A workshop day and a finish

We held a very successful workshop day for the Quilters' Guild.
Judi did a massive amount of preparation making kits for each block for each participant sourced from her stash. The morning two are shown here and there were two more in the afternoon, the last one being an easy playful low pressure exercise. Four HST's were pieced into a block (these two started as pinwheels) and are then sliced and put back in a different way. I think there are demonstrations on the Missouri Star Quilt Company's site. Now we have to put them together and quilt! Then they will be donated.
For my part I finished attaching the binding to the strippy Margaret taught at the U3A last term.

Woven Strippy 48x50.5"

Hawaii Five-O Back and details

I make resolutions to splash out on backs but can't keep them. I did use the back to display the focus fabric, however, or what was left of it.For this technique it's best to use fabric with a big repeat and a lot of variety so the blocks look different. Negative space can look good as well.

The back

The original fabric

A block 

A block 

A block 

A block 

A block 

Hawaii Five-O Snail's Trail finished last night

Hawaii Five-O Snails Trail 63.5 X 80

I bought this Jams World fabric online expecting the dark colour to be black but it was navy. I had intended the setting blocks for the stack and whackery four patches to be black and white. I didn't have a suitable navy to substitute for the intended black so picked out other colours. It's a bit of a mush both near and far but very cheerful!!

Still on the subject of quilting

Sanderson Star quilting detail

Sanderson Star

Detail of Welsh wholecloth

Gerald McConkey's quilt inspired by the vintage one.

Still on the subject of quilting, examples of north country and Welsh traditional quilting were in the TQG gallery.  The Sanderson Star in rather unusual colours came from a member's collection and is a design devised and associated with Elizabeth Sanderson and her students. The central star is a single piece so these quilts are masterpieces of drafting, piecing and quilting.North Country quilts can be strippies with cables or designed as a piece with a large centre quilting motif and designs around the edge and issuing from the corners with some all over crosshatching or similar filler in between. Welsh quilts tend to use sections or frames with no reference to a pieced pattern and use spirals etc.
This is a very simplistic description! Dorothy Osler has written a book about North Country quilting and Jen Jones one on Welsh quilts.
The best of Show was a stunning long armed wholecloth by Sandy Chandler and the Visitors' Choice an exquisitely beaded handquilted piece by Sandie Lush.

Detail of sandie Lush's hand quilted "Pearl Princess"

Friends at the Quilt Show

Friends Tracy and Belinda had quilts in the show which attracted lots of admiration.
Tracy's modern quilt was a departure from her usual work using bright solids. I saw her making the top improvisationally in the space of an away weekend and later she big stitch hand quilted it in free designs.

Tracy with her quilt, the first to see as you entered the show.

Belinda's quilt on the other hand has been a long time in the making. The starting point was a vintage quilt of mine. Unusually the plates have 19 spokes and Belinda followed the original by making templates of slightly varying sizes and it all fitted beautifully. She intermixed vintage fabrics with modern versions and then the long task of close beautiful hand quilting began It was a true labour of love, a gift for her daughter.

Belinda and Penny with their quilt, maker and recipient.

Stunning intensive hand quilting.

Back from the Festival of Quilts

Quilt by Vanessa Sherston-Baker, made for her son when he was young. Shown as part of the
QG "Talking Quilts" project whereby grass roots quilters choose one keynote piece they have
made or own and the interview is recorded and transcribed along with a picture of the piece
and its maker to be preserved for posterity.

