Quay Quilters' Quilt Show 02

I've spent the last three days wrapped up in our quilt show, setting up, enjoying all the visitors, a day in the kitchen and taking down and now at home storing stands and unpacking bags. Was it worth all the work and worry? YES! Lots of nice comments, getting to know members better and realising what super people they are as lots worked their socks off. We judge our show and the winner of the Silver Thimble was Valerie with a beautifully stitched blue sampler quilt, first was Vanessa with an amazing optical illusion quilt, second was me with my Christmas Silent Stars sampler and third was Mellony with a quilt of squares and appliqued 3-D silk flowers which also won Visitors' Choice. This year's winner of the Silver Thimble will judge the next show in two years time if we have one. We rely on free use of the hall as part of the Swale Festival.

Quay Quilters' Show 01

I have been storing items for the QQ show in my spare room for two or three weeks and when I entered would find this shameless hussy a disconcerting presence. She's sitting up now, legs crossed and fairly decent. We set up the show today with conspicuous lack of leadership from me and after chaos mid-morning, order materialised at lunch thanks to stunning efforts of our members. I think this will be one of our best ones, in part thanks to our newer members, one of whom won the "Silver Thimble".

Usual Suspects 02

Speaking of lunch, here is lunch and my efforts of the day, 6" blocks for my Katharine Guerrier quilt and some handsewing of U3A hexagons. This Mellony finished for me with exquisite stitches.

Usual Suspects 01

We had the inaugural meeting of the "Usual Suspects" on Thursday, a newly formed group who are to meet for a day every two months to sew, show and tell, chat etc. I think of us as the Ladies who Lunch as the hostess prepares a lunch for everyone but no pressure; the point is the good company. Anyway Belinda brought her Katharine Guerrier blocks along, the best yet. Definite stirrings of envy as her fabrics were super, lots of Fassetts, batiks and brights but wonderfully combined. Alongside this she was beautifully handsewing a traditional eight pointed diamond piece. Mellony finished her curtains made from lovely autumnal colours.

A Finish!

This week I've been sleeping under my latest finish which has been in the works for over a year: Josy's Quilt. I always planned to make a quilt for her but always got sidetracked and it was supposed to be a lap quilt but it got bigger. I used the sandcastles pattern from Teri Christopherson's Black Mountain Quilts book or the picture anyway. I like the fact it looks as if made from fourpatches made from four different fabrics joined with narrow sashing whereas it's really a block of four identical squares with a central cross of "sashing". I thought buying four identical Moda Jan Patek charm square packs was a good wheeze and I made up the blocks in Ocean Shores NSW where we were house swapping. It was a very quiet remote spot so I had lots of time and was very grateful for the use of a sewing machine. Putting the blocks together came later, then a period of agonising over how to border it especially as the fabric line was now defunct but this turned out to be a good thing as the completely non coordinating red and gold lifted it. Then it took a long time to hand quilt. I've just sewn on the label today another first as the lettering is the alphabet on my Janome. I knew it had an alphabet but didn't really believe in it. It was very straightforward though I expected the machine to work across rather than up and down. Anyway it will go in the show and if Josy attends it will be the first she knows about it.

Goodbye quilt

I made this quilt at a Crab &Winkle day tutored by Maggie. 36" square it was intended as a charity quilt but I was too fond of it to give to a stranger. Now its moment has come as my daughter's "sister in law" is expecting a baby boy and she would like a quilt, this one, so it has a good home to go to. So it's "Goodbye quilt".

Patchwork Party

Yet another new project! We Log Cabins are now missing our Houston Stars project and have embarked on a new set of blocks which we also plan to assemble using the quilt as you go method. We are using a set of blocks seen in an advert. No longer available on the web we are drafting them ourselves. I was determined to use fabric from my stash but have already weakened as the coral colour was only a fat eighth so I've sent to Oakshotts for more. I'm not sure I will have enough and have had to resort to calico for my background and alternating quilted squares. It will look very old fashioned. The main fabric was bought when my son was in his first year at university. His university days are more than a decade ago!
This is the first block. We are being issued them one at a time to keep us all together.

Katharine Guerrier workshop 03

The pair of blocks are mine and I assumed all our blocks would look the same but I hadn't bargained for the difference in our scrap bags and the desire to coordinate. It shows how the same pattern or way or working can accommodate different personalities and why this craft of ours is so endlessly fascinating. Just fascinating as the video said!

Katharine Guerrier Workshop 02

Here is Katharine's book and the first 12" block I made in the class. It has a 6" star in the centre made from high contrast brights and is surrounded by 3" HSTS made from piles of scrap squares sorted into light and dark piles and placed in pairs right sides together, a line drawn diagonally across the light square and seams sewn 1/4" on either side then cut in half along the drawn line and pressed open. My squares were cut 4" and then trimmed to 3.5 once sewn and and cut.

Katharine Guerrier workshop 01

Last Saturday Katharine Guerrier came to talk to us at Oast. Her quilts from the very first hexagon effort were very distinctive and all had a special something. She's written several books but my favourite is her latest "Scrap quilt sensation" as the quilts are stunning though shapes and technique are accessible to beginners and they really are made up of SCRAPS not FQ collections like so many and it's the multiplicity of these that gives her quilts their look. She did 3 workshops for us and I went to the Monday one to make or rather embark on this star quilt. The photos are of Katharine's quilts! I've included one made from half square triangles as well.

More mystery quilts

We had our Log Cabin meeting today. We're starting a new Patchwork Party project today and each laid out fabrics and discussed what should be in and what out. I shopped my stash but don't really have enough to complete but will try to supplement my present selection rather than just going out and starting again. . .
Meanwhile Mavis brought her completed mystery top and Trish her complete black white and red one ready for the Quay Quilters' Show.

A finish!

In double quick time I've finished my "By Kentish Shores" quilt which I only started a couple of weeks ago. This is because it's for our group show that's coming up for which the challenge theme is Kent. I don't usually do challenges but there wasn't a size limit on this one so I thought I could do something useful like a cot or charity quilt. I was influenced by Judy Sisneros' "Ninepatch Pizzazz" but the responsibility for the very blurred effect of this quilt is mine. Perhaps I should call it blended to make me feel better but it would have been more successful if I had made more defined ninepatches as she does and used stronger colours in them. Next time I might stop to think or even read the text but no doubt the child recipient won't be too worried about these niceties.
I was pleased with the quilting pattern however which is a line drawing of the apple core pattern. Thanks to a book on Sashiko I've been able to draft this - I did read the instructions this time! As time was limited, it's quite large scale (based on 7" square) as I was handquilting in 1 ply knitting cotton but it would lend itself to machine quilting with a walking foot.

U3A P&Q Taster Day 02

In the afternoon we got out the rotary cutters and cut strips to make 9" rail fence blocks bordered to finish at 12" and then free cut stacked squares to make a more random version. The wonderful colours of the Cherrywood fabrics lend an arty look.

U3A Patchwork & Quilting Taster Day 01

We held a University of the Third Age day at my house this week. In a single day we traced a historical path beginning with English paper pieced hexagons, then drafted blocks and used templates to mark cutting lines. At lunchtime we watched the Quilts in Women's Lives video, much enjoyed.

Ninepatch medley

I am belatedly and at the last minute making a quilt for Quay Quilters show (coming up at the end of the month) on the theme of Kent. As there isn't a size limitation I thought I would like to make a cot quilt using these lovely nautical fabrics with Nine Patch Pizzazz as my inspiration. However, I haven't read the instructions and instead of making ordered ninepatches mine can be made up of nine fabrics and I've had to build up the quilt piece by piece so it has taken more than the day as promised.