I have been working on Isla's quilt top since the start of the year and I decided I must finish it today. This morning I completed the flowers and in the afternoon made the star blocks for the other lower corner though it took four before I was satisfied. I laid the top out to photograph. However I then had to wash it as I had used a Solvy Sticky fuse on the back as a stabiliser for the applique. Now it's laid out flat but it's going to be quite a job to iron all those seams and I hope the soluble interfacing hasn't greyed some of the paler fabrics.

The top

Leftover scraps

Some left over fabric

BOM Day

Usual Suspects got together to set together their Quilt Show BOM blocks. We hired a village hall and had massive space and tables to set things out on as there were only five of us. We enjoyed a contributory lunch and celebrated Belinda's belated birthday. The local wildlife took an interest.

Mylayout

Cake!

Mr Pheasant

End in sight

Flowers with markings for stems.

Today I prepped the flowers for the lower right corner and traced in the lines for the stems. After three days at least of prevaricating and messing about I can see my way forward. I've abandoned the idea of flowers for the other bottom corner - I'll do two more stars. I think that will look better (and be much more straightforward!). I'm looking forward to clearing the materials away. At the moment fabrics are dumped on the (dolls) bed pending stars but I have tidied the table. I'm looking forward to the hand quilting.

Out for the day

I and another friend and her daughter had a lovely time today with a friend we went to the Houston Show show with. Today we shared patterns and fabric, cutting up the Westminster fabric we had bought into thirds to distribute among us. Amazingly we had no duplicates so we have a very good range between us. I took a photo of our hostess's bed and back drop. Just lovely.
I also took a picture of a vintage circa 30's/40's quilt I own lent to my friend to replicate the pattern. The other quilt was made by our hostess from fabrics won by friend's daughter at Houston, given to her and returned as an appreciated gift.

My dresden plate quilt made in 30's/40's.

Gift of a quilt.

 

Can you see the mistake?

I realise one of my Irish Chain blocks had a (non deliberate) mistake in it and although I have spares this is the one I want so I'll change it. Meanwhile after three attempts I've got the bird I want - green on a light background and have started to piece the top.  I am facing problems here and there because of miscut fabric or not enough fabric but I am pleased. It's busy but not so much of a messy mish mash as I'd feared. Vases of flowers still to do.

Birds of a feather



Top taking shape

Millennium hanging

I am helping a lady who lives in Faversham with her patchwork as she came mid course to our beginners' class. Our group Quayquilters is based in Faversham. To mark 2000 the group, mainly a core of 4 people, designed and made a hanging for the library. Library users contributed fabric. In fact Norma was the designer and it is brilliant - not the small fiddly needlework and crammed in images of many such projects but big and bold which can be seen from one end of the building to the other. It depicts scenes from Faversham's history in a lively ebullient manner typical of Norma's work. I spent 1999 to 200 in Kuala Lumpur so played virtually no part in this project apart from handquilting a cherry or two on the border. Faversham is surrounded by orchards. In the reference library hangs a more "patchworky" hanging. I don't know if this is the group's work or not.

General view

One of the Stuart kings, the Quay, the gunpowder factory explosion, sheep and brewing.

Matilda and Stephen warring monarchs, Thames barges and the murder of Thomas Arden by his wife and lover subject of a play by Thomas Middleton: "Arden of Faversham".

In the reference library

Here are the Quilt Show BOM stars we swapped out more than a year ago. I first laid them out strictly according to match the original block designs. Then it was time to swap around, with the job made easier by three spares. We'll be meeting up to combine them next week. The border stars are so numerous they won't present a problem.

I have made a row of little people to go along the top of the quilt. I shall have to pluck up courage and dot the eyes (and noses and mouths). They will have a bird to the left of them and a dog to the right. I planned to put pots of flowers in the lower corners but looking at this I think I shall have a tall tree bottom left and the flowers bottom right. It's all taking a very long time.

A Farmer's Wife

It was Quay Quilters last night when Trish showed us how she had used the computer programme EQ to make her Farmer's Wife quilt. She had scanned in a plethora of fabrics and when choosing fabrics for blocks, as an exercise selected them using the computer images not the fabrics themselves. The EQ mock up revealed that her choice of sashing was not the right one so she was able to substitute before any wasteful cutting took place. Trish and I are part of a gang of four who sew together and work on the same projects. I only made sets of blocks and haven't got to the end yet and suspect I never will. Trish's blocks are so beautifully pieced and the fabrics so wonderful I felt quite moved on looking at it. Truly a magnum opus. I hope to take a better photo when we meet up on Friday.
Margaret, our treasurer, reported on our show from last year. With a change of treasurer and the bank repeatedly messing up it's taken some time but I was pleased to learn we made £1447 to donate to our local hospice. This is more than we've ever made before partly because of a very successful tombola and also because we charged for admission for the first time. It didn't stop people coming.

