Cover

Bonnie Quilters have been making sewing machine covers during lockdown but not me as I already had one and it's now covering my Janome which has the walking foot on after quilting two quilts in the last few days.

The other side

Flowers on top too.

My cover was made from pieces miscut for a quilt topped with applique machined through all layers.
Now I am working on my three Quayquilters raffle quilt blocks. We've been issued kits and instructions and I'm trying to be very accurate. All the blocks are HST's each one a different arrangement. I'm using my basic Bernina for this.

Ready to sew

More quilts at the Turner

The main reason why my posts have thinned out is because so much of my posting was about quilt events and quilty gatherings and sharing of other work than my own. Quiltmaking is a slow process so although we can share the process finishes are not so frequent. This weekend should be the Oast Showcase  now postponed till next year. The previous weekend should have been Oast weekend and the Region 2 Show and Lullingstone. Festival of Quilts at the NEC was scheduled for the first weekend of August.
In June my quilt retreat and the Sandown show did not happen. Fortnightly and monthly group and house group meetings are not happening. I know this is small beer compared to other disruptions but my own situation has made me aware of how deep and widespread are these small personal losses as well as the global and national economic implications.
So the reopening of the We Will Walk show albeit masked, sanitised and distanced was very welcome.

One side

The other side

This sort of quilt looks deceptively artless and simple but working in this way is difficult for most. I would love to be able to manage  large and disparate pieces of fabric so successfully.

I don't have the captions for these quilts laid out flat:

We Will Walk at the Turner Contemporary

Turner Contemporary Margate

We will walk is the title of a show of mainly folk art from the Deep South of the US. I was particularly interested because of the inclusion of many quilts especially those from Gees Bend. I knew that Boykin in Gees Bend had been increasingly isolated after the ferry service ceased. I didn't realise this was a deliberate step to stop black residents registering to vote or voting. Similar tactics operated elsewhere including victimising white employers who allowed their black workers to register or vote. There were many photographs of scenes from the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's.  . I learnt about Emmet Till and how his murderers escaped justice and wonder how long it will be before equality under the law is realised. I also learnt about yard art and how the human spirit seeks to express itself under the most arduous and limiting circumstances.
This was the quilt facing me as I entered and one of the most resonant.

And the quilt which caught the collector's eye is on the cover of this book.

Sandwiches

I took a whole day sandwiching my Lockdown Logs quilt as I tacked it. I prefer this method When I plan to hand quilt. I miss my previous quilting project. I work over a table as I think crawling over a large quilt on the floor is bound to cause puckers.
The other two, Roman Crosses quilts, I spray basted which was very quickly done. I'll machine quilt these.

Quilting in the ditch around the lockdown logs was the work of an afternoon though I still must go round along the inner edge of the border and in the border itself. Then I'll hand quilt the setting squares and bind it before going on to quilt inside the blocks. 

I plan to adapt the pattern of the slats on the back of my outdoor chairs for the design.

Add caption

Two more

blocks for my Siblings Together quilt.

From Nathalie

From Gillian

And yesterday, Saturday, Liz organised a very enjoyable "sewcial" in Tayne Field, Lyminge.

Liz's husband took this. Liz is in the hat and next to her quilt and I'm next to her in a long thingy.

Liz's quilts laid out.

Siblings Together July Block

This is my block contribution for July. Angela requested blocks in a single colour if possible.

In the post . .

. .another Bee block, this one from Margaret which fulfills the brief of bright modern colours.

Quilt for Belinda

Quilt for Belinda laid out on my bed. We used 1930's fabrics.

I have had a blog hiatus while making blocks to contribute for a friend who has been having a few health problems lately. Five of us were involved one of whom, Maggie, assembled and bordered the blocks, quilted it on her long arm machine and attached the binding and sleeve. I stitched down the binding and sleeve and attached Tracy's beautiful label. She added the stitched text to a vintage embroidered cloth. Yesterday I delivered the quilt though the recipient was out but she later posted a lovely picture with the quilt draped round her. She was very touched and happy.

