Crab & Winkle Meeting

Maggie's

Maggie's design



Mary's convergence



Marions stack and slash sample

     















I realise Crab & Winkle's regular evening meeting is coming up and we are having a sewing day on Thursday but I haven't written about our last get together at Marion's house.

Marion showed a sample top for an upcoming workshop she is teaching while Maggie has been making items for which she produces patterns and which set off the fairtrade fabric she sells. Mary was very taken with Jenny's convergence corner at Oast and has started her own version using gorgeous fabrics.

Puddleducks

I've had a very quilty weekend starting with a quick trip to the annual Puddleducks and Quercus Quilters Quilt Show on Saturday morning. http://www.puddleducksquilts.co.uk/ My visitor's choice was Jane Tandy's off centre log cabin with its restrained use of colour and pattern. The off centre blocks are not usually a favourite of mine but I thought this was very successful.

In the afternoon it was our Oast meeting http://oastquilters.co.uk/ here in Canterbury and Edwina McKinnon talked and showed her quilts. I'm sure everyone enjoyed it. There was a great variety of work, very inventive and covering a wide range. Beautiful work. http://edwinamac.blogspot.com/
This quilt was the topic of the workshop next day which I attended. Judi and I worked on a joint project ntended as a Linus children's quilt

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Today the Usual Suspects met and we finished the blocks and pieced them into 4-Patches and three panels which will form a strippy

Finishes

U3A Linus quilt

HST scrappy

Here are a couple more of these year's finishes: firstly the quilt begun at the U3A taster day which I led last year which ranged from English paper piecing to American block patchwork then strip piecing with cutters and finally anything goes. We used Cherrywood fabrics so the students coud just concentrate on colour and value rather thean style and texture. This isdestined for Linus. After my Katharine Guerrier quilts I had masses of of leftover squares and HST's and used them all in a scrappy quilt displaying many common HST arrangements. This will serve some charitable purpose or other whether funds or a gift.

HST details

Mary's Triangles

I think I may have posted this quilt in "top" stage but it is now complete and is destined for some charitable purpose or other. I found a bag of Mary's Triangle units and lots of single squares in a bag while kitting out my sewing room. They were leftover from Quay Quilters' raffle quilt some years ago. I sewed the squares into 4-Patches as leader enders and combined with the Mary's Triangle units to form a diagonal pattern I used up every piece, adding a couple of squares from my own fabric and the border at the end. It's down as QQ Lilac Linus on my 2011 finishes list.

Now my fabric is folded on shelves in cupboards I can access it more easily and am making myself use stash rather than new purchases though I have bought longer lengths for backings.

Chuffed



Donated Linus blocks




My Linus blocks

  At Festival of Quilts last year I collected a bunch of 10 Linus blocks which I laid out with two spaces for which I have made blocks. I'm a piecer but am slowly discovering the joys of fusible web. At the Janome class I learned the Heat'n'Bond brand doesn't separate like some and I also tried some stitches suggested on Sunday to secure the pelican pieces. The lighthouse is foundation pieced. I'm currently auditioning sashing. It pains me to break into fabric sometimes but I'm being strong about it. The patterns are from Quiltmaker magazine (109 &110).






My pelican

 

Intended layout minus sashing

Janome Day 02

Cathy uses the embroidery features of her machine and showed some wonderful pieces.

Janome Day 01

Janome Club day today and super as always with people drawn from a wide area who don't otherwise meet and all doing different things. There were 3 laptops out today while Cathy demystified intricacies of machine embroidery customizing. I was interested to see various completed version of the hearts and star rosette (designed by Jeanne Gentry) and others in progress. The black and white one by someone relatively new to quilting was particularly stunning.

Pam's

Pam's -detail

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Rose's

Cut out star used on end

Bagging it

Latest bag



Magazine pattern

 The bag pattern in the magazine looked promising so I started to collect my fabrics and delve into my aged stock of iron-on interfacing and spend what seem to be an interminable time cutting odd shaped pieces. First off I felt my large blue floral should feature at the side of the bag rather than hide underneath so I replaced the top two patches with one check and reversed the placement. The main problem though was I hadn't quite taken on board how wide the base was - 8" plus and likewise the sides so the bag is more of a cube.
However I have learnt a lot - using a magnetic clasp, placing the lining inside the bag right sides together with the front and topstitching and curving the base of the side panels. I'll use these ideas again but with different dimensions and piece and then add interfacing etc.


