when constructing these painterly hangings. The fused fabrics are bonded onto the prepared background, and I have to do a lot of textured stitching to hold down the strips and small pieces in place.
