Quilt assembly 1: Framing the blocks

I am joining the U3A blocks QAYG using joining strips and keeping each stage as a sample for Monday.

Frames added to opposite sides of block.

Frames added to all sides, each cut 3/8" wider.

Smoked haddock on a bed of tomatoes and onion
topped by a poached egg and accompanied by asparagus for tea.

QQ AGM

Back at Quay Quilters last night. The AGM rattled along and then a bumper Show and Tell, quite a bit of it mine "made earlier". Mags helped out with picture taking.

Bid's U3A mystery

Ann W's hexagon stars made in Maggie Kingston's Oast
workshop.

Di's

Di's envelope bag based on
Cilla's Oast corner.

My U3A mystery quilt

My Stack and whackery squares made with Amy Butler fabric and
my hand dyes.

Quay 2007 mystery with reversed light and dark made for
Dragonflies workshop.

Valerie's hexagons based on Trish's teaching session.

Valerie's cats all different fabrics and characters.

Catch up

To Maggie's this morning to look at my quilt on the machine.  I am thrilled at the work so far. I asked Maggie to keep the quilting in the background as I wanted the piecing (after all the blood sweat and tears) to be the focus and this she has done using neutral and dark red threads  in different areas of the quilt. My back is plainish so the quilting will get full credit there.
A bonus was coinciding with Valerie. I missed our Usual Suspects meeting because of my holiday so it was good to see her. She was just collecting her magnificent quilt, the first Quilt Show BOM.
We are both very proud of our efforts and Valerie's will be at Sandown and mine at Festival of Quilts, my first entry there.

Maggie at the helm of her Gammill.

Border of Valerie's quilt. I love the alternating stars.

Valerie's quilt with fantastic fabric choices and piecing. She didn't
need to buy any fabric.

Maggie has finished her croceted blanket and wrapped
it round a cushion. More colour choices to savour.

Finished in Madeira

I brought the quilt I made as a test sample for the mystery workshop with the Dragonflies group to finish here. It was very enjoyable sitting on the balcony  hand quilting and listening to books on my iPod. At night pins and needles were removed and it lay across our bed. We both love to have a quilt over us as we sleep." Here" is our Madeira holiday and I've included extra pictures to give an idea of the lush planting. Our resort is low rise and in a garden.

Finished 56x72.5"

This is the one the Dragonflies group made.

We enjoyed our meal under one of the red umbrellas you can see here.

Remains of my devilled prawns and Alan's grilled sardines.
We sometimes share our choices.
A lovely meal in a lovely setting.

New U3A sampler

I've completed all the 2013-14 colourways of the U3A blocks and extras to make 30 in all. Mysteriously I had lost one but I didn't like it anyway. I have been trying out various arrangements preparatory to adding framing strips and joining the blocks QAYG with a grey and white print. I got rather fixated with the latter and more is coming from Australia as my UK supplier has run out.
I tried an organised random arrangement and then a more grouped plan but reverted to the former and made still further adjustments which I didn't photograph but the blocks are all numbered and ready to go.


Randomish

Reference shot. top



Reference shot, bottom

More organised

Marking time

The three remaining Bonnies had their last meeting before our fourth member returns from winter sun when we will embark on our new project chosen and drafted by Trish. It's based on the part quilt currently being serialised in Quilters' Newsletter magazine but Trish has substituted a feathered star in the centre and will replace some of the other blocks. We'll do it quilt as you go. In the meantime:

Mavis' quilt for a grandchild



My mystery quilt set by Marfaret for the U3A.

Trish has been knitting socks circular fashion on her knitting machine.

Trish again with trellis quilt started in a QQ workshop
with Jean Ball

Quay Quilters: visitor night

What an enjoyable evening. Cathy came to talk to us about her work which spans many ways of working from exquisite hand quilting to equally exquisite hi-tech machine embroidery. She came despite her husband having to drive her because of a recent bad fall and her fee went to charity AND Vanessa made cake so it was a good night. The only low note was Pippa's departure to Cornwall which generated a collective groan but we hope she will be back. Photos posted with permission, all Cathy's work. Her sewing machine of choice is a Janome and she has worked her way up through many models.

Printing and stitchery

An early piece made for a challenge.

For the recent stitches and Stems show in Birchington.

Just to show the wonderful art work in the school where we meet.
here on a Peter Pan theme.

More from the workshop

Joy's

Here are Judi and Joy's pieces, Judi's in signature batiks and signature colours and very effective and sister Joy's . I like the simplicity of Joy's trees and will emulate it if I make any more blocks.

My Trees

I really enjoyed the Fair Copse workshop with Helen Howes AND I was really pleased with my choice of fabrics. I bought some "Eclectic Elements" as a basis. I am going to make a bag, hence the useful colours. Most people had gone with plains or batiks but I love printed cottons and ones with writing or manuscript or music are especial favourites. HH seemed a bit bemused and said if fabric had writing on she had to cover it up so she didn't start reading it!

Jo's. Love it.

The man's

 Two other people, a husband and wife , I think, had also got prints and very scrappy too. They made phenomenal progress and I loved their pieces.

Oast Quilters' Day

Helen Howes drove down from Norfolk to show us her work.  She was a kitemaker before taking up quilting and she is a professional textile artist, not a maker of bed quilts. A recurring subject of her work is trees and there were many treatments of this subject in the quilts she showed us. Her talk was just the right balance of information and entertainment and there were no longueurs. Quay Quilters were the hosts and two of our members are helping Helen hold up her quilts and then arrange them on tables below the stage for everyone to see.



Reminds me of black and white houses. Please don't pin!



On stage, Helen on left.

A larger version of our class sample. Respect the work and no
pinning!

Please do NOT pin this picture as HH had the nasty
experience of someone insisting she had not made
this quilt after it had passed through many boards and
provenance was lost.

U3A Block 6a Whirligig

Block 6a is the trickiest one. I made a mauve and an orange version (I've mislaid the latter!) the pair of flying geese going all in one direction were foundation pieced and the one on the outside were made individually with one 2.5 x4.5 oblong and 2 2.5 squares with one diagonal line drawn across. The two flying geese units were joined and then a 6.5 x2.5 oblong on the side and these four 6.5" units joined together to form the block. For pictures of how to foundation piece the paired flying geese check out the blog post for 13th February 2014. The size of the unit is different in this block, however, a 4.5" (unfinished) square before joining to the other pieces.

The four quarters of the block laid out ready to sew together.



A background square is laid right sides together
on the goose. Sew along the drawn line.
Flip over and press. Trim away excess fabric.
Place a second square on the goose so that the drawn line
intersects the first triangle at the seam line.
Sew along the drawn line, press and trim as before.
Repeat four times..

A completed block.