Online Quilting

Please come with me....

2011-05-11T09:53:00.000+01:00

I have been juggling several blogs and decided that is a bit daft so now I have put them all together in one place. My new blog combines my quilting, including my passion for Japan and Japanese techniques, styles and culture, my travels and the Global Piecers swap group I belong to. There will still be snippets of everyday life here in rural Lincolnshire. I'm still getting it all together and adding links and pictures and I hope that you will be happy to become a follower of the new blog - what's a blog without followers after all? This will be the final post here, thank you for being with me, now please click over to

Piece'n'Peace

and let the fun continue, see you there, hugs, Lis xx

Now what have I got myself into?

2011-05-09T20:42:00.000+01:00

I'm finally out of bed and up and about now, although still taking it carefully after a nasty M.E. flare up. It was particularly annoying as my quilting guru, Teresa, has been here with her DH for the week and I had all sorts of quilty outings planned. Never mind, we did make it to the LQS, Camelot Crafts, and were very amused to see our respective other halves head for the tools display before enjoying a nice cup of tea courtesy of lovely owner, Wendy.

We've had time to chat and plan and I seem to have got myself into one or two projects!
Come and Join "Brit Quilt"

Lynne at Lily's Quilts has done what we've all been waiting for - UK quilters now have an online place to meet, get to know each other, chat and show off what they're working on. The first project is going to be a Brit mini quilt swap but firstly we're getting to know each other. No offence to all you lovely quilters in the rest of the world but it's nice to think we might actually meet up with a fellow BritQuilter at a local show or in the LQS.
The group is for any quilters living in Britain, long or short term. So click here and go and join, add the button to your blog and spread the word amongst any UK quilters you come across in your blogland, flickrland, facebook, twitter or real life travels. Look forward to seeing you there.

While I was at it I've signed up for a Charley Harper quiltalong at Ethne's blog.
Charley Who? That was my first reaction when Teresa mentioned it but fortunately she was armed with books illustrating his wonderful work and so I was inspired. There's no time limit on this one and it's just for you, no swapping, and maybe an opportunity to get to know this artist and explore a new style. More details http://flamingstitches.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-wait.html and follow Ethne's posts forward for lots of inspiring pictures and a button for your blog. I'll share the process on here but at the moment I'm just enjoying the designs and trying to decide which one inspires me the most.

Do you think technology has taken over our lives?
Thank you very much to Plum who sent me a lovely fabric postcard with her best wishes to me while I was feeling so unwell. I've sent healing hearts etc to others in the past but this is the first time I've been a recipient. Golly, it made me feel good, loved and cared about, so thank you Plum and, knowing how much I appreciated your kindness, you have inspired me to make sure I send even more quilty thoughts to those in need of them.

Also in the post I've recently received a lovely goody bag from Joan, my partner in the Global Piecers recent mug rug swap and above you can see that mug rug, mug carrier and other bits that I sent to Sal. We don't use mug carriers very often but in US and NZ they use them to take their own mugs to workshops and classes. I suppose our meetings are often in church and community halls that have their own kitchens and equipment. It would save on all that washing up though!
I have finally got back to stitching and completed the Patchwork in Perspective quilt top that I started in Exeter with Lynne Edwards in April. I'm quite pleased with it and am looking forward to hand quilting it with a simple shadow quilting design so I don't distract from the geometry.

Time to start catching up with all your lovely blogs now...

What are you doing on 29th April?

2011-04-27T09:15:00.001+01:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/

What is everyone who hasn't been invited doing for Friday's wedding of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton?
Things are getting up to speed here and the British reserve is starting to ebb as people shyly erect bunting and gazebos in preparation for parties large and small.
I'm having a very small affair, a red, white and blue themed watching of the main event on television and then a wedding breakfast, hopefully in the garden, weather permitting, of smoked salmon and scrambled egg with pink champagne and then an afternoon tea, pretty cakes and delicate sandwiches, very English! What will you be doing?

Alleluia

2011-04-24T11:10:00.000+01:00

Happy Easter everybody.

Giveaway Winner and a Lynne Edwards Fest

2011-04-20T20:21:00.000+01:00

I am delighted to announce that the winner of my blogiversary giveaway is
Number 100
(chosen by my personal random number generator aka DH)
who is one of my lovely followers:
Terri at QuiltnCards
Well done Terri, let me know whether you'd like the rotary cutter case or the egg cosy and email me your address and I'll get your prize on its way to you. Thank you to everyone who follows my blog and comments on my ramblings, I really appreciate you all.

You will know I am a fan of the wonderful Lynne Edwards having started my quilting with her sampler quilt books. I was tempted to attend the Quilters' Guild Conference by a workshop with Lynne on Patchwork in Perspective and it was a great class.

Things turned out even better than that as there was an outing to Cowslips Workshops on the Saturday afternoon of the conference. Here we enjoyed an exhibition of Lynne's quilts, including the famous Cathedral Windows.

They were beautifully displayed in the barn, the tearoom and the classroom and looked wonderful.

Now both the ladies I was in Exeter with were busy on Saturday afternoon, Betty with a class and poor Ros with official meetings as she is a regional coordinator. I enthused about my outing and Ros offered to drive us to Cowslip on Sunday afternoon after conference closed. This is when my weekend became perfect. The sun was shining, Cowslip was sitting blissfully in the Cornish countryside with the views across the fields to Launceston castle, I bought fabric in the shop for "our" panel Michelle, and we were sitting enjoying a Cornish cream tea

(wonderful scones, homemade raspberry jam and to die for clotted cream) when Lynne Edwards asked if she could join us. Well, as you can imagine we had to think about this for a few minutes :) After finishing our tea we said we were going to look at her quilts and Lynne came with us, giving us a privately guided tour after closing time. I cannot explain how privileged we felt and what a joy it was. What a wonderful way to finish the weekend. Thank you Lynne (and Jo Colwill without who there would be no Cowslip Workshops). Am I gushing? Well, why not, it was that brilliant! Here's a selection of Lynne's quilts for you all to enjoy:

Blue Lily Quilt, 2006

and detail

Quilts in the barn

Floating Triangles, 2011

and detail

Blue and White Reversible Quilt, 2009

Second Sampler Quilt, 1997/1998

and detail

St Mark's Floor Tiles, 2008

and detail

And finally, here's one of Betty and Ros with Lynne:

Meet Two Quilters: Christine Porter and Susan Denton

2011-04-19T12:21:00.000+01:00

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to me! I'll be drawing the winner of my giveaway tomorrow so you have time to enter if you haven't already. Click back to the original giveaway post here, or enter at the end of this post full of yumminess. Good luck, now sit back and enjoy some wonderful quilts.
Two of the lectures I attended at the Quilters' Guild conference last weekend were particularly inspiring. Christine Porter (who will probably be familiar with from The Quilt Show spoke on tessellations and patterns in pavements and illustrated her talk with some pictures of stunning tiled floors in cathedrals here in England and others in Italy. She has published a book about these, "Viva Venezia" She had two of her quilts with her so that we could get a closer look. This lovely one of irises was criticised by the quilt police for focussing too much on green!

This is her floor tiles sampler quilt, with a close-up of one of the blocks, isn't it wonderful?

The work of the other quilter who I found especially inspiring was already known to me as I had seen some of Susan Denton's work at Festival of Quilts last year. A self-taught quilter, Susan obviously enjoys the process of combining colour, fabric and shape. She has developed a lot of bargello style pieces, such as Musk Melons From Samarkand below and has now moved into wonderful landscape quilts with large hand quilting adorning them. It was a delight to listen to her describe her quilting journey, closely related to her life journey and to her travels. Oreiginally from Australia, she lives in beautiful Penwith in Cornwall and much of her current work is inspired by the landscape there. I'll let the quilts speak for themselves:

Towednack Treasure

and detail

Treasure

Burren

and detail

Musk Melons From Samarkand

Green, Greener, Greenest

and details

Auvergne Potager

and detail

St Ives Harbour 2

and details

I hope you enjoyed all those wonderful quilts and that your computer coped with this photo heavy post. Don't forget to enter my 2nd blogiversary giveaway:

The dress code at the QGBI Gala Dinner was black and white.
What is your favourite combination of colours and why?

To see what you can win, click back to the original giveaway post here. Good luck.

Fabric Postcards for Easter

2011-04-17T18:24:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd give you a break from my reports on the QGBI Conference and show you what I've been making. This is a set of fabric postcards for the BQLPC Easter swap and I'm quite pleased with them. I love the way a set of cards looks when put together as a patchwork too - must put something similar on my to do list!

The design is based on a stained glass window I photographed when I was in Jerusalem with DS in 2009. I always thought I would translate it into a fabric project and these Easter cards seemed ideal.

I tried to make the colours using fabric crayons and adding lace for texture but wasn't very happy with my first attempt:

so I raided my stash for a brilliant blue fabric, a batik and also a gold metallic fabric for a bit of additional texture. NB There's an article by Chris Hammacott in this month's British Patchwork and Quilting magazine about texture in patchwork, very interesting.
Here's a quick "how I did it" in photos:

Mark the design on the background fabric in pencil

Mark the lines with a Hera marker onto the fabric to be applied (below the background)

Cut just beyond the marked lines

Position the pieces and attach with fabric glue or bondaweb

Pin bias tape into place around the awkward bits and iron into position

Add the rest of the bias tape, iron to hold and then stitch it all in place

(preferably while sitting outside in the sunshine as I was able to)

I backed the cards with calico and pelmet vilene,

cut them to size

and machine buttonhole stitched around the outside.

I couldn't manage the Hebrew text from the window

so added the words "Alleluia" in Pigma pen and

voila!

I've been alternating making these cards with short sessions in the garden today. It's been so glorious and the weeds seem to be growing at a massive rate. I sat and pulled the weeds and moss out of the cracks in the patio and then DH and I had lunch - including yummy asparagus and herbs from the garden -outside on a very tidy patio and admired our work, bliss. I hope you've all had a good weekend too.

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, April 15th

2011-04-16T09:26:00.000+01:00

After a sunny day yesterday it turned chilly in the evening and so DH lit the fire, an excellent setting for this month's FNSI last night. I worked on my Patchwork in Perspective piece that I started in Exeter last weekend. It was the opportunity to join this great workshop with Lynne Edwards that was the main reason I was attracted to the Quilters' Guild conference in the first place.
I started my patchwork and quilting journey with Lynne, working through her two sampler quilt books to learn skills and techniques and discover what I liked (and didn't like) doing. You can see my sampler quilts in the right hand side bar if you scroll down a bit.
It was a brilliant workshop. Lynne is funny, talented and a very generous teacher. We all came away with an accurately drafted block pattern for the Ohio Star in perspective and the skills and knowledge to draft other blocks in the same way and also to develop them into larger designs if we wished. We sewed one side of the block - and they looked great displayed together on the wall (mine is on the far left and I'm sorry that the photo is a bit out of focus).

If you would like to learn more Lynne has written about Patchwork in Perspective in a new book called, "The Quiltmakers" and this is her sample piece for the workshop:

I also did a little design work and thinking for the current BQL fabric postcard, I need to get a wiggle on with these as they're due by Easter. I'm basing them on a stained glass window I saw in Jerusalem, more about that later. Hope you all had a good FNSI, I'm off to see what you got up to, have a good weekend and if you want to join in my 2nd blogiversary giveaway (on 19th April) please go to the post here, good luck.

Quilty Eye Candy from Exeter

2011-04-15T16:56:00.002+01:00

Some Friday eye candy before we all settle down for Friday Night Sew In. Not signed up? Click on the shiny new button to the right and add your name to Heidi's list now!
These are all quilts that were entered in the challenge category at the Quilters' Guild Conference, as the weekend was in Exeter, in the West Country of England the theme was "Wild West". I imagine giving that theme to my readers in USA would result in a rather different set of quilts.

Finally for today, this lovely quilt by Jenny Hutchinson, isn't it evocative of summers by the sea?

Right, time to get the dressing gown on, cosy slippers and a stash of yummy things to eat. I'm working on the piece I started with Lynne Edwards last weekend, more about that to come. Don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway, click here!

Cowslip Workshops and a Giveaway

2011-04-14T19:15:00.000+01:00

Warning: my posts are going to be photo-heavy for the next few days and full of gushing superlatives.

I'm just back from the Quilters' Guild Conference which was held in Exeter this year. I've never attended this annual event before and didn't know what to expect. I have to report that it was a fabulous weekend, helped in no small part by the most excellent weather, wall to wall sunshine. The venue (Exeter University Streatham campus) was very good although a little steep. It's all very well being perched gloriously on top of a hill and enjoying marvellous views but when you go down you have to come back up! The workshop I did was great (more on that in another post) and the lectures I attended were very stimulating.

These pictures were taken at the Gala Dinner, the dress code was black and white

There was an optional visit to the Cowslip Workshops near Launceston and that's mainly what this post is about. I had to do a little shopping as it's rude not to and also it's nearly my second blogiversary.

Here I am outside the quilt shop at Cowslip Workshops

It seems amazing that I've been writing this for two years, it's been fantastic and I've loved making lots of new friends, sharing their quilting and non-quilting lives and getting loads of inspiration and help. I saw two bits of loveliness at Cowslip that I thought would make good giveaway gifts and you can have the choice if you're the lucky winner.
Choose from this lovely rotary cutter holder:

or this cute egg cosy:

Not many hoops to jump through this time just leave an answer to the following question on this post (one chance), all my lovely followers get an extra chance as a thank you from me. Good luck.

The dress code at the QGBI Gala Dinner was black and white.
What is your favourite combination of colours and why?

Cowslip Workshops is a great venue for quilters with a shop full of yumminess,

in a beautiful setting in rural Cornwall.

Owner, Jo Colwill, had arranged a special day for us with a guest trader, Liz Drake, who had a wonderful stall full of thoughtfully presented antique textiles and brocante.

