Disappearing Nine Patch Basic 01

Our Oast Quilters Showcase of quilts etc. here in Canterbury UK is coming up next weekend and we're  going to have demonstrations as well as a sales table, raffle, bag tombola, traders, refreshments, patchwork kits, try your hand at quilting stand  and so on. Lots to do. Link here: Oast Quilters Showcase
Anyway I'm going to do a demonstration and thought I should repeat something I've done workshops on in the past. However, all those workshop quilts were made for charity so I no longer have them as samples so I've embarked on a bit more sewing trying up to use more of my store of charity fabrics.

First I sewed a nine patch from 5" squares.

Then I cut it in two vertically and horizontally. It's
best to check the actual rather theoretical width of the side squares so your cut lands exactly in the middle. It can help to use two rulers measuring from each edge.

Received downunder

Sometime ago I sent four quilts downunder all made from from positive/negative black and batik snowball blocks from a swap. As you can see they were very well received by the four young relatives. The boys got ones where the blocks could be said to ressemble footballs. For the girls ninepatches were added as well. I'm so pleased these quilts have found a good home to be used, enjoyed and in time worn out when I'll make some more!

Three Cats Throw

Last night I finished a quilt, not by finishing a process but by unpicking. I had added three of four circles too far and took them off and let it be. It's made using up pieces from my Three Cats in a Twist quilt using schscewhe fabrics from South Africa and Ami Simms Twisted Sisters pattern and Ruler. I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with her in March 2007 and two years later have made several quilts, mostly for charity, using this pattern.
http://www.AmiSimms.com/

Stars of Glory - can you see what it is yet?

I've made more Stars of Glory blocks and laid them out. This really is gaudy. They're laid alternately because half are pressed one way and half another. I put pins in the centres of the second set which I'm adding to now. Pattern source HERE:
http://www.etsy.com/shop//bcheri?page=3

St Lawrence floors

Here are some "patchwork" floors photographed in St Lawrence's Church, Ludlow, part of the Victorian refurbishing, I suspect.

Stars of Glory

I have started a new project which as it involves lots of chain piecing I hope to do somewhat leader ender style in the manner of Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame. http://quiltville.com/ (Her "Adventures with leaders and enders" was one of the titles I purchased at Malvern.)  It's for a friend of my daughter's baby,  the friend's baby that is. Start again: it's for my daughter's friend's baby! I've fished out red and purple fabrics bought at Houston and struggled to find a third but settled for a Cherrywood mustard. The baby is growing apace and will be demanding a single bed size if I don't get a move on. At Malvern I bought one of Lady Sew & Sew's bargain 5 metre pieces in a super scarlet to use for the backing and supplement the red if I run out but I don't think I will. I wasn't sure about fabric placement so laid out the three possibilities and have opted for the purple stars which coincides roughly with the pattern, also shown here. It's simple but clever.
http://www.etsy.com/shop//bcheri?page=3
I cut out more block "kits" and then spent time outside in the sun drawing the pattern for myself (a good way to get a grip on the layout) and working out the pressing regime, something patterns rarely tell you. I do keep getting those patches of light on my photos. I can see them on the camera viewer screen but however much I move round to change angles I can't seem to get rid of them.

Ludlow hangings

Here are two hangings from Ludlow Church, one an ecclesiastical piece commemorating St Lawrence to whom this church is dedicated and one made by Border Quilters to commemorate the poet AE Housman. I have to say I prefer the St Lawrence one. So many art quilts date though they may come into their own later.

Not a hung parliament . . .

. . .but a hung quilt. Here is my Twisted Sisters quilt at the Malvern Show in a prime end of aisle position. I was very lucky. One of my favourite quilts at the show can be seen behind it , behind the blue lone star. I went to the Show and very much enjoyed the quilts and confined my shopping to items on my list. I spent quite a lot though, mostly on wadding. I bought metres of Mountain Mist Cream Rose which I have been wanting to try for some time after seeing Ted Storm's  Spring of Desire  being hung at Paducah in 2009 for the exhibition of the 25 winners of the AQS Show.  http://www.tedstorm.eu/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58:spring-of-desire-2006&catid=36:quilt-gallery&Itemid=67
It just rippled down from the hanging rod. I asked her about the wadding and she said Cream Rose. Lady Sew and Sews were selling it at the show.

