Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2013

It's that time again, time to share in the amazing Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Everyone who follows my blog will know which quilt I'll be sharing, they have shared its creation with me every step of the way! So, to new readers, I present, David and Jessica's Wedding Quilt:

They were decorating the marquee ready for their wedding breakfast when I gave the quilt to them and they were (thank goodness) absolutely thrilled.  I had thought about getting the hotel where they spent their wedding night to make up their bed with it but decided that, as they would have eyes only for each other, they might not notice it!

The various elements of the quilt design are related to David and Jessica and to episodes in their relationship.  I included the block "Florida Star" because they got engaged in Florida for example.  You can read more about the stages of design and creation by searching "David and Jessica's Wedding" on my blog.  I asked them whether they'd like me to make them a quilt and checked out their colour preferences but other than that they had no idea what to expect.  It was such a delight to make this quilt, thinking of them while I was stitching and putting "love into every stitch".  It wasn't all plain sailing as you'll discover if you read some of the posts about it but it all came out well in the end.  I even got it finished with time to spare, which I didn't think I would at one stage.
I did a lot more hand stitching on the Wedding Quilt than I expected to, finding it was a much better way to be in touch with the work and with my DS and DDiL, and I think I will continue in that way in future projects (but not that I'm abandoning the machine all together).
I hope you've enjoyed seeing this very special quilt and that you have time to look at lots of the other wonderful entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I haven't entered for a couple of years but Amy's online festival was the reason I began this blog and I wouldn't be without it and my wonderful blogging friends and followers now, thanks Amy.
I'll end with a picture of the happy couple on their wedding day, 6th April 2013:

D&J Wedding - Post 2

I'm away with Saz and Sam at the moment, enjoying Hadrian's Wall Country and staying on a farm.  I've got a brief internet connection so here are a few more wedding photos, thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post.

Inside the wonderful Peterhouse Chapel waiting for the bride.

Jessica and her gorgeous bridesmaids (and their stunning shoes).

Isn't my daughter-in-law beautiful?

Me and my guy, all dressed up!

Managing that fabulous dress.

How do you cut a croquembouche?

The Most Perfect Wedding Ever - Post 1

A quick post-wedding of the year post.  

I am very, very tired but elated.  

David and Jessica were really pleased with their quilt.

Their wedding day was a perfect day, everything went beautifully and they looked gorgeous.

And this was the view across to Peterhouse College from my hotel bedroom.

The Wedding Quilt is Finished

Craftwork-is-cool-again

My friend Michelle shared the above link recently and posted about her own crafting history.  This has inspired me to think about how I reached the point I am at in my creative life and to ask you about your own crafting journey.

Making things was normal in my family when I was a child.  Nanny and Mummy knitted, Mummy made our clothes and her own.  Both Grandads were excellent with wood and could always "knock up" something that would do the job.  Nanny taught me to knit and Mummy helped me with dressmaking.  At school we began with cross stitch and basic embroidery on binka and wove with wool on shoe box looms.  At secondary school my projects included a nightie, a rather wonderful fabric bag and then a rather less wonderful yellow corduroy trouser suit.  Then I discovered Clothkits and gorgeous folky creations followed, I especially remember an elephant print padded jacket.
Things came full circle when my children were born and I knitted for them and made quite a few clothes for them.  By this time, however,  it was becoming very expensive to buy wool and fabric compared with buying ready made items and I had a housekeeping budget to manage.
I did quite a bit of cross stitch, including samplers for the births of David and Sara, but usually from bought patterns.  When I returned to teaching in primary schools I did as much art and craft as I could, preferably at the expense of P.E. and anything with a lot of marking.  When time and energy allowed I started to explore various textile-based crafts.  I joined the local branch of Embroiderers' Guild and enjoyed some exciting residential courses.  I tried glove making, Mountmellick, tablet weaving, gold work, box making, beading, some rather progressive workshops that just seemed to produce raggedy looking pieces but were fun, and finally started patchwork on a project inspired by a stained glass window in Cornwall.  Patchwork and quilting has been my craft of choice for several years now and I have enjoyed exploring Japanese textile traditions, some fabric dyeing and some very inspiring workshops.  What was your path to where you are now?