Jo, pictured here,

also allowed us to wander in her beautiful house and had prepared a very delicious cream tea for us. For visitors there is a cafe/restaurant on the site which is visited regularly by local people and non-quilters such is the quality of the food. It was a privilege to see inside the house which was full of the evidence of Jo's creativity:

There was also a very special exhibition on over the weekend which I will share with you in a separate post (with photos of course). There is a good programme of exhibitions and special events plus a full range of great workshops at Cowslip. If you're in England, or visiting, sign up for the newsletter to be kept up to date, I might see you there!
Finally, here's a photo of yours truly and friends at the Gala Dinner and a reminder of the giveaway question:

The dress code at the QGBI Gala Dinner was black and white.
What is your favourite combination of colours and why?

Thank you Susan

2011-04-04T14:45:00.000+01:00

I had a great package from Susan, the Quixotic Crafter this afternoon as I was lucky enough to win her IQD giveaway. This is what she sent me:

lots and lots and lots (over 100) 6" squares of gorgeousness, all beautiful floral fabrics. Thank you Susan, my thinking cap is on and I'm thinking show off those flowers and go for a fairly simple scrappy quilt, maybe for summer picnics, wouldn't that be a delight? I wonder if I can arrange those squares to create a graduated rainbow effect? Watch this space.

Mothering Sunday Early

2011-04-02T20:20:00.000+01:00

I just thought I'd share these two photos with you. The first was at Doughty's fabric roadshow in Lincoln this morning:

We arrived soon after opening and there was already a queue the length of the hall so we decided to go for the coffee and cake option first. Unfortunately while we were feasting even more ladies (mainly) arrived and the queue got longer and the hall more crowded. Those in the queue had their arms full of bolts of fabric and some had got chairs - for the fabric! As the average price per metre was £6 it was no wonder. DD and I both got what we wanted, purples for her (I'll be doing something creative for her new bedroom with those) and turquoise, cream and a touch of brown for me to use with Lynne Edwards on Friday (I'll share afterwards). I didn't find anything for our panel Michelle but will have several more opportunities at the weekend. I did manage an impulse buy that then needed two extra fabrics to go with it! I'll be using those for a Global Piecers mug rug swap so I can't share those either!
So, what's the other photo? Well, after DD had bought me lunch it was back to her place for some gentle (ha ha) curtain hanging (as it was rather damp outside and the gardening was postponed). I was really impressed to see how she is enjoying homemaking and sneakily took her photograph (she'll probably kill me when she sees it).

And I can report that she was pleased with her shopping list holder and immediately hung it on her kitchen wall, bless her. A successful but tiring day, so Chinese takeaway for dinner! Happy Mothering Sunday to you all for tomorrow.

Retreat Photos

2011-04-01T17:57:00.000+01:00

As promised here are some photos of what I've been working on. Please excuse the quality, I have a new computer with a different photo editing programme and haven't got to grips with it yet.

This is the quilt using Nara Gardens fabric. I've pieced the quilt top and now it needs a good press and a large clear space so that I can layer it and pin it and then get on with the quilting.

I am pleased with how this design went together but think I should have chosen fabrics with a better contrast for the framed square. The eau de nil fabric is fine but the other one has too much black for the design to be obvious. I like it though so I won't be changing it!

The pattern and kits to make these cute shopping list/notepad holders were. given to Dayspring Quilters in Norfolk for IQD 2011. The pattern is copyright of Village Fabrics Ltd in Oxfordshire. Please reward their generosity by taking a look at their website: www.villagefabrics.co.uk I made the pink and green one for my DD and the blue and cream one below for myself.

I'm not very happy with these butterflies but they are done and dusted and I've learned from them. I made them for a fabric postcard swap and thought cutting them out would be interesting. That's one word for it. The theme was "my favourite film" and I chose "The Butterfly Effect" - a great film, much, much better than my postcards!

This next project is coming along nicely. As you can see it is a New Zealand themed wall hanging and I've got it quilted and ready for squaring up and binding. A wet afternoon should see it finished and hanging on the wall in our bach in Norfolk.

Still on the New Zealand theme, this piece is completely finished. It's a small wall hanging after Gail Lawther's "Seascape" in her wonderful "Glimpses of New Zealand" book. I was unable to get a place in her workshop at FoQ last year but bought a little selection of fabrics from her to make this quilt. The one she made is smoother, she put it together in a foundation piecing style whereas I have gone for keeping all the fabric edges exposed - I suppose my sea is a rougher one than Gail's, maybe a West Coast sea, but then the sand should be black

So it's onward and upwards. Tomorrow I'm going to the Doughty's fabric roadshow to get fabric for Exeter next week, for whatever DD has planned in purple and also, big drum roll here and a shouted

Michelle!!!!

I'm also planning to get fabric to go with "our" panel Michelle, can you believe it? While I was having my little retreat I worked out the design for the Essence of Clair table runner so I hope that will work out well and I think (!!) I know what I'm doing with our lovely Spring panel so watch this space closely! I'm really enjoying working on all these NZ projects, they remind me of a great holiday and all the lovely people I met.

Retreat Report 1

2011-03-31T18:15:00.000+01:00

I had quite a productive time on my little retreat and will share some photos in the next post. Today I'm up to my eyes in catching up (washing etc, groan) but I did have a wander around the estate and found a very brave asparagus spear poking about 2" through the soil, just the one but such promise of delicious things to come (I wonder if there'll be enough for a starter when you get here Teresa?) The tulips are looking lovely and the blossom on all the trees around is just stunning this year, I think that chilly winter did everything good. A delivery of seeds arrived a couple of days ago so I'm hoping for a warm few days to get things going.
Tomorrow I've also got to get things together for my next jolly. I'm going to the Quilters' Guild AGM/Conference in Exeter next weekend and will be doing a class with Lynne Edwards among other delights. This means I need to go to the LQS to get the class requirements! Fortunately Doughty's are having a roadshow nearby on Saturday so I'm going there with DD (who I believe has another project for me, in purple!)
Okay, back to the river to get on with the washing, more tomorrow and photos, I promise.

Quilt Retreat

2011-03-22T08:30:00.000Z

As the quilting retreat I was involved in planning for later this year is not now happening I thought I'd have a little retreat of my own. I've gathered a bag of quilting and a box of quilting, my sewing machine and a pile of books and magazines. Hopefully there'll be a lot of progress and even a finish or two to report when I get back online. Wonder if DH will cope?! Last weekend we had a lazy eating two days as he was helping to fit SiL's kitchen and I was celebrating IQD. We bought ready made food (we don't usually), bags of salad, a tiramisu in a plastic container, Thai fishcakes in a plastic container, pizza in a box etc etc. I was staggered at how much I spent on food for just two days and by how much rubbish it produced. Roll on the veggies growing!

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, March 2011 and a Giveaway

2011-03-19T09:05:00.000Z

Happy International Quilt Day

Last night it was FNSI time again and also Comic Relief night here in the UK. If some of my stitching is wobbly I can blame it on laughing at the acts, sketches, songs etc that were on BBC all evening; but if some of my work is soggy I can blame it on weeping at the desperate situation of people going blind in Africa for the sake of a simple operation that takes twenty minutes and costs £17. It was amazing to see the reactions of people as their bandages were removed and they realised they could see, a real miracle.

I didn't do all these blocks last night, I started a couple of days ago, but this is all I can do for the moment as I've run out of the main fabric, Nara Gardens from Hoffman. Very, very fortunately when I phoned my LQS yesterday there was 3.5m left on the bolt and Barbara is saving it for me. It's more than I need but I'm not risking running out again and it won't be difficult to find a use for this wonderful fabric. The quilt is the same design as the Round and Round le Jardin (scroll down on the right) but is to be a quilt for my guest bed.
Thank you to Heidi and Bobbi for hosting FNSI again, it was sew lovely to be stitching away with people all over the world, especially with today being InterNational Quilt Day (click on that link for more information

and a great free Log Cabin quilt pattern).
DH is spending his day helping SiL install a new kitchen, sounds as if I've got the whole of today to sew, hooray :)
Susan is having a great NQD giveaway on her blog, the Quixotic Crafter, so pop over there and please tell her Lis at Online Quilting sent you, thank you.
And while you're blog-hopping, please go over to two posts on my sashiko blog, one about help for Japan and one an amazing letter from a lady in Sendai that will change your day.

Non-Fabric Loveliness

2011-03-14T17:12:00.000Z

I went on a bit of a spending spree today but in the local garden centre and also the big orange warehouse place rather than in the LQS. This is what I came home with

all that promise and the excitement of creation and things to come, not dissimilar from buying fabric really.

On the quilting front I had a long session with the rotary cutter yesterday, starting to cut for my "Round and Round Nara Gardens" (working title) quilt and then discovered to my dismay that I have insufficient of the Nara Gardens fabric. Derrr! Better go to the LQS after all :) Does anyone else find that however carefully they do the fabric calculations there's always either something short or a lot leftover? Maybe I'm buying in metres and calculating in feet or something!
On the positive side I did use a new rotary blade and a new machine needle when I started piecing, bliss. This is my rather late new year resolution, to always use a new blade and needle for a new project, it was like the proverbial knife through butter. Oh, sadness, I've given up butter for Lent and now I've thought about it and could just eat a fat slice of hot buttered toast! Okay, time to stop rambling and draw a plan of where those lovely flowers are going to burst into life in my garden.

Fabric Postcards for Spring

2011-03-12T15:18:00.001Z

It's a beautiful day in the Lincolnshire Fens today, the sun is shining and the thermometer reads 15.5C, very spring-like indeed.
I've finished the fabric postcards for the latest BQL swap and here they are.

Can you see the lovely embroidered butterflies I used?
While I was finishing off the decoration on the cards I was listening to the news and to stories of all the tragic things that are happening in our world at the moment. It seemed a good idea to add a "yellow ribbon" to the last two cards I made.
I then discovered I've made one too many cards for the swap (again!) so somebody is going to be getting a little surprise in the post. Enjoy.

Oh, by the way, did anyone see Griff Rhys Jones in India on BBC2 last night? The programme was all about textiles and was very interesting (although I would have liked a closer look at some of the pieces he was talking about!) It's worth catching it on iplayer if you have the chance, the link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00zfmkd/Hidden_Treasures_of..._Indian_Art/ and this is what the BBC website says about the programme: "In his quest to find out if traditional art still thrives among the indigenous people of the world, Griff Rhys Jones goes to India in search of exquisite textiles. Can he solve the mystery of an extraordinary Indian floor cloth kept in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire for over 300 years? Who made it and does the skill that produced such a work still exist?

Griff travels to Gujarat in India, famed throughout history for its beautiful handmade textiles. He goes off the beaten tracks to the towns and villages of the north-west plains and discovers how centuries-old printing, dyeing and embroidery techniques are still the cornerstones to a way of life.
Finally, he travels to the heart of one of the most reclusive and fiercely traditional societies in India, the Rabari, who are famed for their toughness and their astonishing embroidery. Here, women spend years sewing dowry gifts - but can the custom survive in the 21st century?"

Good Haul

2011-03-11T19:24:00.001Z

I just wanted to share these lovely finds with you all. I don't often buy old linens as they are quite pricey here now but I couldn't resist these two tablecloths that I found in Norfolk. For the work the price was nothing really and I'm going to use them as cloths rather than cut them up to use in other projects. I have a great friend who sends me wonderful packages of embroidered napkins, hankies etc that she finds in her local charity shops in Australia. I like to use them in fabric postcards such as the one I made for a Global Piecers swap. You can see it here.

I was also unable to resist this gorgeous silver needle case. It's had a hard life and has a few dents but it was made in the nineteenth century so it's no wonder really. It needs a bit of polish and some tlc but I adore it and, like the cloths, I'm going to use it.
Isn't it strange how some trips to charity, bric a brac and antique shops are wonderfully successful but some trips result in nothing at all? I've recently discovered Oxfam online, like going to a charity shop but without that smell! Last night I browsed the bric a brac and was tempted by one or two things but resisted, and then I started looking through the vintage silk scarves. Oh dear, far too easy!! Have a great weekend whatever you do.

Final Pictures from Malta

2011-03-10T18:53:00.000Z

Here are a final few photographs from my trip to the Maltese Islands and then normal, stitching, service will be resumed.
I've been making some fabric postcards today which I'll be able to share once they are delivered and I did some sewing while I was in Malta which I'm going to work on tomorrow.
It's been so lovely to see the sunshine even though it's not been very warm. I've ventured into the garden and was delighted to see how many flowers were braving the chill: snowdrops (which have been wonderful this year), crocii, daffodils, lots of different blossom and lots of lush green shoots pushing up through the soil promising wonderful things to come.

These buses are a feature of Malta's roads, used by locals and tourists alike and held together with faith and string. Sadly they are being replaced this summer when Arriva take over the bus system.

More Maltese Craft

2011-03-07T18:50:00.000Z

Here's another photo heavy post about my recent holiday in Malta.
We visited a lovely little folklore museum on the island of Gozo and I took a lot of photos of the textile-related artefacts (surprise, surprise). It amazes me that some of these things have survived the years and they were wonderful to see.
As well as spinning, weaving and lacemaking other crafts were represented in the museum including those of the blacksmith, the carpenter and the potter. I was fascinated by these fishing baskets, so fragile-looking and beautiful.

Fishing baskets

Winders for cotton and wool

Bobbin winder

Bobbin spinning wheel

Spinning wheel

Scales for cotton

Cotton in the scales' basket

Cotton gin

Weaving loom

Fabric woven on the loom

Lace pillow

Bobbin lace on the pillow

Crafts in Malta

2011-03-01T17:44:00.000Z

I'm just back from a wonderful holiday in Malta and have just a few photos to share with you over the next few posts. Although there seems to be no evidence of patchwork and quilting in Malta they do have other talents and traditions in crafts.
Of course I had to track down some real lace (a lot of what is available is machine made, or even imported). On the island of Gozo I visited Bastion Lace where all the lace is handmade bobbin lace, so beautiful. (Teresa and Carol, this is where your lace pieces came from)

We watched this gentleman patiently gilding, applying the finest gold leaf to pieces for a processional statue in Mdina.

Later we chatted to a jeweller who makes the traditional Maltese filigree work.

I couldn't resist this beautiful silver thimble he made. I think it will be to admire rather than use although it does fit me perfectly.

