Spare room

 The Fish quilt is on the bed in the spare room and is giving me pleasure before it goes off to its new home.

And this is the Millennium Time (name of the crosses fabric) quilt still to be bound. Long and thinnish it's the size requested by Quilts for Care Leavers. With a musical theme I think it's suitable for a boy, always in demand.

On & Off the bed

 OFF

my vintage Dresden plate, thin and light, just right for summer.

Detail

ON

Rolling Along, a jelly roll pattern made along with other members of our four strong Bonnies'  house group. It's a coverlet with just two layers quilted by Maggie.

Uses Hoffman batiks

Quilters' Quild Region Two Show at Lullingstone Castle

 Since the retreat quilty events have been coming up quick and fast but I contracted coronavirus at High Leigh and spent a week watching Wimbledone from the sofa till I tested negative on Friday. This has made me behind with loading photos and blogging.

I had intended to deliver quilts to Lullingstone and help set up but we had to drop them off with someone else but I was able to go on Sunday and bring them back for people.

Here are my efforts plus I made the raffle quilt which was won by Trudy one of the people I took back quilts for. She seemed delighted but I told her no strings attached.

Me standing next to the raffle quilt, pieced by me and quilted by Maggie

Cafe Walls, straight lines pieced by me circle qulting by Maggie

A favourite, Give & Take

Very odd Fib quilt but I love the fabrics and
 on the bed at a holiday cottage it looked
great and lit up the room so there!

I was a bit disappointed to see fewer large quilts but the quality was good.

This is Orion by Gill Nicholls, fantastic.

I love the strong colours of this one by Liz Coleman

Lesley Mariner: Christma is coming

The stars of the show were final quilts by followers of the Region 2 master quilter course, many of whom were there to be presented with their certificates. I had been following the progress of some and was very impressed with the variety of techniques and the effort put in. Friendships too were formed.

The wool wadding adds a lovely texture to Melinda's master quilt, "Modern strippy spirals"

The is Stephanie's master quilt, "A Year in my Life".

This is Jenny Pudney's very different master quilt, "Yogi".

And last but not least, Jacquie's "The Master Quilt".

And again.

Our dear late friend, Izi's pieces are still being completed, this tricky one by Mandy held up by myself and Yvette.

Detail of Kathy's Stonefields

This is Kathy's Stonefields top; itwas her blocks that set Maggie, Belinda and Marigold off on their own Stonefields and friendhip journey.

Mandy's Winding Ways; her accucut dies have enabled other versions to be made too.

Mandy again using a panel to good purpose

Not just quilting but crocheted vegetables from Yvette for the church harvest festival!

And from the far table

Judy worked on a complicated project started

by Valerie.

Sheila was setting some very nicely screen
printed native birds and doing something
very complicaed with left over blue strips.

Marigold 's lovely collection of reds and exquisite stitchery

Detail

More retreating

 Our companions were very busy too. Mandy is a long arm quilter and always has a batch of quilted pieces for Carrie to bind and finish off, many charity projects. 

I think was a fairly complex piece from Yvette

and this Kathy's.

Yvette made this , again for a young person.

Carrie's cheery quilt for a child

Carrie's red and white churn dashes

Carrie's again in subtle colours

Retreat

 We were ten, but one short because of a family bereavement, just enough for the space.

The outlook over parkland with rabbits
hopping about from time to time.

This was my major project. I had the HST's ready to go and had all the rows and two quarters sewn by home time.  so this is just half of what I achieved..

Maggie my travelling companion trained as a pattern cutter and has phenomenal skills so we were all very impressed by her out put.

The start of another complex project

Diamonds top in subtle shades, the larger ones in Liberty's Riviera feature fabric.

Retreating at High Leigh

 

When Belsey Bridge closed we were transferred here to CCT's much more upmarket venue and the Kent quilters met with other retreaters who have become friends and we meet up on mutual retreats. The influx of new ideas is always welcome.

After making my giant Dresden Plate I practised just one block of a quilt from the Utah State Quilt Project I plan to make and have drafted. It works perfectly.  I shall leave the central pinwheel but change out all other green triangles for a different stronger green bought at Hometown on the way.

Making Lynne Goldsworthy's Wedge Circle

I signed up for the Thread House Academy this year and have enjoyed the style of delivery and on our retreat Lynne Goldsworthy's scrappy Dresden Plate was my first project.

I made sets of four light/dark 2.5" strips

I printed Lynn's templates onto (printable) freezer
paper and pressed them onto the strip sets
matching light and dark sections.

I used the drawn seam line not the edge of the
template as my guide.

Two pairs of wedgest from a strip set one with
darker shade at top, one wither lighter

Here they are in separate pile ready to sew in pairs!

At this stage alternate pairs were sewn together and bright oblongs sewn across the tops. This then was folded right sides together and sewn across the top and pressed out to form a folded triangle.

All were joined first in quarter circles then semis and finally in a round. If my quarter circles were not right Maggie showed me how to correct them by making two or three seams a smidgen wider at the bottom.

Sewn pairs

Thanks to Maggie my "plate" is pretty well perfect. Now for the centre circle.

 

First semi circle with oblongs folded to form
triangles

Another fine quilt you got me into

 I watch a YouTube quilty video over breakfast including Donna Jordan's of Jordan Fabrics. She makes it look so easy cutting and sewing so efficiently. So her fat quarter log cabin seemed a good way to use up some redundant stash. Of course not so easy as my pieces were all different sizes and more had to be unearthed to make the total taking me on a slightly different path. I can only hope if I mix things up enough things will right themselves. 

Light and dark stacks ready to go.

Sewing a round at a time ant--clockwise

Donna's free patter, easy to follow

Now that all is cut I am relishing the sewing with different fabrics and choices to be made each round. I am sewing 10 or so at a time and shuffling the stacks to aid evenish mixing, aiming for 49 blocks in all.

This is is only one of three (?) new previously unplanned projects ready to go. What I am I thinking of when I have ongoing things plus a plethora of  UFOs. I can only hope having Maggie long arm them will speed things up. 

Sandown

 Maggie, Mary and I went to the Grosvenor Show at Sandown.  We enjoyed looking at quilts together together with individual shopping.

Mary drove us safely back to her house where we enjoyed a cup of tea and a look at our purchases.

For me there were just enough quilts and traders for a manageable and relaxed day.

Tumblers by Ferret in her exhibition. 
I love how she has used two sizes.

Detail of Red Moon by Ferret
I am always fascinated by uneven log cabins
and would like to learn the measurements one day.

I had to take this one: it's the Guild raffle quilt made
by ME!

Gray Hair and Glasses by Hayling Island Piecemakers

Quilter's Husband's Lockdown Challenge by John Bennison

What Can I say - the Girl Likes Green by Diana Brangwyn

A border idea

Another border idea

A setting block idea

Romance Continues by Helen Ginns
a Joy Edgington student