Valerie's masterpieces

I've haven't got round to photos from the last Usual Suspects meet  at Valerie's when she climbed her stairs and dangled her fantastic works in progress over the bannister. One is the Quilt Show BOM. She's used her own fabrics and colour choices for this and the work is just stunning and immaculate. Hopefully at the Oast Showcase 2013 we can all bathe in  reflected glory!

Samples Box

Still on aide memoires here are some of the contents of my samples box, mostly samples from workshops I have taken with tutors including Inger Milburn (seminole and Japanese folded), Jan Mullen(cut loosz) ,Nancy Brenan Daniel (working with strips) , Doreen Nicholson (Celtic)from all of whom I have learned a lot. Some are from sort of workshops (I don't consider myself a huge expert) I have done myself (working with strings and quilt as you go), partly because we are all called upon to do demonstrations etc for Quay Quilters. Needless to say I was looking for something which I had put in a safe place ready for my upcoming session with Oast. It seems despite attempts at organisation I spend time looking for stuff and also discovering stuff I'd forgotton I had like the Laurel Burch fabric in the samples box which will be useful if and when I get round to assembling my Laurel Burch swap blocks. This not the family archive box but a throw out from the archives department purchased for a small amount.

Hideaway

I've promised to do a split nine patch demo for the Oast Showcase the first weekend in June as I knew I already had handouts. http://oastquilters.co.uk/showcase/ I wasn't sure about samples as all the quilts I and others made in the workshops were given away to charity (check out the charity quilts album at http://community.webshots.com/user/quayquilter)- for prison babies - but I looked in the spare linen basket and when I got everything out I found lots of items I'd forgotton about - old Laura Ashley curtains in cotton soft with time and washing, woolly fabrics, sets of fat quarters sold as Turning Twenty kits though I have another purpose in mind and spare kitted up split 9-Patch quilts. It was like Doctor Who's Tardis. I took photos and when I review this year's blog I hope I'll be able to say I've dealt with some of the contents.
I have a set of drawers and in each one is a card with a list of the contents which makes all sorts of lesser used gadgets and thingies easier to locate and put away. I think I'll print a contacts page of my linen basket contents photos and place it on top as an aide memoire.

Wash Day

I made this throw from 16 leftover Twisted Sisters blocks made from Three Cats fabrics and added a border using pieced offcuts but I still had some fabric left so I kept on going which made it look rather odd. I added some ties in the outer borders using Shetland wool and show the before and after pictures. A hot wash felted them up into pleasing bobbles which shouldn't work loose. I'll now add buttons (red) and some applique. Gosh  - am I actually embellishing?? A rather dirty word in my quilty lexicon. No I'm securing the layers!

Anja Townrow speaks at Oast

At the Oast meeting yesterday Anja Townrow gave a very jolly talk. Her picture of the dedicated quilter ticked a lot of boxes with me. Guilty as charged! I think she sold lots of patterns afterwards and small quilts. Her workshop today should be good and I look forward to seeing the results but I'm at home. However I bought her big loss leader quilt and I love it. This is the second contemporary quilt I've bought and is not one I would ever make and certainly not one I would ever be able to quilt in metallic thread. I'm sure my daughter and granddaughter will admire it too so its future is assured. I hung it on my design stand to photograph and my husband passed it several times enroute to water his plants before registering its presence. "Oh is that your latest quilt?" I was touched but fought back temptation and explained I'd bought it with several provisos about fabric prices and cost of making etc. "It's a bit bright for me." I pointed how how daughter and granddaughter would also like it whereupon he brightened! The quilt is very much in Anja's individual style with lots of pointy pieces. It will be loved. I think it was the border effect that "spoke" to me. http://www.anjatownrow.com/

Mixed bags

It was the Oast meeting today and I took in nine bags for the Oast tombola which will be at our Quilt Show in June The ninth bag is a big one I used to put all the other bags in, a mixed bag haha! I shall have a bit more room in my house now.
http://oastquilters.co.uk/