I made a visit to this lovely haberdashery shop in Valletta and spent ages choosing while DH waited very patiently, bless him, although he was more than ready for a coffee by the time I'd finished. (Teresa and Carol this is where your ribbons and pieces came from).

And I did do some sewing myself, here I am enjoying the sunshine and making a fabric postcard for a Global Piecers swap.

Back Soon

2011-02-06T14:43:00.000Z

I'm just having a little break, be back soon.

Prayers and Postcards

2011-02-03T14:11:00.001Z

This is my first mini quilt for Jenny's "Give thanks" BOM wall hanging and today I am giving thanks that the prayers Jenny requested for north Queensland yesterday were answered and that, although there is terrible devastation, there was no loss of life when cyclone Yasi hit.
I haven't felt up to doing any sewing this week but did receive the last of the latest fabric postcards in the current swap I've been doing. This is with BQLPC and is a lot of fun (and you don't have to do every swap). The theme was "Inspired by ny favourite music" and these are the cards I was sent:

This is Pauline's beautiful interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Dragonflies"

and Jacquie loves Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition"

Janet's favourite, the Duet from "The Pearl Fishers" by Bizet inspired this delicate design

Two ladies decided to base their cards on a genre of music rather than a specific piece,

Jan loves jazz

and Annette was moved by hearing her brother sing as a soloist in their church choir

My cards for the swap were inspired by Holst's Planets Suite. They were all slightly different but this is the one I kept for myself.

It is so exciting to wait for the postman when cards are due and to see how the themes have been interpreted.

Happy Birthday Sam

2011-01-30T13:57:00.001Z

This is my lovely grandson on a walk with his grandad a few days ago. Today is his third birthday - Sam, not Grandad! Happy Birthday my scrumptious one. He is such a joy and so full of life, it's hard to remember he

was born, by emergency Caesarian section, a month premature, has Down's Syndrome and was born with a hole in his heart and in need of an operation on his little tummy. He's a fighter that's for sure.

I was planning to be cutting my new quilt out today, the fabrics are all washed and pressed and ready to become "Round and Round the Nara Garden" - working title. I feel very weary so have decided not to risk ending up with a lot of pieces of fabric the wrong size!
I had a tiring day yesterday but it was a good day. Al and I drove to Elton to meet DS and his GF at the Loch Fyne Restaurant there. We'd not met GF before and so were quite nervous and on best behaviour - I was trying not to ask about colours for a double wedding ring quilt, you know the sort of thing! Anyway, she is absolutely lovely, really easy to talk to, pretty, she and David complement each other well and are very comfortable together, excellent, and a delicious lunch too! So I did a happy dance.
Today I'm taking it easy instead of sewing. I had an hour by the window watching the birds for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. The sparrowhawk put in an appearance (which rather put pay to other birds sitting around for a while) and we have far more house sparrows and starlings here than the average for the country. On the downside no greenfinches were to be seen, the long-tailed tits must have been getting their breakfast elsewhere and the chaffinch didn't turn up until after I'd done the count! It's lovely to feed and watch the birds though, one of life's simple pleasures.
Hoping you're all enjoying your Sunday.

PS two members of Global Piecers (Teresa and I) have decided on the photos for the starting point for our Landscape Challenge Quilt. Please have a look and share your thoughts. Thank you.

Mediterranean Nights - My Sampler Quilt

2011-01-26T12:59:00.000Z

Having finally finished my sampler quilt yesterday all I had the energy to do was fall asleep under it but today I'll share the pictures and what I learned.
The sampler quilt is now named "Mediterranean Nights" in reference to the colours I chose for it. I've seen the doctor today and he said I have RSV, Human respiratory syncytial virus, (science bit here) and that he couldn't give me anything but a couple of weeks of sunshine might help. I wonder if sleeping under this quilt will do any good!
Anyway, I digress. Here's a photograph:

I am pleased with this quilt and love the way it looks on our bed and the colours and bright, liveliness of it. It has been a steep "learning curve", a teach myself to quilt process, and the blocks are as they worked out, I didn't remake them and tried not to worry about the imperfections. I used different quilting methods too in a quilt a row as you go way which worked well for me - it was easier to handle a row of four blocks on my machine than a whole quilt.
So what have I learned?

That I will never let a quilt project last so long again (I started this quilt in August 2008).
That I must buy sufficient fabric at the beginning.
That 1/4" seams mean just that, something near enough isn't good enough.
That I like foundation piecing.
That I don't like applique.
That I should never handstitch when I don't feel like it (unless I want all the stitches to be of various sizes and pointing in various directions).
That I enjoy English paper piecing.
That reading instructions carefully and then following them is often a good plan.
That I'm not afraid of colour.
That I'm proud of what I have achieved (although the quilt police wouldn't agree).
That Delectable Mountains aren't always delectable.

Thank you to everybody who has advised and applauded on this quilt's journey, I appreciate all your support. Thanks to Lynne Edwards' for her very thorough Sampler Quilt books, she gave me the courage to attempt this quilt.
Okay, what's next?!

To Do List Item Two - Ticked

2011-01-25T18:00:00.000Z

~~Quilt and finish Wiggly Nine Patch.~~
~~Complete Sampler Quilt - sashing, assembling, layering & basting, quilting, finishing, phew.~~
Japanese Round and Round the Garden quilt project.
Kanzashi (portable project)...BQL Fabric Postcards...Global Piecers swaps.

New Zealand projects.
Blue and White quilt for DS.

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, January 2011

2011-01-22T10:34:00.000Z

Good morning FNSIers, I hope you all had a lovely evening. After my fish and chips I headed to my sewing room, no, that's a lie, I took my sewing to my bedroom! It was definitely an evening for being under a quilt or two. Cosy in bed I made a few kanzashi (more pictures at Sashiko Started It) and other fabric flowers for brooches and then worked on my sampler quilt. I have now joined twelve blocks together, quilted them and joined the backing pieces, so I'm over halfway through. I might actually finish this quilt while it's still winter.
I was going to make an apron last night. This little nostalgic muse on aprons was posted by Heather:

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.

REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill
to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...

It reminded me what a great invention an apron is. I have a plastic-coated pinny in Liberty's peacock feather design which is rather attractive but not very practical for everyday use as it is rigid and of no use other than as a protection for the clothes underneath.
I decided to make an apron using Jenny's January challenge method.
Thinking about this brought back some memories of Nanny who always wore a pinny. I can recall being a very irritating grandchild and pulling the tapes of Nanny's pinny undone while she was busy at the sink. I remember Nanny's pinny continuing to hang by the stove for a very long time after her death, almost as if she might walk into the kitchen and tie it on at any moment.
I bought a lovely Laura Ashley skirt from the local hospice shop yesterday, I didn't even have to try it on as I knew I would be cutting it up. Anyway, I got it home and rashly thought I'd see if I could squeeze into it (I have lost a bit of weight recently but it is two sizes smaller than I've been wearing). You know what's coming...it fits! It's gorgeous, I've dropped two dress sizes and I'm not going to make an apron with it!

Here's another couple of pieces of good news to end this post. In "The Works" (the bargain book and stationery shop) they have a crafting section, mainly card making and scrapbooking. I bought these reels of ribbon, 2m on each reel, for £1 each.

Then I got a great surprise when the postman rang with a parcel - for once I wasn't expecting anything! This lovely collection of fabrics was a giveaway prize from Patchwork and Quilting's "Inspirations" magazine. It's for a picnic set but I might have other ideas. Those strawberries certainly scream "summer" don't they?

Have a great weekend, I hope you have time to sew.

Walking in the Sunshine

2011-01-21T17:37:00.001Z

Today it's been very cold, but sunny. Ideal for wrapping up warmly and going for a little walk with GS Sam.
He walked better than I did!
I'm all ready to take it very easy this evening with a gentle FNSI. DH is just fetching fish and chips and then I'll put on my cosy red dressing gown and be ready to make a few kanzashi brooches and work on my sampler quilt. Photos in the morning.

Oh and just before I go, Jessica posted a design quiz.

I came out as,

Results: You most resemble a "California Country".

Details...

Cozy… not oversized - a hand crafted gem. Your kitchen is your prize. Decorative, finished… elegant. A tailored bedroom rewards a hard day's work. Art that definitely does not match the sofa. An Asian asthetic intrigues your dinner guests. The graceful ceremony of sharing. 1,000's of hours of handcrafted detail provide your decorative foundation. Wild and crazy days in your wonderful home..

Suspected "California Country"

- Sandra Bullock
- Harrison Ford
- Jeff Bridges

I'm not sure how accurate that all is but it was fun! Have a good FNSI everybody.

Quilts 4 London

2011-01-20T10:14:00.001Z

At the first meeting of "Crafty Time Out" yesterday we agreed to take part in the London Olympics in 2012. No, we won't be knitting ourselves some legwarmers and pounding the streets, we're going to make pennants.
Below is a copy of the poster promoting the project and the basic information, taken from their website at http://www.quilts4london.org.uk
I'm not working on that today though. DH has gone to look at aeroplanes at Duxford with SiL so I'm sewing all day, and doing a happy dance.

Make a Pennant for a London 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Athlete

Size A3 (12" x 16"); 14,000 Required; Closing date December 2011

Quilts4london has received the Inspire Mark by the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
The Project's Supporters include Lynne Edwards, Gail Lawther, The International Felt Makers Association, Batik Guild, Cross Stitch Guild, UK Hand Knitting Association, Guild of Silk Painters, The Quilter's Guild of the British Isles, The Braid Society & The Woodturners of Great Britain.

Individuals can make one - or make more than one if you like!

Dates for your Diary 2011 - Collecting Pennants

Stitch & Creative Crafts Show (QG Stand), Sandown, Sat 22nd January
Quilts4london Workshop, Patchwork Corner, 7th March
Stitch & Craft Show, Olympia 2, London, 17th-20th March
Music on the Moor, Hemel Hempstead, 9th & 10th July
Festival of Quilts, NEC, 11th-14th August
The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, 6th-9th October

Express your support through the medium of fabric, fibre and stitch, and become part of the whole Olympic event in London 2012. Pennants can be any shape, any design, made by anyone regardless of their level of ability or age (children welcome) and using any textile media. Our aim is to present a Pennant to each Olympic and Paralympic athlete, a personal gift from you to them. Check out 'How To Make One' for guidelines. We will be 'stringing' them together for some amazing exhibitions in the time leading up to the 2012 Games. Twitter or Register to receive regular updates.Quilts4london Education Pack. Feedback from teachers is that it is brilliant for Ofsted. Lets get kids playing with Textiles. Scouts & Guides (Craft and Partnership Badges); Schools & After-School Clubs - create your own Olympic displays. Quilts4london encourages schools to register with the London 2012 Get Set Network to receive access to resources & opportunities and to receive exclusive rewards & recognition for your school's Olympic inspired work. To help you, check out the Olympic Sports; Design ideas for Children's Pennants ; Forum and Web-Links for a fantastic source of contacts and ideas.

Olympic Branding Restrictions -
'2012', 'London 2012', Olympic Rings, MMXII, etc cannot be used on Pennants.

Please Read

Please post to: 'Quilts4London', 39 Hunting Gate, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 6NX, UK. Add a 4" Sleeve and a Label to the back with a name, date, location and a message too if you like. Please enclose a Cover Letter with contact details, it is for our own use and will not be passed on with the Pennant unless requested. Check our Gallery to see if the Pennant has been uploaded or call 01442 404234 to confirm we have received it. A label - 'Made by .......of..... for quilts4london, a project for The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. (date)' has been approved by LOCOG.

Our Scottish Coordinator is based in Southern Scotland. She has requested extra support covering other areas of Scotland. Please e-mail if you can help.

We receive no funding from the Olympics or any other organisation to cover the running costs of this project.

Quilts4london is non-profit making.

Friday Night Sew-In

2011-01-18T10:09:00.000Z

It's time for another great Friday Night Sew In. I'll be working on my sampler quilt and looking forward to sharing my progress and seeing what you get up to.
Get the warm drinks, yummy snacks and comfortable dressing gown ready and join Heidi, Bobbi and the rest of us for FNSI. Click on the logo on the right to sign up.

A Gift of a UFO

2011-01-16T16:55:00.000Z

This French General table runner in the making is on the way to me courtesy of lovely Lara who had a UFO clear out. I love the fabric and when it arrives I'll decide whether to proceed with the table runner or maybe create something else. The only problem is where to put this on my to do list, I didn't reckon on adding UFOs to the list!! Thank you Lara.
Today I've quilted the first row of blocks in my sampler quilt. No photos as it's been a horrid, wet and grey day here today (although nothing like the wetness that others have been suffering). The forecast is for the temperature to drop by the end of the week, yippee, more sewing!
I hope you're all enjoying a relaxing weekend.

Landscape Challenge Quilt

2011-01-12T16:56:00.000Z

I am a member of a small, worldwide group of quilting friends, the Global Piecers. We have regular swaps of fabricy things between ourselves but I have just launched a challenge quilt project. As this will be to make a quilt for ourselves and not for a swap I have decided to open it to non-members of Global Piecers. You can see the introductory information on our blog here. Please leave a comment on that post, with your email address and I'll let you have the deadlines and details, and you'll be very welcome, the more the merrier.

Help for Australian Flood Victims

2011-01-11T11:20:00.003Z

On Monday 17th January,

Toni at Make It Perfect will have a master list of bloggers who will be running auctions from their blogs, selling products that they make or from their stores. You will have one week to bid on these auctions, and hopefully be the lucky winner of these great products. Auctions will be open for 1 week, and will close at midnight on Monday 24th January.

All of the money raised at these auctions will go directly to the Queensland Government Flood Relief Appeal.

There are details on Toni's blog (click on the logo above) about how you can hold an auction and get even more involved. Here's a reminder of why:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12158608

At Gumtree the girls have come up with a very practical plan. They are aiming to create "New Beginnings" sewing kits to give out to those who have lost the means to enjoy their craft.

This is what they'd like in each kit:

1. A handmade sewing caddy, complete with needlebook and pincushion.

2. A pack of embroidery scissors with a scissor keep.

3. Six individual skeins of stranded embroidery threads.

4. Embroidery needles.

5. 1 fat quarter of fabric.

