Yet more mystery quilts

I enjoyed seeing the effect of individual fabric choices.

More mystery quilts

I knew I'd given the group leader the mystery quilt instructions and there were lots of examples at the show yesterday. Here are four; more later. I was expecting seven visitors today, over here from downunder but the weather has been so terrible they've put it off till tomorrow. No bother to me as I've made the lamb casserole so will be just as ready to go tomorrow when I hope the weather will be better and they'll have a safe journey. I shall get on with machine quilting my "Houston Stars" in the ditch instead and listen to the classic serial on Radio Four. Then we'll go to the university cinema to see Mamma Mia, last showing.

Splitting the ninepatch: further examples

Today I went to a group show in Aldington Village Hall and was pleased to see this purple quilt made by Jean P. who was in one of the Split ninepatch charity quilt workshops. Alongside I've uploaded another one in black and white made by Jean C. seen at another local group show. I don't know the maker of the B/W one but believe one of the worhshop attendees showed her the technique. It's pleasing to see them made in adult fabric choices.
I know Jean P.won't mind me showing her quilt here but if Jean C. should object I'll delete the image.
For information about this technique see my posts from September 30th 2009 onwards. My source was Nancy Brenan Daniel's Slice 'em Dice'em book which gives masses of different techniques besides this one. I changed the sizes and one or two instructions for mine.

HONEY BEE

A classmate at Quay Quilters was using this floral background fabric for her sampler quilt back in the mid nineties. I wanted some too and hot footed it to a local shop to buy some. She dropped out of the group shortly after but I used my fabric to embark on a honey bee qult inspired by one in the American Museum in Bath where the Honey Bee blocks were alternated with plain alternate blocks with swags in the border. I sewed my honey bees in course of some worldwide travels and then decided they needed some flowers so filled the alternate blocks with applique planned so the quilt could be used anyway up. Time dragged on but this week I have sewed the blocks together and used the remaining fabric to add a border. I was going to add yet more applique on the border but this project has gone on long enough and the background fabric now appears drab (serve me right for my initial envy) so I shall save my rare applique efforts for a brighter project.

Splitting the ninepatch

Here are some examples of quilts using this technique. More can be seen in my Webshots charity quilts album:
http://community.webshots.com./user/quayquilter

Splitting the ninepatch tutorial 2

Now take the 7" squares and draw a diagonal line from from one corner to the other on the wrong side and place on your quarter ninepatch right sides together so that the line passes from side piece to side piece and doesn't pass through the ninepatch centre square.

Sew quarter of an inch on either side of the drawn line. Press flat to set seams then cut along the drawn line, open out, press again and you have 8 pieced squares, 4 with "handles like baskets and the other four with "snowballs". These can be combined together in quilts or used in separate quilts to create masses of patterns, whether arranged as blocks of medallion style or in log cabin type arrangements.

I show two slightly different pictures of the different steps just for reinforcement!

Splitting the ninepatch tutorial 1

I used nine 5 inch nickel squares for the ninepatch, 4 for the corners, 4 for the sides and 1 for the middle. Later I'll need four 7" squares.
Once sewn I cut the ninepatch across the middle vertically then horizontally.

Split Ninepatch Charity Quilts

These were also handed to me, started in a class I did on Nancy Brenan Daniel's techniques - "Her Slice'em Dice'em" book is really good value and she was the one who has given birth to the whole disappearing ninepatch craze, though scarcely acknowledged.
I'll try to put up a tutorial soon.

Charity Quilts

Yesterday at Oast Day I was handed a bag of charity quilts made by members for prison babies in 24" and 36" sizes. I'll take these to our local volunteer section ready for distribution shortly. Meanwhile here are some pictures. I love the Rudolf fabric and the use of the bright half square triangles to form a barnraising design is a nice idea.

