What I did on the Quilting Retreat

This was the third retreat of the year and five nights and days of sewing interrupted only by daily walks and shopping trips as there was a well stocked quilt shop locally. As I knew we were going to have two tables each I took major projects I wanted to move closer to completion. Some stages of quiltmaking are hurdles to get over I find and the long retreat days were the necessary push. I was one of the two packing up at midnight.

Row 4 ready to add

Top complete: most blocks constructed with templates.

I framed each Bonnie Blues block (2015 project) and trimmed to 14", then sashed them, sewed the rows and bordered with my focus fabric plus a thin strip of orange mitring the corners.  I am really pleased with the result and know my husband will like it as blue is his favourite colour. The top is wider than it is long because that is how it will go on our bed which has a footboard.I didn't want the house and mountain and bargello to be sideways on.
I also added two unpieced borders to the current Bonnie project, Jackie Taylor's Civil War pattern. partly to bring it up to a size divisible by three as the final border will be 1 1/2" by 3" flying geese.
I had to do quite a bit of partial piecing in the corners as I wanted o sew the cheddar and red strips together before adding them to the borders and the black cornerstones necessitated some juggling.

Working which sort of geese - I opted for dark geese on light sky to my surprise.

Awaiting final border: a very successful quilt, I feel.

In between these efforts I completed my own Split 9-Patch+ kit and sewed the top in preparation for a workshop next year.

My first arrangement of units

This was a group effort

Sewn together

Detail of lovely 1930's repro. fabrics

So time well spent plus good friends , exercise and fun.

QQ evening

Two weeks ago I finally managed to make it to a Quayquilters' meeting where we were sewing heart cushions but before we embarked on that we had some Show and Tell.

I think this may be Pauline's; she is digging out older projects to complete.
Wonderful redwork embridery.

This is definitely Pauline's. She has employed Rita's Whirlis to create a curved log cabin
butterfly.

This is Jan's very tasteful version of a Gail Lawther pattern. I like it better than the flaming
African sunset ones which most people opted for.

U3A October Project 02

Cut each pair into 1", 2", 3" and 4" strips.

Take the top fabric 4" piece of the first pair and place it on the left and then the
 other top fabrics in sequence from large to small. Then take the underneath strips
and intersperse them beginning with the 1" strip and then in sequence
from small 1" strip ending with the alternate 4"
strip on the left.
Sew together and press all seams towards the left hand navy piece.

Repeat for the second pair but press all seams towards the very light 4"
piece on the right.

U3A October project 01

Today we embarked on  a converge panel designed by Brenda Dean and published in Popular Patchwork in May 2018. 

You start with four 10" squares

And place pairs right sides together

Monday U3A

Led by Margaret the students had gone home to p[lay with disappearing four patches with lots of interesting results.

Inspired by YouTube

More variations

More again

Away weekend

Maggie's African fish laid out

Maggie's ladybird quilt in the making - a Jan Mullen technique

My bedroom!!!

My windows and balcony

Sewing in the kitchen extension

Space for hand sewing and watching films

View from balcony

Maggie's quilt with border

Away for the weekend

Five of us made our annual trip to the seaside, staying in a house, sewing, watching films and going out for walks and visiting the food festival. I haven't been well so had a laid back time with long lie ins, afternoon naps and leisurely strolls but by the end I was so much better. I took along some easy things which will be the subject of demonstrations and an upcoming workshop.

Four squares

Cut up and sewn back together

From four squares I made a convergence piece - I have four more squares so may make a bag with a convergence variation on each side.
Next up was a simple split ninepatch. I'll border the little quilt with a narrow red insert to pep it up.

Latest effort

I am now trying to use up leftover pieces from completed quilts, usually on  casual improv. lines and this follows on from my Skopolos quilt though I now wish I hadn't included the leftover block. It measures 42 x 49" and owes not a little to a Helen Howes pattern in a recent magazine.

This is the way I laid it out

but perhaps it's better this way up ?

Last from Hever

The rose garden

Hever is a lovely day out, not just for the quilts but for the lovely gardens though the weather was rather dull this year. This year we had tickets to go round the house and were greeted by an Anne Boleyn lookalike.

Janet Hall: Red for Matt and Jo: she attended a fractured flowers workshop, a
technique I'd like to try on a smaller scale.

Louise Bell: Autumn leaves and birds in trees
Applique on linen. I like the unstructured all over use of applique elements.

Rosemary Hesketh: Nine Patch Liberty Tana Lawns

Detail of Liberty fabrics

More from Hever

Belinda Jeffries' Carrie's Walrus quilt

We are off to Bungay today where I'll pay a call to Sew and Sews, a  well stocked fabric shop, and Weightman's where they have a lot of wider fabrics while Alan will visit the Air Museum. Tomorrow we'll be home for lunch.
Meanwhile here are some more pictures from Hever:

My Hawaii Five-O Snails Trail

Joy Warwickand  sister Jud Kirk's lovely quilt for Joy's daughter to mark her wedding, a favourite of mine..

My Feathered Srar

Tansy Martin's magnificent Stonefield quilt which won Viewers' Choice

Marigold Martin's Union Jack quilt, a commission from her son.

My Skopolos quilt

Suffolk travels

We are coming to an end of our Suffolk trip and have done lots of historical and cultural things. In among the memorials and the churches and castles I am also alert to textile bits and pieces.. We started off in one cottage but are now in another - where everything works! However at the first one I was pleased to see draped over a bench and rather bedraggled a quilt. I suspect the child for whom it was made is long grown up.
The Suffolk churches are wide and spacious and light filled but looking down there are usually individually needleworked kneeling pads. I love spotting all the different designs.

The cte cars

A local scene

My favourite, a sheaf of corn

Very appropriate here where fish re abundant

And on a different note an embroidery decorating a stool in th church,
rather Jacobean in its imagery.

And on my own account I have been doing a nightly stint on my Quilt of the Crosses BOM tacking the units for the blocks and joining pieces. I reckon three years; six months to tack and two years and half to sew. May send it out to quilt.. .

My BOM kit

HEVER

The first weekend in September marked the annual return of the Quilters Guild Region Two Quilt Show held in the grounds of Hever Castle home to Ann Boleyn. The Hever folk provide us with a marquee and store our quilt stands and help with the hanging of the very large quilts in the centre. I help put up and take down other quilts. Alan and I bring our trusty ladder with us.
This year's show was one of the best.

by Jo Joy, a an effective use of HST's

Linus baby quilts based on a Modern Quilt group's tutor box; very young babies can only distinguih black and white

I liked the way the quilting echoed but also ovelaid the piecing: food for thought

A poor photo of a group's medallion mystery quilts

This bright one stood out

Brigitte Gillespie's Tula quilt,  shimmering around the iconic Elizabeth Tudor's image print