Label stitched by Tracy

Detail of binding,backing and quilting design. I had bought the backing from Maggie's stash sale stall. Maggie chose a perfect binding fabric to go with the front and the back.

Postscript

Floral backing

Cream fabric

I could have made up a back for the cafe curtains mostly from the brown and sashing fabric but decided to use an interesting fabric I bought to back "something/anything". I opted for "anything" as I like the floral motif which contrasts with the geometrics on the front. (I can't make the floating "g" join up!)
And another Siblings together block arrived but I am short of what I expected: I thought being a monthly Bee member was an obligation not an option. I might discontinue after this year.

ST block from Sharon: I love it.

Frieda's Cafe Curtains

Looking at the small image on the upload page the optical illusion (cafe Walls) is very apparent not so much to the naked eye. The lines are straight but can appear wayward - try half closing your eyes. This is a Christa Quilts pattern. I was surprised at the size of the squares, 5 inches. I made mine to fit my bed, 82" wide and 77" long. I have a bed on legs and a small foot board so don't need very long quilts. I used Carolyn Friedlander fabrics hence the Frieda and curtains because this is fabric not wallpaper.

In the final stages of making I was fed up with this as a hopeless case visually but am warming to its simplicity. The fact the optical illusion doesn't work close up makes it quite restful. The pattern recommends interlocking circles quilting to "heighten the illusion" so it is going to be long arm quilted: Maggie has a suitable pattern.

This is my current project. After a slow start I am picking up more speed and plan to finish the top this week: the long 1" strips are a bit tedious to sew and I mark the seam junctures to keep everything aligned. It's a Christa Quilts  pattern based on the Cafe Walls optical illusion though the design seems boring and regular. Half close your eyes and see if the lines tend to sway in not so straight lines.
I haven't posted for a while as I have been working on a secret project: all will soon be revealed. Now I've got back to this,

In the meantime

I should have posted this earlier as it was a draft.

ST block from 
Angela

Current quilt
pattern I am doing

Siblings together blocks

Here are three blocks which arrived in the post.

 From Georgina

From Caroll

From Claire

Surprise in the post

Lyn made two

I received lovely right blocks from Siblings Together Bee 3 members today. There are more to come - it will be lovely to sew these up into a quilt for a young person in care.

From Jane

From Jo

All together

Return

Rows forming on the floor

This was the third lockdown quilt I embarked on but got stymied because I ran out of the two main fabrics - I have loads of the tiny joining strip fabric needless to say. The brown carkai line  fabric was easy to replace but I can't find any more of the light fabric - all three fabrics are by Carolyn Friedlander, a favourite with me and with many. So the 8 "A" strips and 4 "B" strips are consistent but I'll have to substitute in the 3 "C" strips still to do. I miscut some pieces at the outset and then didn't notice a more economical approach after returning to the project until it was too late but I've learnt to be more philosophical about these lapses.

Rows pinned up ready to
sew

A's on left; B's on right

ABA sets; 3 C's still to wrangle.

Saturday

Well I've added a border to the jelly roll top but it's doubtful the border has added anything to the quilt. Designwise it would have worked better if it was wider than the sashing but I didn't want the quilt to be any bigger.
My task for today is to make the hanging sleeve for Celestial Timepiece. The jelly roll quilt will eventually land on a sales table or be donated. Another task with husband's help is to get some bags of fabric down from the loft. Having used up lots of wadding I have two spare shelves and I'm struggling with finding backing fabric and need more options.

Presents from Belinda

The post girl often brings goodies thanks to online purchases but this cornucopia of nice things came from dear friend Belinda. I keep the soft backed notebook by my bed where it's useful for jotting down all sorts of things.
And the clock in my sewing room which my parents bought with Green Shield stamps has died so I requested this one from Alan. It was just as I had hoped from the picture. Now tea might be on time.

My new clock

The weather has turned chilly so a thicker quilt was needed on the bed. It's the third bed quilt I made using Sally Schneider's "Mary's Triangles" technique. Although it uses leftovers it's very successful and we feel as if we are under the sea, a choppy sea.

Quilt on the bed

Binding cut on the bias.