Book Cover

I have got Cathy's book cover technique down to a tee or so I believe. I didn't even look at the instructions for this one made from "cheater" schwe schwe fabric which covers a plain sheet notebook destined for our tombola table.

Top Done

This is my Portland quilt as that is where the fabrics were bought. When I put the top together keeping the orange pieces on the border as far as possible as they were so dominant I still felt I could balance it better by resewing one block. Can you see it??

Version One

Version Two

With final border added


The changed block is the middle bottom one; changing it meant the other pieces were balanced with equivalent fabrics diagonally across.
I like the finished quilt more than I thought I would. The asymmetry of it seems a bit Japanese to me and I'm pleased I chose some of my nicer fabrics. In the past I've tended to choose less favoured fabric for workshop quilts but I am now set on using it up!

Stack & Slash workshop

Stacked fabrics cut up and labelled ready to sew

Jean's

Saturday was an in house Oast workshop day led by Marion Fox which was very enjoyable and quick sewing starting with a pile of six different 18" squares which we then sliced and moved the top fabrics down to make different combinations which would result in six different crazy blocks.

I used Amy Butler type fabrics bought in Portland and as they were half yards decided to make two sets of blocks but others went on to border their quilts. Marion gave advice on settings, sashing, how to quilt and particularly binding showing how to mitre corners and a very nifty way of completing continuous binding which I hadn't come across before. I show various fellow participants' work as well as my own blocks in progress.

Sewn into rows ready to combine into a block

Crab & Winkle

Rocket with RicRac

Stars within stars

Marion's novelty medley

Crab & Winkle met at my house this evening and we showed and told - bag and covered notebook from me but I haven't taken a picture of the bag yet. Maggie has nearly finished the quilt for her great nephew and Marion has added more novelty squares.

Bag Construction

I'm still making two bags at a time and it seems to be a very long winded process.. However it's a pattern I like very much that has seemed quite quick and easy in the past. One thing I like which I often transfer to other patterns is the cutting out of a square from the bottom sides, then joining the side and bottom seams (I cover them which is one reason why the bagmaking is taking more time) and then lining up the bottom and side seams and flattening the opening and sewing across so avoiding that bulky triangle at the base of a bag.

More from the Janome Club

Margaret W's previously created fabric

 The theme was fabric creation and among several examples on Cathy's 'teaching table' were the book cover and cushion shown here. Margaret had already had some practice at a fabric creation technique and here are her examples. Meanwhile another member had made this snakes and ladders game complete with fabric oversize die for a lucky grandchild. She created it not with applique but machine embroidery.

Cathy's book cover

Cathy's cushion

Machine embroidery

Book Cover

Woven silk book cover

It was Janome Club on Sunday after a 2 month gap because of the Royal Wedding. This time Cathy who so generously helps and leads us showed various ways of creating fabric. I had a little packet of deliciously coloured silks from the Silk Route and after a decade decided it was time to pluck up courage and use them. After a quilting acquaintance died prematurely leaving her lovely stash to be used by others I am trying to be the who has used up the most fabric before I pass away.
I opted to weave my strips onto bondawebbed calico, iron to seal and laid pink organza on top to contain the raw edges and machine quilt. I make the book covers the way Cathy showed us one edge at a time and adding separate end covers making for a snug fit. Then additional satin stitching all the way round.
I have three more blank notebooks  and at the moment the plan is to donate them to the tombola. The book is on top of a cupboard inmy spare bedroom and when I approach from a distance it glows. I'm pleased as although I know others make much lovelier things, Cathy for one, I always assumed 3D was beyond me.

Local Quilt Show

The view in the Abbey Church

My Visitor's Choice

On Saturday I went to the Abbey Patchers biannual show in the ancient Abbey Church in Minster, Kent. There are always lots of lovely quilts but the interesting Attic Windows design here caught my eye.

Home again

Twelfth night is left, Bright Stars right.

I had a lovely time at Malvern spending a day at the Quilts UK. Lots of lovely quilts but I shall only show my two and a detail of friend Margaret's who made a beautiful Log Cabin in Liberty fabrics bordered with immaculate machine applique.
Of mine I prefer the one on the left, Twelfth Night, which I made second with friends. I needed to see them hanging side by side in order to decide. I would like to sell the other eventually but it will probably take some time.
I collected my quilts at the end of the show - they are given back in potato sacks and what with these heavy bags and another one containing my puchases it was hard work getting back to the car. I bought some fabric to make a quilt for my grandaughter. I was looking for fairies and/or princesses and I think I've got fairy princesses in pink of course.
We stayed in a lovely converted farm building (The Stable) in a quiet and remote spot afterwards http://www.holtfarmholidays.com/ and I washed and ironed my purchases but I have still to tidy away all my stuff as I've been off quilting since getting back on Thursday. Friday was Crab and Winkle Sewing day. Having bought more Three cats fabric at Malvern I was able to get on with my bags (will post later) while Marion combined lots of novelties to make I Spy quilt tops and Melanie and Pam worked on Melanie's quilt-as-you-go stenciled quilt. Yes the top row is off and was corrected later. They made quite a team with Melanie machining and Pam doing the hand sewing she loves. Maggie was making a starry space quilt for a soon to be born young relative.