Diversity in Europe: work from the European Guilds

Display of quilts from the permanent collection: there is a pattern for the one
on the plinth

Modern Quilt Group booth

TQG Challenge pieces, detail

I am a very keen member of the Quilters' Guild and the Festival which was instigated by lobbying of the Twisted Thread exhibitions company by various Guild committee members is a splendid showcase for the numerous aspects of its work. Juried students show their work and one is chosen to receive a bursary and show their work at the next year's festival. This year a friend's daughter, Penny Jeffries had her own white walled space to display her work. To my chagrin though I was a frequent visitor I don't have a photo - too much chatting. There are specialist groups within the Guild and I belong to the Modern and Traditional groups. There are also groups for the miniaturists, a large contemporary group and the Quilt Study group to research the history of quilts and quilting. Not least are the Young Quilters and the work that the Guild does to provide workshops and encouragement to the next generation.This year it was the turn of the traditional group - TQG- to mount an exhibition and vintage quilts from members' collections were displayed alongside small modern examples. The Spotlight gallery displays the work of people who deserve more recognition. This year some excellent young quilters got to display a piece. The UK guild has links with other European guilds and a piece from each country is chosen for display and in turn the Guild sends work to international exhibitions and museums.
 The Guild holds a large collection of quilts and related items and this year enjoyed a much larger space to display items with provenance reflecting the lives and social positions of various families. The Guild organises the stewarding and judging of the show which is not a juried event and runs a rigorous two year judging course which friend Judi is just coming to the end of.
So the Guild is an organisation well worth supporting and I have enjoyed the company of fellow quilters from a much wider field and greatly increased my understanding of quilting and of women's lives.

TQG booth wide red/black and white challenge pieces

Last of the Linus (for now)

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 I am just back from Festival of Quilts and will post some pictures soon but before I left I finished the last two Linus quilts of this batch. I have been machine sewing the bindings to stand up to heavy wear but after mking a nice piece these have all been rather rough especially the ones with the Backing turned over to the front. After my success with a faced edging I used this for the ninth and final one but machined it down with a serpentine stitch (Janome no. 19 - better than on my other machines) and I am much happier with it and will use it on future picture play quilts like this one. Pity about the previous 8!
I love piecing, can't afford to have everything longarmed so have several tops in waiting. I am making myself do them before starting to piece anything else. Part motivation is a chance to try to sell some at our upcoming neighbourhood jumble trail.

Detail of machine faced edge, the neatest one.

Number 8 with binding

Back of 8, a soft brushed cotton same fabric as on 9.

Currently hand sewing faced edging on snails trail stack and whackery
four patches

In The Pink

In the Pink  31x43.5"

I love piecing but don't particularly enjoy machine quilting but am making myself get on with some finishing up including this "In the Pink" little quilt. The pink and light four patches had been hanging around for more than a decade so I sewed them all together and added a recent Ikea purchase to border and back it. I followed Maggie and Tracy's lead with help from Mr Google and faced rather than bound it. Now I'm facing another bigger quilt but this first attempt provided some useful practice.

Linus Quilts

I have shoeboxes containing 2", 3",4"and 6" squares in the manner of Ami Simms' Picture Play book and I've challenged friends and group members to make 12" blocks from any combination they choose or up to 10" framed to finish at 12"and I made quite a few myself and I've been combining them for Linus quilts and to my surprise they total seven so far these year. Some have been handed in but here are the latest.

Detail of spotty back and binding

Dancing cats binding and backing

Detail with yellow binding and more cats on back

Detail of dancing cats backing

Yellow binding (proved to be non cotton
and horrible to sew) quilt

Spotty back quilt

This one joined Quilt As You Go with frames

Sarah Fielke Weekend

Our workshop piece

As soon as we got back it was Sarah Fielke weekend. She taught three successive workshops for Oast Quilters and I went to the Saturday one and worked on our quite complex units with friends. I'm so impressed with how Sarah managed to devise a way to make these blocks without templates or foundation piecing. Mine will be the basis of  a Linus baby quilt.
On Saturday evening she gave a talk and trunk show showing quilts spanning the time from the Material Obsession period to the present including her wonderful definition of stitch quilt. I felt very lucky to have her to stay and meet at such close quarters - she was great.

Sarah quietly preparing for our workshop

A modern version of a sunflower quilt.

Her Definition of Stitch quilt with improvised letters