Patchwork Party

I finished catching down the Quiltology binding while watching The Quilt Show on my computer feeling very virtuous as I cleaned the house this morning. As I'd marked the stitching line on the border with a felt tip I washed the quilt and it's done  apart from the label. It will never win a prize for my workmanship but at least it is finished.

Galvanised by realising I'm behind with the Bonnies PP quilt I've laid out my blocks ready to join some together but want to redo one which is just too dark and dirty for the rest. I'll do a different design as LeMoyne star is not the easiest pattern and am making templates for a block from another PP series.

Bonnie Quilters

Now we no longer meet in the log cabin we've reverted in my mind at least to our previous Bonnie Quilters title. This morning I attached the binding to the Quiltology quilt and took it along with me to catch down on the back. Mavis meanwhile has made far more progress with her Patchwork Party quilt than anyone else even though she's done four extra blocks. All those wildly different greens add up to an amazing combination. Just wonderful. Next time we plan to make a bag.

Now I need to get going on my setting triangles. I'll use a fabric bought for the Quiltolgy quilt and joy of joys it's been bought recently locally so I can buy more if need be. We have three shops each with a very small selection but this one proved just right.

Quiltology QAYG 05

At this point I had lost the plot to some extent trimming the backing as well as the wadding and joining backing and wadding together so I needed to add either a single or turned over double strip to the back when I joined the blocks so I had a flap to cover the exposed seam.

Once all the blocks were joined I quilted the sashing and show a back view here.

Quiltology QAYG 04

Rows are joined in the same way.

Quiltology QAYG 03

First I catch the two sets of wadding together so a horrible gap doesn't open up when the quilt is finished.

Then I turn over the flap of backing and pin. Lastly I catch it down as neatly as I can.

Quiltology QAYG 02

Here you can see two blocks in a row ready to be joined . The wadding is trimmed but the backing extends.
The sashing is placed on top of the next block and I sew through four layers. Then I flip and press
so the block is joined at the front but open at the back. What next? Wait for 03!

Quiltology QAYG 01

I'm constructing Quiltology in quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) fashion. I lay the block on backing and wadding and tack and there are dots of glue baste here and there too. The extra backing and wadding is to accommodate sashing added later. Then I quilt the block. It's easy to quilt in the ditch round all the shapes when the piece is small. Next I lay out the sashing and then flip over and pin and stitch the seams. Once done and pressed I trim the wadding but not the backing. This isn't a quicker way but is very suitable for sampler blocks like this which involve lots of maneuvring when quilting. I like handling the quilted pieces

C&W Show & Tell

My Show and tell was my magazine project so no photo here as yet. I showed the Quiltology blocks and some were immediately apparent such as Grandmother's Flower Garden for Pam grandma par excellence and great gardener. Mary hoped hers would be the house and it was - a schoolhouse, her place of work. Maggie's was the log cabin variation because she always puts her own spin on traditional patterns and her home has traditional wooden cladding. The others were obvious once named: Marion's Choice for Marion, Mother's Delight for Melanie who loves her little one dearly and North Wind for me who has drifted south.
Marion had finished her hexagon top shown above in soft brushed checked and striped cottons started on our last sewing day led by Maggie. It is just gorgeous and we couldn't resist stroking it. I'm dying to get on with mine but must FINISH what I've started first. Mary brought in her log cabin for a new baby in the family and we deliberated on backings - we do love to give advice. There's a lot of work in it as some of the logs are quite narrow. We also tacked a top to be quilted by visitors to the Oast Showcase but I've no photo of that either.

Quiltology 03

Yesterday I made the border or edging pieces for the quilt with just one framing yellow piece and the rest in background fabric. I've also decided on the sashing posts, again keeping the focus on the blocks by using a pale background fabric. I like to have sashing posts rather than continuous strips of sashing as they help to keep the blocks lined up properly. Also I plan to quilt this in quilt-as-you-go sections.

Quiltology 02

Since doing  my "corners" demonstration on special rulers I have had the idea of using one of the shapes - the Bi-Rangle -  as sashing; so to liven up my Quiltology quilt this is what I decided to try. The first decision I had to make was whether to have yellow star shapes between the blocks or yellow framing pieces. I opted for the latter as otherwise the blocks would have set off the stars rather than the other way round which didn't seem fair after the work we'd put into piecing them. My ruler wasn't big enough to make pieces to go round a 12" block so I resorted to cardboard templates and the quilter's wheel. I marked the sewing lines and, with a dot, the angle points so that putting the shapes together was quite easy. I think everyone should learn how to draft and to make and use templates! I've completed the inner sashing pieces and have a bit more cutting out before making the ouside border.

Quiltology 01

Last year was Crab & Winkle's 10th anniversary and after some discussion we decided to mark the occasion by making parts of a piece for each other. I called mine Quiltology and handed my five co-members a bag of various shades of neutral and asked them to choose a block to complete the phrase "If I were a quilt block I would be . . . " and make the block to go with it. I made a Snail's Trail as my 6th block.  The other participants chose to dodge my analytical tendencies by choosing blocks with no particular personal significance so I 've decided to rectify this  by making 6 more, one for each of us and including some yellow as I had few of the darker fabrics left and the quilt was in danger of looking insipid rather than pale and interesting. Here they are - I'll reveal the names once I shown them to the others. One is missing as I'm hand stitching it.

Crab & Winkle

We had a lovely sewing day led by Maggie making quite large hexagons either strip or foundation pieced. Maggie's completed quilt uses her own fairtrade fabrics and is embellished with rick rack while her second work in progress is a masterpiece of simplicity. So effective. I had already planned to make a similar quilt and on my US trip last Autumn had collected lots of fabrics, especially modern large scale West minster type prints. Maggie with her artist's eye arranged them into various sequences for me. Meanwhile Melanie used recycled shirts which also worked well with this pattern. Pam was undoing and restitching blue English paper pieced hexagons. Mary worked on various projects during the day and last thing in the afternoon completed  a bright log cabin type cot quilt for an about to arrive young relative.

V&A Show

I haven't posted much about quilting activities as the project I am now binding is yet another version of a pattern I hope is going to be published in a patchwork magazine so I am holding my horses with posting photos for the time being. Meanwhile the weekend's big excitement was the members' preview at the Victoria and Albert Quilt Show. This was the first of several visits. I think there are only 42 quilts on display but all merit such close attention that by the time I reached the fifth section I was visually exhausted and will make that my starting point on my return visit. I have bought the catalogue to study further and some of the lovely limited edition Liberty fabrics created to accompany the show.

Back from Madeira

I have been away in Madeira, a lovely island with a wonderful self reliant population who have done a great job of clearing up after the floods. The scenery was varied and different flowers were coming into bloom, Calla lilies and mimosa during our stay and lots of patchwork and quilting inspiration in the elegant streets and historic buildings.
I came back on Wednesday evening and since then have attended 3 quilt groups and taught a charity workshop. I shall enjoy my Mothers Day tomorrow.