BLOG 249

BLOG 249

My exhibition still continues in Holyhead and I miss the String of Diamonds quilt which is usually on my bed. But another favourite has taken its place in the meantime, Hexagon Garden.  Kate Spencer helped me make this wonderful quilt. She prepared the hexagons, it’s what she loves doing above all else, and then she put the top together at my suggestion, with pale flowers and light green pathways in the centre, working out to dark flowers and dark green pathways around the edge. I appliqued the dark flora green border around the edge and then machine quilted the whole quilt. I think it is good sometimes to be reminded of a different way to set hexagons in a quilt, especially as there has been a resurgence of interest in English paper piecing lately. I love this quilt!

                                     Hexagon Garden

                                                                 Detail 1

                                                              Detail 2

The Gresford show takes place next month and so much of my energy these days is spent making things for the sales table. This is my main opportunity each year to sell my wares, to finish projects and put a price on them or to make new items for sale. The prices are usually reasonable because I don’t want to bring things home again! My main focus this week has been to make crocheted lampshades. My sister has been storing some lampshades and dishcloth cotton in her loft from my life before I became a quilter, when I was Shades of Dorset! There are 6 large and 6 medium frames and I use 2 balls of dishcloth cotton together to give a chunky effect. I have started to cover them with the aim of putting them on the sales table. I have been amazed that after 31 years, crocheting has become second nature to me again. These shades look lovely when lit up.

                                             Crocheted lampshades

                                 With light

 And now I have a cautionary tale. A few years ago, I made a patchwork quilt to drape over the back of a settee; the block was called Kansas Troubles and I chose terracotta fabrics of the same medium/dark value. One however was a Bali-type fabric of dubious origin and I remember it being particularly limp to the feel but I used it because the value was right. Now, most of the colour has seeped out of this fabric wherever it appears in the quilt and I am so disappointed, especially as all the rest of the fabrics have retained their strength of colour. There is nothing I can do about it but I can only imagine it is going to get lighter and lighter over the years and stick out like a sore thumb. So the moral of this story is to make sure you use the best fabrics you can afford, it’s worth it in the long run!

                                                    Kansas Troubles

                                                                 Faded fabric