We had a wonderful holiday in Mexico to celebrate 25 years of unwedded bliss, Al and I would both go as far as to say it was a perfect holiday.  We completely relaxed, enjoyed good food and the glorious setting of our hotel on the Caribbean Sea.  Now we are home and it is definitely Winter and I have been sewing enthusiastically.  

I have finished the koi wall hanging that I've been working on for a while.

My sister came for a visit and she has recently started patchwork.  Her first major project is a wedding sampler quilt for her daughter.  The wedding is in August 2017 so Jane's going to be busy.  While she was here we had a good look at Mummy's quilt.  You might remember this is an English paper-pieced "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt.  Mummy was determined that it was to be all recycled fabrics, in the traditional way.  I had thought I might do something dramatic with it but when we laid it out on the guest bed it looked just right so I am simply going to finish it.

My first job is to remove a lot of the papers to reduce the weight and make the quilt easier to work with.  I say "papers" but they are actually more of "cards" being cut from Christmas and birthday cards and art and education supplies catalogues.  The fabrics are a real mixture, a lot of furnishing weight and the plain is all curtain lining.  Fortunately I also inherited a box full of extra hexagons and fabric.  Alan and I have been sitting in companionable silence, with our thoughts, unpicking Mummy's tacking stitches.

Some news resulting from my sister's recent visit is that she has decided to join me when I visit Japan next year.  Golly, it's been a few years since we've shared a bedroom!!  We're both really excited about it, or rather, Jane was excited, until I explained about onsen etiquette!!  Still, she'll rock the karaoke experience while I'm hiding in the corner.  And, speaking of holidays, here's a quick reminder that only a few weeks ago we were enjoying temperatures of 30+° C rather than today's 2°C.

A Delivery and A Finish

While grieving that the wonderful Roger Federer has been beaten at Wimbledon I have had two highlights today, firstly, my copy of the V&A quilt book arrived and secondly, I finished a quilt.

The book accompanying the V&A exhibition, "Quilts 1700 - 2010, Hidden Histories, Untold Stories" was written by Sue Prichard who curated the exhibition and I have been waiting excitedly for my copy to arrive.  Today was the day.  I obviously haven't had time to read very much but I am impressed with the quality of the images in the book.

About a third of the book is a catalogue for the exhibition, with good notes accompanying each quilt image.  I am appreciating the value of having the book and being able to study the quilts in detail.  I spotted the steam train in this 1842-52 hanging by James Williams of Wrexham, Wales when I saw the quilt in "real life" but I have seen so much more while looking at it this afternoon.

The catalogue is arranged in the same way as the exhibition; The Domestic Landscape, Private Thoughts, Public Debates, Virtue and Virtuosity, Making a Living, Meeting the Past.  

There are also some wonderful close-up images to enjoy, such as this one of the back of a 19th Century paper-pieced quilt, isn't it a delight?

The first part of the book is made up of essays and features that are intended to "challenge the assumption that stitching is simply 'women's work'."  These are arranged chronologically, beginning with the 18th Century and are also fully illustrated.  I like this photograph of the Hayling Island WI making quilts for Denman College which appears in Dorothy Osler's feature on British quilt-making in the first half of the 20th Century.

The book is not an academic history of quilting but rather, as it says on the back cover, "A celebration of more than 300 years of British quilts and patchwork" and I think it would make a good addition to any quilter's library. 

I am having a little celebration of my own as the dinosaur quilt which has been causing me so much trouble is finished.  I have had to do a lot of negative sewing on this quilt but I think my grandson, Wills, who is six in July, will be very pleased with it.  Don't tell him, it's a surprise (I'm sure he doesn't read my blog).

Just peeping out behind the top right hand corner of the quilt you can see my wonderful rose which has taken over an apple tree.  Here it is in its full glory, it's the Rambling Rector rose and is exquisite.

Bountiful gifts and a new convert

I spent the weekend with my parents and Mummy is starting to have a bit of a sort out...I am the delighted recipient of these jars of buttons, aren't they gorgeous? At the moment I'm just admiring them, all colour-sorted in their containers but I do think I might have a go at making some jewellery with some and will definitely use some in a future quilt project or two.

The next goody bag was from my sister who has just holidayed in Florida. She brought me home this wonderful selection of fabrics and I have a plan for a rainbow quilt in square within a square blocks. I started talking about quilting with her and it turns out that she has ALL of Jennifer Chiaverini's books (which she buys in America) and was willing to lend them to me. Here they are in my sewing room, I started the Quilter's Apprentice last night and am on chapter 9! Jane had bought herself some fabric and wanted to know where to start with an English pieced-patchwork project so she has begun working on Grandmother's Flower Garden with hexagons and promised to start her own quilting blog. She found lots of helpful information on the internet including Wendy Harbaugh's very helpful tutorial at http://sunshinescreations.vintagethreads.com/2007/03/tutorial-on-english-paper-piecing.html all in all, a very successful weekend, plus, hopefully Jane and Mummy are going to the Quilt Show at Hever Castle this weekend while I'll be at the Harrogate show and we're intending to go to the forthcoming V&A exhibition together if we can find something to amuse the menfolk!!