Today I am celebrating a finish.  At Country Roads Quilters last week I finished The Wedding Quilt (with the exception of having some quilters' chalk to remove).  Wow, with seventeen days in hand, I'm impressed with myself and so grateful to bloggers who persuaded me from a Double Wedding Ring quilt, especially Susan Briscoe who said a medallion quilt was much more period appropriate with the passion of the bride for Jane Austen.  So, here it is:

Obviously I can't show you the whole thing until David and Jessica have seen it. You know that I used blocks appropriate to their relationship as I posted about these a while ago.  I bought the fabric for the final borders for the colours and because it had a more masculine theme than the other fabrics.  I later discovered that the design (from Fabric Freedom) is called "Pilgrim Fathers".  As David was born in Boston and some of the Pilgrim Fathers were imprisoned and tried in the Guildhall there, it is an additional link for him.

Thank you to everyone who wrote comments and sent message of support following Mummy's sudden death.  Her funeral was on Monday and it went well (as well as a funeral could go) and Daddy was happy with it all.  The funeral marked a line and on this side of that line we will live different lives, without her in them but with the memories.

International Quilting Day Blues

Yesterday was International Quilting Day and I started out well.  Then it became Unquilting Day.
I'd free motioned my way down one side border of the wedding quilt, a section about thirteen inches wide and five feet long.  I was pleased with it (I'm not the world's best at FMQ).  I spread the quilt out to add the border for the other side and wham!  a massive tuck of fabric the whole length of the quilt appeared before me.  I'd been happily quilting, the backing had been happily wandering about unseen or felt by me.  DH, who shall be forever blessed (and is recovering well from his recent hernia operation but feeling rather bruised still), said,
"Have you got a second unpicker thing, I'll start at the other end and we'll meet in the middle".
There are worse things in life than sitting in front of the fire with your beloved unpicking quilting in companionable silence (and with great concentration).
So, this morning I am going to tackle that quilting again, making sure all the layers are firmly attached to each other.  After that, and the opposite border, it's binding and labelling, I'm nearly there but must remember, 'more concentration, less unpicking'.

Educational Visits

Crikey!  It's less than six weeks to the Wedding of the Year.  I've spent today working on the quilt, apart from a brief break to make and eat a cottage pie, and I think I'll be doing the same for most of this week.  It's all very well me thinking that as I'm "quilting as I go" the quilt will be finished when I add the final section but those sections are getting larger and larger and the quilting is taking longer and longer.  Today I added the fourth section with hand pieced blocks, Florida Star and English Wedding Ring this time, and then added a 2.5" border around the whole quilt in the small floral/cream fabric.
No more whole quilt pictures until David and Jessica have received it now.

Last week was school holiday and DH and I took Saz and Sam "down south" for the week, to Essex (now you know how I learned to cope with those "killer heels", in white, of course).  We stayed in a budget hotel and had some good adventures.  Sam was a star, coping with lots of new experiences, and Saz, Al and I managed without one cross word even though we were all in the same room!  It was a good trip except for one downer, my parents didn't feel up to seeing us, even briefly.  I'm not sure what's going on there, they haven't seen Sam since my 50th birthday - four and a half years ago!  I get in a tizz if I don't see Sam for four and a half days!!  We did have a good time with my sister though and Sam met his Aunty Clare for the first time, all good.  All the things we did with Sam were things I did as a child, I did with my children (and with my pupils) and now I'm doing them with my grandson.  He enjoyed the Science Museum, coped serenely with the push and shove of rush hour London, went over the Thames on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and back under the Thames in the Dartford Tunnel, went on a big train to London and on an underground train.  When the weather is warmer we think we'll try a trip on the river and maybe take him on the London Eye and of course, London buses (which his great-great-grandad used to drive).

 Sam helping Aunty Clare with her jigsaw.

Waiting for a train at Stratford.

 Dressing up like a Roman at Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent.

 Scaling the ruins of Eynsford Castle.

On an Underground "Tube" train in London with Grandad.

 Learning about water power at the Science Museum in London.

Sam waited patiently while a robot drew his portrait in sand.

 In the Apple Store with Grandad.

Sweet dreams Sam, we had some busy days.

Stags and Hens Battle It Out

Jessica's Hen Party was a great success.  The sun shone and it was a dry day.  The Stags joined the Hens for a session of Battlefield Live.  I was the official war photographer as I am a pacifist, and between battles I sat and read Pride and Prejudice and drank tea!  So everyone had a great time.

My DS and DDiL to be took it all equally seriously, I think they are well matched.

 DD took it less seriously but had a lot more fun than she expected!