If you can help, please email Jenny at - jennyofelefantz AT yahoo DOT com DOT au for the address in Australia to post these kits to. Click below for all the details:


http://www.gumtree-designers.com/2011/01/we-need-your-help.html

Give Thanks....for Germs!

2011-01-10T16:51:00.000Z

I had a very pleasant Sunday curled up on the sofa in front of the fire doing the stitchery for Jenny's "Give Thanks" BOM.

Then this morning I woke up with the beginnings of a cold - the horrid sore throat bit that feels as if you've swallowed razor blades, and pins and possibly a seam ripper too.
Feeling very sorry for myself I returned to the sofa and the comfort of the fire and am delighted to say I have finished my little wall hanging this afternoon.
My beloved made me a little wire hanger for it and here it is, all ready to go on 1st February when Jenny will reveal the first mini quilt to go in that cream space. Thank you Michelle for sending me the link to this lovely project.

Here it is in situ by the fire - why didn't I notce those coffee mugs when I was taking/uploading/selecting/cropping/copying the photo? Maybe they just appeared as I added the photo to this post!

Before I was struck down I finished layering all the rows of blocks for my sampler quilt so I'm ready to get quilting as soon as I have the strength in my arms and brain cells. How was your weekend? I hope it was a good one.

Progress and Process

2011-01-05T11:09:00.000Z

This is how far I've got with item 2 on my to do list (see right). I have twenty sampler blocks so I'm creating five rows of four blocks, adding sashing, layering and tacking them and then I'm going to quilt each row before joining the whole thing together. I hope this will mean I have manageable pieces of work to quilt. I've got three rows done and I've run out of basting pins. Oh dear, I'm going to have to make a trip to the LQS. Do you think I will simply buy a couple of packs of pins and walk away?
I haven't used the "quilt as you go" method before, which I understand is usually block by block, making it very portable.
I've looked at Leah Day's great FMQ ideas and her suggestions for quilting a sampler quilt, making it a sampler of quilting as well as a sampler of piecing techniques. You can see Leah's ideas here:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4
It's very inspiring but I think I'll do something rather more straightforward...

I've had a little discovery today which pleased me considerably. For this quilt I'm using a wadding made from recycled plastic. It's very easy to work with and sort of "sticks" to the fabric, making it easy to smooth the layers together. I'm doing a happy dance.
Here's the science bit, taken from Asding's website:

Quilters Dream Green Poly, Mid Loft (Select) - Green - 122" wide £10.95 per metre.

Select (mid loft) - Dream Green is a soft, cozy wadding made 100% from recycled plastic bottles! Dream Green meets Quilters Dream's highest standards of quality, function and performance. Your needles will glide through this unique eco-friendly batting. Finished quilt may be machine washed and dried with little to no shrinkage. Dream Green is wrinkle resistant.

Each pound of Dream Green wadding keeps 10 plastic bottles out of our landfills. Plastic bottles are cut into chips, washed, melted and extruded into fine polyester fibres. These recycled fibres are indistinguishable from “virgin” polyester fibres yet are made without depleting our precious natural resources. To avoid additional processing Quilters Dream have kept the soft “natural” green bottle colour – but you can rest assured that Dream Green is colour-fast and compatible to all your finest quilts and projects.

Dream Green has been carded, cross-lapped and needlepunched for uniformity, strength, and resiliency. There is no scrim or resins yet you can stitch up to 12” apart! Utilizing eco-efficient recycling, Quilters Dream has developed a wonderful quilt wadding that truly accomplishes the meaning of “green.”

GREEN FACTS (supplied by Quilters Dream): Studies show that the energy saved by recycling a single plastic bottle – as compared to producing a new one from scratch – is enough to power a single 60-watt bulb for six hours. The amount of petroleum saved annually by using post-consumer bottles instead of virgin materials in the manufacturing process is enough to supply power to a city the size of Atlanta for an entire year! It is reported the process of recycling plastic bottles results in a 66% reduction of energy consumption, nearly 90% reduction of water usage and reduction of carbon dioxide by 2.5 times.

A Short Drama

2011-01-03T19:27:00.000Z

Scene 1
Lis is in her sewing room applying sashing to some blocks for her sampler quilt.

Lis (shouts): Aaagh, Al, Al, Al.
Al (rushing upstairs): What is it?
Lis: There's blood, aaagh, blood.
Al: Where from, what have you done?
Lis: I don't know, I'm bleeding.
Al: Sit down sweetie, I'll get a flannel and the first aid box.
Lis: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Al: Just sit down.
Lis: NO! Take the blocks and get the blood out, I'll get a plaster.

Al (mystified) exits to the bathroom with an armful of bloody fabric.

Scene 2
Sometime later, Lis is in her sewing room pressing bloodless fabric blocks..

Lis (speaking to herself): I must blog about this, I think I might have become a real quilter!

Image from the Graphics Fairy.

To Do List Item One - Ticked

2011-01-02T14:13:00.001Z

I have completed the first item on my new year to do list. I'm pretty impressed with that! I tried to make the edge of the quilt wiggly to tie in with the theme of this little quilt that was started at a workshop with Magie Relph and it ended up straighter than my intentionally straight edges usually are!

So now I can cross this quilt off my list

~~Quilt and finish Wiggly Nine Patch~~
Complete Sampler Quilt
Japanese Round and Round le Jardin Quilt
Ongoing projects: kanzashi, Global Piecers swaps, BQLPC

and add a new project to the list.

New Zealand projects

You can see the fabrics I bought in New Zealand here and I have to say it surprised me to look back at the post and remember some of those fabrics and what I planned to create with them!

I've also just signed up for a wonderful BOM project, like I need more projects to do :) I just couldn't resist, go and have a look at what Jenny's offering in her wonderful "Give Thanks" BOM.

Before any of that though I have to finish my Lynne Edwards' sampler quilt...

This morning we went to the coast for a bracing walk,

followed by a great cup of well deserved coffee at the Gibraltar Point visitor centre. Home now and off to the sewing room! Have a relaxing Sunday afternoon and I hope you keep warm and dry, or cool, depending where you are :)

Welcome 2011

2010-12-31T09:58:00.026Z

2010 ended well, Sara loved her new quilt which I can now reveal,

Sam liked my Black Forest Trifle

and they both had to have a rest to get over the excitement.

DS David also came over for lunch but managed to avoid getting his photo taken, he and Al were talking camera and IMacs! It was so lovely to spend the last day of the year with my very favourite people.

To Do List for 2011

2010-12-30T13:53:00.003Z

A Christmas celebration with big grandson, Wills, yesterday

brings me nearly to the end 2010 and to that time of year when thoughts wander to resolutions, lists of things to do etc etc.
My dear friend, Michelle, has been blogging her "Goals" and seems to be making good progress in tackling them (well done on the nets Michelle) and I wondered if making them public had helped.
Like so many of us I have quilting projects in various states of development from

a twinkle in my eye

via

brand new carefully chosen fabrics, threads and pattern

a bag of cut, partially stitched and abandoned cloth

So I thought I would go public too.

Firstly though, drum roll for a finish please!

The quilt, now called "In the Pink", I was making for my DD, with fabric we chose in Spring 2009, is finished and all ready for her to enjoy. She worked with me on developing the design, which was inspired by "Daisy Blue" by Marie Kruger in Patchwork & Quilting magazine (197, June 2010). There have been some hiccoughs - I will never, ever hand sew through batik fabric on steam-a-seam again (hopefully) - but I am very pleased with the finished quilt as I hope Sara will be when she sees it. Until she does I can't show you the whole thing but here's another tease.

(The first tease was here).

I have found some lovely tutorials on Catherine's blog and definitely want to make these two:

crayon roll tutorial

quilted potholder tutorial

but here I go again with planning new projects....back to the list...

I've had a sort out and a think and some projects have been adandoned, probably forever. They are the sort of things that might end up in a UFO swap but I am not going to feel guilty about them, I must have learned something from the work I did do on them.
Then I have prioritised the projects I am going to finish. As I'm typing this I have a feeling I've been here before!
My Wiggly Nine Patch remains layered and pinned but I have finally decided how I'm going to quilt it so that will be my first 2011 project.
I didn't get my sampler quilt finished in time for the cold weather so I must finish it early in 2011. It needs a lot of work still and I think I feel rather overwhelmed by it even though I've had some great suggestions from you for finishing it.
After those I feel I shall deserve a new project so I shall start and finish a quilt using the blocks from "Round and Round le Jardin" using Japanese fabrics. This was from a worshop with Jane Bottomley and the quilt has received a lot of compliments.
Between these big projects I also have to make some more kanzashi - fabric flowers. I was going to write a tutorial but there's a great one by Sandy here. Thanks Sandy.
I also have an ongoing commitment to BQL fabric postcard swaps and Global Piecers swaps.
So, my to do list for the beginning of 2011 is:

Quilt and finish Wiggly Nine Patch.
Complete Sampler Quilt - sashing, assembling, layering & basting, quilting, finishing, phew.
Japanese Round and Round the Garden quilt project.
Kanzashi (portable project)...BQL Fabric Postcards...Global Piecers swaps.

I'm not setting time limits on these but I'm not going to start anything new until they are finished and when I've done Number 1 I'll add another to the list, the postcards and Global Piecers will remain as continuous projects of course. That's the plan anyway, are you full of good intentions for 2011?

Christmas in Pictures

2010-12-27T17:39:00.001Z

Sam is rather partial to smoked salmon

My lovely son, David, and lovely daughter, Sara, at Christmas breakfast

Sam with his pressie from his Aunty Sal in Australia

And with his new trike from his Grandad and Me ...thanks Saz :)

David and Sam reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar Annual

My sister and neices begin building the Taj Mahal in Lego

Daddy and my neice, Emma, start carving the turkey

Buffy was born on Christmas Day nine years ago and reckons that qualifies her for turkey too

My beloved tries to find out what's in his cracker

Daddy and an impressive Christmas pudding in flames

Al and I are now home (before the snow falls again) and will be celebrating more Christmases on Wednesday and Friday. I hope you are having a lovely holiday and finding some time to sew, or at least read that new quilting book or magazine that was in your stocking!

Mystic Nativity by Sandro Botticelli

2010-12-23T10:46:00.002Z

With my very best wishes to you all for a wonderful Christmas.
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comments and inspiration during the year, I appreciate you all very much.
I hope you will be able to relax and enjoy yourselves and find some peace over the next few days. May the New Year bring you health and happiness and plenty of time and inspiration for your quilting projects.
God bless us all.

I love this glorious painting by the Italian painter Allessandro (Sandro) Botticelli of the celebrations in heaven and on earth after the birth of Jesus. This oil painting from 1500 has been referred to as the Mystic Nativity

because it is believed to symbolize the Birth of Jesus as well as his Second Coming. It was painted during a time of great unrest and many thought the end of the world was imminent.

Christmas image from ReusableArt.com

21st December 2010 - An Auspicious Day

2010-12-21T18:01:00.000Z

This image was taken from the BBC website and you can also see a video sequence of the lunar eclipse on that site.
Here in Lincolnshire it was too cloudy to see anything :(
It seems to be a very auspicious day today with the Lunar Eclipse this morning occuring on the day of the Winter Solstice and tonight is a Full Moon. Tomorrow the days will start getting longer, can Spring be on the way?
We are still very cold, no more snow here for a few days but the landscape is frosted like a massive Christmas cake and yesterday the "high" here was minus 6C, at night it went down a lot further. DH husband said we'd burned the whole day's logs before breakfast! Fortunately though we are able to get out and around, unlike some parts of the country where the airports are closed and all trains cancelled. Britain has the reputation of grinding to a halt when three snowflakes fall so it's sort of comforting to learn that there are similar problems with the extreme weather across many European countries too.
I hope you are keeping warm where you are, unless you're one of my "downunder" followers then I hope you are keeping cool!

Minus Something Degrees and Goodies from South Dakota

2010-12-20T16:36:00.000Z

We've had a deep frost and freezing fog that has lasted all day today but it had it's attractions. I got in from a little expedition to the shops (should I buy some food in case we can't get to my family for Christmas?) and a large parcel from South Dakota was waiting. Now I know I should have waited until Christmas Day but I'm very impatient when it comes to things like this. It was from my Secret Santa in Global Piecers and full of yummy stuff including a wonderful Moda Bake Shop collection. Thanks Joan.

Time to curl up by the fire and finish sewing the binding on my daughter's quilt. Then I'll be able to share it with you. I ache all over today after hauling it around my machine yesterday, I really must be very good next year and then maybe Father Christmas will bring me a longarm quilter! I wish!

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, December 2

2010-12-18T13:02:00.000Z

I pieced the backing for Sara's quilt during the second December FNSI last night but couldn't face the layering and tacking so I made a few more kanzashi and then called it a night and attacked the block of Whittaker's Peanut chocolate that lovely Michelle sent me all the way from New Zealand!

Today I've cleared the decks, the wadding is relaxing all ready to go and I'm about to tackle my least favourite job in making a quilt.
I'm just going to put off that moment for a little longer by sharing this photo with you - my daughter and my younger grandson, Sam, (also known as His Imperial Samness) stirring the Christmas cake mixture, I hope their wishes come true.

Okay, can't put it off any longer - what's your least favourite part of quiltmaking?

Buttons and Bonnets

2010-12-16T16:35:00.000Z

Snowing again today and we're looking after older grandson, Wills, as his school is closed - no heating! Still he made a good model for my finished Roses from the Heart bonnets which will be heading off on their journey to Tasmania as soon as I get to the post office.

It was rather strange to stitch one with my own name.

My beloved hanged my button wreath this morning and was rather impressed with it, thanks Catherine :)

If the snow is returning to where you are please keep warm and safe.