In the afternoon the Bonny Quilters Farmers' Wives met (one on holiday) and drew more templates and Trish and I showed our blocks (Mavis is just  back from her travels so will catch up later).


My blocks



Trish's blocks



Bargello Bag
At the Oast "Corners" meeting Wendy demonstrated Bargello. I thought this would be just the thing for Alan's antimacassar only to find I didn't like it but no worries I made a bag with stiff vilene/interfacing in lieu of wadding. I've covered the seams and added a zippered pocket to the inside so hope this will raise some funds at our show. The bag I'm making  now has been driving me mad. The pattern is from a magazine and  must have been developed by an interfacing manufacturer as it has you cutting out separate pieces of interfacng for all the pieced patchwork of the bag but why not join the pieces then back with a single piece of iron on vilene or pellon I'll never know. It is taking shape at last but the result won't justify the effort. I've only persisted because I've been using some of my precious Amy Butler scraps. Pictures anon.
Meanwhile it was quilt washing day today as the grandchildren's albeit very lovely dog took a shine to these when she came to visit this last weekend. Again pictures of the fronts later. This was the first time things have almost dried outside this year, a sign of Spring on the way. I could hear the birds all busily signing up for dating agencies and looking in estate agents' windows when I was in the garden. I hope all those folks who use the electric drier as the default setting for drying laundry consider the outdoor option when the weather is right, a way to make the planet last a bit longer for us humans.



Out to dry, note QAYG revealed on back.

Cushion Cover




Detail

 Today I've made a cushion cover. The first centre I made was awful so I fell back on a log cabin. the contrast was a bit stark so I added bondawebbed sections of the frame fabric. This is not particularly practical for a cushion which will be used so I'll try to locate some organza to overlay the whole to be machine quilted down.

Farmer's Wife Quota

Singer 99

I've finished my quota of FW blocks (nos 9-14) in good time for the next Bonny Quilters' meeting. I sewed them on my hand turned Singer 99 machine.

Usual Suspects Day

Usual Suspects had a lovely day with lunch, sewing and chat and Valerie actually finished her quilt in the course of the day, nearly all handsewn and quilted bar borders and binding so quite a feat.



Valerie's quilt



Bag

Bag pieces

I decided I would make a bag from the rosettes I made at the Janome Club. In its turn the bag will be for the tombola at our quilt show.
This is a method I learnt from a pattern in Popular Patchwork Sept, 2005. I quilted both sides of the bag and cut out a 2" square from the bottom corners which makes for a neater finish when you join the side seams and then the bottom one.The bottom seam is pulled up to meet the side seam and sewn making for a more accurate and neater way of achieving a 3D  effect than the triangle of surplus bag in many patterns. I had already sewn a pocket to the inside and before putting on the binding I pinned on the handles and ties. Then I sewed the binding on and brought up and top stitched the handles as shown.

Quay Quilters First Quilts 04



Jane's unusual first effort



Jean's

Another one by Jean

Joyce's



Ruby



Ruby's latest

Di's cushion

This is the final roundup including items from founder members Di, Ruby and Joyce who have all made lots of quilts and kept up with later developments through classes. Jane is a new member and her first quilt made from a pattern had a very fascinating individual look to it while Jean showed two items she had made.

Quay Quilters' first quilts 03

Karen's first quilt was all packed up so she showed the miniature work in progress. Helen's was a lovely sampler quilt made by hand with Susie Corke  and like many of these earlier quilts was extensively handquilted. Now we're in too much of a hurry to go on the next quilt. Mavis took her Houston Stars off the bed to show us - an amazing first effort. Trish's was an double Irish Chain made for her daughter and still wearing well after much use - also lots of handquilting carefully thought out.

Karen

Helen's sampler

Mavis's Houston Star

Trish's Irish Chain

Farmers Wives!

Bonny Quilters met today minus one of who is away on holiday and had a lovely time copying and cutting out Farmers Wife templates. We are making the blocks from Laurie Hird's book in order and showed off the last 6, nos, 3-8. All this and cake too thanks to Mavis's excellent baking.

Mine

Mavis's

Trish's