Wedding and Oast

Today my neighbour's wedding coincided with Oast Quilters' Open Day so I missed the morning talk and gathered in an ancient church for the very touching and happy wedding service. As we waited for the service to start I contemplated the medieval beams with the marks made by long dead masons and thought about how our quilts continue as an expression of us after we are gone though not for several hundred years I imagine. This thought was echoed by Phillipa Naylor who was the afternoon speaker at Oast and most of whose talk I heard. She said how it was a comfort to think of her quilts as a record of her life after she had gone. The photo I took obviously didn't have flash and is incredibly dark so I don't show it here. Her quilts are phenomenal tours de force with masterly curved piecing, threads constantly changed to match the fabrics top and bottom, seams sewn concave curve up and turned over to ensure this is always the case and hundreds of sequins and beads sewn on by hand. The focal point though is her masterful quilting incorporating trapunto work. She said she itches to get down to the quilting - I sense it looming. She also said how she wanted to make these masterworks which take a long time and massive effort rather than churning out lots of quilts. I guiltily knew myself to be one of the latter sort.
http://www.east-riding-artists.org/philipa_naylor.php
On this site are shown a couple of details of her work; click on the images for a proper close up detail.

Batik Snowballs border treatments

After the plain border the easiest was the dark turquoise and black quarter square triangles as there were no seams to match.

Batik Snowballs

I made 104 blocks, swapped many, and made 4 tops shown here. I had just the right number for one made with all batik snowballs, one with alternate black and batik and two with all black snowballs alternated with ninepatches. The 5 by 7 setting meant I had no blocks left over. I experimented with various border treatments with the aid of templates and made myself use some special batiks.
The quilts were originally intended as charity teenage quilts but 4 young people from downunder, relatives of my husband, are about to visit and I think I'll pack the quilts off to Australia once completed.

Moda Mystery Quilt.

I was asked to produce a mystery quilt project by my group, Quayquilters and drew up mysterious instructions for this traditional design with a choice of sizes. I made three versions and this is the largest, 80 inches square, using mostly Chocolat line fabrics by Moda. I especially like the diagonally printed border fabric but it was hard to get the chevrons to match up at the corners. It's quilted by machine in the ditch and by hand using 12 count thread. The wadding was bought in Australia and is 60/40 wool/poly. The backing is a super viyella (wool/cotton) paisley print bought as a remnant. It's quite heavy and should be very warm I should like to keep it but am thinking of giving it away. . .

Quilts at Hever

Here is the Group Quilt made for our display at Hever with a detail showing Mandy Parks' expert (longarm) quilting. We all made single applique leaves and pieced "leaves" while Meg Leach executed the applique panel. Lesley Brankin designed it. I show a general view of one section in the marquee and my effort which was blocks, extra ones originally made for the swap we did in 2001 when three people requested "Autumn". I chose mine from "Choice Scrap Quilts" and the revolving leaves ones are slightly adapted Judy Martin designs. They very much carry her imprint of one shape superimposed upon another. The wadding was dyed yellow and the raw edges covered with dyed tape and tacked with thread from the same dye bath. Our display quilts had a size restriction but I have made enough blocks to add another set all round and then will border with a leafy fabric to make the quilt bedsized. I'll remove the tape first.
Listeners never hear good of themselves; I thought I would listen to the comments made by two attendees only for one to look at mine and "That's very clever" (!! - good) followed by "but I couldn't stand all those colours. It's too fussy for me." Serves me right though I am concentrating on the 'clever' bit. Painstaking is more the word as I resorted to a lot of handpiecing.
To see the other quilts check out the Saturday 13th September blogpost by Kate North, another of our members:
http://katesquilting.blogspot.com/
Her quilt included masses of "tree" fabrics combined very successfully and subtlely embellished.

Pick 'n'Mix at West Watch

Region 2 of the UK Quilters' Guild hold a quilt show every September at Hever Castle. The castle provides the marquee, the stands, the catering and staff to help set up the larger quilts. The weather this year was typical Hever weather, warm and sunny despite being rainy when setting up.
I'm lucky to be a member of the Pick'n'Mix group who initially got together on the internet to swap blocks but now meet every year over Hever weekend to sew and catch up with our news. We meet at West Watch House, this time for the last time as the house is to be sold. Only six could make it this time - all the more room for those remaining! Here we are in our workroom and here too are the brown/teal/aqua blocks I am doing for a transatlantic block swap and a batik snowball quilt I added the border to.

Flower Power at FOQ

Each year a region of the Quilters Guild hosts a breakfast event at FOQ with refreshments and demonstrations. This year it was Flower Power hosted by Region 7(?).
One technique shown that took my fancy was teabags, used, dried and emptied and then used as stitched backgrounds or painted to represent leaves and flowers. Surprising but effective. Also shown here are lined baskets and stitched and flipped flowers in the manner of Jean & Valori Wells.