Weeks roundup

Cherrywood fabrics & 58x74"

It's been a very busy and delightful week since I got back with two quilty visits. The very next day after touch down it was a Usual Suspects meet up at Judi's where we ate fish and chips and I completed the binding on a two year old top made by U3A students at an introduction to patchwork day. I also took charge of Judi's lovely Hever Stars quilt which will be the June Oast workshop. I'll take it along to the meeting to inspire attendees.

Judi Kirk's Hever Stars

Wednesday was given over to "jobs" and making a start on measuring and pricing the surplus fabric I'm selling at the Guild Stash Sale on Saturday. It's quite painful parting with it all but there will be some treasures for others to enjoy. I don't have space or years to accommodate it all.

Just one small batch of my fabrics for sale

Thursday I went to Whitstable to buy very reasonably priced zips from the Harbour Street fabric shop to be ready for bionic bag making in the afternoon with Trish and Sue. I was very apprehensive of this project but all went well thanks to their expertise. We'll go on with it next week.

Inside Trish's bag withall its pockets

Hard at work on portable Janomes bought
at Sandown and a great success.

Meanwhile in the evening I'm working on Month 8 of last year's Sew and Quilt's quilt-of the-crosses BOM (I'm not doing the months in order so some way to go yet). I always do the rather tedious joining sections first and leave the pretty blocks till last.

Quilt of the crosses units with Art Gallery white and Liberty Tana Lawn prints.

And lastly it was good to see our Quay Quilters' raffle quilt and show publicised in Issue 61 of Quilt Now magazine.

Madeira Days

In Madeira as usual at this time of year and enjoying lovely weather whereas it is usually much more changeable. I made the most of being able to sit on the balcony and sew my EPP quilt-of-the-crosses while sipping a small tot of port, a one week of the year only habit.
Every year I take pictures of flowers here with a view to printing some out onto fabric and using in a quilt. Yesterday we visited the Palheiro Gardens where there were some remarkable specimens culled from all over the world.

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Looking down towards the sea and Funchal.

Six Wagon Wheels

56x80"

Facing detail

I 've finished the six wagon wheels top. The blocks were left over from a previous project and this is not a very successful piece but at least I made something from them. It might suit a teenage boy. I faced it instead of binding. Now I'm completing a 2 year old U3A group project and have sewn two sides of binding. Its companion charity quilt is sandwiched and awaiting quilting. Still more to go, though.

Still being bound

Bonnie's

I'm on the right of the picture.

While one of our number enjoys winter sun the remaining four met to work on zipper pouches, a practice session for me before my U3A session. Trish and Sue were far more knowledgeable about the processes than me.

Quay Quilters

We had our AGM last week and show and tell.

Melinda's - just love this!

Pauline's - so effective!

Little Black Dress

LBD is one of several Fabric Fusion stack and whackery quilts I have made.

Little Black Dress (that was the name of the fabric line) is installed on my sofa. It languished as a top for a long time while I wondered how to quilt it. In the end I used Hobbs Tuscany wool wadding (quite puffy) and hand quilted with no.12 Perle cotton. In retrospect I would have done a fishnet type of allover design but the point is it is finished according to this year's resolution.

Siblings Together March Block

18" finished size.
The centre square is 10". the oblongs 2x5" and 
the corner squares 4".

And Mags asked for sashing on two sides - I may have made mine too big but I don't think so.

U3A end of term show and tell

Lots of people had completed tops to show and I am always tickled by how many quilters "wear" their quilts or blocks, that is their clothes are similar colours to what they are holding up.

Norma's

Barbara's - can just glimpse her pink sweater

Gina returned to an earlier project

Mary's

Angela's

Lesley's

Linda's

Jane's

Gabrielle's

And more Sewcial Quilts

Tracy's Apple Core

My  batik jelly roll quilt.

My hand sewn and quilted baby spools quilt, a favourite

Janet won these fabrics - how lucky!

More quilts from the Sewcial

Jacquie's quilt

Detail - a chance to use feature/nvelty/ fussy cut fabrics.

Judi's Hever Stars

Coincidentally a couple of the quilts will  be workshop topics: Judi Kirk's Hever Stars and Jacquie's Beth Studley quilt.  Judi's workshop will be in June and Beth, a pattern and fabric designer who has just joined Oast, will be teaching her quilt pattern in January 2020.

Sewcial

We had cake!!

The  The Crafty Mastermind had a great selection of fabrics.

Oast Quilters held a Sewcial day on Sunday in anticipation of International Quilt Day. We had over 20 turn up and several visitors, one of whom joined. We hung quilts around the room and a trader spent part  of the day with us. Unusually I worked on a large project, quilting the border of a U3A group quilt made for donation.

Maggie's srippy trippy

And she made another one!

Janet had a won a set of very interesting lovely fabrics.

Pippa had made an elephant.

Siblings Together: Mrs October top

Blocks

Sewn together

I am in Siblings Together Sewing Bee 3 and in October members sent blocks to me. Tutorial here. I didn't want impractical white  and wanted something suitable for a boy. The blocks looked too disparate on my floor but thanks to the magic of patchwork looked much better once sewn together and then I added a soft brushed cotton border to bring it up to size. I had to quickly made two extra corner blocks too. 

Now with border

Half the blocks turn one way and the other half I put on the sides and at the bottom making for something quite complex once you start to look. Now for walking foot quilting.