Swaps and Surprises

2010-12-15T18:19:00.000Z

I enjoyed my craft group's Christmas meeting today although we were low on numbers due to illness and probably the persisting icy roads. Those of us who made it enjoyed very little stitching, lots of lovely chatting and some very yummy things to eat. I'd been idle and bought a tin of Italian biscuits from John Lewis (but they were delicious and now I have a pretty festive tin for putting things in) but have to congratulate Anne who made the most wonderful meringues, sandwiched together with fresh cream. Crisp on the outside, soft and sticky on the inside and no calories in them at all. In the little time we did spend with needles in our hands instead of sweet, sticky things I worked on bonnets.
I haven't made many new Christmas decorations this year although there are lots of lovely ideas on the blogs I follow. I've added to last year's, which you can see at Christmas decoration tutorial , with the festive fabric postcards I've been receiving from BQLPC members. The theme is "A Touch of Bling" and all these glittering, sparkling cards are making a wonderful display over the fireplace.
Today I was tempted by Catherine's button wreath and so I thought I'd make one, it's working out well and when I've added the bows I'm going to hang above the mirror in the sitting room. Thanks Catherine.
I've been enjoying receiving fabric postcards, Christmas swap blocks and some wonderful goody bags from quilting friends, what wonderful gifts from people with the same ~~affliction~~ ~~addiction~~ obsession as me, thank you, you lovely people. In parcels I send I also like to include something I've made. Last year my friends received a fabric Christmas decoration, this year I've been creating kanzashi. These are folded fabric flowers and are a delight to make - although mine are a little uneven - still, practice will make perfect.
It's Friday Night Sew In part 2 this week and I'm planning to be quilting. I keep putting off starting on quilting my daughter's quilt and really must do it. I'm telling you so that you can nag me! It's not too late to join in on Friday, sign up by clicking in the logo on the right, you'll be very welcome.

Angel Wings

2010-12-13T09:35:00.000Z

Giveaway Winner and FNSI Saturday Report

2010-12-11T11:15:00.000Z

We have two Friday Night Sew Ins this month, the first was last night and the second is next Friday, you can sign up here.
I only stitched until 9 p.m. last night - Strictly Come Dancing semi final, poor Matt, the judges were beyond unkind - and worked on bonnets for the Roses from the Heart project. The one photographed (made by machine) is already on its way to Christina in Tasmania and last night I decided to hand sew the next two. I feel more in touch with the convict girls doing that. Christina has allocated me girls with my own surname, I haven't found out if any are actually rellies but I'm still working on my family history so you never know what will turn up.
I have little information about Ann Elizabeth Harwood. She was transported to Van Dieman's Land for life, sailing from London on 22 May 1820 on the Morley and arriving in VDL on 29 August 1820. She was given a Conditional Pardon on 21 November 1836.
I started a bonnet for Elizabeth Harwood last night. Elizabeth was transported for 7 years for Larceny. She was convicted of stealing £17 from a man. She was a widow with children and left London on the ship, New Grove, on 25 November 1834, arriving in VDL on 27 March 1835. In a surgeon's report Elizabeth is assessed as: Good - thought at time to be of unsound mind. She received a Certificate of Freedom in 1842.
I am also making a bonnet for Esther Harwood (aka Howard). She left from Portsmouth on the Lady Penrhyn on 13 May 1787 after her trial in London on 20th (probably) August 1787 and arrived in VDL after a voyage of 252 days with 100 other females on 22 January 1788.
I have heard recently from Christina Henri that she has received 20 000 bonnets, leaving only 5 566 to be made for there to be one for every convict girl. It's not too late to be involved with this great project so please take a look at Christina's website and blog and at my previous posts here, here and here.

Okay, here's what you want to know...

...but first, I want to thank you all again for taking part in my 200th post giveaway and for being followers of this blog. Welcome to my new followers too. I have enjoyed reading all your comments, not just for this giveaway but also over the last 200 posts. It's always a joy when I find that someone has read what I've shared and then taken the time to comment on it, THANK YOU.
I would have loved you all to win but I am particularly delighted to announce that the winner is one of my very early followers, somebody who helped me with my blog when I was getting started and somebody who I met this year and found to be as delightful in real life as in blogland. The winner is

MICHELLE.

Well done my friend, please let me have your address in wonderful New Zealand and I'll have the goody bag on it's way to you.
Now onwards to the next 200 posts and thank you again, you are all wonderful. Have a great weekend.

200th Post Giveaway

2010-12-06T15:19:00.000Z

Yippee, here we go, my 200th blog post!

Thank you to all the wonderful fellow bloggers I have met (some in "real life") since beginning my blog; you encourage, inspire and support me and I value your friendship.

This is the first quilt I ever made (with the exception of a planned hexagon quilt that became a cushion cover when I was about 12 years old).
There is so much wrong with this wallhanging, called "Cornish Seas", that I'm not even going to start but it was the beginning of my passion for patchwork and quilting. One day I will make a new, improved version of "Cornish Seas" but I'm not ashamed to have the original, made in September 2006, hanging on the wall of my bach in Norfolk. It was inspired by the sea, of course, and also by a stained glass window in a church in Penzance, Cornwall and some glass sculptures I saw in a gallery in Mousehole, also in Cornwall.
Since then I have designed and made quilts, followed patterns to make quilts, collected enough fabric to last me for the rest of my life and beyond, enjoyed quilt exhibitions and workshops, met some wonderful people by virtue of our mutual interest in patchwork and quilting, introduced others to our obsession, been involved in swaps and online quilting groups....so many lovely things. So to all my partners in crime I say a massive "thank you".

This brings me to today's question, the final one for my giveaway. Thank you very much for taking the time to post comments in answer to these questions, it's been fun for me to learn a bit about you, I hope it's been fun for you too.

Here are the rules:

All my lovely followers get an entry in the giveaway.

Kristen, Michelle, Debbie, Teresa, Sue, Jenni, and Paula all get an entry each as they answered my first question correctly, identifying that I went to Morocco on my recent holiday.

Everyone who answered any or all of my previous questions, two, three and four gets one entry per answer. Your can still answer question two, question three and question four.

Everyone who answers today's question gets an entry.

I will ask my lovely grandson, Sam, to pick a winner from all the entries on Friday 10th December 2010 at 3.00 p.m. GMT.

So that's a possible six entries in the giveaway.
Good luck.

Oh, nearly forgot! Today's question:

How did you get started in patchwork and quilting?
(If you are not a quilter please tell me why not!)

And what will the lucky winner get?

I shall make up a goody bag for you and it will include the fabric postcard I promised you in September,

One of the packs of 25 pieces of recycled Liberty lawn fabric from Kim Porter at Worn and Washed Fabrics that I bought at Chilford last month,

Also from Chilford, a kanzashi kit from Euro Japan Links,

To add to your stash I'll include a "Birdie" charm pack from Me and My Sister for Moda which will just right for starting on a springtime project after Christmas,

and a FQ from The African Fabric Shop,

There will also be a few extra bits and pieces included in the goody bag, and judging on the answers to question two there had better be some chocolate too! I hope there is something there to tempt you all, it's just a way of saying thank you.

Christmas Sewing

2010-12-05T11:25:00.000Z

Now that everything is safely in the post I can share what I've been doing. Below are my "A Touch of Bling" fabric postcards for the BQLPC Christmas swap. As I had 18 cards to make I kept them quite simple (and made a note to self to start earlier next year, ha ha). I loved the gold ric-rac that I found in John Lewis and hope the recipients enjoy the cards. I am currently receiving a lovely selection of cards in return and several people have successfully machine-stitched with metallic threads, something I've always struggled with. Helen, a member of BQL, sent me this email:

I was talking to the man from BarnYarns about this just last weekend.... here is what he said!
"Use a metallic needle OR even better a topstitch titanium coated needle. Make sure the thread is good quality - he says to unwind a length and hold the loose end in one hand and the spool in the other a foot or so apart letting the thread fall in a loop. If the thread makes a nice smooth curve it should sew great if the needle and tension are correct. If the thread twists or loops you may as well throw it away as it will cause hours of frustration and tears....."

Thank you Helen.

This is the Christmas block I've made for Global Piecers' block swap. You'll probably recognise the fabrics from my posts about my purchases at Festival of Quilts. The pattern was adapted (slightly) from one on a magazine that Cara sent me, American Quilting Magazine's "Quilting for Christmas". In the pattern by Wendy Sheppard, called "Poinsettia Fiesta", four blocks are used with sashing and a border to make a 36" square table centre cloth or a festive wallhanging.

My next post will be my 200th! There will be a final question to get you more entries in my giveaway and I'll show you what could be on it's way to you if you're the lucky winner. Don't forget you can still get extra entries here, here and here.
Kristen asked where the photos on my Question Four/Inspiration post were taken, saying they are "dead on for the style of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain". They are of the same Moorish influence. I've added details to that post now, thank you Kristen.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

2010-12-05T10:56:00.000Z

I received this poem in an email with the following explanation:
"This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed."
That may be true, or it may be one of those chain mails that can be so annoying but the sentiment remains the same and so I'm sharing it with you today.

T'was the night before Christmas,
He lived all alone
In a one-bedroom house
Made of plaster and stone.
I had come down the chimney
With presents to give,
And to see just who
In this home did live.
I looked all about,
A strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents,
Not even a tree.
No stocking by mantle,
Just boots filled with sand,
On the wall hung pictures,
Of far distant lands.
With medals and badges,
Awards of all kinds,
A sober thought,
Came through my mind.
For this house was different,
It was dark and dreary,
I found the home of a soldier,
Once I could see clearly.
The soldier lay sleeping,
Silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor,
In this one-bedroom home.
The face was so gentle,
The room in disorder,
Not how I pictured,
A true British soldier.
Was this the hero,
Of whom I'd just read?
Curled up on a poncho,
The floor for a bed?
I realised the families
That I saw this night,
Owed their lives to these soldiers,
Who were willing to fight.
Soon round the world
The children would play,
And grown ups would celebrate,
A bright Christmas Day.
They all enjoyed freedom
Each month of the year,
Because of the soldiers,
Like the one lying here.
I couldn't help wonder
How many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve
In a land far from home.
The very thought brought
A tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees,
And started to cry.
The soldier awakened,
And I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don't cry,
This life is my choice;
I fight for freedom,
I don't ask for more,
My life is my God,
My country, my corps."
The soldier rolled over,
And drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it,
I continued to weep.
I kept watch for hours,
So silent and still,
And we both shivered,
From the night's cold chill.
I did not want to leave,
On that cold dark night,
This guardian of honour,
So willing to fight.
Then the soldier rolled over,
With a voice soft and pure,
Whispered, "Carry on Santa,
It's Christmas Day,
All is secure."
One look at my watch,
And I knew he was right,
"Merry Christmas my friend,
And to all a good night."

Giveaway Question Four and Lots of Photographs

2010-12-03T10:19:00.001Z

Photo-heavy post today...

Minus 12C last night, not much better this morning and now we have freezing fog too, brrrr. I nipped out and took these shots while my porridge was cooking this morning.

Lots of inspiration for a winter themed quilt or wall hanging there.
I took lots of photos in Marrakech to go in the "Inspiration" file, here are a few (plus one of Saz and Sam just because I like it).
(Thank you to Kristen for asking where the photos were taken, I've now added that information, 5th December 2010)
The first was a wall plaque in the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech.

These are details from the decoration in the garden pavilion in the Menara Gardens in Marrakech.

The following photographs were all taken in the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Islamic school attached to the Ben Youssef Mosque.

This is the stunning decoration to the front of Menara airport:

Finally, Sara's hand with henna decoration which we had done in the souq!

Which brings me to today's Giveaway Question.

Where do you find inspiration for your quilts?

Don't forget you can still get extra entries in my 200th post giveaway by answering questions two and three . Thanks for playing along, I'm enjoying getting to know a little more about my followers, have a great weekend.

Snow, Snow, Snow

2010-12-02T11:20:00.000Z

I've just been for a little walk along the lane to take a few photographs of our white world.

A "view" across to the Lincolnshire Wolds - honestly, they're in there somewhere!

My beloved doing his Scott of the Antarctic impersonation:

These beautiful roses in my front garden are doing their best but I think their days are numbered:

I walked back into the house to find Sal, my Great Global Christmas Swap partner from last year and fellow Global Piecer, on the phone from Australia. We had a great chat while Al made a nice cup of tea and put more logs on the fire. Keep warm and keep stitching. Please don't forget to enter my giveaway, question two here and question three here. I'll have another question for you tomorrow.

Tasty Tagine, More Holiday Photos and Giveway Question Three

2010-12-01T15:15:00.000Z

For these chilly days here's a recipe for Lamb
Tagine with olives and lemon that was in the
Telegraph last weekend. It is very authentic,
just like one we enjoyed in Marrakech.

Lamb Tagine with olives and lemon
Serves 4, preparation time 30 minutes, 
cooking time 60 minutes

Ingredients

2 large onions
2 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
2 large garlic cloves
pinch saffron stamens
3 tsp ras el hanout (Moroccan spice mix)
570g lamb shoulder, leg steaks or neck fillet
1/2 chicken stock cube
3 preserved lemons
75g pitted green olives
80g bunch coriander
1 fresh lemon
250g couscous

Method

1. Peel, halve and chop the onions. 
Add 2 tbsp oil to a spacious 
heavy-bottomed lidded pan or a tagine. 
Melt the butter in the oil and stir in 
chopped onions. 
Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes 
until glassy. 
2. Peel, chop and crush the garlic to a paste 
with a pinch of salt. 
Sprinkle the saffron over the onions, 
stirring as it bleeds colour into 
the hot juices. 
Stir in the garlic, then the ras el hanout, 
stir-frying for two minutes.
3. Cut the lamb into bite-size chunks. 
Brown the lamb in the onions, then 
add 1/2 stock cube dissolved in 300ml of 
boiling water.
4. Quarter the preserved lemons, scrape 
away the seeds and flesh and slice the peel. 
Stir the peel and olives into the stew.
5. Chop the coriander, slicing the stalks 
finely. 
Add the stalks to the pot.
6. Gently simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
7. Check that the meat is very tender, if not, 
cook a bit longer.
8. Adjust the seaoning with salt, pepper 
and lemon juice. 
Stir in the chopped coriander. 
Serve with couscous (250g hydrated 
in 400ml boiling water).

