My retreat activities

 My first job was to  set myself up for some hand sewing by binding the quilt Maggie had just long armed.

Binding pressed away from quilt

Triangle squares completed in inner border

Then a friend has requested a companion quilt to the one her husband bought from me and in similar colours. I am doing another fabric fusion quilt using Brandon Mably fish in similar colours to the contour fabric used on the first one and a similar alternate setting.

Here is the original "Map Quilt"

and contour fabric:

and here  are the fish and setting blocks:

This was my original setting block, far too plain and with too much blue.  But I will finish and join them as I have all the cut out pieces. Perhaps for the back?

Now I'm using this one.

O a similar note I'm making a further quilt using very different fabric. She can choose the one she prefers. Her sofa is in a similar green to this one.

When I got home I found a thank you card from the little girl and her mother for whom I made a picture play quilt. They were sorry not to see me at home so we'll try to fix a date for tea soon.

A rather lurid photo of Picture Play 51x59

PP Back with facing and triangle corners

A nice gesture

Local retreat

 Six of us stayed in all of the six large comfortable bedrooms in a local pub and  spent five happy weekdays sewing in the spacious function room. Three were all or mainly hand sewing while Maggie and I got to work on our machines, expert Maggie being incredibly skilled and productive. Here is some of her handiwork:

Here is the Fabric Fusion quilt she did after seeing mine. She used two fabrics with alternating blocks, an idea I'd like to try in my turn. She added the wide borders while we there.

These fussy cut flowers are framed so that the blocks are self sashing. Wonderful use of black and white.

More wide extravagant borders

Maggie's strippy quarter square spiderwebs will be added to later. Strips are organised into their own separate bags.

I liked how the blocks
combined to form a double
Irish Chain pattern,

More flamboyant borders.

Wartime Comforts

 

I was very taken by this elongated hexagons pattern.

Knowing I'm a quiltmaker a neighbour asked me over for coffee and to look over her family quilts made during the war by now very elderly or late relatives. I was able to tell her they were hand sewn over papers with tiny invisble stitches. A real fabric resource and by people who really knew how to sew.The border on one was mitred and backing and front edges turned in. Technically they are coverlets as typically of this variety of patchwork they have no wadding or quilting.

Detail of pink bordered one indicating mitred corners

This was a smaller one made for a child and these corners weren't mitred.

As the origin of quilts gets lost over the years I suggested she make a record of the makers and dates. One aunt had said it was a very calmng activity in time of war.

Detail of fabrics

Green Tea and Sweet Beans

is the rather unusual title of this this quilt pattern by Jen Kingwell who owns the Amitie Quilt shop  in Australia but whose patterns, fabrics and templates have been part of a worldwide hand sewing revival especially among younger quilters. 

My basket of initial fabrics from varied designers and manufacturers

 

Cover of pattern booklet

My first blocks: we are using our own drafted templates but machine sewing by and large. However the bottom larger block was a pain to machine so Trish and I will attempt hand piecing instead.

I am using mostly the same Tula print as background  to try and bring a bit more focus to my quilt. I am a bit obsessed with it and it was the background in my Fib quilt.

Picture Play and Rumble in the Jungle

 

I have been making a picture play quilt for a little refugee girl who with her mother lives round the corner. I hope she's still there when it is finished but if not the host family may know how to pass it on. I just have facing to do which I hope to add today.

I'll use the backing trimmings to make the facings.

I'll use the backing trimmings to make the facings.

Last night I finished Rumble in the Jungle using Laurel Burch fabrics and Kona black with some of the blocks made by members of the 37NL swap group hosted by Blogging Near Philadelphia. 

Having made an earlier quilt I made several more "Boys' Nonsense" blocks to bring it up to 55.5" x 62".

Boys' Nonsense block

A less obvious version

To quilt it it Maggie used variegated thread and included monkeys!

Chartham Hatch

 

At our sewing day for six I took my now quilted by Maggie Laurel Burch jungly quilt with bright binding attached but not stitched down, a job for evenings in front of the TV. Coming thick and fast I handed over my corrected Tilda top for quilting. 

Maggie had bordered and quilted her bright fishes quilt started in 2019.

Oops

 I made a mistake on my Tilda top. I managed to press the block, the row and the quilt only noticing it at the photoshoot. An unpicking session in front of evening TV followed and today I'm going to replace it ready for Maggie to quilt tomorrow.

Last week she returned a Laurel Burch swap blocks quilt for me to bind. A long ago UFO.

Just the top on the bed