There was a certain amount of fraternising with the enemy!

After a massive clean up job, showers, make-up and bling applied, the Hens went off for a very civilised and delicious dinner at The Crown in Stamford while the Stags went for a curry in Peterborough!

 I survived the evening remarkably well (the second time I've been out in the dark on a Saturday night this year!  I was glad to get out of my heels though, to think I used to teach all day, every day in heels much higher than these!!

Under seven weeks to the wedding, better get quilting!

Night Birds

This weekend I am looking forward to joining Jessica (DDiL to be) on her Hen Night.  I am honoured to have been invited (I shall be the most ancient person there and also the only sober one as I am unable to tolerate alcohol) and have had fun planning what I shall wear etc.  I shall be going with Saz who is one of Jessica's bridesmaids and we have booked overnight accommodation so we can relax.
I was reading Julie's interesting post about Valentine's Day in Japan and it occurred to me that not everybody would know about hen nights.  I didn't have one myself when I got married a million years ago, a stag night was traditional but not a hen night.  It is something that has grown, like Topsy, and so I did a bit of Googling and share the following:

Most brides like to indulge in a hen night as an opportunity to celebrate their upcoming wedding day with close female friends and family. Dancing the night away or spending the weekend at a luxurious spa are among the popular choices, some brides may even organise a holiday.  Today, these celebrations are viewed as a fun way to say goodbye to unmarried life, but this wasn't always the case.

In Middle English the word hen meant any female bird, which established the hen night as a woman-only affair. The tradition grew during the reign of Charles II (1630-1685) where it became an opportunity for the bride to contemplate her 'bottom drawer', a dowry of precious things collected in preparation for marriage. In contrast to the parties of today, this bride-to-be would spend the evening quietly at home with her family.

The tradition of the stag night is said to date back to the Spartan soldiers of Ancient Greece. The men would gather the night before the wedding to feast and gamble, as a way for the groom to say goodbye to his bachelor lifestyle. It was also said to be his last chance to gamble and to hide away his winnings, because after his marriage his wife would control his purse strings.  Despite such joking sentiments, marriage was actually very highly regarded in Sparta. In Ancient Britain, stag parties were held to ward off the presence of evil spirits before the big day.

In Victorian times, being a wife was seen as a natural role for a woman and the concept that she might entertain doubts before her wedding day simply wasn't considered. A traditional hen night, if it was held at all, was a small, private gathering where women talked and the bride contemplated her future duties as a wife.

Hens nights are often as riotous, if not more so, than stag nights, and, therefore, they usually don't take place on the eve of the wedding. Every bride wants to look her best on the big day, rather than bleary-eyed and hung-over. For this reason, the chief bridesmaid will organize the party a week or more in advance and takes responsibility for sending out invitations and arranging the venue.  Popular venues for hen night activities can include anything from paint-balling and white water rafting, to a short city break of shopping and lunching, or a visit to a health spa.  It should consist of all the things the bride enjoys and not cause her any embarrassment or discomfort, it is a night to celebrate with her and make her happy.                                                   from http://voices.yahoo.com/hens-night-traditions-2444976.html

Jessica's Hen Night will be a surprise for her, organised by the bridesmaids but with strict instructions from Jess that it is to " definitely be a very civilised affair, no strippers and no chocolate willies" - not like some of the drunken hen trips to Majorca that get featured on the television every so often, thank goodness!!  Photos to follow, have a good weekend whatever you're getting up to.

Better

:-)

Wedding Quilt - Progress Report

Progress is being made on the Wedding Quilt.

Golly these blocks look wobbly close up - I'm sure they would look better if I could get the camera angle straight on and when the quilting is finished, they are washed and pressed and that blue marker has disappeared.

 English Wedding Ring

Florida Star

 Steps to the Altar

Log Cabin

I had a little meltdown with getting one of the borders straight.  

DH produced a large spirit level.  

I love him very much but I have to say that this is not the most helpful he has ever been.  

Fortunately no blood was spilt!

Added in the light of day:

Aaaagh, I've just spotted (Friday 8th February, 9.35 a.m.) that the English Wedding Ring block is wrong, the triangles are pointing in the wrong direction on the top row.  Why didn't I see this on any occasion I checked it?  That's going to be an awful lot of unpicking.