Here are some fabric-related photos from my trip to
Marrakech. We had a guided trip in the souq
and no time to haggle and buy. On my next visit I would
be happy to go to the souk without a guide and
do some serious shopping.

The staff at our hotel seemed very skilled in fabric origami.
The chambermaid folded a towel to make this swan in Sam's cot:

and a lovely waiter folded this napkin doll for Sam:

So to today's question. You can still add your comments to question two but question one is closed as it has been answered. I've realised I haven't told you what the giveaway is! Be assured it's a lovely goody bag of quilty things which I'll reveal soon.
Giveway Question Three:
What sort of things do you like to bring home as holiday souvenirs (apart from fabric of course!)?

Giveaway Question Two

2010-11-30T14:58:00.000Z

What a difference a few days makes, oh and a four hour flight! Well done to everyone who said I was in Morocco, and especially to Jenni and Paula who were very specific and said, correctly, that I'd been in Marrakech.
So after enjoying the sunshine (even though the nights were chilly) in Marrakech, we are now snowed in here in Lincolnshire. My daughter was planning to come over to see us but thought better of it (for which I'm very thankful) and took Sam for a walk in the snow instead. She sent these lovely photos:

I had a great surprise with the postman today (who got through the snow somehow) - this wonderful parcel of gorgeous fabric, a magazine AND chocolate from Cara. Thank you Cara, it made my day. Please pop over to say hello to Cara, she could do with a hug and is also planning a big sale of fabric.

I've been finishing off my projects for Christmas swaps. They are all packaged up and should be in the post by tomorrow. I'm not sure this is going to be possible. Not only is the Post Office uphill from our house but we can't actually get the car out of the driveway at the moment because of the snow. As soon as it's possible I'll get the goodies in the post.
This brings me neatly to Giveway Question Two. There's no right or wrong answer this time so everybody who comments (and leaves a way for me to contact them if they win) will have an entry in the giveaway for my 200th blog post.

Giveway Question Two
When you are in a block swap (or similar) what extra goodies do you include with the finished block / and like to receive with the blocks that come to you?

Giveaway Question One

2010-11-24T14:37:00.000Z

I am approaching my 200th blog post and so I thought I'd have a bit of fun.
I'll ask you a series of questions and everybody (and all my followers) who answers them correctly will go in the draw for a giveaway. Please make sure I can contact you :)

Question One
I've just been away for a week, these photos might help you to guess:
"Where have I been?"

Friday Night Sew-In, November

2010-11-13T18:54:00.000Z

Instead of sewing all day I have been spending a very long time trying to sort out my email account after my address was hijacked. I expect some of you have received spam messages that look as if they come from me, but they don't. I hope you have deleted them, if you haven't, please do.
When I did get around to sewing it was getting dark so I had a chance to try out my new little OTT light. It works very well and so now I can sew and enjoy our lovely log fire at the same time.
I can't show pictures of what I got done, some of it is part of Secret Santa swaps but I can tell you I've been making little fabric boxes and some delicious kanzashi.
I've also prepared some stitching to take away with me for Friday Night Sew-In. I'll be doing some Christmas embroidery and some more kanzashi but will have no computer access so please consider this my Saturday morning report and enjoy some kanzashi here and here. I'll share mine later.

Chilford Autumn Quilt Show 2

2010-11-10T11:03:00.000Z

Okay, here's what I came away from Chilford with (plus a few things from Euro Japan Links which you can see at the end of the post here).

Inspiration from nature. The trees have been really stunning this year. This one was in the grounds of Chilford Hall and I can see how it could easily become a quilt design...

New thimbles. One soft leather one and one adjustable metal one with a gap for my finger nail. I'll let you know how I get one with them. I also stocked up on bobbins and was tempted by this small OTT light which I'll clip on my shirt to illuminate my work as the evenings get darker. I'll be able to sew in front of the fire with my beloved rather than locking myself away in my sewing room.

These books were a special promotion. The top one I'll be lending to my friend Georgie as she is experimenting with quilting using a variety of textural stitches.

This gorgeous fabric was from Monkey Buttons and I'm going to make a bag from one of their patterns. Something else to add to my to do list!

Lovely textured silks from The Silk Route (who now have an online shop).

I love the feel of these beautiful Liberty lawn fabrics, so soft.

Re-cycled Liberty fabrics from Kim Porter at worn and washed - lovely things.

Amazingly Gorgeous

2010-11-09T10:17:00.000Z

I just had to interrupt the Chilford Quilt Show report to show you this, it's a ralli. A ralli is a quilted textile made from layers of discarded cloth. You can see more at sri threads.

Chilford Autumn Quilt Show 1

2010-11-08T14:22:00.000Z

What shall I share first? What I bought or the quilts I liked? Decisions, decisions! I've posted about some of the Japanese quilts I enjoyed here so I'll show you some of the other quilts that inspired me today and what I came home with tomorrow, deal?

I haven't attended the Chilford Show before but had heard good reports, "friendly show", "lovely venue" etc. It took place at the Chilford Hall Vineyard where we found an assortment of buildings, architectural salvage (loved the stone lions on the road in) and lovely gardens. On the negative side, I thought some of the quilts looked as if they'd been put up in rather a hurry and were hanging unevenly (or maybe the quilters hadn't attached a hanging sleeve) and the lighting wasn't brilliant (lots of shadows across quilts). Overall it was a good show, manageable but plenty to enjoy. I had approximately two hours looking at quilts and two hours shopping! Good food too (but rather a long queue for the bistro).

To the quilts -

One of the exhibits I was keen to see was the "Glimpses of New Zealand" quilted hangings by Gail Lawther.
I have Gail's book of the same title and saw some of the quilts at Festival of Quilts this year but it was wonderful to see some again and to see the whole series together. I think she has beautifully represented that wonderful country. I would highly recommend her book to you, it is a series of mini-tutorials in the various techniques she used in these quilts (as well as being a pretty good promotional document for the New Zealand Tourism Board).

Some general views of various parts of the exhibition next then I'll show you some specific quilts I liked and some close ups:

I enjoyed looking very closely at the entries in the Batik Beauties Competition having been perforating my finger tips by handsewing batik fabric recently. The theme this year was "A Batik Landscape" and if you're thinking about next year the theme will be "Rising Sun" and entry forms are available from Grosvenor or on 01775 712100.

View To Make The Heart Beat Faster

by Amanda Carter of Shrophire

The view is of Goathland in Yorkshire, also known as "Heartbeat" Country as it was where that very successful television series was filmed.
What caught my eye was the wonderful silhouette of Whitby Abbey beyond the arched window.

Down By The River

by Christine Dobson of Berkshire

The inspiration for this quilt came from a 19th century painting by Albert Bierstadt of Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, USA.
I think Christine was successful in her aim to convey the tranquillity of the scene.

Canal Bridge

by Jill Findlay of Berkshire

This quilt was inspired by Jill's memories of canal boat holidays.
I thought the way she interpreted the water in the canal was very effective.

Jacquie Harvey showed a collection of her work from the past fifteen years entitled, "A Little Love In Every Stitch" from the way her husband describes her work. I was pleased to have the opportunity to look closely at her wearable work, all done by hand and developed from an intial interest in North Country quilting.

What else? Oh yes, the beautifully executed quilt, "Rose Bush" by Clare Kingslake of Lechlade, Goucestershire which was a delight of reverse applique:

Rose Bush

Cherilyn Martin's collection of work entitled "Exploring Stitch" was lovely to see close-up as it was possible to enjoy her quilting and embroidery, her quilts rightly described as 'encrusted surfaces' in the exhibition notes.

Something fascinated my beloved in the collection of Transatlantic Quilt Challenge 2010, "Going Green" quilts.

It was this work by Lesley Brankin of the UK entitled, Growing Green and he was examining the transfer-printed butterflies -

Also in the Going Green exhibition were two quilts that caught my eye and were similar. It turns out that they were both by Californian quilters and inspired by a workshop with Sylvia Einstein.

Go Green

by Carol McCoy

Carol created a very lush jungle.

Branching Out

by Gail Abeloe

Gail was also inspired by a Sylvia Einstein class and by a photo in a Japanese quilt magazine.

Dot Carter exhibited a collection of quilts with three other textile artists from south west England, known together as Kindrid Spirits and their exhibition called "Skimming the Surface". Here is a close-up of her lovely work inspired by the port of Falmouth and the Cornish coast.

The Contemporary Quilt Group of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles worked on a journal quilt project during 2009, each quilt measuring 6"x12". For this exhibition members selected four journal quilts to assemble into one piece for display. These were two of my favourites:

by Julie Mackinder of Grantham, Lincolnshire

by Margaret Scholey-Hill of London

And finally, I have often thought I'd like to make a quilt based on Escher's tessellating designs and was delighted to see this:

Busy Lizzie

by Anna Jenkins of UK

This was Anna's quilt for the Transatlantic Challenge, Going Green. The green lizards developed from Escher's "Lizards". Couched threads were used to give extra texture to the design with a limited palette of green, grey and black. It made me smile.

That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed the quilts.

Catching Up Now I'm Home

2010-11-03T15:48:00.000Z

I'm back from over a week in Norfolk where I had to close up my bach for the winter.

As well as putting duvets in vacuum sealed bags, cleaning the cooker and defrosting the fridge, doing something cold and wet called "draining down" and giving the tiny garden a quick once over I also managed to do some sewing.
I'm working on a quilt for my daughter and will soon be able to share it as I'm at the layering stage. I've finished all the hand applique and my finger and thumb tips have nearly healed. I ordered some silicone thimbles online so I'll report back on those when I've given them a workout but I do have a tip to pass on from a quilting friend of mine on Norfolk. She applies two or three layers of Germolene "New Skin" to her finger tips instead of using a thimble. It's a liquid plaster. I bought a bottle and found it quite a success, even for the batik and Steam a Seam handstitching horror.
I've joined a new quilting group in Norfolk - although I'll only be a fair weather member, attending in the summer months. The group is called Mustard Seeds Quilters and was formed as an overspill group from Dayspring Quilters which had got too big. MSQ had over thirty members for the first meeting, such is the enthusiasm for patchwork and quilting in the area. There was a lovely atmosphere in the meeting and I met some very talented people as well as some new quilters so there was a good balance. I had a lovely surprise when I returned home as I found a package of material waiting for me. I belong to Norfolk Quilters who have been celebrating their 30th Anniversary and, as part of those celebrations, every member was sent some fabric.
Speaking of fabric, I made a final visit to Sew Creative, my LQS in Norfolk, for the year and bought one or two things! I didn't go totally mad as I am going to the Chilford Quilt Show this weekend and needed to save a few pennies for things I might just need when I'm there!
I had a lovely meeting of my local craft group this morning at it was great to see what everybody has been working on (you can see what Georgie was doing on her blog, All Things Crafty
Thank you to all my friends who emailed to ask whether I was okay as I hadn't blogged for a while, I really appreciate your love.
Apologies to anybody who got a spam email that appeared to be from me. I got back from Norfolk to find my email address had been hijacked. It's hopefully sorted out now, grrrr.
It's pouring with rain and getting dark so I think it's time for a nice cup of tea.

More Eye Candy

2010-10-22T19:09:00.000+01:00

Here's a wonderful treat for the weekend. Marisa has posted over 300 photos that she took at the Pacific International Quilt Festival. There are some lovely quilts so make yourself a drink of whatever you prefer, sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Thanks Marisa.

Pacific International Quilt Festival

An Exciting Day

2010-10-21T18:16:00.000+01:00

Today has been an exciting day. Firstly I saw this:

Yes, it's a baby camel enjoying a drink from her/his mum. We have an over-wintering circus near us and these are some of their animals. Cute eh?
Then I had two lovely arrivals in the post. A parcel I was expecting, which was this gorgeous selection of indigo-dyed fabrics from Glennis at Shibori Girl
To quote from her site the packs contain

a selection of indigo dyed fabric fragments - bits and pieces of vintage and collected textiles. These pieces range in colour from light to dark, cotton to silk, solids to shibori. No two collections are identical although some may be similar. Current collections include some solids, shibori bits include itajime,bomaki,arashi, and indigo derangements. Fabrics include cotton, linen, various silks, chenille, jacquards and more
Fabric sizes range (approximately) from 3" to 24"

Doesn't it look an inspirational mix of fabrics?
The other parcel was a complete surprise. I entered the 200th issue of Patchwork and Quilting magazine giveaway competition and today received a signed copy of -

so that's my reading sorted out for this evening. Although it is an introductory book a quick flip through revealed some interesting tips. I think there's always more to learn anyway.
I've been working on a quilt for my daughter, Sara, today. It's been quite a well dragged-out project but she has told me she'll be re-decorating her sitting room to match it in the very near future... Just as well it's been so cold today, just ideal for sitting by the fire and stitching. What have you been working on?

Norfolk Quilters' 30th Anniversary Exhibition - 2

2010-10-20T19:43:00.000+01:00

My favourite quilts from the Norfolk Quilters' Exhibition include this wonderful kimono. It was made by Sylvia Allen who was inspired by a quilting friend in New Zealand and helped with developing the idea by her husband.

Isn't it strange how you can look at lots of quilts and then end up selecting two by the same quilter? These are both by Linda Turner. The wonderful "Dark Woods" was inspired by these lines from Dante's "The Divine Comedy":

"In the middle of the journey of our life,

I found myself in a dark wood,

for the straight way was lost"

It was one of those quilts that looked simple from a distance but then the more you looked the more there was to see and enjoy.

"Trailing Vines", also by Linda Turner, is one of a pair of quilts, designed for a friend who presented her with two FQs in the bitter winter of 2009/10 in Virginia, USA. I was attracted by the positive and negative design and the colours.

My steward's "station" was directly in front of this wonderful sashiko quilt by Christine Allen. I found myself hearing so many lovely comments about it that I had to fetch Christine to swap stations with me so that she could hear for herself what people were saying.
Christine worked from one of Susan Briscoe's books and was challenging herself with this quilt to do some hand stitching. This quilt was completed in three months.

