Been shopping!

On the way to collect my husband's car from repair I just happened to pop into a local sewing shop mainly to buy threads to quilt with. The shop is very limited for space and they were having a sale to make way for new stuff so . . I bought 6 and 5 metres each of some coffee and aqua or blue fabrics to combine with some brown and aqua blocks from a recent swap and for backings. They were only £2 metre and good quality. Then for £5 metre I bought some red and pale gold fabric to back the quilt I've just bordered. I was going to use fine calico (muslin) but this adds a whole new dimension. It's now tacked together, over a table as crawling over the floor is not an option and I think this crumples the quilt anyway. I plan to hand quilt it. Oh and I also got some pretty multi-coloured print for children's or charity quilts.

Show & Tell at Quayquilters

It was our first meeting of the New Year and not many of us as there is a lot of flu and colds about and unusually for here there is snow on the ground as well. We watched a very full and informative video about stained glass quilting by Gail Lawther who specialises in this technique. I was itching to go home and try it but won't as there are other things to get out of the way first. There were several Show & Tells: Gillian has finished her jolly cobblestones, Anne her amazing purple twirlies, Pauline a Christmas angel down from the tree and Judi the first of a journal quilt challenge with exquisite blanket stitching. I should have a picture of Valerie with her bag made with her FQ that each of us received as our Group present but my camera is really playing up but in conversation it emerged that it may need new as distinct from recharged batteries.

Millennium Quilt: still crazy after all these years

It's Twelfth Night and my Silent Stars Christmas quilt has come off the bed till next year and I've put on my New Year quilt which was made to mark the Millennium with 2000 different squares, 1.5" finished. I made blocks 4 squares by 5 and the quilt's inner section is composed of 40 by 50 squares. I would probably have been defeated by this project had I not been living in Kuala Lumpur for a year with no job, cleaners and lots of meals out! Bliss - I pieced like crazy. I started in the middle with yellows, reds and pinks alternated with squares with white backgrounds and then moved out to different colours and darker background squares. Black and white patches were pieced into 4 patches and dotted over the surface of the quilt. Plain squares were sited alternately in the outside row - 90 different ones. I'm ashamed/proud to say I sourced at least 1000 squares from my stash; others were acquired by 2" square swaps. Maggie, a fellow Crab & Winkle, suggested the exact shade of blue for the border strip and I used foundation pieced crazy blocks for the outer border, sourced on the net. It's completely hand quilted. If the centre represents the last 2000 years the crazy border represented the future as yet without form. The black and white fabrics are dotted with red, turquoise and parchment patches signifying conflict, environmental issues and scholarship respectively. In the event the blood red patches reflect the path we are taking in this 21st century. Let's hope the new leader of the free world will be able to redirect us. . . .

Border issues resolved

I decided to go ahead with the red floral border and found a brown print for the inner strip. I had intended this to be .5 inch finished width but absentmindedly cut the strips one inch but prefer this so all's well that ends well. I plan to mitre the corners and have attached the first border to make sure my measurements were correct. I'm going to use a Mountain Mist batting that is half cotton and half corn.

BOD 6 & Border Issues

I'm desperate for some hand sewing to do in the evenings so have decided to sandwich a quilt I'm making for a friend but prompted by a comment from my quilt group have decided it needs a further border. Also at 70inches square it's neither fish nor fowl. Anyway the Moda Country Paths fabric I used for most of the squares seems extinct now and I am trying to shop my stash and came up with this red/pale gold fabric I've had for a long time. I supect it's curtain material as it's very wide. I keep debating about it as I walk past. I'm tempted to go for it! I'll add a narrow brown strip between the setting squares and red border.

BOD 5

Here is the fifth block of the day - I hope I've sorted the date on my camera now. Today I've disassembled Christmas. The tree is down and out in the garden, I've cleaned my living area very thoroughly, taken off the Christmas cushions, cut up my Christmas cards for shopping lists and used pinked motifs for present labels. In the sales I bought half price cards for next year and my first 2009 Christmas present - I find the present buying a nightmare but am determined to get ahead this year (I say this every year). In the afternoon I cut up the wadding and backings for my 4 Snowball quilts. Although I drew outline plans and sketched out some straight line walking foot quilting I have decided to practise free machine quilting on the first two at any rate. The recipients will be young people I expect to use and wear out these quilts and treat them quite casually and as I also have my Moda charms top, the HoneyBee applique, a batik mystery and two Twisted Sisters tops I shall have to focus my handquilting efforts and accurate walking footing efforts quite carefully.

Sewing again: BOD 4 & doing a runner!

Today it was taking up the reins again. In the afternoon it was the log cabin quilters. Our latest project is a double sided log cabin table runner; squares and triangles on alternate sides are covered by strips stitched and flipped to form the quilting. The sandwich filling is medium weight vilene which gives a very nice texture to the finished piece. Friend Marion taught me this technique and pattern and this will be my third version.
I've drawn my pattern shapes on both sides of the vilene cut to fit my bedside chest. I placed a square on point in the centre and on the other side stitched and flipped strips. Before doing the next step I sewed round the outside of the square which made a guideline on both sides. I trimmed the strips.
Fran made a cushion but just stitching and flipping on one side.

Happy New Year! Bod 3

Grandchildren gone back home today but no sewing done apart from adding a label to my Silent Stars quilt. Here is the third Block of the day made earlier. My camera is a day ahead.
Happy New Year everyone!

