Lower Hardres Day

 We had a marvellous day at Lower Hardres, all the more so in view of the fact that as the day went on we learnt of another national lockdown due later in the week. As it was a Saturday we had an excellent turn out of 11 with Becky and Mary I being able to join us.

We were super safe sitting in bubbles of three threes and one two and wearing masks when we left our seats or visited another table. Nurse Beverley took our temperatures, surfaces were disinfected and we used our own and provided wipes to clean handles as we went. It was lovely to enjoy face to face company.

Unusually everyone hand sewed as the emphasis was on sociability. Mid morning we stopped for a magnificent Show & Tell.  I'm showing only the first two tables worth as I have photographed my own (five!) earlier along with Maggie's, Mary's and Stephanie's.

I have been making quilts for twenty five years and patchworking since the 1970's. Jenny has been making quilts from long before me and has the fabric collection to prove it. This quilt of the crosses is pieced using papers from Lina Patchwork. Jenny points out that although she has completed the feature blocks the connecting pieces make up more than half the quilt. I wish I was making mine this size! 

Jenny's Quilt of the Crosses laid out on a sheet

Tansy had been shopping both for vintage quilts and one from Jo Avery's recent culling.

Tansy's vintage quilt top; interestingly lively modern versions of this are being made within the group, a technical feat.

Detail

 

Tansy's vintage basket quilt with beautiful cross hatch hand quilting

Tansy's purchase of a more modern and very colourful basket quilt by Jo Avery which was published in "Today's Quilter" 2019. The quilt looked even better in real life than the photograph.

Detail

Meanwhile she is making her own heirloom based on on one of the Australian's master quilter's pattern and class.

Beverly is yet another of the day's expert needle women and showed a lovely wool felt piece.

Beverley's lovely piece

Detail

Tracy is a quilting tornado who manages to produce complex quilts in a relatively short time. She loves colour and has a distinct style. She and her friend Sandra often enjoy the same things and both have made strippy housetop quilts. Tracy has made two, the second one freer in colour placement. Check out Tracy Aplin on Instagram to see more of her work including garment making (Sewing_Tracy).

The first one Tracy made

The second one. Note the denim pinafore also made by Tracy.

Tracy's WIP, hand pieced, more to
be added.

Detail of Tracy's big stitch quilting.

Sandra's colourful version

Another one from Sandra

I glue basted my Tiptoe through the Tulips top and handed the elementary top over to Maggie to longarm with more concentric circles. I finished my Timms' Robbing Peter block, a never to be repeated experience. I hand stitched it and stitches can be seen in the centre. I shall put a little dot over it. I also worked on my Siddi piece a long term project I'd forgotten about till the other day. I'll take a picture shortly.

Siddi piece.

Siddi quilts are an African innovation, starting from the outside and working in. Siddi is the name given to an originally African group in India who make these quilts from scraps, often pieces salvaged from old saris. Where fabrics overlap an edge is turned under and the whole secured by parallel lines of kantha type stitching. I started mine in a workshop given by an Indian lady at QuiltCon this year and was reminded of it hen I saw Sujata Shah demonstrating on the Quilt Show the other day.