Norfolk Quilters' 30th Anniversary Exhibition - 1

2010-10-19T19:11:00.000+01:00

Some eye candy from the Norfolk Quilters' 30th Anniversary Exhibition. Close ups of my favourite quilts to follow tomorrow so don't forget to come back!

The Music Room, in the Georgian Assembly House in Norwich shown above, was a stunning venue for the exhibition.

A wonderful range of styles and techniques was on display.

The quilts and items in these glass cabinets will remain on display for a month.

Finally for today, this is the Norfolk Quilt, mark 2. The first Norfolk Quilt, which was made in 1981 and donated to the City Library in Norwich, was destroyed in the 1994 fire which also destroyed the library. In 1997 it was decided to make a new Norfolk Quilt, on similar themes to the original but not a replica, which was donated to the New Millennium Library in Norwich. Eighteen members of Norfolk Quilters created the new quilt which was then quilted by Margaret Rust.

Friday Night Sew-In

2010-10-14T20:16:00.000+01:00

It's that time of the month again, it's time for the great Friday Night Sew-In, hosted by Heidi and Bobbi. I'll probably not be able to post on Saturday morning so I thought I'd let you know what I'll be working on.
Firstly I'll be doing my second Roses from the Heart bonnet. This one is for Ann Elizabeth Harwood who arrived in Van Diemen's Land in August 1820. I haven't been able to find out anything more about her but will keep trying. I'm making her bonnet with the remaining calico from the backing of the quilt I started with Jane Bottomley. I only have the binding to slip stitch and the label to do and hope I will also have time to work on it at the Norfolk Quilters' exhibition on Saturday if I don't get it finished during FNSI. This quilt is actually going to be a table cloth and so it is backed but doesn't have any wadding. I suppose it's not strictly a quilt but a piece of patchwork. I don't mind what it's called! In fact I do mind what it's called, I need a name for it if I'm going to get the label done! It is made using wonderful French General 'Lumiere de Noel' fabrics from Moda but isn't "Christmassy" and will be used all year on the table where Bonni, my lovely vintage Singer machine sits when I'm not using her. Thinking cap on...
Oh I can't do another post without a photo so here's one of the full set of Global Piecers fabric postcards I received, aren't they great?

Enjoy FNSI everybody.

My Weekend

2010-10-11T20:57:00.000+01:00

It has been another sunny Autumn day here in the Fens after a wonderful weekend but according to the weather forecasters it's going to turn cooler tomorrow. I love these late "Indian summer" days, they're a real bonus.
DH and I went for a lovely walk around the town of Woodhall Spa yesterday and really enjoyed the colours of the trees and the birds singing in the sunshine.
I had a generally relaxed weekend and even got some sewing done. I didn't manage to do any more work on the Cloth to Cloth workshop but I did complete the snowball/framed square quilt I started at a Jane Bottomley workshop a few weeks ago. I just have to slip stitch the binding and add the label. I'm planning to do that next weekend while I'm on duty at the Norfolk Quilters' 30th Anniversary Quilt Show.

Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th October

Norfolk Quilters 30th Anniversary Quilt Show
10.00am to 5.00pm at the Assembly House, Theatre Street, Norwich, NR2 1RQ
Featuring a raffle for two beautiful quilts - the draw will take place on the 16th.

I had some goodies in the post too.
A great Autumn block from Teresa, one of the Global Piecers, and she included a lovely bunch of colour-themed threads and ribbons with it and a postcard of her part of bonny Scotland. Thank you Teresa.
I also had confirmation of my place at the QGBI Conference and AGM in April next year. I've got a place on the workshop that Lynne Edwards is doing on perspective in patchwork, I'm really looking forward to that, as well as all the talks, an outing to Jo Colwill's Cowslip Workshops and of course the chance for a little retail therapy. It would be great to meet some of you there, the details and booking form are in the current issue of "The Quilter" magazine.

I found a few interesting links to explore while browsing on the net:
The International Quilt Festival of Ireland takes place in June 2012 and there's a lot of research and planning taking place already. You can keep up by joining their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Quilt-Festival-of-Ireland/147863851899807?v=wall#!/pages/International-Quilt-Festival-of-Ireland/147863851899807

There's an online quilt magazine from travel company Sew Many Places. Called "Quiltposium" with articles by people such as Jinny Beyer, Sharon Pederson, Luana Rubin, Pat Sloan, Alex Veronelli and Doug Eagleson. There are also "lifestyle" articles: gardening, cooking and recipes, crafts and travel. Signing up is free so I reckon it's worth a look. If I end up with a lot of spam in my inbox I'll unsubscribe!

From today until Thursday we have my wonderful grandson, Sam, staying with us while my daughter does even more revision and then, finally, her OU exam on Wednesday. All my time and energy will be devoted to Sam but I'll be back for Friday Night Sew-In, hope to see you then.

Sewing, Sam and Quilt Show Tickets

2010-10-06T19:44:00.000+01:00

This morning I went to my local sewing group, Crafty Time Out, for the first time in absolutely ages (what with the summer break and then my little stay in hospital). It was so lovely to spend time with my friends there again, see what wonderful things they are doing and generally catch up. I did a little work on my latest sashiko piece and managed to resist the fantastic cake that Georgie brought in for us, baked by her hubby, Mark. Georgie's giving away a great cross stitch book on her blog by the way so do pop over and say hello.
I could only stay for part of the session as I had another lovely task to do - looking after my scrumptious Sam for the afternoon while my daughter revised for her OU exam next week. This was a hard job but somebody has to do it, and what a delight he was, as ever.

So it's been a good day, and it was great to see the gradually turning leaves and the autumn sun today. Plus, when I got home my tickets for the Autumn Quilt Show at Chilford had arrived. My beloved is joining me for that one, something tempting about the vineyard I think!

Good Sewing Afternoon

2010-10-04T18:43:00.002+01:00

After overcoming a migraine this morning (thank goodness for the drugs) I have had a very productive afternoon and also an exciting parcel.

I ordered the Aurifil "Basics" collection from New Threads Quilts in Andover on 30th September and my beloved picked it up from the sorting office for me today. If I'd been home to sign for it on Saturday I would have had it then - pretty impressive service. I've not used the company before but I will again.

This afternoon I've done the Autumn/Fall blocks for the current Global Piecers block swap. I can't share a picture here, not until the blocks have arrived at their destinations, but I used fabrics that I posted a picture of when I bought them from Quiltessential at the Festival of Quilts . I was pleased with the way the block worked out (after a couple of false starts and some frog stitching).
Tomorrow I'm going to start on a new sashiko project that you can see here.

Autumn's Bounty

2010-10-02T12:36:00.001+01:00

It's a beautiful, autumn day here today and I've been collecting conkers. Not to bash against each other in the school playground but to keep the spiders away. I don't know if this really works but it's worth a try, the spiders are massive this year!http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6255510/Spiders-v-conkers-are-arachnids-really-scared-of-horse-chestnuts.html

I'd forgotten how beautiful horsechestnuts are. I'd read that, because of the weather and a disease affecting our trees that they were going to be small this year but I found some of very impressive size.

That prickly outer case must be a good deterrent to whichever animals would like a feast on horsechestnuts but is soon cracked open by small boys seeking a good conker. Then the soft, velvety, "blankety bed" is revealed and there might be one, two or even three horsechestnuts nestled inside.

The patterning on the conker is like a wood grain and so shiny and intense in colour, a little miracle of creation that is revealed to whoever opens that outer shell.

This morning though the spiders' webs were sparkling with dewdrops, like diamonds in the sunshine once the early fog cleared. If only the creatures themselves would stay in the garden.

My blog list was getting a little unmanageable and so I've tried to sort it out this morning. All the lovely Japanese-linked blogs I read are now linked to my sashiko/Japanese textiles blog: Sashiko Started It
and the quilting and other blogs that I find inspirational are listed to the right. I hope I haven't accidently deleted any blogs I enjoy. Blogs of quilting shops and other suppliers that I use are listed separately, along with those wonderful blogs full of tutorials, links and great tips - thank you for all the work that you do keeping these up.
If I've deleted you or put you in the wrong place, please shout and accept my apologies now.

Plan for the rest of the day
1. Complete and post my registration form for the Quilters' Guild AGM in Exeter next April
2. Buy some edible goodies for our anniversary meal tomorrow, 19 years, incredible, where does the time go?
3. Sew.
4. An evening of relaxing television, Merlin, Strictly....I know, I know, but why not?

Hoping you all have a good weekend too.

Lincolnshire Day

2010-10-01T20:35:00.000+01:00

Lincolnshire Day - How did it all begin?

October 1st marks the fourth official ‘Lincolnshire Day' and historically, the date commemorates the Pilgrimage of Grace, which began in 1536 - the widespread revolt against the rule of Henry VIII.
Although the initial uprising, which began in Lincolnshire, was short-lived at just two weeks, it represented a major threat to the government at the time due to the ‘dignitaries' behind. Not just a working class revolt, people of note and standing within the community were up in arms. This shook the government so much that troops from other parts of the country were drafted in as the local militia were thought to be sympathising with the rebels.
The uprising quickly gathered pace and within a week there were 40,000 supporters on board. The gathering proceeded to march in an orderly fashion to Lincoln, where they received a warm welcome. However, upon reaching the city, they heard that the Duke of Suffolk was on his way with an army in tow. This proved to be the stumbling block for the noblemen who realised that they may well have too much to lose and withdrew.
Those that stood firm and defied the gesture of a review of some of the policies by the King in return for spared bloodshed were shown no mercy and rumour has it that they paid with their lives. However, the cause was then taken up by the people of Yorkshire, where the revolt continued at length.
Whilst Lincolnshire was the epicentre for the unrest, the campaign was by no means regional and sympathisers from around the country voiced their indignation. It has been regarded as the biggest threat to the King's reign, largely due to the vast number of supporters from all backgrounds. For this reason, this date was chosen when deciding on a specific day to celebrate the counties - voted for by readers of Lincolnshire Life magazine and BBC Lincolnshire listeners.

from http://www.lincolnshireday.co.uk/history.html

A Strange Day

2010-09-29T15:44:00.000+01:00

It's a very strange day today. The weather is awful and I can't seem to get going properly although I have done a little sewing.
Earlier, between downpours, I went for a walk in the garden and found this:

It's a Pasque Flower. Since when has Easter been at the end of September? Things are pretty confused, it's not just me!
This is the finished quilt top from Jane Bottamley's class using Snowball and Framed Square blocks. I'm not sure why it looks as if it has a vertical seam down the middle, it hasn't, maybe it needs a better press. Isn't it strange how you sometimes can't see things until you look at them in a photograph?

As well as finishing assembling these blocks I've done some Cloth to Cloth today. I wove a base cloth:

and as the technique we're learning is called "Double Weave" each warp and weft strip was two layers of fabric. The idea is that we can use delicate fabrics, which wouldn't be strong enough for simple weaving, within the cloth and then expose them. You can see some chiffon and lace peeking out. So the next step was to start cutting.

I still can't resist being in control - I've created a Snowball block within my cloth! It was interesting to anchor weave into the weaving, I enjoyed that although it was fiddly. I will need to decide how to fix it all down, at the moment I've just machined a grid but it doesn't look right.

I'm going to make a nice cup of tea and start reading "The Patchwork Quilt" by Rose Boucheron which I found on the mobile library yesterday and maybe the day will become more ordinary.

Woven Pomegranates

2010-09-28T18:09:00.000+01:00

This is my latest piece of cloth weaving, very fiddly but I'm quite pleased with the concept and the way it's turned out for a first attempt.
I've been intending to explore pomegranates as a theme for some fabric work after being fascinated by the role they play in the traditions,culture and craft I experienced when I visited Jerusalem last year. This seemed a good time to get started! Watch out for more of these jewels of a fruit. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/pomegranate.html

Pairing Up Workshop and More Cloth to Cloth

2010-09-27T16:47:00.000+01:00

I recently enjoyed a workshop at Sew Creative (Wroxham Barns, Norfolk), called "Pairing Up" and tutored by Jane Bottamley.
The idea was to create secondary patterns by using two patchwork blocks combined and paying attention to the colours and values used. Jane brought some samples along, plus handouts for all the combinations she shared with us.
This was the design I had expected to do, Sawtooth Star and Churn Dash blocks. I decided against it as it was the one with the smallest blocks and most pieces and I wasn't exactly running on full power!

I liked the simplicity of this combination of Hourglass and Framed Four Patch.

The design I settled on was this pairing of Snowball and Framed Square. I think I may well have been influenced by the colour combination Jane had used and the oriental look of the trellis-style secondary pattern. I can certainly see myself doing this design using some of my Japanese fabrics.

As well as the handouts Jane had prepared samples to show how each block was constructed (and shared some good tips with us too). She also gave us "blank" designs which we coloured in to develop our patterns. Don't you just love it when a tutor is good?

Snowball block - without bias seams :)

Framed Square - without set in seams :)

Here's a close up of Jane's sample so you can see the details of the two blocks.

I worked much more slowly than usual as the workshop was my first "outing" after my stay in hospital but I managed to complete two rows of five blocks. I've done some more at home and I'll share the finished project as soon as possible.
I'm also working on Jude's Cloth to Cloth online workshop. Today I've done some shaped weaving which has been interesting. All samples, nothing finished but here's one piece (only pinned and tacked), I'm not sure where it's leading yet.

And this checkerboard style piece is destined to become a fabric postcard.

Another Yummy Giveaway

2010-09-26T10:24:00.000+01:00

There are lots of giveaways in Blogland but this one, which Debbie shared, is extra special. Sarah Fielke was one half of the Material Obsession girls in Sydney, Australia, until recently, if you've seen her books and designs you'll be over to her blog already... Sarah's having a lovely giveaway (until 30 September) of very yummy From Little Things fabric.

