BLOG 399

Blog 399

The rush continues for the Gresford show! It happens every year and it focuses my mind and my energies to get things (started and!!) finished. About a month before the show, we have to write a list of items that we are going to put in, so they can be included in the catalogue. I put items on my list optimistically and usually have to burn the midnight oil to get them done. This year I wrote: Scrap quilt (done), Wedding signature quilt (done), 259 squares for Tessa (display only, done) and 4 colourful cushions (not yet started!) aaaarrrrggggghhhhh! So there is a bit of ground to cover. I also like to make things for the sales table too so it was head down last week and it will be more of the same this week.

I added the back to the Wedding Signature quilt and sewed on the binding. All I need to do now with that one is add a label (and perhaps show it to the recipients and as permission to display it!)

            Quilting

 

                 Binding

 

               Gresford pile

 

 

The colourful cushions needed to be tackled next and for this I turned for inspiration to the work of Carol Ann Waugh. I have plenty of colourful fabric for backgrounds, lots of machine threads and a great choice of stitches on my machine! I added wadding and a sheet of stabiliser behind the fabric and just sewed. These don’t take much creative zeal (apart from colour choices I suppose), just the application and effort of manoeuvring the fabric under the sewing machine.

 

           Background

 

                Embroidery lines 1

 

                Embroidery lines 2

 

 

This week I was able to sit and sew for the day with friends and here are Pat’s grebes, completed at long last. I love the thread blending and the textured background.

              Pat’s Grebes 1

 

               Pat’s Grebes 2

 

And I managed to prepare the label for the signature quilt and I will sew it in place tonight. Phew!

                Label

 

BLOG 398

Blog 398

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of variety to share this week but, believe you me, there has been loads of ground covered. When you look at the first picture you are bound to think it is a mistake! And yes it is a picture of nothingness but I have included it because that wall is a vital part of my quilt construction and I wouldn’t be without it. Mine is made up of a flannelette sheet stapled onto a cork background which is just soft enough to push pins into. It is a godsend and has been used relentlessly over the years.            

     

                  Blank design wall

 

 

 

A few minutes later, the wall looked like this. All the squares for the wedding signature quilt have now been completed and I needed to start arranging them so I could get an impression of how it was going to look from a distance. I was also able to arrange the names to make sure that the main players in the ceremony were clustered around the centre, and all the support players were randomly placed around them. And in the true tradition of the quilt makers of old, there is a contrived and deliberate mistake; the idea being that only God is perfect.

            96 Stars

 

The squares were joined into rows and the rows joined together to make the quilt top. This was put onto cotton wadding and safety-pinned in place. At this stage I didn’t have enough of the backing fabric to include it, so the first lines have been sewn with a walking foot through just the two layers. As I was sewing with a cream thread this has worked well and the cream thread on the bobbin is not going to be seen on the backing fabric. When I eventually add the backing fabric, I will sew further lines in the ditch between the squares thus holding all three layers together and giving a quilted grid on the back.

              Batting

 

           Backing fabric

 

 

I think that I also need to do something to hold the cream signature strip to the wadding on each of the squares or else it may not lie flat. I will decide on that this week as I am hoping to enter this into the Gresford show this month and need to get a wriggle on!

             Quilting lines

 

 

I really adore this year’s scrap quilt and haven’t decided whether to sell it or not. The binding is almost finished now and it looks deliciously vibrant!

            Scrap quilt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOG 397

Blog 397

 

I have returned mentally refreshed and physically fit after our week’s break in Poland. I don’t know about you and your holidays, but we seem to pack an awful lot into ours and cover a lot of ground. (I swear I am 2” shorter after all the pavement pounding!) We have walked around the sights of Krakow amongst the thousands of other tourists who were there doing the same thing. It was heaving with humanity and the good weather made it all the more enjoyable. There were lots of things to see and to enjoy including the Wawel Castle, Krakow Cathedral, the Market Square and the Cloth Hall, Baroque and Romanesque facades and river walks along the Vistula.

The quilt show turned out to be an evening event on Saturday night, with a buffet supper and wine. It was a happy occasion celebrating the diligence of the teacher (Julie) and the creativity of her students and I was delighted to be part of it. After a formal welcome and introduction, of which I understood not a word, the garden gate quilters were invited on stage and given a peony (such a luscious and extravagant bloom!). Julie and I were presented with a bunch of peonies each and I also received fabric flowers (tulips) as a lasting reminder of the event. I was thrilled! Here are some pictures of the event and garden gate quilts.