Crab & Winkle

It was Crab & Winkle night on Friday. I had only my dyed fabrics to show. On the quilting front I am on the straight and narrow working on Isla's till done though I have had nearly two weeks of not doing anything for it. I saw her on Thursday and her first words were "Where's my quilt?" A hard taskmaster.
We discussed our show and I took a picture of Marion's very pretty cottagy Hidden Wells for my Hidden Wells file and also Maggie's two latest. Just so lovely and inspiring. Pam brought out what will be our second prize quilt a 60" square lap quilt made with a panel and a complementary set of fat quarters which was a large and generous donation from a friend of mine. She is handquilting it. One of Maggie's is a variation on the Katharine Guerrier Galaxy of Stars design but using strips to frame the stars. Indeed it's a completely different pattern, I feel. The other is just squares but using the lovely pastel fabrics so popular now in a very beautiful combination.

Raffle quilt in progress

Maggies stars framed with strips in progress

Maggie's squares

Dyeing to Quilt

I've been slightly poorly last week and I seem to have spent two weeks centred on a one day dyeing dyeing session, collecting lots of stuff and mixing masses of salt solution. Then on the day itself  we dyed our allocation then acquired extra dye so that last week  I finished up surplus dyes and rinsed and rinsed then rinsed again before final washing and ironing. What I omitted to do for some items was to dampen the cloth beforehand. I have learned some lessons and got a good collection.

Some completed fabric

Fabric stewing in bags awaiting rinsing

The dye kitchen on my return home

Gradated greens

Quay Quilters

Braiding

The topic at Quay last night was Peruvian braiding. Pauline talked about various kinds and attendant pieces of equipment, showed examples and gave everyone a card thingy so they could have a go. It was one of the most concentrated evenings I have ever seen with everyone beavering away keeping their attention on the correct sequence.
Pauline showed us a book by Helen Deighan on this subject, "Beautiful Braiding Made Easy".


http://www.crosswayspatch.co.uk/index.php/books/beautiful-braiding-made-easy

I was taking the beginners' log cabin session and Helen brought along a log cabin quilt she had made which had strips of varying widths to give a curved effect.

Helen's Quilt

Trundling along

I am finding working on Isla's quilt quite hard going in some ways as I am used to lots of repetitive piecing and have been dashing off Linus projects. This quilt seems painstakingly slow and I'm not sure the result will justify it as it's a bit of a hotch potch though I'm trying to keep the colours moving throughout the quilt. I know Isla will like it as it will be a quilt  full of activity like her. Today I have been making hearts. At least the technique is successful (see last post) but I've been moving and swapping around. I am going to have pots of flowers in both bottom corners and had planned background pieces to to go in both corners. I am now utterly miffed to find I've miscut - 8" not 8.5" - as I'm committed to this particular fabric because of what has gone before I shall cut off 1/2" from the top of the house, I hope 1/4" of sky above the chimneys doesn't look too ridiculous. I'll try blotting it out with masking tape to check. Oh dear! Just a thought -  I could repiece the chimneys to go right to the top - I may do that.. .

The mess I am working in - not my usual practice.



8 pointed star

Star and hearts

I completed the star. I couldn't use the outer fabric I'd originally planned as I realised it would be too much pink but I prefer the substitute. I've now started on the hearts. I thought the fabric choices would be enjoyable but again there is much furrowing of brows. The applique technique I was putting off is going well thanks to Karen Kay Buckley's workshop at Houston as I'm using her technique of pressing over templar which forms a sharp outline. I'm using spray starch rather than sizing which we can't get here.

I built four houses today

I pieced four houses today though I'd cut out the pieces before. Gathering the various fabrics was quite thought provoking. They're not joined in a row yet. Next stop is a star and then it's all applique which I've been putting off.

U3A

I'm not sure what this technique is called where you end up with self contained quiltlets which are then sewn together. The front and back can be different as with these rail fence examples. I've seen this demonstrated several times but Margaret's samples shown here  are particularly lovely.

The front

Pinwheels on the back

Farnham Maltings

I went with friends to Farnham Maltings where quilt shops sell off off their surplus fabrics and products. I needed more fabrics for Isla's quilts as my choices are now being constricted by the fact I can't cut background squares or even hearts out of some of the pieces I have left. Also to get sufficient contrast I needed some fabrics with coloured dots on white backgrounds. One of my friends bought some and told me just which stall to go to so I'm very happy.
As part of the day local groups display their quilts and there was a one woman show by Diana Taylor. Her room just glowed.

Partial shot of Diana Taylor's room

A Mary's Triangles quilt

My "Viewer's Choice" by Deborah Redman

Maggie's return

It was Crab & Winkle last night. Maggie is back from her African sojourn so had lots to show us including her Hidden Wells quilt and wall hangings  which she had brought back from her second home unable to remain parted from them. Whilst there she had made a quilt or rather quillow  for her son's girlfriend who had laid down firm stipulations about gingerbread people, cottages and the like. It is a masterpiece of invention. Mary - the "other" Mary as I'm one too - has started a beautiful stars quilt so a very colourful evening.

Maggie's Hidden Wells

Maggie's wall hangings

Quillow cushion

Maggie's quilt for a gift

Mary's stars project in progress