This  braid quilt top made by Maggie's mother, a remarkable woman, was discovered recently. One for Maggie to finish.
I don't have any other pictures of our day - I must have been concentrating on my sewing but I expect I'll get a chance later. Next meeting my house next week. A cake to make!

uh, uh, uh, oh



Isn't this delicious??



The rest of the hoard

I used to envy those I read or heard about being gifted with fabric because someone knew "they sewed". Now it's starting to happen to me. Ann in my quilt group gave me a bag of perfectly nice things she was pruning from her stash partly because she knows I make charity quilts. However, I have to accept fabric on the basis that a particular piece might not find its way into a charity quilt though it very well might. Today I was asked to go the house of a neighbour I don't know very well as she has been clearing her loft. I was delighted as there were cottons and lots of viyella which is 50/50 cotton and wool and is soft and warm for quilt backs, especially lapquilts. I left the synthetics and some wonderful wool tweeds which I know I wouldn't use. I felt pleased she accepted money for them as otherwise I would have felt rather greedy. I added up what I should charge if they were on a stall. And the money will be donated to the Cathedral building fund for whch there is a £50 million target. Still every little helps. I included the curtain fabric in my purchases as I though it would be good for bags. Opened out when I got home it was lovely - a garden replete not just with flowers but cats, tortoises, rabbits and some very large mice. Hope they're not rats!
However I now think my last cupboard doesn't have very much room in it so no more for a little while. Oh no - I'm off to Quilts UK on Sunday.. .

New bed



24" quilt just fits!



When we converted our third bedroom into a sewing room (NOT a studio!) it meant we only had one spare room for guests. Now I have acquired a vintage 1920's bed for the sewing room. I wonder who will sleep in it. . . .

Top done

Border detail and extras

I'm pleased to have completed my top today pushing on to meet my self imposed deadline. I'm pleased with the border, more stack and whackery based on quilts I saw in a Bethany Reynolds book which used a strip pieced block.

Top done

Sisters Quilt

Four Sisters

Today I've done quite a lot of work on the borders of this quilt, another form of stack and whack which I'm thrilled with,  and made a start on sewing the sashing strips together and attaching them to the rows of blocks. The posts I think of as "chips", just random snippets. I started this project in a workshop with Judy Johnson in the Sisters Quilt Show week. She was a very thoroughgoing teacher going into design aspects as well as technique. There are only three Sisters mountains overlooking the small Oregon town of Sisters but this quilt has four identical squares in each block hence the name. I've had the dark green Fossil Fern fabric for a long time and it's just right for this and for once I have ENOUGH!

Bonnies' afternoon

It was the usual get together today where we gathered around the table to draw round templates and cut out our Farmers Wife blocks. We showed the ones we'd completed in the meantime.

Mavis's colourful blocks

Trish's collection

My "Farmer's Puzzle"

My "Farmer's Daughter"

My "Evening Star"

Today

Tree bag for tombola



Cutting out Farmer's Wife block




Blocks arranged

 Today has been a bitty day on the quilting front. I have finally unpacked and put away all including this bag which I took to the Show & Tell at Oast. I have a lot of this fabric and made a couple of bags last year - I was pleased to see one at the foot of the lady who had won it. I wanted to advertise our show by displaying the bag.
Bonnies are meeting again this week so I have been cutting and setting out Farmer's Wife blocks. We spend our meetings drawing round templates - very peaceful. I set mine out on a padded cake board each one separated by a piece of kitchen paper. Then I sew them one by one.
Also I decided I can't spend the next two months just thinking about the show so I unearthed a UFO from a Judy Johnson workshop at Sisters last year. This very flamboyant fabric was the only one with a 24" repeat I could find in time. I think the quilt would probably be better with 20 blocks rather than 30 but I'll use them all up. I like the technique very much so will return to it, I hope.

Strings workshop with Carolyn Forster

One of Carolyn's versions of this design

Carolyn

 This was a really good day. Carolyn showed showed us several patterns which worked well with strings and several techniques for making them, not just " one true way". However what I liked best was the huge number of examples she had brought with her, complete and incomplete, vintage and her own work. This was to alert us to the design and fabric possibilities and to analyse the piece's impact. I'm not sure if I shall leave my efforts as samples or go on to make some smallish quilts. Sewing strips is very addictive!

Student squares

Student stars







Bag Lady

One aspect of my patchworking life and all the groups is I am constantly packing bags and sometimes packing the next lot before unpacking the previous one. It's been like that this weekend with Farmers's Wives, Oast and Carolyn Forsters string workshop today so tomorrow will be the great unpack.

Ready for Farmer's Wife

Back from Oast

Strings at the ready for today