           Opening

 

                General view

 

               Spectators 1

 

             Spectators 2

 

            1 Gate A

 

             2 Gate A

 

           3 Gate A

 

            1 Gate B

 

             2 Gate B

 

                3 Gate B

 

            Original design

 

               In progress 1

 

             In progress 2

 

                 Fabric flowers

 

 

 

We then hired a car and drove to the ski town of Zakopane, settling into our hotel before visiting a nephew and his family. (It does help to have inside information about a place when you are a tourist and we greatly appreciated the advice given to us in both Kracow and Zakopane!) After a couple of days exploring, we came back via Auschwitz and Birkenau. The tour with an English speaking guide lasted about 4 hours and nothing but nothing was left unsaid. Our feelings were very raw and it was a grim and often uncomfortable visit through very recent European history. I shall never forget it. As this is a quilting log, I will just post one relevant picture with the hope that these quilts warmed and comforted those who were fortunate enough to own them.

               Auschwitz quilts

 

 

 

 

BLOG 396

Blog 396

This week I have sold and handed over one of my Contemporary Welsh quilts. You may remember that I made a second one (slightly different) because I wanted to keep one for myself. I wanted to keep one mainly for reference and but also because it was my first attempt at working in this style, so perhaps there was a bit of sentiment behind it too! The colours are not represented too well in the picture as they are much more intense and vibrant! Still, I have managed to let go of a favoured quilt!

 

                 Contemporary Welsh

 

Another quilt I am planning to sell will be the scrap quilt I am making for Gresford. This has been the main concentration of my endeavours this week and I am pleased to say that it will be finished. All 7 rows of 5 blocks have been constructed and here are the rows hanging vertically (instead of sideways) because my design wall isn’t big enough!

              Scrap quilt

 

Next Thursday we are flying out to Poland! This is an unplanned break and therefore a big and eagerly awaited surprise. I have been invited to attend a quilt exhibition called ‘Through the garden gate’ which is a tribute to my signature work and which is also the title of a book I wrote on the subject many years ago. The teacher (Julie, formerly of Higgledy Piggledy) of the classes asked permission to teach the workshop she had attended with me at Higham Hall and I gladly gave her permission. It’s flattering that people want to emulate my work and a great courtesy for them to seek permission; many don’t. As a result there will be many garden gate quilts included in the exhibition for me to see and enjoy as well as an enthusiastic bunch of quilters for me to meet. I can’t wait to see what they have made and I will report on it when I next blog in a couple of weeks’ time. I am also looking forward to exploring Krakow and Zakopane, meeting old friends and visiting a nephew and his family. Below are the pictures that tempted me to go.

 

 

           Garden gate A

 

                Garden gate B

 

 

                      Landscape image

 

              Landscape in progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOG 395

Blog 395

 

I’m a bit late posting my blog this week; just blame it on the fabulous weather over the Bank Holiday weekend. What with socialising, family birthdays, barbecues and gardening I have not got a lot to show really apart from a repetition of the scrap quilt which is my main focus. I have managed to join together 2 rows consisting of 5 blocks each, and started 2 others. Still a way to go but it should be finished by Gresford.  

                Progress 
 

When I was at Suzette’s last week, I spent most of the day making this sunflower picture in stitch. I soaked a bit of calico with water and dropped some silk paint onto it, leaving it to flow through the material and dry off. I then cut a piece of iron-on pelmet Vilene to the size I wanted and pressed the calico on onto it, folding and sticking the edges to the back with thin strips of fusible. This gave a taut foundation for me to work on with copious stitch, but I was very disappointed to see that it had pulled and creased. Back to the drawing board!

                  Embroidered picture 
 

As I have been out in the sunshine gardening most of the WE, I am going to post some pictures of it to show you where I get my inspiration. It is full of colour most seasons and I work hard to keep it well stocked and tidy. Notice that I don’t name the plants, I only see colour!

            Pale peach 
 
 

              Acid green/orange 
 
 

             Yellow 
 
 

               Yellow with green 
 
 

              Burgundy and green 
 
 

                 Lilac 
 
 

                  Bronze 
 
 

                Red 
 
 

             Purple/ginger 
 

Even the fish were near the surface in the heat of the day. And the frogs were impossible to count, much like the tadpoles!

             Fish 

                 Frogs 
 

Whenever I have the grandchildren, it is always an excuse to do a bit of art/craft. As we were outside, I gave the each of them a root from the leeks which I had used to make soup. I just said it looked like hair and left them to it. This is what they created, I think there was a bit of copying going on but I love the results! Aw bless.

             Garden art 1

                Garden art 2