Giveaway Alert

2010-09-25T08:38:00.000+01:00

Georgie (my quilting friend and neighbour) is having a clear out and a series of giveaways on her blog, All Things Crafty. Please go over and support her (she's a newish blogger), see what exciting projects she's got on the go at the moment and you might be lucky too. The first giveaway is a lovely book about spinning:

Starting the Cloth to Cloth Workshop

2010-09-18T14:25:00.000+01:00

I want to share what I've been doing in the Cloth to Cloth workshop with Jude Hill which started this week. We have a private blog for the class but you can get an idea of the exciting and innovative work Jude does by looking at her Spirit Cloth blog.
I read through all the class notes and the first lesson in bed last night and watched the videos again. Then I tried to sleep. Even though I was feeling shattered my brain was full of ideas and plans for cloth weaving. I suppose it would have been a good idea to get up, get wrapped in a cosy dressing gown and do a little bit of cloth-making (I could have included it in my Friday Night Sew-In) but as it was dark and cold I really thought trying to sleep was my best option!
Anyway, this morning I made a start. I have to say this is way, way, way out of my comfort zone. Jude is encouraging us to recycle fabrics, to tear and rip, to leave gaps, to mix fabric types, weights and styles. It's almost too much for my controlling brain.
I rummaged in my scraps basket and decided to start with some pieces leftover from a jellyroll. These are all cotton, colour-coordinated and therefore not too challenging and a good way to get to grips with the cloth weaving technique. This is what I did:

The weaving is pinned on a base of muslin and I'm now thinking about stitching and embellishing and particularly using all those little frames the weaving has created.

I then decided I was up to a bit of ripping! I would make a very small cloth, with some real scraps. The first piece I ripped stretched and twisted. What did I do? I ironed it! Oh for goodness sake Lis! I have a few frayed edges in this little piece and after pinning it I enjoyed stitching in in a fairly random way. Again I want to add to those little frames. I'm not sure about the places where I have longer frames with the same fabric in the warp and weft, they'll be an extra element to the finished cloth.

In the spirit of recycling DH has sorted me out some of his old shirts. I had asked for them because Jude suggested they are good for backing fabric, being used and soft. I'm thinking I will use them to weave. I have a mixture of fabrics, including cotton and silk but a limited colour palette (the colours Al likes of course) and I'm imagining a treasure box of a collection from the beach in all those greys, blues and turquoises. Shells, seaweed, feathers and foam, waves and wind blowing though the woven cloth. Oh, I feel all poetic! I'll see what occurs after I've had a lie down in a darkened room, this can't be happening to me.

Friday Night Sew-In Report, September

2010-09-17T18:26:00.000+01:00

Well, I've had a Friday Afternoon Sew-In or I suppose I've had a Friday Night Sew-In with anybody who's in Russia, China or Asia. Please leave me a comment if you are, it would be lovely to know who I was sewing with.
I wasn't sure I'd make this one and so am feeling very pleased with what I've achieved. It was good that I had prepared a lot of this project before I got taken ill.
I got very comfortable, in bed, propped with lots of pillows, my bed covered by all my sewing things and some yummy food and drink on the bedside cabinet and then I got going with some fabric postcards. These are for the current BQLPC swap.

The sashiko stitching was very therapeutic to do, as ever, (although my stitches are not as neat as usual) and cutting out the maple leaves from gorgeously textured and dyed vintage kimono fabric was a delight. I had to drag myself to the iron to assemble the cards and then, after a nap, it was back to the hand stitching to add the beads and embroidered leaf veins. I managed to sit at my machine to do the edges and am now feeling very shattered and waiting for my beloved to return from the shop with fish and chips for dinner before I sink into a deep slumber.

Anyone in the BQLPC group will notice that in my enthusiasm to be sewing again I even managed to make too many postcards! Maybe I'll have to have a little giveaway soon, watch this space.

Thanks for hosting Heidi and here's hoping that while I'm sleeping everybody else will be having a great FNSI - I look forward to reading your reports tomorrow.

Bonnet News

2010-09-15T15:51:00.000+01:00

There was an interview with Christina Henri, who is currently in Ireland, and a feature about her "Roses from the Heart" bonnet project on Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 this morning. You can listen to it by going to the BBC i-player site, the interview starts about 24 minutes through the programme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/womans-hour/

Thank you for all your wonderful messages, I feel so cared for. I have done a little sashiko on a set of postcards for BQLPC's next swap today and read Jude Hill's introductory post - the Cloth to Cloth 2 workshop I have joined starts tomorrow. Time to rest again now while my beloved cooks up a healthy meal (why isn't hospital food healthy?)

Hugs Please

2010-09-14T16:39:00.000+01:00

I don't usually mention my health (or lack of it) in this blog, preferring to be positive and focus on what I can do but I've just had a few days in hospital and could do with a bit of sympathy please as I'm feeling sorry for myself.
I have Crohn's disease (and also ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia) and in the early hours of last Wednesday had a sudden flare up which resulted in a massive bleed, a collapse on the bathroom floor, mega panic for my beloved when he couldn't find my pulse or wake me up and then a trip in the ambulance with the blues and twos going and a long time in resus - it would have been very exciting if I'd felt up to it! After the surgeons deciding not to remove my colon I finally got home last night full of extra blood (thank you that donor) and lots of steroids and am taking things very easy.
Annoyingly that means I'm not even sewing. I had my storm at sea miniature quilt in hospital, thinking of all that time I'd have to work on it between obs and jabs, but couldn't apply myself to a single stitch. I did have a notebook with me and have managed a few ideas in that but nothing more.
Today I have spent a little while trying to catch up with emails and blogs while resting for most of the time but please accept my apologies if I don't get back to you as quickly as usual.

Roses from the Heart

2010-09-07T22:18:00.000+01:00

Many people were moved by Christina Henri's Roses from the Heart project when they saw approximately 10 000 bonnets exhibited at Festival of Quilts and appreciated that each one represented a female convict transported to Van Diemen's Land. Those with black ribbons were for the women and children who didn't survive the journey.
Christina has taken on a massive piece of conceptual art and will eventually have 25 566 bonnets permanently installed in Tasmania. This transportation of convict women was a massive story in our history and by being part of this project we can be an important part of the memorial to them. There's plenty more information on Christina's website and here she is with some of the bonnets at FoQ.

I have been allocated a convict to make a bonnet, she was Catherine Shields and I've been getting to know her this week as I've stitched her bonnet. I've been away from internet access in deepest Norfolk for a week or so and it's been an opportunity to stitch and reflect which I've appreciated enormously.

Catherine Shields was born in Liverpool, England. Her mother's name was also Catherine and she had a sister, Marianne.

Catherine was a 23 year old housemaid when she was tried in Liverpool Quarter Session on the 22 July 1850 and sentenced to 10 years for stealing £2. 0s. 10d from a person unknown

She was 5 ft and 3/4 inches tall.

She was a Roman Catholic who could both read and write.

Catherine Shields was transported on the ship "Anna Maria", sailing from Gravesend, London on 7 October 1851. It was the second voyage for this ship carrying convict women .

Catherine went to Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania) arriving in Hobart on the 26 January 1852.

Catherine was single when she was transported and later married John Allen in Van Diemens Land.

Here is her bonnet.
On one side is her name, on the other the date and the name of the ship in which she was transported.

I've been hoping while I sew that Catherine had a good life with John Allen and received this email from Robyn Murray from near Perth in Australia who I met at Festival of Quilts on the Roses from the Heart stand.

Further to your email and you wondering about Catherine. I am thinking maybe she had a better life. I see they allowed her to marry the same year the ship came out , so I suggest she must have been a model convict and done all the right things , so to speak. They had to apply to the Governor to marry and sometimes that was rejected. The Colony at the time thought marriage was good and saw it as a better form of rehabilitation than keeping the girls in the Female Factory. Also remember transportation for female convicts ceased in 1853, so Catherine was there at the finish. Male transportation didn't finish till 1863 I think.

If you go to the site of the Female Factory at www.femalefactory.com.au you can find more information. Also google her ship and the year 1852 and you will find out what conditions were like on her ship.

I found the ship surgeon's report on the internet, wonderfully insightful to read. I was surprised (and pleased) that "only" four girls died on that voyage in the Anna Maria.
I've been trying to find Catherine on the UK censuses before she was transported (1841 and 1851) but am going to have to look deeper - she's not obviously in Liverpool with her mother but there is a possibility that she's away at school...will research more.

Since finishing Catherine's bonnet I have had an email from Christina who has allocated me another convict lass, the wonderfully appropriately-named Ann Elizabeth Harwood, I wonder if she is a relative of mine? She was transported from London on the 22 May 1820 aboard the ship the Morley, arriving in Van Diemen's Land 29 August 1820. I'll be trying to find out more and starting her bonnet later this week.

You can keep up with Christina Henri and this project on her blog. She is currently in Ireland, returning the Irish lasses to their homeland.

Of course I couldn't resist trying Catherine's bonnet on:

There was a detailed article about the Roses from the Heart project in British Patchwork and Quilting magazine which can be downloaded here: Patchwork & Quilting Magazine article (pdf file)

Progress on a WIP

2010-08-29T16:42:00.000+01:00

My shopping at Festival of Quilts seems to have spurred me to new efforts to complete some WIPs. I did promise I would finish something started each time I wanted to start a new project...
This is what I've done today.

It's the final block in my Lynne Edwards' sampler quilt project which has been going on for quite a while. I love the Mariner's Compass but have been very nervous about doing it. I'm happy enough with the foundation piecing but haven't set the compass into the background very well (my excuse is that I was running out of concentration by that point), I will re-do it.
I still have to put together all the panes for the Attic Windows block and two blocks, Bear's Paw and Tumbling Blocks, need some background fabric. To inspire me further I have laid all the blocks out on the guest bed so that I can consider the layout each time I go in there.

What do you think?
I have to decide on sashing and borders, backing and quilting, but I can see the end of this quilt. It is destined for our bed so my intention is to finish it before the weather turns really chilly.
You can see some of the other blocks here: Log Cabin September 2009, Drunkard's Path September 2009, May 2010, Couthouse Steps January 2010,
and here is the post of some of the fabric arriving, back in August last year!

Thread Tangle Nightmare

2010-08-28T11:39:00.000+01:00

I have been having a nightmare with my sewing machine and then found this on Yahoo Answers. I've put it here for my future reference and to help anyone with the same frustrating nightmare - why didn't I learn this before?
This works beautifully, no more tangles and frustration. I am a happy sewing bunny this morning :)

Question: What's wrong with my sewing machine and how can I fix it?

When I run it, after a couple seconds the thread gets screwed up and jerks and then basically creates this huge snagged tangle on the bottom side of the fabric and I have to rip everything out, and re-thread the needle etc. It takes forever to get anything done when this keeps happening every five seconds after I've rethreaded.
Is something misaligned in my machine? and what can I do to fix it?

Answer: from Kay at answers.yahoo.com

Most likely, you're just starting your seams incorrectly, but let's do the whole bit...

1) Take all the thread off of/out of the machine. Completely. Spool off the spool pin. Backlashed thread can cause some strange symptoms.

2) Using your manual, and a brush and vacuum (NOT COMPRESSED AIR!) clean the sewing machine as best you can. Oil all the oiling points with sewing machine oil (not 3 in 1 or WD40).

3) Put in a new needle of the proper type and size for the fabric. If you have no idea of what to use, a size 80/12 universal point needle will work with most fabrics. Make sure the needle is correctly inserted... backwards needles give you no stitching or skipped stitches. Dull or slightly bent needles produce really strange symptoms, too.

4) Rethread the sewing machine from scratch, leaving about a 4" tail of upper and lower thread after you've fetched the bobbin thread up through the needleplate. Make sure you thread with the presser foot UP, which allows the upper thread to properly enter the upper tension.

5) If you 've been playing with the upper tension, set it back to 4 -- that's normal tension for most fabrics and most stitches.

NOW:

Each and every seam you start from now on, you'll do this:

1) Raise the presser foot and place the work under the needle.
2) Use the handwheel on the right to lower the needle into the work.
3) Drop the presser foot.
4) Grab the ends of the threads (both bobbin and top) and hold them in your left hand behind the foot. Don't let go.
5) Take a couple of stitches
6) Drop the thread ends
7) Sew normally.

What's happening is that the loose tail of upper thread is getting sucked back into the bobbin case area when you start to stitch, and then the upper thread starts making a birdsnest on the bottom of the fabric with more upper thread that it captures in the next few stitches. Eventually it jams the bobbin and your machine stops. If you're unlucky, it also breaks the stitch finger and you've got a repair bill.

I charge my sewing students a quarter every time I catch them making rats nests at the beginning of seams. It rarely costs them over $2 to learn Kay

A Day of Surprises

2010-08-27T19:36:00.000+01:00

I went for a walk with my grandson, Wills, this morning to take all our bottles to the recycling bank and he spotted this amazing bracker fungus on a tree in the village. I only had my phone with me but took this picture. It is really large and so rich and velvety and seems to have a whole range of creatures living under the shelter of it.
Then getting the washing in this afternoon I spotted this incredible moth, it showed flashes of orange/buff as it flew away and I believe it was a Lesser Yellow Underwing (Noctua comes) but I'm happy to be corrected on that.

On a non-nature note I had a wonderful surprise today when my daughter, Sara, and smaller grandson, Sam, arrived here to go out to lunch, with my big boy, David, in their car. Wow, smiles and hugs and tears, it was so great. He's up from London for a few days and wanted to surprise me, he certainly did that, I was a very happy Mummy.

Lunch at Townley's in East Kirkby (good, home-cooked meals and a fantastic on-site butcher).

David with his nephews.

Sam in his Uncle David's shoes, with Grandad for support!

New Blogger and Website

2010-08-26T13:40:00.000+01:00

You might remember that when I was in New Zealand earlier this year I visited a great quilt shop with Michelle and told you there would soon been a website and blog. Well, it has finally happened. Claire has set up a website for her shop, Cinnamon Lodge in Hawera, Taranaki, and she's started a blog too, Cinnamon Girl. I'm sure there will be loads of inspirational posts reflecting Claire's own style so do pop over and welcome her to Blogland please, she's lovely.

L-R: me, Claire and Michelle at Cinnamon Lodge, Hawera.

Karin Hellaby Creates Pineapple Blocks

2010-08-25T20:05:00.000+01:00

This is a great method of creating pineapple blocks that we enjoyed Karin demonstrating at Festival of Quilts.

Online Quilting

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