Absolute Unbroken Continuity - May 2015

This is my journal quilt for May.  The words, "absolute unbroken continuity", come from a poem my sister read at Daddy's funeral earlier this month.  It was Death is Nothing At All by Henry Scott Holland.  The quiltlet is similar to my usual style, and adheres to my rules.  The text this time was printed rather than written and I overlaid the fabrics with some sheers.  The stitching is all done by hand.

Today I remembered why I don't often make large quilts these days.  I spent a few hours layering this sampler quilt from a thousand years ago.  All that crawling on the floor, smoothing, adjusting, phewy.  The quilt itself is not terrible square (it was one of the very first quilts I pieced, using Lynne Edwards' Sampler Quilt book), and I like it but it has many, many faults.  I felt bad for it, sitting there in my sewing room, thrown over for more "arty" pieces and decided to layer it, quilt it and then use it!!

Talking of "arty" pieces, today was windy and sunny and a perfect day to rehang my prayer flags in the garden.  DH put the re-proofed gazebo up yesterday, complete with fairy lights, so we are all ready for balmy summer days and evenings.  The prayer flags from friends have been joined by a classic set I bought when we were in New Zealand last year and are all fluttering away beautifully with the prayer:

"May all beings everywhere receive benefit and find happiness".

The Quilters' Guild published a link to this pattern on Facebook and I loved it, possibly because it's blue and white/Japanese/indigo fabrics.  For whatever reason, it has inspired me to make a similar quilt with some of my indigo fabrics.  It will be for our bed, so a king size.  I have obviously forgotten the lessons of earlier already, but have been having fun pulling out all kinds of blue fabric.

http://www.selvedge.org/uploads/how-to-items/downloadables/How-To-Make-a-Strippy-Quilt-Instructions.pdf

http://www.selvedge.org/blog/?p=10754

http://www.selvedge.org/uploads/how-to-items/downloadables/How-To-Make-a-Strippy-Quilt.pdf

Quilting in Front of the Fire

Today was indeed a quilting day.  A couple of ladies were working on Drunkard's Path blocks for their sampler quilts at Country Roads Quilters on Tuesday.  This reminded me that I enjoy doing these blocks with curved seams and so today I made a Corner to Corner Curve block (from Lynne Edwards' Sampler Quilt book) for one of the Global Piecers for their birthday.  I stitched the curved seams by hand and then pieced the completed squares by machine.  I hope she likes it.
I had some quilting "admin" to do.  Minutes for the CRQ Open Day meeting and a draft constitution to be written.  If we have more members we will have more monies in and out and need to be more official - so more paperwork and not of the English paper piecing type either!
I managed to do some quilting while speaking with visitors on Tuesday and now have four finished corner blocks for the next round of the wedding quilt.
The temperature never got above freezing today and is forecast to be about minus 10 tonight.  Fortunately we had a load of logs delivered this morning so quilting in front of the fire is the order of the day.

Friday Night Sew-In: Report, July 2011

I'm still sitting all day with my knee splinted so I actually had an All Friday Sew-In apart from a couple of hours out to pick up a wheelchair on loan from the Red Cross and to see my GP about the drama queen fainting fits I keep having (the last one leading to a series of obs inside an Italian ambulance).
I did some more EPP clamshells

and then made a start on my fabric postcards for the latest swap I've signed up for at BQLPC.  The theme is "oriental" so, of course, I headed to Japan for my inspiration.  I've had this lovely pattern for a kimono for a long time, it's by Ursula Riegel at Designs to Share and is called "Monoki".  (clever eh?)  I had to do all the sewing by hand and the kimono will look better with a bit of a press and with a decorative button on the front but I think they're rather neat.

I'm trying to decide whether to attach them permanently to the fabric postcards, or just add them with stitch or two so that they can be removed and used as hanging decorations.  What do you think?  Either way they won't be going through the post naked, I'm popping them into transparent envelopes for safety.
I had a good read through the latest issue of British Patchwork and Quilting and entered their giveaways and then decided to add the gorgeous quilt by Lynne Edwards that is featured on the cover to my to do list.

DH brought me my lunch and then it was time for some more stitching.  He was dispatched to my "atelier" to find my Storm at Sea miniature quilt (do you remember this one from a million years ago?!) and that's what I worked on during the afternoon.  I'm too weary to stitch all evening but I hope you all have a great FNSI, I'll be thinking of you.

Now what have I got myself into?

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...

Giveaway Winner and a Lynne Edwards Fest

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:

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

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.

Mothering Sunday Early

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 Report 1

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.

To Do List Item One - Ticked

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

1. Quilt and finish Wiggly Nine Patch
2. Complete Sampler Quilt
3. Japanese Round and Round le Jardin Quilt
4. Ongoing projects:  kanzashi, Global Piecers swaps, BQLPC

and add a new project to the list.

1. 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 :)

Progress on a WIP

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!

I Have Been Sewing Too

I was looking at this blog and it doesn't appear that I've done much sewing recently!  I seem to have posted about other things.  So here are a couple of pictures of what I have been doing.

I'm working on a sampler quilt from Lynne Edwards' book and have just four more blocks to go before I can start arranging them, adding block borders, sashing, quilt borders...and I also have to decide whether I'm going to quilt as I go - which is what I'm considering.

 I've been looking at a couple of posts Leah Day did a while back about quilting a sampler quilt and they are inspiring me and filling me with terror too!

Also, some lovely visitors to the Blogger's Quilt Festival have commented that they would like to see some close up images of the detail of my wallhanging so I've added some pictures to my BQF post here.

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report

My beloved went out into the wet and windy Lincolnshire night to fetch us fish and chips for dinner so that I didn't have to think about food as well as the Friday Night Sew-In, bless him.
So, equipped with plenty of cups of tea (in lovely china cups), choccie biccies and dressed in my most cosy cashmere socks (among other things) I was ready to join over 100 people all over the world for the

The first thing I did was finish off this little Sweet Treat bag (Moda pattern).  That was just putting the fastening on and taking the photo,

so I moved quickly on to this Courthouse Steps block for the Sampler Quilt I'm making from Lynne Edwards' book.  The central meeting point isn't very accurate so I'll have another go at that another day but I was pleased with the fabric choices.

I wasn't sure whether to share the next picture as it's definitely a WIP but here goes:

It's a wallhanging I'm working on inspired by  a trip I took on the Norfolk Broads near Stalham earlier this year.  I finished piecing it, put the two borders on and layered the project today.  The rest of the design will be appliqued and sashiko-style quilted.  These are some of the photos I'm working from:

After all that arty excitement I decided to return to the Sampler quilt and a little gentle handstitching to finish the sew-in.  The block was Dresden Plate, one I'd been dreading I have to admit, but it actually went together very well no small thanks to Lynne Edwards' thorough instructions.

I didn't quite get it finished before tiredness overcame me but I'm sure you get the idea and I shall enjoy appliquing the "plate" to the background while sitting in front of the fire this afternoon.  Fortunately all our snow has gone but it is pouring with rain today and very miserable, definitely a sewing day.

I hope everybody else has had a great Sew-In, I'm really looking forward to seeing what you all got up to.  Thanks to Bobbi and Heidi for organising a great party, shall we do it again soon?!