BOD 2

It's still 2008 here for just 42 minutes more. I'm still stuck with the the "Sisters" quilt and will ask for advice on Friday evening when the Crab and Winkles meet here. I'm surprised at myself for one minute I was saying I was just going to play and go for it while now I'm dithering and want to make the "right" decision and not spoil it.
Anyway here is the block of the day from my Autumn project. I am finishing the final block now - chain stitching a leg onto an appliqued bird. We are in for New Year's Eve and our two darling grandchildren are sleeping downstairs while their parents celebrate.

Stuck: BOD 1

Well I thought I would be working on the Twisted Sisters top today and indeed cut out quite a few 3" strips with a view to putting them around the quilt more or less till I ran out but am now wondering whether to finish off the top more tidily and use the scraps to make a still smaller top, lasagne or squares...
Anyway the Autumn blocks are proceeding steadily. I'm appliquing the last bird block now. Meanwhile here is a pieced leaf block-of-the-day I made earlier...

More Twisted Sisters

Yesterday I got back in my sewing room, free again after the Christmas visitors and a chance for yet one more arrangement of the furniture. It's working quite well. After making my full size Twisted Sisters top I had 16 blocks left and I'm now using up the rest of the fabric adding borders. The trimmings from cutting the Sisters units have been used for the pointy borders. As this quilt has no particular purpose apart from using up fabric I'm just playing around and as happy as not to see the odd upturned point. I've added more top and bottom as I want to end up with an oblong not a square.

Merry Christmas

Just a quiet moment with husband and son before my mother, daughter and partner and two lovely grandchildren arrive. The turkey's cooking, the sauces made and vegetables prepared and mum is doing a pudding and mince pies!
Happy Christmas to all, peace and goodwill to our neighbours - we are all neighbours on this earth of ours.

Twisted Sisters Top Finished

Here is my completed Twisted Sisters top showing a detail of the border and corner. The corner is deliberately big so I can square off the corner properley once quilted. It's quite big and I'm thinking about how to quilt it or perhaps have it quilted.
I still have a smaller piece 4 blocks by 4 that I shall add my remaining three cats fabric to till it's all gone in an effort to keep the scrap pile down.

Mavis's Ecard

Fellow Log Cabin quilter, Mavis, was ill for our last meeting (lots of bad colds/flu going round here) and sent me this ecard of her quilt, border complete and on her bed. Mine's on my bed too. This was her first quilt, a real quilting course in one.

Quay Quilters Christmas Challenge

We met for our Christmas drinks and nibbles last night and the challenge entries were displayed. I forgot mine, a very meagre little bag. We had all been given a slip of paper with a colour wriiten on it and we had to make something all in that colour. Vanessa, a member who had earlier in the year, given a talk on colour judged and made very interesting comments on how colours in the items worked. The winner? - Norma's large red bag in precious fabrics, all in varities of red , blue red, but deploying texture. Ruby, a founder member, made the wonderful green leaves spotted with dandelions based on a quilt she'd seen in the background of a magazine picture. The incomplete star was Vanessa's!

U3A Patchwork Group

I have been going to a U3A (University of the third Age) patchwork beginners' group slightly under false pretences but I have enjoyed the morning outing and appreciated our tutor's exquisite work. She achieves a precision I can only dream of. Here I show the bag she made for the Oast Quilters' challenge and came second. Unfortunately the way the bags were displayed most weren't aware of their presence otherwise it would have won as the result was very close. (I suggest you click on the image.) Other members have worked on quilt-as-you-go log cabin, one a baby quilt the other African animals while another has done a variety of small projects. In the latter case my presence was of use because she needed help with handquilting (here're the last two cushions she made)and this morning paper pieced hexagons which is not our tutor's area of interest.
U3A classes cost only a token sum and the tutors "work" for nothing and everyone pitches in. Today was our last day but I shall meet up with Margaret from time to time to compare notes. Next term it'll be the singing group - singing for health and pleasure. No pressure.

Three Cats in a Twist

I was lucky enough to take a couple of Ami Simms workshops at the next to last Cabot Quilting Conference here in the UK. The first day was devoted to her signature Twisted Sisters technique and pattern. That was March 2007; this year being the year of the UFO I've made more blocks and on our sewing day I finished assembling enough for a quilt for my bed. Then I had 16 leftover and I combined those too 4 by 4. I used Oakshotts navy a Fairtrade fabric from India and my collection of Three Cats indigo fabric from South Africa plus an old-fashioned bright red ditsy floral for the squares. Very guiltily I've received an extra order of Thee Cats to piece a border but in my current (Jan 09) British Patchwork and Quilting magazine there's an article about the the Da Gama factory which produces these fabrics (originally the designs and machinery came from Manchester near where I lived in Lancashire)and they are a cooperative enterprise on quite a large scale which is of great benefit to its employees and the Cape area so now I feel I'm a benefactor. Anyway I've used all the new FQs and plan to make another small quilt from the leftovers. Yesterday I pieced two longer borders and am about to add them using partial sewing.

Crab & Winkle sewing day

Crab & Winkle had a lovely sewing day in Maggie's beautiful workroom. In fact after months of mess and builders the whole house is starting to look very good. Six of us were there but here are photos of Melanie with Christmas projects - Advent calendar and wreath, Marian with bags destined for a craft fair and Maggie's delicate applique block. What was I working on?? I'll try and post tomorrow.

More artistic inspiration in Norwich

Here are photographs of textile pieces, worked in tapestry. The figures are hanging in the foyer of the Castle Keep Museum, the other two were part of the modernist collection in the Sainsbury Centre shown in a temporary exhibition.