Thank you for your lovely comments, DH and I are fine, he's a perfectionist and I'm more of a "I've done my best, that's the best I can do".  He didn't say anything about the English Wedding Ring block, I wonder whether he noticed and didn't dare, or whether he didn't notice and I can blame him!!
Ups and downs aside, it is lovely to be working on this quilt.  Especially when I am hand stitching I am able to think about David and Jessica and I'm putting a lot of love into the work.  As Jacquie Harvey says, "love in every stitch".  I'm finding I want to hand stitch it rather than machine it, even some of the straightforward seams, it's more personal.  Two more blocks to hand stitch today for the fourth border, English Wedding Ring (let's see if I can get it right) and Florida Star.  Happy weekend everyone. Lis x

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival Reports, a Birthday and an Update

I have got rather behind with reading the blogs I follow but must recommend you visit Julie (click on the link and then on "newer post" to see her four posts covering different aspects of the show) and Carin (then newer post for all five posts) for great coverage of the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival.  I find it very interesting that there is little overlap in the quilts Carin and Julie have shared, down to their own personal preferences and particular skills and interests in the field of textiles.  Also how some of the quilts instantly say "Japanese" while some appear more western in style to me, such a fantastic range of work and so much of it done completely by hand.
While I haven't been reading blogs I have been stitching and also spending time with DGS Sam who turned 5 on 30th January.  Cue photos of my gorgeous boy!

The Wedding Quilt is coming along quite nicely although I did have some hassle with one seam which I restitched THREE times.  I still don't know what went wrong but it's okay now thank goodness, must have been gremlins in my brain cell!  I checked on their bed size with DS and he said it's a double although they are planning to get a larger bed when they can afford it - okay darling, I'll make the quilt larger in anticipation of the new bed.  I'll post a photograph when I have some daylight to take one in.  It's currently snowing hard, with very large flakes and lots of wind - very soon time to head for my cocoon I think!

Quilting in Front of the Fire - Days 3,4 &5

The wintery weather continues and so does the quilting.  This is how the Wedding Quilt looks this evening as I'm sitting by the fire and listening to the wind blowing a hoolie outside.  It measures 44" square at the moment.  (The colours are more accurate in the bottom pictures, this one was taken with the electric light on).

We bravely ventured out last night through the deep and crisp and even to see Les Miserables at the Kinema in Woodhall Spa.  I'd been looking forward to this film since I saw a trailer last Autumn and it did not disappoint.  I actually felt exhausted with emotion by the end, was sobbing, of course, and felt as if I'd seen a stage show rather than a film.  In fact there was applause at the end of the film and I think some people were seriously hoping for an encore of "Do You Hear the People Sing?"  Highly recommended and I have to admit I was impressed with Russell Crowe, not previously being a fan.
Back to the quilt.  We all know that golden rule of quilting, in fact the golden rule of anything to do with cutting:

Measure twice, cut once.

Well, this is how the lefthand border of the quilt looked yesterday,

and this is how the righthandside looked, spot the difference.  I trimmed to the seam below the one I needed to match - rushing it of course as it was time for lunch.  Yep, we all know better.

If the quilt was for me I would probably have tried matching an extra piece and fitting it in.  As it is a very special quilt I felt this wasn't an option and so I re-made and re-quilted the paisley section of the border.  It's fine now but boy do I feel silly, what an elementary error :-(

Regarding the blocks for the next border, I've found there is a State series and there's one for Florida, there's also a block called Florida Star so now I'm spoiled for choice and won't have to go down the flamingo line (thanks Nat!!).  So blocks are the next step.  Thanks to you all for looking over my shoulder while I'm making this quilt - I just wish one of you had shouted before I cut that border LOL

Quilting in Front of the Fire - Day 2

I forgot to include a picture in my last post of the corner blocks for the Wedding Quilt that I completed on Tuesday so here are two:

Today I have been forced by the wintery weather outside to stay by the fire again and sew.  The temperature was minus 10 first thing this morning, rose to the dizzy heights of minus 4 and is now dropping again.  What fun to have no choice but to stay in and indulge in my favourite hobby. I have added sashing and another border to the Wedding Quilt today and you can see in this picture where those red blocks are going to be positioned.

I've been looking through my books of block designs for some appropriate for a wedding quilt.  I'm thinking Steps to the Altar,  Log Cabin, English Wedding Ring etc.  I would like to find a block related to the State of Florida as that is where David and Jessica got engaged but have had no luck so far.  Any ideas would be gratefully received.